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The Mechanic [1972]
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A killer of a thriller
Review date: 2007-03-12 Rating: 8 out of 10
The Mechanic aka Killer of Killers (the title was changed to boost business with people who might have mistaken the original title for a car chase movie) is surprisingly good and, unusually for Michael Winner, also surprisingly well directed. A one-time Cliff Robertson vehicle (which at least explains the pipe Charles Bronson smokes throughout the film) and a clear influence on the Wachowski Brothers later script for Assassins, it sees Charles Bronson as the mob's most assured and ingenious hitman for some reason taking on an apprentice, attracted perhaps by his sociopathic indifference to death. The first half of the film is so sharp that it's a shame the rest of the movie starts down a more conventional road, but the action is well-handled, with a couple of way above average stunts involving a crashing motorbike and, later on, a car pushed off a mountain road that is more comprehensively trashed on the way down than you've ever seen in a film before or since: this one doesn't need to go up in a fireball to convince it's occupant isn't walking away.
Unfortunately the sorcerer's pathological apprentice is played by terminally smug Jan Michael Vincent (the man who sued the paramedics who saved his life after a drunken crash for not managing to do so without damaging his vocal cords): ideal casting, perhaps, but he's definitely a below-par Dennis Quaid act as an actor who seems to think he's good looking enough not to have to at least try to act. Equally unfortunately it also features the inevitable Jill Ireland (the star's wife and director's former girlfriend: that must have made for some interesting conversations on the set), albeit only for one scene, and for once there's a rather clever and perfectly valid reason for her bad acting. It doesn't make her big scene any less painful to watch but at least it stops it from doing any real damage to the film. If at times it feels like a more ambitious film may have been lost in rewrites, there's still a pleasingly nasty ending and any film where the first 15 minutes are played without dialogue gets extra points in my book.
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Reviews
An action movie. curiously devoid of action
Review date: 2004-11-21 Rating: 6 out of 10
Anyone who has seen the Charles Bronson movies of the 1970s and 1980s will pretty much know what to expect of this movie made in 1972 with longtime Bronson collaborator Michael Winner.
Bronson plays hitman Bishop who takes on a eager young rookie (played by a very young Jan Michael Vincent later of AIRWOLF fame) under his wing to teach him the ways of his craft.
Probably the best parts of this movie are in the first half hour or so. We see Bronson's character set up a hit disguised as a gas explosion. He sets up across the street from his target and watches the man make coffee (presumably), read a book and then fall asleep - all the while knowing that in a matter of hours he will be the method of the mans destruction.
In another scene we see Bronson perform another hit, this time on a person who trusts him and then in another we see him coldly explain to a desperate young girl how long it will take her to die and the feelings and sensations she will go through before death.
Taken at its basic level this movie is very disturbing. Anyone who is expecting another GROSSE POINT BLANK will not get it here. This movie is both cold and voyeuristically fascinating to see a man who cares little about life - others or even his own (he blatently ignores a doctors advice at one point, even throwing away some pills designed to help him with anxiety).
The movie is a strange one. There is very little action, and what we do have seems muted by the experiences of Bishop.
the great Charles Bronson
Review date: 2003-09-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
Charles Bronson (1921-2003) left us a legacy that spanned nearly five decades of acting, in many different styles. Though good at comedy as well as drama, he will mostly be remembered as a tough and gritty man of action, remaining very macho and attractive way into his gnarled, craggy later years, never losing that perspicacious glint in his eyes, or his masculine appeal.
"The Mechanic" is one of his best; a unique film with a taut script by John Lewis Carlino, that remains interesting after many years and many viewings.
The first memorable 15 minutes of this film are silent except for the tense, eerie score by Jerry Fielding, and set up the character of Arthur Bishop, who is a hit man with expensive tastes and a heart of steel. It is a part that fits Bronson like a velvet glove, with its complexity, bravado, and action sequences, which are well paced by director Winner, and photographed by Richard Kline. Jan-Michael Vincent is excellent as the cocky, cold-as-ice young man Bishop takes on to teach his "trade", and Jill Ireland (who was married to Bronson for many years) does well in a miniscule part.
Michael Winner made several films with Bronson, another favorite being "Chato's Land", which is an unusual, and very special Western.
The intricacy of the plot will keep you guessing; this is not your typical, predictable action movie, and like most films made in the '70s, it is fun to watch, with its nifty fashions and slightly tacky décor.
A must see for those that like intelligent thrillers, and a great film to celebrate Charles Bronson's life and talent.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Jill Ireland
Linda Ridgeway
Keenan Wynn
Jan-Michael Vincent
Charles Bronson
Creators:
Charles Bronson (Primary Contributor)
Jan-Michael Vincent (Primary Contributor)
Richard H. Kline (Cinematographer)
Robert Paynter (Cinematographer)
Frederick Wilson (Editor)
Henry Gellis (Producer)
Irwin Winkler (Producer)
Robert Chartoff (Producer)
Lewis John Carlino (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5050070020649
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-05-03
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 95 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1972-12-14
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: Romanian (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Polish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)