I thoroughly enjoy both movies so a real treat to watch. I watched Charles Bronson in The Mechanic the other night and was blown away by how much arse that flick kicks. Loved it.
The Mechanic and indeed Death Wish both feel to me like a kind of more refined grindhouse for the mainstream. Essential viewing. Thanks for your comment, bodie of ci5. Appreciated.
@@tonybush555 Bronson ws on a roll in the 70s. Even Telefon and The Stone Killer are head and shoulders above any so called action film made today. Mr Majestyk and The Mechanic are my faves though.
@@thatguyfromcetialphaV Not all that enthusiastic about Telefon, despite it being directed by the great Don Siegel, but I still find it to be entertaining. However The Stone Killer and Mr Majestyk are right up there for me. In fact, Mr Majestyk, because it's less well known and therefore less obvious a target, is on my list of potential future reviews.
@@tonybush555 I don't like CB's 80s output. It just seemed gratuitously nasty for no reason, but we are talking about Cannon Films here. Hard Times is great as well. Everyone goes on about Once Upon A Time In the West but I still stand by The Machanic as my fave.
They were the staple of the movie distribution and screening world for many decades up until the 80s when things started to change. Two films for the price of admission, and, yeah, it was great. Especially for me as I got to see twice as much stuff. Thanks for commenting. Much appreciated.
I saw the second film which was known as “Fflokes” back in the early 80’s on cable and always like the scene that Tony Perkins was shot but tried to kill again. Remember hearing years later that Moore like this film during the time he was making 007 movies. Enjoy your reviews of films gone by
I recently watched some of Zack Snyder's Justice League on Sky Movies. The director's cut, no less. I gave it an hour then turned it off. It was so slow, incoherent, bloated and overblown. There was no emotional connection for me, no entertainment value, no involvement, nothing to interest. It was like a tedious hi-tech animated PowerPoint slideshow that looked and felt irredeemably flat and turgid, washed-out, moribund. Nothing at all against those who like and enjoy it - if it's your thing, then that's great. Me, I prefer stuff made by people for people to watch and engage with. Like Where Eagles Dare and others, for example, which still burns me up all these years later. I don't seem to be able to get that from modern action movies. As the Sex Pistols put it, "No fun." Thanks for your comment, Lee. Appreciated.
@@tonybush555 I have always said, there's a real chance Jason and his Argonauts, if they existed, never actually fought sword-wielding skeletons, but if they did, Ray Harryhausen gave you a great insight into the physical dynamics of how it may have genuinely played out. Then we have the physics-defying nonsense of todays films where two so-called 'superheroes' throw each other 400 yards into numerous buildings, which proceed to collapse around them, without ANYONE seemingly hurt. They do this several times until the plot dictates that one of them has to succumb to a whack on the noggin with a wet haddock delivered by a 7 year-old child.
I always thought North sea Hijack should have done better than it did, changing the title to ffokes in the US was stupid. The formula of North Sea Hijack was copied many times in the 90s and the 00s, think of Die Hard, Under Siege and all the rip offs. The Killer Elite review was spot on, but it came out two years after Enter the Dragon and the craze for the martial arts movies. Killer Elite should have been the start of the gittiers action movie which Peckingpah got just right. Apologies for my comments now Tony, only just discovered you a few weeks ago. Take care.
North Sea Hijack? No thank you. I was expecting a damn fine adventure. Nope, it wasn't to be. Within minutes it was very clear that Hijack was going to be naff. Just because it didn't work for me, does not mean that I expect everyone else to consider it rubbish. If you love it, fair play to you. Go ahead, enjoy.
This video makes the comment of the tepid quality of modern day action films. I would normally agree. Recently I gave a watch to "Those Who Wish Me Dead" from 2021. It was a surprise. Directed by Taylor Sheridan who made shit people like in "Hell or High Water", "Sicario" and "Wind River". All seem to feature characters with dimension attributes caught up in tragic violence that's rendered viscerally. Fans of Sam Peckinpah will drink late into the night keeping the movies rolling with the likes of these ones
i like the killer elite a lot.i wonder if it was sams attempt to spoof violence as seen in other movies compared to the reality he tried to portray. the title is to me an in joke.the killer elite as led by duvall are anything but and remarkably easy to kill.the unstoppable ninja army then so popular in us movies are stopped! simply by doing the obvious and shooting them.bo burt and jimmy kill people and are tough guys thats the sly joke.they beat all the others because they are tough men good at it and ready to kill.no elite traing no well use the night mumbo jumbo a .45 and a very mean disposition are far more effective.its like sam bringing his nihilistic wild bunch to san francisco of the 70s real killers instead of men who talk the talk but in reality fall short of the mark.
It was a bread and butter project for Peckinpah and would have likely been a more pedestrian and less nuanced movie in the hands of some other directors for hire. As it was, his trademark style and macho philosophy elevated it for me. Plus you've got Caan, Duvall, Bo Hopkins and Burt Young in the mix. That a physically impaired contractor, a reckless psychopath and an aging taxi driver take on and beat a supposedly elite CIA hit team and a hoard of ninjas is probably Peckinpah being more than a little satirical. Thanks, Mike.
