Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:00 pm
Synopsis :
Gene Hackman & Roy Scheider play some drugs cops who stumble onto a huge shipment of drugs about to be imported to the U.S.
Verdict :
This is one of the quintessential man films. No important women, no romance, no worthless subplots, no subtlety, no "nonviolence is good" crap. William Freidkin (who directed "The Exorcist") presents the drug smugglers & cops as equally criminal, it's just that one is state-sanctioned & one is capitalism-sanctioned. This gives Gene leeway to act as over-the-top as the script will allow. You get to see Gene play an extremely driven, single-minded bastard who feels that the ends indeed justify the means and people are only innocent until they piss him off. His foil (Scheider) gets to be a more laid-back, "go run my errands while I hunt people" type of dude. But even he's tough as nails & gets to be a bad-ass during the final shootout.
This is a fine specimen of a flick. Solid acting, solid directing, solid plot, interesting, intelligent villain, & an ending w\ a twist that still has some impact to this day. Oh, there's also one of the most famous car chase scenes in cinematic history. Car v. elevated train. While various aspects of the car chase have been repeated/parodied in numerous flicks thruout the years, I've not seen the ending ripped off.
Verdict : 9 of 10. The relationship between the cops and the brass & the cops and the feds is somewhat cliched, but otherwise a truly worthwhile flick.
Gene Hackman & Roy Scheider play some drugs cops who stumble onto a huge shipment of drugs about to be imported to the U.S.
Verdict :
This is one of the quintessential man films. No important women, no romance, no worthless subplots, no subtlety, no "nonviolence is good" crap. William Freidkin (who directed "The Exorcist") presents the drug smugglers & cops as equally criminal, it's just that one is state-sanctioned & one is capitalism-sanctioned. This gives Gene leeway to act as over-the-top as the script will allow. You get to see Gene play an extremely driven, single-minded bastard who feels that the ends indeed justify the means and people are only innocent until they piss him off. His foil (Scheider) gets to be a more laid-back, "go run my errands while I hunt people" type of dude. But even he's tough as nails & gets to be a bad-ass during the final shootout.
This is a fine specimen of a flick. Solid acting, solid directing, solid plot, interesting, intelligent villain, & an ending w\ a twist that still has some impact to this day. Oh, there's also one of the most famous car chase scenes in cinematic history. Car v. elevated train. While various aspects of the car chase have been repeated/parodied in numerous flicks thruout the years, I've not seen the ending ripped off.
Verdict : 9 of 10. The relationship between the cops and the brass & the cops and the feds is somewhat cliched, but otherwise a truly worthwhile flick.