Since I've recently been watching a lot of 70s films I've been struck as to how dated they are in relation to today . THE STONE KILLER is yet another film that's a product of its era . Charles Bronson plays a tough , maverick cop who bends the rules which is a staple fare of 1970s crime cinema . It's directed by Michael Winner best remembered for his work in the 1970s and has a host of actors who are best known for the roles in the 1970s such as Paul Kosolo and Jack Colvin
Plot wise it does touch upon a theme that came to the fore during the era - traumatised veterans of the Vietnam war trying to find a purpose in peacetime . This led to a whole spectrum of films from the classic TAXI DRIVER to exploitation cinema such as THE EXTERMINATOR . Unfortunately this theme remains somewhat underdeveloped and is mainly an excuse to show several shoot outs . Also underdeveloped is the main plot of the Mafia recruiting these veterans to avenge some killings over 40 years earlier . Why avenge these deaths 40 years later ? Why use Vietnam vets ? Unless I missed something this remain unexplained
It's certainly not a classic of American cinema but what it is violent entertainment from the 1970s . So we see cops beating confessions out of bad guys , car chases , shoot ups , characters hitting each other with ethnic slurs and new agers being laughed at . I can understand why some people preferred the 70s to the 1960s
Plot wise it does touch upon a theme that came to the fore during the era - traumatised veterans of the Vietnam war trying to find a purpose in peacetime . This led to a whole spectrum of films from the classic TAXI DRIVER to exploitation cinema such as THE EXTERMINATOR . Unfortunately this theme remains somewhat underdeveloped and is mainly an excuse to show several shoot outs . Also underdeveloped is the main plot of the Mafia recruiting these veterans to avenge some killings over 40 years earlier . Why avenge these deaths 40 years later ? Why use Vietnam vets ? Unless I missed something this remain unexplained
It's certainly not a classic of American cinema but what it is violent entertainment from the 1970s . So we see cops beating confessions out of bad guys , car chases , shoot ups , characters hitting each other with ethnic slurs and new agers being laughed at . I can understand why some people preferred the 70s to the 1960s