Gritty Realistic 70s Action/Dramas...

[Alison Jane Girl Boss Jane Find all posts View Profile Close Alison Jane]

I don't think we ended up watching any of this!

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

I just saw the Laughing Policeman recently. It started out great, but slowly heads downhill with too many subplots that go nowhere and a pretty unsatisfying ending. Still a solid film, but nowhere near as good as Charley Varrick or The Taking of Pelham 123.

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

BARE KNUCKLES has been on my most-wanted list for awhile. I'm tempted to buy the DVD-r from Just for the Hell of It.

Picked up a VHS with a generic cover from Amazon not too long ago. Still haven't watched the damn thing, but fuck, do I LOVE the soundtrack....composed by Vic Caesar of Massacre Mafia Style, no less!

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

Yeah NIGHT is yet another 70s gem.

Good to see others mention PRIME CUT. I would also include CHARLIE VARRICK by Don Siegel and WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN, perhaps the great CUTTER'S WAY but that is more thriller than action.

Loved the druggy 70s vibe of DUSTY AND SWEETS MCGEE but there is definitely no action in it that I can recall.

100 percent agreed on NIGHT. Never heard of Prime Cut, will have to check it out!!

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

Never heard of Prime Cut, will have to check it out!!

Whoah! Remedy that asap :)

Back when I was in my twenties, I remember having a conversation with a young woman who revealed that her favourite film was PRIME CUT. In retrospect, I should have proposed marriage there and then: women like that aren't ten a penny

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

Whoah! Remedy that asap :)

Back when I was in my twenties, I remember having a conversation with a young woman who revealed that her favourite film was PRIME CUT. In retrospect, I should have proposed marriage there and then: women like that aren't ten a penny

I will! Ordering that sucker tonight, I think. :) And that does sound like one hell of a woman!

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

I finally got around to seeing Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY and it blew me away. What a fun crime caper! I think my expectations were low because I recently watched CONVOY and, despite a fun first half, I thought it kinda sucked. I should've known that THE GETAWAY would be awesome, it is Peckinpah after all, but what a pleasant surprise. I can't believe how stupid Ali McGraw's character is in this, and I must give credit to Steve McQueen's Doc McCoy for not strangling her!

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

I agree about The Getaway. I've only seen it on cable over years but picked up a used blu for less than $3 a couple of weeks ago. It looks great!

He doesn't strangle her but doesn't he pull over & slap the shit out of here a few times? (I haven't watched it yet, just scanned through it to make sure it played)

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Yeah, he gives her a few slaps at the side of the road, but she gets off relatively easy, considering how much grief she causes poor Doc. Even Sally Struthers' character gets cold-cocked, and Doc barely knew her. I feel that maybe the (ludicrous) claims that Peckinpah was a misogynist may have come from the portrayal of women in this particular film.

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

Even Sally Struthers' character gets cold-cocked, and Doc barely knew her.

In the audience's eyes, however, she had it coming owing to her particularly cruel treatment of her husband. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1972, Struthers claimed that McQueen didn't pull his punch in the scene in which he knocks her character out - and Peckinpah shot a number of takes of it. Peckinpah's depiction of gender relations in this film is incendiary - which is perhaps part of its appeal - and anchored by the presence of McQueen. That said, given the choice, I'd rather watch the other Peckinpah-McQueen pairing released in the same year, JUNIOR BONNER. THE GETAWAY's compromised by the Quincy Jones score (the score Jerry Fielding composed for it is much better, imo), and you can spot the 'pretty boy' shots which McQueen reputedly had inserted into the picture against Peckinpah's wishes. However, the opening montage is one of the most brilliant sequences in any Peckinpah picture (imo), and the pivotal heist is a masterpiece in cross-cutting (again, imo).

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Agreed that the score was a bit inappropriate and Struthers being knocked out was an intentional crowd-pleaser.

I'm looking forward to seeing JUNIOR BONNER and a few of his other films that I've neglected thus far. What do you think of THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND? I want to give it a try, but I've heard many people describe it as "incomprehensible".

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

Agreed that the score was a bit inappropriate and Struthers being knocked out was an intentional crowd-pleaser.

I'm looking forward to seeing JUNIOR BONNER and a few of his other films that I've neglected thus far. What do you think of THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND? I want to give it a try, but I've heard many people describe it as "incomprehensible".

I like THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND. It's a strange, deeply paranoid film. I don't think it's 'incomprehensible' - it's confusing, and deliberately so. The theme of surveillance comes through very strongly, especially in the original cut of the film - which, imo, is the one to watch. (The DVD contains both the original cut and the theatrical cut, as I recall.) It's a feverish, paranoid nightmare - convoluted and perhaps a little illogical in the way that nightmares (both dreamed and real) have a tendency to be, and which probably speaks of Peckinpah's reputed drink/drugs binges during the latter stages of his filmmaking career.

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

Agree on The Osterman Weekend! It's worth seeing even if you don't 'need' to own it.

I'd like to see The Killer Elite again... and I need to order the bd of Alfredo Garcia (while we're on Peckinpah).

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

I like THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND. It's a strange, deeply paranoid film. I don't think it's 'incomprehensible' - it's confusing, and deliberately so. The theme of surveillance comes through very strongly, especially in the original cut of the film - which, imo, is the one to watch. (The DVD contains both the original cut and the theatrical cut, as I recall.) It's a feverish, paranoid nightmare - convoluted and perhaps a little illogical in the way that nightmares (both dreamed and real) have a tendency to be, and which probably speaks of Peckinpah's reputed drink/drugs binges during the latter stages of his filmmaking career.

Sounds like something I'd like. Will definitely be checking it out.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Sidney Lumet's THE OFFENCE

I watched this based on your recommendation and all I can say is... wow. This is such a bleak, nightmarish film and you could almost classify it as horror. It has the best performance I've seen from Sean Connery and the music and cinematography is stellar.

*SPOILER*

I'm pretty sure it's meant to be ambiguous, but do you think Connery was a pedophile or just completely messed up from everything he'd seen over the years?