User Reviews

Not one of the classics of its subgenre (the political paranoia thriller), but still a solid film with a superb Hackman, a top-notch supporting cast (Richard Widmark exudes oily authority with just a smile), good cinematography, and plot twists (not all of them plausible). The scene where Hackman observes from a plane a bomb being planted inside Widmark's car is terrific. A very 1970s film - right down to its pessimistic ending. **1/2 out of 4.

Gene Hackman gets himself busted out of prison by a nameless government agency who want him for an assassination. It's a given of course that Hackman has the proficient skills for the job.

Nobody tells him anything though, he's given as the audience is given bits and pieces of information. That's supposed to be suspenseful, instead it's annoying and boring.

Hackman goes through with the mission, but the getaway is messed up and the guy at the top of this mysterious entity orders everybody dead to cover it up. So everyone in the cast dies and at the end you don't really care.

One of the other reviewers pointed out that the film was originally twice as long, almost three hours and got chopped down quite a bit. Maybe something really was lost in the translation, but I tend to think it was a mercy act on the audience.

A very talented cast that had people like Richard Widmark, Candice Bergen, Mickey Rooney, Eli Wallach, and Edward Albert is so thoroughly wasted here it's a crime.

And we never do find out just what federal agency was doing all this, the FBI, the CIA, the DEA or even the IRS.

People are being too hard on the film. Sometimes we should just sit back and enjoy the story without attempting to "review" it.

The whole thing comes together when Hackman decides not to pull the trigger but his target still goes down. Then the fun begins as everyone about him also "go down".

Just think JFK and all the people associated in any way with his assassination, who's lives ended abruptly and in questionable ways and you'll appreciate what is implied in this film.

I think it's an excellent interpretation of what may well have occurred. Though the EXACT story line my not have been followed (hindsight here after reading Jim Maars "Crossfire") but it's what is implied that is of interest.

I'd love to get a copy of it to view it again. In light of what is known today, The Domino Principle is right on.

With hindsight, "Mandchurian Candidate " was one of the most important movies of the sixties .It was made before the assassination of Kennedy and its screenplay seems stronger than ever.

Many movies were influenced by Frankenheimer's masterpiece ,mainly in the seventies when the political movies were trendy;two movie mostly influenced by it were the excellent "parallax view" (AJ Pakula) and the rather good "Domino Principle " which came a little too late for its own good.

Like "Parallax" ,"Domino" is almost abstract:we never know who is killing who ,who pulls the strings .Tagge (Widmark ) seems to know more than the other "conspirators" .Reser (Wallach) is a general (a maffia one?).Spinventa (Rooney )is an apparent victim (one of the plot holes concerns his character:how could they be so sure Tucker (Hackman) would demand his escape ?).Everybody seems to be manipulated ,even Ellie (Bergen).When the movie is over,you won't know anything about why it happened.

First, it takes a full half hour to get Hackman out of jail and to start doing the job. What a waste of time, we all know Hackman is getting out to do some job for his masters, why waste almost a third of the movie on these sequences. Then Hackman stays in a hotel and the story arc again goes nowhere, simply proving to us that Hackman is under close watch and anything he says or does is know by the masters. Again, another 20 minutes. Then more wasted time showing the reunion with his wife. All of this should have taken 10-15 minutes at most simply as a set-up for the real action, intrigue and plot twists. By the time the real action gets going, I was so bored that I just wanted the movie to end. Hackman is great as usual, and the other actors as well, but this is a dud of the first magnitude.

In the aftermath of Watergate, a number of conspiracy movies appeared, such as this one, written by the late Adam Kennedy ( based on his novel ).

Gene Hackman plays ex-Vietnam veteran 'Roy Tucker', a loser who has wound up in prison. He receives visits from Marvin Tagge ( Richard Widmark ), who claims to represent an organisation designed to assist the wrongly convicted. They offer him freedom, and despite distrusting Tagge he accepts. But he brings along a fellow cell mate by the name of Spiventa ( Mickey Rooney ). Exactly why is hard to see, as Spiventa is an irritating little man who drives Tucker mad with persistent talk of sex, not what you want to hear when you are behind bars.

Tagge's benefactors kill Spiventa before Tucker's astonished eyes. Reunited with wife Ellie ( Candice Bergen ), and given a new identity ( strangely, he does not attempt to change his appearance. Shaving off that cheesy moustache would have been a start ), he settles down, but finds there is a catch - Tagge wants Tucker to do no less than assassinate the President of the United States. He refuses, so Tagge has Ellie abducted...

I will leave the synopsis here, but I am sure you can guess the rest for yourself. The script has enough plot holes to make you want to read the book ( neat trick that! ). The people Tagge represents are never revealed. The allusions to J.F.K.'s killing are unmistakable. Despite the findings of The Warren Commission, the doubt as to whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone persists to this day.

This was Stanley Kramer's first movie in years, and while no turkey, it lacks the grip of say John Frankenheimer's 'The Manchurian Candidate' or Alan J.Pakula's 'The Parallax View'. Being a left-wing conspiracy movie, it tends to skirt around its subject matter instead of getting to grips with it. I prefer right-wing ones myself - they are funnier! 'Domino' has the look and feel of a made-for-T.V. movie, and boasts what must be the easiest prison escape in movie history not to mention an ending copped from the Michael Caine classic 'Get Carter'.

What makes it watchable are Gene Hackman and Richard Widmark. The latter, who sadly passed away earlier this year, is superb as the mysterious Tagge, who initially appears to be behind the operation until he too is ruthlessly eliminated, beginning a chain of deaths designed to remove all trace of evidence as one by one the perpetrators of this evil plot fall - just like dominoes. As Tucker, the innocent pawn, Hackman is marvellous. You have to wonder though why he chose to hide out in such an obvious place. In his shoes, I'd have fled to the other side of the world, anywhere to get away from these fanatics. Hackman's love scenes with Bergen slow the plot down, and it is almost a relief when she gets snatched. Presumably the producers thought so too, which explains why it opens with a bizarre prologue setting out the film's entire premise - voiced by British actor Patrick Allen - warning the audience that 'they' are out there, and that 'they' are out to get us. Comedian Les Dawson later spoofed this opening in his B.B.C. show 'The Dawson Watch'.

Mickey Rooney had earlier worked with Kramer on 'Its A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'. His 'death' scene here resembles like an outtake from that picture, with the actor looking as though he has been stung by a wasp rather than shot dead.

Conspiracy movies used to be only made by the left, but now the right are getting in on the act too. Last year, 'Taking Liberties', an absurd concoction of lies and half-truths about Tony Blair's Government turned out to be Britain's answer to 'Reefer Madness'. At least, 'Domino' had lovely Candice Bergen. The best Chris Atkins' film could offer was Anne Widdecombe!

Surprisingly, 'The Domino Principle' was made by Sir Lew Grade, the legendary British television mogul behind 'The Saint', 'Jesus Of Nazareth' and 'The Muppet Show'. He worked with Adam Kennedy again in 1980 on 'Raise The Titanic!', whose failure was so great it sank Grade's ambitions of being the new Louis B.Meyer. Being somewhat open-minded, I would not rule out the possibility of a conspiracy.

The excellent cast is the main reason to watch this passable drama, even though they have been better utilized in other films. As it is, the movie is pretty forgettable, if competently made. Stanley Kramer, legendary helmer of such classics as "Inherit the Wind, "Judgment at Nuremberg", and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", directs from a script by Adam Kennedy, who adapts his own novel. There's violence, plot twists, and an unconvincing romance as part of this not terribly interesting tale.

It begins as a narrator forces us to ponder the idea that we are all manipulated at some point in our lives. It then goes on to show us a none-too-bright schmuck who lets himself get jerked around, to his great regret. That man is Roy Tucker (Gene Hackman), who's doing time for murder and who gets sprung from jail by one of those standard-issue shady organizations that we've all seen in movies that are up to no good. Roy finds out that he's been recruited as an assassin, but it remains to be seen if he'll actually grow a brain and stop letting himself be used.

Most of the actors try their best, although Candice Bergen, who'd previously played Hackmans' young wife in the grim, violent Western "The Hunting Party", is miscast in a deglamourized role and simply looks uncomfortable. Co-starring are Richard Widmark, Edward Albert, and Eli Wallach as assorted heavies, Mickey Rooney as Tuckers' cellmate, Ken Swofford as a warden, and Jay Novello as an immigration officer. Also helping to keep this thing watchable are effective photography and fine scenery, as well as a nice score by Billy Goldenberg. Otherwise, this isn't exactly stimulating, and in the end it sure isn't surprising.

If one is a fan of the talent assembled, they may see this as a mild diversion.

Five out of 10.