Gamle mænd i nye biler (2002) User Reviews

Wonderful black comedy...

[heyhey · 8/10 · 1 July 2003]

I don't know what all these people are complaining about - I saw this movie in a film festival over here and spent most of the movie trying not to p*** myself with laughter. How the characters get in and out of such completely off the wall situations, and the deadpan way they said some of the lines left me in hysterics.

Granted it isn't a perfect film, but it's a good 7/10

few news in...

[ruben-heim · 7/10 · 28 November 2002]

"Gamle maend in nye biler - Alte Männer in neuen Autos`, the prequel to "I kina spiser de hunde". Part-time-chef and gangster Harald is here again, together with his subordinates, including Vuk and his Serbian body-guard. New among them is a Swedish psychopath, specialized in killing every woman he meets. But not in Denmark. There he meets the love of his life. Like in "I kina..." the cold-storage room becomes the mortuary, cooking becomes side-line. Though Harald's subordinates would rather take part in a pastry competition instead of supporting his criminal machinations.

Lasse Spang Olsen made a solid gangster flick but does not come up to "I Kina spiser de honde". Too much action too long, too much violence (esp. against Vuk), that does not result from comic accidents. Therefore, this "prequel" lacks the anarchic sense of humor, one would have expected. Solid, but not as good as "I kina.."

Old Men in New Cars

[random_avenger · 8/10 · 20 September 2010]

The 1999 Danish black comedy In China They Eat Dogs brought an enjoyable gust of fresh air to the often overly serious Nordic cinema. The prequel Old Men in New Cars casts light on the characters' earlier life: Harald (Kim Bodnia) has just been released from prison and owes a large sum of money to a gangster named Ratko (Slavko Labovic) but doesn't let the debt bother him very much. After his dying father figure Munken (Jens Okking) asks Harald to locate his estranged son Ludvig (Torkel Petersson), Harald and his cook friends Martin and Peter (Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Tomas Villum Jensen) and their new inept assistant Vuk (Brian Patterson) come up with a plan to get Ludvig, a multiple murderer with a sensitive side, out of a Swedish prison. While robbing a bank, they also they also become attached to a suicidal woman Mille (Iben Hjejle) who tags along and evokes new kinds of feelings in Ludvig. Next it is time for an elaborate airplane hijacking...

The main difference to the first movie is the absence of the mild-mannered Arvid, arguably the protagonist of In China They Eat Dogs. Instead, the prequel focuses on Harald and his ever-calm attitude to whatever obstacles life drops in front of him. The semi-reluctant Martin and Peter are the same as before, providing a lot of comedy with their awkward insecurity when things get rough and bodies start piling up, not to mention the always hapless Vuk who keeps getting seriously injured as a running gag in both movies. The main charm of the humour still lies in the deadpan delivery of the gang's outrageously implausible schemes, be it a prison break by bungee cord or an airplane robbery with an ambulance.

The action scenes, while not as numerous as in Hollywood blockbusters, are well designed and both entertaining and exciting. Especially the car chase after the bank robbery deserves a special mention, rarely do we get to see such wreckage in any normal Nordic thriller. The actors also do a good job; especially Kaas and Jensen are great as the manipulatable henchmen of the menacing Kim Bodnia, but Iben Hjejle is a joy to watch as well. Even though the absence of Arvid seems disappointing at first, it soon becomes obvious that Torkel Petersson's Ludvig is more than enough to replace him – Ludvig's homicidal tendencies mix with his caring side rather hilariously.

The familiar absurd undercurrent is still strong and the humour and action are in good balance, so those who enjoyed In China They Eat Dogs have no reason to miss out Old Men in New Cars. In the first movie there was a serious theme under the surface, namely a mild-mannered man's desire to be true to himself, and while the prequel feels a bit more straightforward, it also presents a dramatic story about familial love. In any case, both films belong among the best Danish films I have seen in a good while.

Old wine in new bottles

[chn65 · 7/10 · 6 April 2006]

The name "Old men in new cars" clearly makes you think of the expression "Old wine in new bottles". In this case it is not in any negative sense - the film shows a lot of inspiration from other movies.

Some inspiration comes from Danish folk humor, like "Olsen Banden", some come from the precursor "I Kina spiser de hunde", some come from "Pusher" and so on.

Other inspiration comes from American action comedies - if you say Blues Brothers, you say car destruction and especially police car destruction in a very large scale.

So that's how I see the old wine in new bottles - these good old themes still work fine. By the way, that's how most sequels work ...

There are many other quotes in the action scenes. I won't reveal them all here, but there is some hot action in the Copenhagen Airport as well as in the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen (Olsen Banden quote here).

The characters in the movie are very one-dimensional with the potential to be one-and-a-half dimensional later on in the movie. This is also typical for action comedies, and as such the stage is set for absurd situations with creative solutions to it.

Do see the movie as pure slap-stick bizarre humor, no one should search for more here!

Absolutely hilarious

[thenudeferret · 9/10 · 4 December 2005]

Comedy at it's best! The humour in this picture varies from lighter more jackass'isch to dark satirical aspects and sometimes borderline evil. The plot is probably totally impossible to explain for someone that hasn't seen it, with twists far beyond comprehension; the turns are as many as they are crazy. The characters are twisted and shows both the best and the worst sides of humanity(or lack thereof). The only thing one could complain about is the music -you could wish for a bit more, but that's just a minor thing.

There are several, independent, movies with the same characters which I highly recommend(all danish).

As good as the first one

[Cassandra_Love · 10/10 · 6 January 2012]

Naturally most people will compare this with the cult movie In china they eat dogs, since it is a sequel with same characters at most.

A comparison is only to value if You have seen the first one of course. Anyway, I would say that I found this more fun then the first but it doesn't mean better. The first has a more serious undertone. And I think it depends on what mode You are in when watching. I didn't have great expectations on this because of the reviews but laughed out loud many times because of silly situations. I would rank both films as 10 stars. So refreshing non-Hollywood made, character, environment.

I wouldn't say that this is so much pulp fiction but more Lock stock movie. There are so many holes in the plot but thats not important. You have to look beyond them and take it for what it is. Black humor at it's best, and as good as In China in every aspect.

The cooks are back in town.

[McBuff · 5/10 · 29 July 2002]

A prequel to "I Kina Spiser de Hunde" (In China they Eat Dogs) from 1999 with same writer/dírector/cast (save Dejan Cukic and a few others). This time, we follow Harald (Kim Bodnia) as he is released from jail, only to get involved in a plot to get Swedish serial killer Ludvig (Torkel Petterson) out of prison, so he can meet his estranged father, The Monk (Jens Okking). Once again, peppered with funny dialogue, not as inspired as the original, but with one hilarious scene in which the cooks and Harald futilely tries to speak English to a Swedish hotel receptionist. The car stunts are still clumsy, a notch above the sloppy action sequences from the first film, and the film is loaded with a high mortality rate, but it's uneven and substitutes black humor with a mean spirit, and even asks us to care about these characters, after putting them through numerous outlandish situations and hurling credibility out the window. Kim Bodnia plays it straight, but his tough guy act is getting a little tired by now, but Tomas Villum Jensen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas still make a great comic duo as the put-upon sidekicks. Iben Hjejle is lovely as Ludvig's love-interest, but her role is badly written (even though she gets to punch Bodnia in the face). Jacob Haugaard gets some laughs, too, as a seedy doctor. Note to writer Anders Thomas Jensen: A couple of anachronistic goofs. The film is supposed to take place before the first film, which was released in 1999. If this film is set before that, they couldn't have crossed the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, as it wasn't built at that time, and the national football league wasn't sponsored by SAS then, either.

The supernatural elements of the first film are totally ignored this time around. Okay entertainment, but doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. **½

Funny...

[Icewall · 8/10 · 15 July 2002]

I thought the first movie was great. Not only did it have cool action and great, if a little bizar humor, it was also slightly philosophical. This movie is devoid of the latter, but I still laughed my ass off. It is a (pre)sequel, and taken as such, it is quite good. Story is weak and incoherent, direction is shabby, but the dialog, and bizar events, were right on the mark. If you have seen the first, and read this, you should know whether or not you will enjoy it. I know I did, even if it couldn't match up to the first (Hey, not much can.) So enjoy.

Brilliant

[zip_jipoo · 24 November 2004]

First off, i am surprised by people disapproving this movie on the grounds of the humour being at times unethical. The purpose of black humour is just to be able to laugh at matters that are usually considered outside of jokes, such as serious illness, or even murder - otherwise it would be _plain_ humour, and not _black_ humour ;)

?Spoilers (i wouldn't say so, but be warned anyway..) That said, this movie is stuffed with black humour, and amazing dialogue. Actionmovies (not the official genre of the movie, but still its action-packed) made to happen in Scandinavia aren't really realistic, so its a good thing this movie realizes this, and just as well exaggerates the whole thing - and makes it all even more hilarious. I also enjoyed the linguistic humour, concerning the communication problems between the Swedish and the Danish, something lots of Scandinavians would recognize themselves in. See, we're supposed to understand everything that we all say, but its not always that easy ;)

Now, i haven't seen "In china they eat dogs" yet, but I'm planning to, so i cannot really compare the two movies. But this movie alone, is absolutely recommendable if you enjoy black humour, and especially if your curious about how we sound up north :)

A terrible movie

[ierceg · 1/10 · 11 May 2004]

It doesn't happen often that I can't finish watching a movie. Still, 45 minutes into this particular movie, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I felt complete lack of compassion for the main characters. Their goal was despicable (to rob enough money to buy a liver - and one can only guess how one gets a liver and what happens to its previous owner) Their means were disturbing (violent bank robbery with hostages and they were just beginning when I stopped watching) They themselves inspired only contempt in me (one was a serial killer - killed 5 women and was just starting again, another was an ex-convict lacking any self-restraint, other two guys were complete weaklings and worse of them all) So after struggling for a while I just gave up.

This was supposed to be a black comedy/underground movie. From my standpoint it fails at both genres. If you want to see a great underground movie see "Reservoir Dogs". If you want to see a great black comedy see anything by Monty Python's Flying Circus crew or a classic like "Arsenic and Old Lace".

Rating: 1/10.

Just a great movie

[voIcomstone · 9/10 · 11 November 2005]

Well... it's not everyones style, but I liked it very much. No pseudo deep sense. Some funny scenes combined with action and a very little lovestory. Well, last I haven't needed, but it hasn't disturbed me. If you watch this movie you have to agree with your conscience that this is really only a movie. It's made to entertain people.

The story consists of Harald who just was released from prison and the first action he does is to commit a crime. Together with his two Henchmen Martin and Peter he has to get quite a lot of money. Harald is in dept and the Mafia wants its money fast. His compensation father needs a new liver and so the story is framed. Many little pieces are put together to a, in my opinion, good movie.

Who's not "antiviolent" should have seen it.

Black comedy at it's best!

[tisk84 · 9/10 · 6 October 2010]

I just re-saw this move, and it's just as good as i remembered it. I was curious of it's IMDb rating so I had a peek. just to discover that this jewel of a film currently only have 6.7 is something that I find quite outrageous. so I decided to write my own review, and give credit where credit's due!

I'v read a couple of reviews here, and I see the people who bad-mouth this movie just don't get it.. It's a (black)comedy so it's not supposed to be taken to serious. If you do take it seriously you'r in for 95 minutes of cynical meaningless violence. Well in that case this movie probably isn't for you. As for me, i found it hysterical!

The action sequences are a bit over the top one might say. Then i say:"c'mon c'mon, it's a comedy!", at any rate the surreal car chases and what not is just stating this fact. The effects aren't Hollywood-ish but still not bad for Nordic production, as far as i can see. The dialogue is a work of art itself. Some conversations is just random nonsense, but still just makes the character more believable. And some good linguistic "jokes/spoofs" to, unfortunately some may get lost in translation. With the absurd mix of characters, ranging from sociopathic to suicidal, some just plain insane, you know you'r in for a good pitch black comedy!

By the way I have seen "I Kina Spiser de Hunde" as well, but i didn't find it funny in comparison to this movie. So i like to look at it as two separate movies.. or independent movies, or whatever... just my angle:)

All in all a good movie, but fails where its prequel succeeded...

[Agent15 · 15 February 2003]

(Spoilers from "I kina spiser de hunde") "Gamle mænd i nye biler" is the long-awaited sequel to "I kina spiser de hunde". It has its moments, and the dialogue is quite funny on more than one occasion, yet it fails where "I kina spiser de hunde" succeeds. Firstly, it lacks a potent storyline. In the first movie, Arvids both naive but at times admirable behaviour renders one with a tale, that conclusively, was a mixture of both morality and humour. This isn't really a topic much discussed in "Gamle mænd i nye biler". Rather, the characters seemingly don't have any relations to the outside world, other than their own cliques.

We have a woman-hating swede, who'll slay any dame in the vacinity of his presence, in case the opportunity presents itself. Then we have Iben Hjejle, who plays a woman who'se become mentally unstable after her boyfriend leaves her (Dan, whom we are briefly introduced to by chance later in the movie). These two characters seem to engage in some sort of twisted relationship, leaving the audience unsure whether the next scene will present the two in either loving or murderous surroundings. Of course, we also have Kim Bodnia, who plays the ever-unpleasent ruffian Harald. I had no sympathy for this character in neither movie, but thought that it was a tailormade role for Kim Bodnia. The comic relief is undoubtfully the hilarious pairing of Tomas Villum and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, who play two chefs who are always caught in the middle of things, while all they really want to do is cook; "vi er jo bare kokke, for fanden"... These guys where equally funny in both movies, as they seemed so malplaced in the given environment and situations. Finally, as they sequel does take place in the past, we are once again presented with Vuk (dies in "I kina spiser de hunde"), an immigrant whose sole wish is to fit in. He's still the victim of Harald's constant torments, be they verbal or physical, and he remains as naive and ignorant as in the first movie. The only reason that he works for Harald, is because of his cousin, who's leading role in a gang of Croation criminals, is a neverending threat to Harald.

I won't introduce you to the actual story of the movie, but I will say that it does work overall. As mentioned, it does have lacks, as it isn't as original as its prequel, and is hopelessly unrealistic from time to time, but this is obviously one of the plusses in the movie. It glorifies whom it wants, kills who it wants, and works the way it wants. With these two movies, Lasse Spang Olsen has made an almost "cult-like" work of film, an for that he should be given many thanks. That, on the other hand, could be discussed when reviewing his other movies, but I'll save that thought for some other day...

Rating: *** of *****

I haven't been THIS bored in a long time

[lasse-uk · 3/10 · 4 April 2005]

I actually thought that "I Kina spiser de hunde" was quite a decent film and it had me laughing out loud a few times but "Gamle mænd i nye biler" is complete and utter garbage.

The acting is generally awful. Especially Nikolaj Lie Kaas was dreadful and had none of the edge he brought to his character in the first film which just made his performance flat. I've never thought that Kim Bodnia was a good actor and he pretty much proved that in this film because his acting is boring, lifeless and pretty annoying. Tomas Villum Jensen is alright but even his performance is barely a pass grade. Jens Okking is, as he is in a lot of movies, not used enough and thats a shame because he is quite a good actor. Iben Hjejle provides the only good performance in the film and thus she steals every scene she is in.

The story was just plain weird and nothing to get too excited about and the humor was for the most part misplaced and extremely stupid. In fact the humor was so stupid at times that I thought it was an insult to the viewer's intelligence. The action in the film wasn't very exciting. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but it just wasn't entertaining. The car chase was the only interesting action scene.

All in all a wasted effort and another pathetic Danish film to add to the list 3 out of 10

Surprisingly loved it more than the first one...

[kris-subba · 8/10 · 12 April 2009]

Blame me for watching it before the first part but still when I analyze it now I have to say this one was a vast improvement from the first one. It has a concrete storyline throughout the film and does not stray much into the subplots unlike the first one. I thoroughly enjoyed the flow of story which looked more plausible thanks to the crisp editing and intelligent direction which doesn't give you much time to ponder around. All in all, a highly superior sequel to follow up the brilliant "In China they eat dogs". Yes, I wouldn't mind at all if the director comes up with some wacky storyline and decides to complete the trilogy with the third one and I'm sure there will be lots of others who'll agree with me!!

Overrated piece of nonsense

[maria-55 · 3/10 · 9 December 2002]

Maybe it actually is terrible amusing to let a psycho molest and abuse people on film, but in that case I completely missed the point here.

The main character, Harald, controls a gang of pathetic small time crocks/chefs. Their main focus is to provide Harald's dying mentor with a new organ, because the poor old creature probably drank it away. This leads them in the arms of the mentors estranged son, a Swedish serial killer with a longing for fatherly love that he compensates for by abusing and strangulate women - well, with the exception of Iben Hjejle, who used to date a football player, that the gang happened to kill.....doh...sounds kind of lame right? Well, it is.

Avoid this piece of nonsense, and instead go and rent "Pusher" or "Bleeder" if you want to experience good and intense Danish crime movies.

A great movie - with hints to 'Olsen Banden'

[Cocktail · 10/10 · 25 July 2002]

While the previous movie ("I Kina spiser de hunde") was a sort of tribout to "Pulp Fiction", celebrating the Travolta influence to film- making, this has great references to the best traditions of Danish movie-making.

But - let me emphazise that: ... both movies are masterpieces of great entertainment by itself.

The surprisingly story never seizes to amaze you. But maybe I should warn you: I am 46 years old and several (if not the majority!) of my ... generation... don't seem to enjoy these movies...

Great entertainment, though not for the faint hearted

[basemnt-dwellr · 9/10 · 30 September 2002]

Yesterday I had the chance to see "Old Men In New Cars" at the Filmfest Hamburg. What a great movie. I hope this film will come into cinemas soon. This is supposed to be a prequel to "In China They Eat Dogs" but it stands very well on its own. The characters we already know from "In China They Eat Dogs" are the same as is the weird, black humor. It lacks the two supernatural beings from the first film, but you don't really miss them. On the other hand, there is more action and more violence in it than in "In China They Eat Dogs". And it is really funny. When I think about some of the scenes, I still have to laugh.

---Possible spoilers ahead---

The film is about Harald, who, just released from jail, wants to fulfill the last wish of his dying foster father: He wants to see his son. Of course nobody knew he actually had a son. The son, Ludvig, sits in a Swedish jail. So our heroes Harald and his two cooks, and Vuk of course, get him out of jail only to learn, that he is a serial killer that starts his "obsession" as soon as he gets the chance. And then, of course, there are our Croatian friends, this time all dressed in black T-shirts with a double-headed eagle on the front and huge (and I mean HUGE) golden necklaces, whom Harald owes money. Harald also needs money to get his foster father a liver transplant in Southern America to save his life. After a bank robbery which fails, the Croatians suggest he rob an airplane while it is about to take two containers with money on board. Now just imagine a deadly sick old man, who is drugged with opium and the last time he flew a plane was about 40 years ago, on the control stick, and the police trying to stop the plane... anybody who is afraid to fly should close his eyes during that scene or you'll never get in a plane again. Absolutely hilarious. And the tricks they used in that sequence are really good. As are the car stunts.

There are several dead bodies, lots of car crashes, the Swedish get their share, the plans our heroes try to carry out are totally impracticable, but they do it anyway and somehow they succeed with them (well, almost), and in the end, everybody is happy. Well, most of them.

I hope this film gets released Europe wide soon, because I have to watch it again. Great entertainment, though not for the whole family.

One of the worse movies I've seen in my life

[giuggio · 1/10 · 15 December 2002]

Not just not funny, but even worse: trying to make fun of murders and no-sense violence. All this in a really boring story. I wonder how directors can make such shameful film like this.

Very funny

[MissDirected · 9/10 · 25 July 2002]

This is by no way a great movie, as in something that will make movie history, but it is one of the funniest and most entertaining movies I have seen in a long time. It is more violent than I Kina spiser de hunde, but the violence is more cartoonish.

So... this is Danish comedy?

[bastard_wisher · 4/10 · 1 January 2006]

That's really all I can say about a film like this. I had very little interest in seeing this film to begin with, so that says something about my lack of enthusiasm all around I guess. If at all, I was slightly interested because the film does star Kim Bodnia from "Pusher", which I love. Oddly enough, the film seems to begin as something of a parody of "Pusher", which I assume was intentional, especially considering that the films also share another actor in a nearly identical role. From there the film (more or less) progresses in it's silly, oddball way, completely unengaging but totally harmless. It seemed to jerk unsteadily between conventional mainstream lowbrow comedy and what I can only assume is a more specified Danish brand of dark humor. Of the two, I definitely preferred the latter, that is, in the brief moments when I could understand it. Sometimes I had the feeling that, even then, I was missing the jokes and possibly laughing at unintended things. I have to admit that I found the most pleasure in this film from imagining it being remade as a sequel to Wes Anderson's "Bottle Rocket", for whatever that is worth.

Great Movie

[anne-dane · 10/10 · 20 January 2007]

After reading the previous sour comment I feel provoked to make a comment on "Old Men in New Cars", which is absolutely one of my favourite actions movies.

The genre is a satiric high-speed kind of action movie, and dark comedy. The two innocent cooks known from "In China They Eat Dogs" is once again forced into criminal actions by their boss, and this time their job is to free their boss' dying stepfather's biological Swedish son, a serial murder of women, from a high security prison in Sweden, and bring him to Denmark to see the dying man.

They succeed to bring the guy (who occasionally murder a few women on the way though Sweden) and of course that means lots of trouble and new opportunity for all of them.

I like this movie... I like the car chases in small unimpressive cars, the inexplicit humour and play with referrals to other movies.

Nice dark crime comedy

[BeneCumb · 8/10 · 5 November 2013]

Although it is not educational, life and deeds of loafers is found catchy to follow by lots of viewers - apparently "decent" themselves. And the case is better if nasty crimes are not visible and their motive is not personal greed. Gamle mænd i nye biler depicts a story where suspicious measures are taken for the sake of help and remedy. The amount required is huge, time is ticking, and there are dozens of hindrances on the way... As the participants' IQ and moral values are not high as well (mildly speaking), then crazy and funny situations are easy to rise, leading to a logical, but somehow expected ending. Meanwhile, it is pleasant to track the run of events, comprehensions of characters, various action situations; by the way, two chases shown are not worse / less tense than in Hollywood movies. Well, some scenes are knowingly amplified, but they do not become ridiculous.

The cast is evenly strong, particularly Kim Bodnia as Harald, Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Martin (his presence could have been more often), Torkel Petersson as Ludvig, Iben Hjejle as Mille. Actors like them could be savers of much weaker script.

A good entertaining experience, if you like Scandinavian crime thrillers with humorous touch.

Disgusting Karadzic Detail

[oxcarbazepin · 2/10 · 17 June 2021]

In the 86th min Ratko character is wearing a t-shirt with an image of radovan karadzic 'butcher of Bosnia' clearly saying ''do not touch him'' in serbian. I wonder whose sick and crooked clothing choice that was?!

Yes, there are some low level funny dialogues, but the movie has too many goofs that distract the viewer. It's a situation comedy with the sequel (In China They Eat Dogs) which doesn't make you laugh but cringe.