Crash (1996)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writers:

J.G. Ballard (novel)
David Cronenberg (written by)

Release Date:

21 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The most controversial film you will ever see.

Plot:

After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Sex | Car Accident | Car Crash | Marriage

Awards:

8 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

James Spader	...	James Ballard
Holly Hunter	...	Helen Remington
Elias Koteas	...	Vaughan
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Catherine Ballard
Rosanna Arquette	...	Gabrielle
Peter MacNeill	...	Colin Seagrave
Yolande Julian	...	Airport Hooker
Cheryl Swarts	...	Vera Seagrave
Judah Katz	...	Salesman
Nicky Guadagni	...	Tattooist
Ronn Sarosiak	...	A.D.
Boyd Banks	...	Grip
Markus Parilo	...	Man in Hanger
Alice Poon	...	Camera Girl
John Stoneham Jr.	...	Trask

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes.; Rated R for accident gore, some graphic language and aberrant sexual content. (edited version)

Runtime:

100 min | 90 min (R-rated version)

Country:

Canada | UK

Language:

English | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

USA:NC-17 (certificate #34312) | Iceland:16 | Hungary:18 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 (VET id: 99934) | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Japan:R-18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (video rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Trivia:

Director David Cronenberg claimed that the entire film was shot within a half hour of his house in Toronto, Canada.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Vaughan repeatedly crashes the left front bumper of his Lincoln into a junker James Ballard is sitting in, causing major damage to the bumper and the lights, Vaughan is soon shown driving on the highway with no damage to the bumper and both left lights operational.

Quotes:

Vaughan: I've always wanted to drive a crashed car.
James Ballard: You could get your wish at any moment.
Vaughan: No, I mean a crashed car with a history. Camus' Fassellvega, Nathaniel West's station wagon, Grace Kelly's Rover 3500. Just fix it enough to get it rolling. Don't clean it, don't touch anything else.

Movie Connections:

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Who knew car accidents were so sexy

-"Crash" tells the story of a man gets into a car accident that changes his life forever. After the car crash, he discovers that he gets sexually aroused whenever he's around damaged cars, and that he gets a very strong urge whenever he sees a car crash or sees a car that has been in a crash. During the accident, he spots two people having sex on the spot of the accident but doesn't pay much attention to it, but later on, he tracks them down and tells them he has their fetish too and they spend the rest of the movie planning car accidents, watching tapes of car accidents, and involving themselves in car accidents. Sex is a weird thing and this movie proves it wonderfully.

-I heard that the movie got boos from most of the critics after the movie was over and they should really be ashamed of themselves. This great movie shows how a man deals with his life once something happens to him that not even he can explain. David Spader is as always great in this. This is the same man that played the mild mannered "chicken man" from "Stargate" and now here he is playing a horny man that explores his sexuality fully well. Holly Hunter also does a great job in this, although I do wish that she'd stop being naked in every movie she's in. she's a great actress and doesn't need to be nude to prove that. Deborah Karen Unger is wonderful in the movie as the sexy girlfriend and she has one particular monologue in the movie that is probably one of my favorite monologues of all time.

-Howard Shore's music really gives the movie its emotional weight just like he did for "Silence of The Lamb". He and Cronenberg have been working together for decades now and they've turned into the great filmmaker/composer team. Cronenberg himself does a great job of bringing J.G Ballard book to film. Not sure how much of the book he had to cut and how much he had to add in but the movie turned out great either way. There are two cuts to the movie. An NC-17 cut and an R rated cut, the better one is of course the NC-17 cut. It's the way the movie was meant to be watched and really allows the movie to breath. Although the extended sex scenes, do get a bit tiring to watch after a while

-Overall this is an excellent movie but not for everyone. It not perfect but is still enjoyable.