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Movies Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.16
- Thread starter Dragonlordxxxxx
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The Mechanic (USA, 1972)
American crime thriller directed by Michael Winner and starring Charles Bronson.
The opening scene is 15 fantastic minutes without dialogue where we observe Arthur Bishop (Bronson) set up an elaborate assassination in NYC. It is a great way to start the film. It plays to Bronson's strengths and it both sets up the story and leaves us with all sorts of questions that we want answered.
Bishop returns to his home in LA. We quickly learn that he is an expert assassin (referred to as a "mechanic" in underworld parlance) who receives contracts from the mysterious Organization.
Bishop lives in solitary luxury. He is surrounded by art and music but socially isolated. He pops pills, appears to be depressed, and has a panic attack.
Bishop takes on an apprentice, Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), the narcissistic son of a senior mobster who Bishop had recently assassinated.
The beginning of the film shows so much promise. I love the extended opening scene in NYC. Back in LA, the film continues to build with
Unfortunately, for me, the film gets bogged down in a middle part that highlights bad dialogue and terrible acting by Vincent. The action scenes may have been ok in the 70's but they mostly look lame now. The various explosions are comical. A dirt-bike flies off a cliff and then explodes into a massive fireball right before it hits the ground. Not good, Bob. I do have to give a shout out to the bike helmet game. In a life and death chase scene both the pursuer and the pursued take time to put on their motorcycle helmets. Safety first! I get it that they wanted to make it easier to hide the stunt riders but the fact that the director could not come up with a better way of doing it speaks to the overall poor direction of the film.
I should also note how ugly the early 70's were. Bishop supposedly lives in luxury but the decor looks comically absurd in the present. Such is the cycle of fashion and aesthetics.
The rather forced inclusion of the karate scenes also have incredible THIS IS THE 70'S vibes.
The film finishes strong with a great ending.
This is a frustrating film because Bronson is pretty good, there are lots of elements in place for a really interesting character, the beginning is excellent, and they pulled off a good ending. Yet the other parts are so meh. I was expecting a middling genre film. What I got was a limited genre film that could have actually been really good. That is the frustrating part.
Rating: 5/10
American crime thriller directed by Michael Winner and starring Charles Bronson.
The opening scene is 15 fantastic minutes without dialogue where we observe Arthur Bishop (Bronson) set up an elaborate assassination in NYC. It is a great way to start the film. It plays to Bronson's strengths and it both sets up the story and leaves us with all sorts of questions that we want answered.
Bishop returns to his home in LA. We quickly learn that he is an expert assassin (referred to as a "mechanic" in underworld parlance) who receives contracts from the mysterious Organization.
Bishop lives in solitary luxury. He is surrounded by art and music but socially isolated. He pops pills, appears to be depressed, and has a panic attack.
Bishop takes on an apprentice, Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), the narcissistic son of a senior mobster who Bishop had recently assassinated.
The beginning of the film shows so much promise. I love the extended opening scene in NYC. Back in LA, the film continues to build with
Bishop's interaction and then murder of Big Harry McKenna. The way Bronson stands there as Harry laughingly recounts the casual cruelty that Bishop's dad displayed towards his son is a great scene. As is Bishop's cold blooded murder of Harry a short time later. When Bishop later visits the blonde we get an amazing twist when we find out that she is a prostitute paid extra to pretend to be in love with him. These are all great scenes and give depth to Bishop's character. Later on I also loved the scene where Bishop accompanies Steve to the girl's house and patiently watches as she bleeds out after slashing her wrists. As a psychopath, Bishop can appreciate those same qualities in Steve.
Unfortunately, for me, the film gets bogged down in a middle part that highlights bad dialogue and terrible acting by Vincent. The action scenes may have been ok in the 70's but they mostly look lame now. The various explosions are comical. A dirt-bike flies off a cliff and then explodes into a massive fireball right before it hits the ground. Not good, Bob. I do have to give a shout out to the bike helmet game. In a life and death chase scene both the pursuer and the pursued take time to put on their motorcycle helmets. Safety first! I get it that they wanted to make it easier to hide the stunt riders but the fact that the director could not come up with a better way of doing it speaks to the overall poor direction of the film.
I should also note how ugly the early 70's were. Bishop supposedly lives in luxury but the decor looks comically absurd in the present. Such is the cycle of fashion and aesthetics.
The rather forced inclusion of the karate scenes also have incredible THIS IS THE 70'S vibes.
The film finishes strong with a great ending.
This is a frustrating film because Bronson is pretty good, there are lots of elements in place for a really interesting character, the beginning is excellent, and they pulled off a good ending. Yet the other parts are so meh. I was expecting a middling genre film. What I got was a limited genre film that could have actually been really good. That is the frustrating part.
Rating: 5/10
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Started watching Vin Diesel Bloodshot (?) and paused when he was about to do some fighting after getting his super powers.
Started watching Indiana Jones Dial of Destiny and also paused because it's quite long.
Watched entire Timecop and it's rare they credit the token naked actress. Wasn't crap movie. Felt like an old movie alright.
Started watching Indiana Jones Dial of Destiny and also paused because it's quite long.
Watched entire Timecop and it's rare they credit the token naked actress. Wasn't crap movie. Felt like an old movie alright.
