Tony Arzenta (aka Big Guns)

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I didn't want this to get lost in the other Italian crime thread, because it's my goal to help Horace whenever I can.

Here are some caps from the Thug City Chronicles set that includes Tony Arzenta.

English dub. Non-anamorphic, interlaced but reasonable quality compared to the expensive and/or non-English friendly imports.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

What's the runtime on this one, Ian? This looks like a port of the Japanese disc, which has a runtime of 105:29 mins.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Paul, the run times shows as 104:32 but there's no studio intro or anything like that, so I wonder if that makes the difference?

[Scyther Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Scyther]

Movie fucking rules. One of my favorite Eurocrime flicks. Alain Delon is cool as ice in this one, really makes me want to delve further into the French crime genre, a la Jean Pierre Melville and such.

[Horace Cordier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Horace Cordier]

Thanks for the help Ian and the gang. I first blundered by buying the BIG GUNS collection that Paul L warned against but just snapped up the "Thug City Chronicles" so it looks good at this point. Both sets have a few things I haven't seen before so it seems OK all told.

[Horace Cordier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Horace Cordier]

Movie fucking rules. One of my favorite Eurocrime flicks. Alain Delon is cool as ice in this one, really makes me want to delve further into the French crime genre, a la Jean Pierre Melville and such.

I love French crime films. They are a slightly different beast to their Italian cousins but VERY worthwhile. Here is something I posted elsewhere a while ago about two of my favorites:

Ok, so everyone knows I have my problems with the French. But I just saw these two movies and have to say that as my first taste of French crime, I was blown away.

I expected something similar to the Italian cop films I love so much, but this is a different beast. The scripts are more coherent, the action more subdued but more believable and the acting was extremely good all around.

BORSALINO AND COMPANY is one of the best directed films I've ever seen. Its a period piece, set in the late 30's and the attention to period detail is amazing. Many times I was reminded of THE GODFATHER. The funeral, some of the shoot-outs and the interplay between Alain Delon's gangster and his Italian fascist nemesis was well developed. Delon is an incredibly charismatic actor. Cold as ice, but he expresses emotion perfectly without saying a word. He also does a great drunk scene.

UN FLIC was great too. A little more ambigious than BORSALINO AND COMPANY and Delon's role was much smaller, but still a great film. Melville was a master director, and one of his gifts was what he DID NOT show you. There are key moments in the film where you think you know exactly whats coming and he confounds (in the best possible way) the viewer. This one was also a real eye opener in terms of Richard Crenna - he really shines in this and actually has the more important role. The opening bank sequence in the pouring rain is brilliant. Melville had a bit in common with Sergio Leone - they both knew how to use a tight close up on an actor's face. The other thing I loved was that everyone looked REAL - the film is filled with great character actors in small roles (and Catherine Deneuve for some eye candy).

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Paul, the run times shows as 104:32 but there's no studio intro or anything like that, so I wonder if that makes the difference?

That may very well explain it, Ian.

Movie fucking rules. One of my favorite Eurocrime flicks. Alain Delon is cool as ice in this one, really makes me want to delve further into the French crime genre, a la Jean Pierre Melville and such.

Please do. Melville is one of my favourite directors. Barring DEUX HOMMES DANS MANHATTAN, there's not a clunker in his filmography at all (imo, of course).

I love the Belmondo films too. There's a great boxset of his movies that has been released in France recently, but sadly many of the films aren't English friendly.


Delon is supercool, I agree. I recently rewatched PLEIN SOLEIL via the new Criterion Blu and was reminded how good a film it is. Some of his films have been released on Blu in France recently (POUR LA PEAU D'UN FLIC, FLIC STORY, LE BATTANT, BORSALINO & CO.), but I don't think (m)any of them have English options either. Great films though, worth tracking down.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

Alain Delon is cool as ice in this one, really makes me want to delve further into the French crime genre, a la Jean Pierre Melville and such.

Yes, do take a look at some French crime amigo, I bet you'll like what you see! Horace and Paul have mentioned some outstanding films and to echo Paul, Melville is The Man. A couple others worth checking out (available from Criterion though, so not cheap): CLASSE TOUS RISQUES - This one teams Belmondo and Lino Ventura, it's a riveting, downbeat noirish story. TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI - This one's older, from 1954, but don't let that fool you...it's a tough gangster story with a killer central performance from Jean Gabin (and Lino Ventura is in this as well).

[Scyther Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Scyther]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I've had the Criterion releases on my radar for a while, now, but the price has thus far put me off. Probably going to order a bunch of these soon, however.