Let's make some Money, Mick!

[owenkrout]

I have a great idea, Mick. We can make a low budget film that would be ten times more scary than the Blair Witch Project. All we have to do is find your taxi driver, Wang Mario, or one just as wild. Easy to do anywhere in China. Drivers like that are in an over-supply here.

 

We just hire him for about a week and mount a video camera. We then tell him that we have some important appointments to make and start giving him destinations. Shanghai in ruch hour. Rural mountain roads at night (I did this one with one of his cousins already). You have the idea. In a weeks time we should be able to get enough footage to make the scariest 2 hours that anybody has ever experienced.

 

No, wait!!! This needs to be an I-Max!!!!

[Mick]

Owen:

 

I really think your on to something here! And I am all for being rich and famous. B)

 

Yes, recruiting the driver would be no problem. There are countless candidates for that role. And as for the movie, yes, definitely I-Max. But beyond the movie, there are other possibilities as well. Perhaps a "Survivor" series. Or a variation on the "Great Race". Naturally, somewhere along the way we would need to include a few sequences in those three-wheel motorcycle taxis as well. Guangzhou at about five o'clock in the afternoon might be a perfect setting for this. The iced over mountain roads would have to be filmed up in your neck of the woods as ice is not a factor down here. Perhaps Harbin.....Lends new meaning to the "Ice Lantern Festival".

 

Back to the driver. We would have to outfit him well of course. Appropriate ball cap along with a good pair of shades, to be worn even at night. The ever-present Marlboro hanging from his lips. One hand would be on the cell phone at all times and perhaps a bottle of Pabst wedged firmly between his legs.....( I have actually been in this situation).

 

I would suggest, however, that for the particularly dangerous episodes, we find suitable doubles for ourselves. Wonder if any of the guys on the board would be interested in serving as stunt men during their visits over here.

 

The possibilities are endless my friend. I really think we should move on this one before someone beats us to it. Look out Speilberg, here we come.

 

B) B) B)

[owenkrout]

That's it!! We make it a see China over the Spring Holiday theme. We start him in GZ and work north ending up in Harbin for the lantern festival or vice versa. Tell him there is an extra 100 RMB a day in it for him at the end if he makes it in the two weeks. Doing it while everyone is on the move will just make it more exciting. We have to figure out how to get the super crowded Dalian train station into this also. Oh, yea!!! The Dalian - Yantai ferry that has a habit of sinking or catching fire or both.

 

I've got it!!! Harbin for the Ice Festival- Shenyang - Dalian - Ferry to Tainjin - Beijing - Xi'an - Shanghai - Shenzhen - Guangzhou for the New Years fireworks. Two weeks max or no bonus. If we survive, we have the horror film of all time!

 

[Mick]

Yes, I think the ferry ride is essential to the adventure! As long as we are heading west to Xian, we might want to consider something like a mad drive across the top of the Three Gorges Dam, maybe on a foggy morning just to add to the adrenalin rush of the whole thing. Also there are some good icy mountain roads in northwestern Hubei.....Yikes!

[Robert S.]

Wow, you guys are gonna make some money with that idea! And without much overhead either because you won't have to worry about all the pedestrians and bicyclists your drivers will maim and kill. I am not too sure, though, about how your taxi cars will stand up trying to outrace the mysterious VIPs driving Mercedes Benz high-powered roadsters. And you are going to have to have yet another car to provide an outside viewpoint for the inevitable police chase scene. Oh, now it is coming together for me, let me be your scriptwriter and we can make a Chinese version of the "The Blues Brothers."

[Mick]

I can see it now as the theme from "Peter Gunn" plays in the background. First scene pans to Owen and myself as we stand outside the taxi. First line:

 

"We're on a mission from God".

 

Then break to the Rawhide theme....

[owenkrout]

Actually, if we could bump the budget up and manage to get one of the mysterious black Audis with windows tinted black, we could just ignore the police. If you have enough influence you just drive through the occassional police fund raiser road blocks. I have seen it done.

 

I have never seen the PSB chase anybody. Usually they are on foot or in a low power Chinese made car that couldn't keep up with one of the Volkswagen taxis anyway.

 

You underestimate the taxi drivers. I have been in one of the Chinese manufacture taxis that was moving fast enough that the loose front end suspension was shimmying the steering wheel so hard the driver could barely hang on. His foot was still plastered to the floor. They drive like my mother. My father once told me she drives very comfortably, both feet flat on the floorboard.

[Mick]

The Black Audi is a great idea but the taxi will also suffice. And by the way, where the heck is the Shark when we need him? His input would be helpful, like:

 

Top Ten Reasons to See This Movie

 

Top Ten Reasons Why Owen and Mick Should Not Wear Seatbelts

 

Top Ten Reasons to Not Carry Dramamine or Barf Bags

 

Where have you gone Eric? Our project turns its lonely eyes to you.

 

[owenkrout]

I've got the title!

 

DEATH WISH

[Myles]

Aloha from Hawaii,

Great fun with your ideas. How about night driving in a fog and weaving

across all of the lanes ( coming and going ) between big overloaded trucks.

I have seen some of the wrecks at first light. Add some of them for color.

Myles aka Annakuen'GG

[OrionM31]

I've got the title! 

 

DEATH WISH

I think Death Wish was allready used with some Marlon Brandow movie. You could always call it Death Race? And why stop with the movie? Why not branch it into video games as well.

 

Phil

[tonado]

There are already two movies called "Cannonball Run1 and 2" which show coast to coast racing in America. Your movie can feature a race in China.

[skibum]

Actually two vehicles I was in got stopped by the cops. The first was when I hired a mini-van outside Beijing and had him take me to BJ. Evidently the plate on the van told the cop that he was not allowed in BJ at that time.

The second was when a cab picked us up in a no pick up zone. Both stops were made by cops on foot which in that traffic is not that hard.

I was on a bus one day when a couple of little girls started laughing and pointing outside. A cop had dropped his motorcycle on its side and was struggling to get it back up. Those guys get no respect!

I have seen them stop bikes for being in a no bike zone and also for crossing against the light. I also came upon an accident where a pedestian had been hit by a cab. There was the usual crowd around looking. I went to McDonald's for coffee and everyone was still in the same position when I came back.

By the way, I have read that if you are ever in an accident and need to get to the hospital, take a cab. The ambulance, if it ever gets there, will take you where it wants and charge very elevated prices.

Has anyone ever figured out how the drivers there can be so relaxed? I thought at first that maybe they did not have middle fingers but I guess they just do not know what they are for.

I think I have said before that it is a good idea to register with the police if you are going to stay there for a few weeks. It will allow them to know who to contact if you do have a problem where ever you are.

All the cops I have done business with in China were very nice.

[owenkrout]

A number of points from your posting, Skibum.

 

The gals where laughing not just because it was a police officer. This is a cultural point that I have had to come down heavily even on my wife and daughter about. The Chinese show little sympathy towards somebody elses misfortune. It is so common as to be normal that they will laugh and make fun of someone who has an accident of anykind. I have discussed with my little immediate family here the concept of compassion and they actually now criticize others for behaving without compassion. Sorry, those who will feel a loss of face over my saying this, but it is true.

 

The accident victim still lying there is normal procedure. You probably won't be able to get a taxi if you are injured as Chinese law makes whoever brings you into the hospital liable for the cost of your treatment.

 

If they were stopping bikes and people for minor traffic violations then if must have been one of the more orderly cities like Shanghai and/or a fund raising event.

 

Another cultural point that you may need to discuss with your gals to keep them out of trouble in the US. No, they don't understand about the middle finger. They will commonly use it as a pointer finger here. They might inadvertently get themselves into a fight in the US doing that.

 

It is true that the drivers show a remarkable calmness through all the chaos. Only rarely do they show any sign of anger.

[Kaige]

First I have never seen a Volkwagon Taxi there all I saw was Suzuki Taxis and these were only identified through the S on the steering wheel, I think they are Swifts and Changon Mini Vans, but the fast cars were Toyota Camrys, you can use these or how about a Jeep Cherokee, get the 4 wheel drive model these are popular, it will do well around those tight mountains, and won't get stuck on what you may run over, these do well when you drive through the local market scattering everything in your way. I guess I am in the wrong part of China, Chongqing The Police have only 2 wheel drive from what I have seen so this is a plus