10/10
Underrated film one of Bronson's Best and one of the Best 70's Cop Films!
23 April 2006
My Jaw Drops at all the Bad Press this Movie gets!!...As a Hardcore Bronson Fan (and I've seen them all!) This is one of the Best films from his 'Golden' Period (1968 to 1976); and probably one of the best 'Cop' films of the 70's; next to 'Dirty Harry', 'Magnum Force', 'Laughing Policeman'; 'Serpico', etc.....Another 'reviewer'? called this 'boring'....Unbelievable!! The film moves at lightning pace from the get-go; alternating between New York and Los Angeles (with detours to the Mohave Desert) for it's complex Mafioso Revenge plot.....I think this film must set some kind of record for on-location shots!...I counted over a hundred on the last viewing.....ALL Real locations; NONE on the lot....The film is a virtual panoramic time capsule of Mid-70's L.A. and New York....It's also an Incredible 'Who's Who' of 70's Film and TV Character Actors...EVERYBODY is in this Movie!!....You've got Ralph Waite...'Papa Walton', as a racist cop with Incredibly Bad wardrobe taste; Half of 'Three's Company'....John Ritter as an inept cop, and Norman Fell as Bronson's West Coast partner; 'Rockford Files' Stuart Margolin as a 'Nam Vet' turned Mob Hit-man; 'The Hulk's' Jack Colvin as a mob underling; Martin Balsam as a Mafia Don; and the ICONIC 70's Bad Guy Character Actor, Paul Koslo, in a key role!!....(Did I mention that this film also has one of the ALL-TIME BEST CAR CHASE SCENES in Cinema History?)....Yep; Better than 'Bullitt'......SUPERB direction from Michael Winner (Bronson's Best Director); a Razor-Sharp script from Gerald Wilson, an absolutely KILLER Roy Budd Soundtrack (that has been Heavily Sampled); combine to make this one of the TOP FIVE Bronson Films; and as I said previously; One of THE BEST 70's Cop Films; It's an Absolute CRIME that Columbia has NOT put this film out on DVD!! (There's even a Trailer for this film on their DVD release of 'Hard Times'!...So What's Up??!!)
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