Reviews

John Mackenzie does a masterful directorial job in this movie as does cinematography by Phil Meheux and brilliant script by Barrie Keeffe. Now with that said the movie revolves around Bob Hoskins who in this movie plays one of the toughest movie characters you've ever seen up on the big screen. Bob Hoskins just rocks in this movie! And you might be like "Bob Hoskins... Eddie Valiant from Roger Rabbit plays a tough character????"... and yes after you see Hoskins in this role you will be like Bob is the man! This is one of those awesome rare performances in a movie where an actor just *is* that character (in the same vain as say a Al Pacino as Tony Montana) and makes it into someone we can enjoy and really really be blown away with movie coolness by... all at the same time just completely liking the character they have created.

Helen Mirren is very sexy in this movie and she plays her role perfectly... you never quite can tell where her alliance truly is... and you kind of get the sense she is beautiful girl who got caught in a world she long had dreamed about but once there wished for a way out.

It was cool seeing Razor being played by actor P.H. Moriarty who was Hatchet Harry in the recent great movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Alan Ford who plays Brick Top in Guy Ritchies latest movie stars here as Jack.

Now be prepared the first 30 minutes of this movie sort of takes you through a maze... a long elaborate set up that sets everything in motion that happens in the movie... which at first is confusing but on repeat viewings you will see how perfect it works for the movie.

Once the movie kicks into gear you as the movie audience become like a right hand man to Bob Hoskins... you are right there with him at every turn as he tries to figure out what is going on. You become so engrossed and involved with the movie you aren't merely watching it your a part of it... your his right hand man... I don't mean this in a literal take it right off the page kinda way... but in that way of explaining in just how involved this movie gets you into it and Bob Hoskins.

Now the ending of the movie just gets my blood pumping. I spent an entire day just thinking about the end of this movie. The more and more I thought about it the more I liked the ending but not in the usual way one would like the ending to a movie. Without ruining the movie lets just say it doesn't have a *Hollywood ending*. I wonder how most people react to the ending especially back when the movie first came out... and what the sorta mood was as people got up out of their seats and left the theater. This is a gangster movie where the bad guys are really really bad and not just sorta or half way bad... but I mean they are gonna do whatever they gotta do to take care of business... they aren't sprinkled with badness they are walking and breathing badness.

I don't think I'll ever forget the ending though. The ending will be carved into my mind for quite some time. It's great to see that Criterion has added this movie to it's collection so if you have a DVD player and some extra money... go out and get this movie to watch (of course the Criterion version is gonna be the best way to see and experience it unless you happen to have your own 35mm print of the movie and a private movie theater in your home). Though if you had a private movie theater in your shower I'd say this isn't a shower kinda movie but a movie that you must watch from beginning to end without any interruptions where for one part of a day or night, you unplug all your phones, computer, turn off your cel phone/pager... and hit play and let the movie magic of this movie unfold.

Be prepared to be converted to being a life long fan of monkey kung fu movies after seeing this movie! This is the *granddaddy* of monkey kung fu movies! Prepare to have your world rocked with movie coolness monkey kung fu style! One of the all time most entertaining movies ever made! This is what kung fu movies are supposed to be... highly entertaining, jaw dropping edge of your seat fight sequences and great humor.

I had the chance to see this fine movie as the 4th Annual Tarantino Film Festival. When Tarantino introduced the movie he showed off his monkey kung fu and drunken style kung fu skills which were dead on. Though I will note that in the version shown at this fest it shows about a 2 minute sequence involving a monkey fight a snake, which is crucial to the plot towards the end... which on most video versions of this movie is completely cut out which pretty much renders the end of the movie sorta confusing and disjointed. So if you do look for this film be sure and look for the uncut complete version of it with the full monkey fighting the snake sequence. There are various movie places out there that sell the uncut version. If you watch a edited version of this movie you will probably scratch your head and wonder why anyone would rave about this movie... you know the slightest of cuts to a movie in any length at crucial points in the movie can have the hugest effect on it... and this is one of those cases.

From the opening scenes of someone jumping from tree to tree monkey kung fu style I was hooked with this movie. The movie gets you involved from beginning to end. The good guys in the movie are all fight monkey kung fu style with some mixing in some drunken style, which makes for a super super cool combination. The bad guys all fight snake fist style which makes for an awesome adversary in fighting techniques.

I can say I haven't seen an audience so into a movie and so full of joy afterwards since I first saw the movie The Matrix. This is like one of those ultimate kung fu movies that fires and hits on all cylinders. Many of us have seen so many bad kung fu movies we forget there are those gems like this one that revitalizes you, takes you to movie paradise... that magical feeling you get when you walk out of a movie that makes you remember why you love movies in the first place. The climax and final fight sequence in the uncut version of this film is one of the best fight sequences I've seen in any movie. You are literally almost on your feet or at the edge of your seat with your arms and legs reacting with kung fu moves to what is happening on the screen as you root for the good guy.

I have become the hugest fan of monkey kung fu movies after seeing this movie and I'm sure anyone out there that sees this movie will want to run out and rent or buy every monkey kung fu movie they can find... though there aren't too many movies in any genre quite as entertaining and cool as this one. Hopefully the fine folks at Criterion will someday turn this into their fine collection of DVD releases.

I was browsing the commentary track on the DVD release of Soderbergh's movie *The Limey* where he and screenwriter Lem Dobbs are talking about Barry Newman and movies with cool chases... Lem Dobbs just so happens to mention his fondness for "Fear is the Key" and it's cool car chase sequence, etc., Once I hear the words "movie" and "cool car chase" in the same sentence my interest automatically goes through the roof... as there is nothing better I like than a movie with a cool car chase in it. I ask all my friends if they've heard of the movie and no one, and I mean NO ONE I know has ever even heard of the movie. When I was at Tarantino's 4th Annual Film Fest I asked him about the movie and he hadn't even seen it (though he just had gotten a print of it). So here for this huge period of time was this movie I had been building up and dying to see...

Well at last I finally got to see it (as I found a place that was legit and sold copies of it) and was not let down in the slightest though I will say the last 5 minutes of the movie has one of the most original and intense endings I've ever seen. The movie is worth watching for seeing a tour de force performance by Barry Newman, the very very gorgeous Suzy Kendall (whom was also in Torso), and a pre-Gandhi Ben Kingsley (with hair), a very electrifying and long car chase that is one of the coolest car chases I've ever seen in a movie, and the last 5 minutes which just sucks you in and makes you forget your watching a movie... I mean the ending just literally has you on the edge of your seat. This movie is also a must for any Alistair Maclaine fans since it was based on Alistairs novel of the same title.

The movie starts out slowly and your not quite sure where it is going to go. It drifts along for the first couple of minutes and then *BAM* it takes off like a bat out of hell and never slows down until the credits roll at the end. It is one of those few action/adventure movies where you aren't quite sure what is going to happen next, which way it will twist, nor are you really sure of the intentions or alliances that any of the characters... it just literally takes you on a wild ride of adventure and intrigue.

The car chase sequence which goes on for quite some time (like around 10 minutes or so) is just one of the all time coolest car chases you will see in a movie. I mean it's not on the level of the French Connection, or Bullitt, or the all out craziness of The Master Touch... but it is cool in it's own unique way of sorta of throwing out the usual movie rules cliche that you can only have a car chase on a road. In this movie if a car is coming down the road right at Barry Newman... he doesn't try to hit it dead on or try to out maneuver it on the actual road... he is like forget that and takes off into the woods, forest or beach or whatever is around him... you get the sense he'd take his car through a supermarket or a iceberg if he had to. Which makes the scene electrifying with movie coolness.

I would talk about the ending more but... sigh... it just is so unique and surprising... it would be a huge injustice to say anything other than it was my favorite part of the movie and I'm surprise a James Bond film hasn't ripped it off yet.

Barry Newman shines John Talbot and puts on a tour de force type of performance that is so friggin good and cool! You rarely ever get such a cool acting performance in a action/adventure type movie... yet Barry Newman here shows why he was one of the best and coolest actors of the 70's and even today!

I will say I just loved loved Suzy Kendall in this movie. Of course she is just gorgeous but I mean she made the most of her role, whereas with other actresses they could have just completely walked through the role with blandness with zero effort. I had previous seen Suzy in the movie Torso so I was already a big fan of her work.

Alistair Maclaine who wrote the novel to which the movie is based on is known for full throttle engaging novels full of adventure that once they get into gear they grab a hold of you until the very end. You can chalk this one as another one of Alistair's novels that was made into a great movie (Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, Where Eagles Dare, are some of the other and more well known).

So I am very thankful now to Lem Dobbs who inspired me to see this fine flick and hopefully now I can spread that onto others now to see this forgotten but great movie.