Post by harmonica on May 29, 2014 12:26:03 GMT -5
Director: Michael Winner
Writers: Gerald Wilson, John Gardner
Actors: Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Paul Koslo
Bronson's performance in "The Stone Killer" is probably his worst from the 70's. It's a fact that Michael Winner used to do very bad job with the actors and there are lots of examples of great actors who have given bad performances in Winner's movies. In this movie Bronson is not Bronson, he's more of the kind of Bronson we used to see during the Cannon era. Back in 70's Bronson had such a powerful screen presence that he used to dominate every scene he appeared in. With his performances, he could make even average movies like Cold Sweat to look really good. However The Stone Killer is an exception. Lou Torrey, the leading character from The Stone Killer is really bad written, he's uninspiring, unremarkable. He's possibly the less interesting leading character in movie history and gives the viewer the impression that the movie could exist even without him. The only interesting element about this character is that he's no "wannabe" antihero but a real one. He is much more of an antihero than other famous characters of that type like Harry Callahan , Tony Montana, or even Hannibal Lecter. Characters of that kind are usually presented in a way that, no matter how bad they are, they have elements that make the viewer feel sympathy for them. In Lou Torrey's case there's no such thing, he's presented in a flat and straight way without any effort to create sympathy for him, his bad-assery is natural and original, he's just a dumb-ass who commits some unnecessary killings just because he's a stupid and bad cop. That's the only interesting element about that character but unfortunately even that element is underdeveloped. I loved Bronson's performance in four of the other Winner's movies: Chato's Land, The Mechanic, Death Wish, Death Wish II, but as I mentioned above this is definitely not the case. He's really underused in this one and most of his scenes are shot from distance. He has very few and bad dialog and his screen time seems even less than what it actually is.
The main flop of the movie however is the plot. I don't want to give away anything, I will just say that although the movie has a fast and solid story-telling with enough suspenseful and spectacular moments and the plot seems interesting from the beginning until a certain point near the end and never gets boring, it actually doesn't keep its promises and after the end credits the viewer may be disappointed and ask himself "so what?" realizing that the plot was more or less an excuse for the action to take place.
Despite its weak points, the movie isn't bad overall due to its fast pace, a very good soundtrack, the great stunt work, a short but great car-chase scene and the spectacular and stylish gunfight scenes. In terms of action this is by far Michael Winner's best movie. The Stone Killer is an entertaining movie with many enjoyable moments...
Writers: Gerald Wilson, John Gardner
Actors: Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Paul Koslo
Bronson's performance in "The Stone Killer" is probably his worst from the 70's. It's a fact that Michael Winner used to do very bad job with the actors and there are lots of examples of great actors who have given bad performances in Winner's movies. In this movie Bronson is not Bronson, he's more of the kind of Bronson we used to see during the Cannon era. Back in 70's Bronson had such a powerful screen presence that he used to dominate every scene he appeared in. With his performances, he could make even average movies like Cold Sweat to look really good. However The Stone Killer is an exception. Lou Torrey, the leading character from The Stone Killer is really bad written, he's uninspiring, unremarkable. He's possibly the less interesting leading character in movie history and gives the viewer the impression that the movie could exist even without him. The only interesting element about this character is that he's no "wannabe" antihero but a real one. He is much more of an antihero than other famous characters of that type like Harry Callahan , Tony Montana, or even Hannibal Lecter. Characters of that kind are usually presented in a way that, no matter how bad they are, they have elements that make the viewer feel sympathy for them. In Lou Torrey's case there's no such thing, he's presented in a flat and straight way without any effort to create sympathy for him, his bad-assery is natural and original, he's just a dumb-ass who commits some unnecessary killings just because he's a stupid and bad cop. That's the only interesting element about that character but unfortunately even that element is underdeveloped. I loved Bronson's performance in four of the other Winner's movies: Chato's Land, The Mechanic, Death Wish, Death Wish II, but as I mentioned above this is definitely not the case. He's really underused in this one and most of his scenes are shot from distance. He has very few and bad dialog and his screen time seems even less than what it actually is.
The main flop of the movie however is the plot. I don't want to give away anything, I will just say that although the movie has a fast and solid story-telling with enough suspenseful and spectacular moments and the plot seems interesting from the beginning until a certain point near the end and never gets boring, it actually doesn't keep its promises and after the end credits the viewer may be disappointed and ask himself "so what?" realizing that the plot was more or less an excuse for the action to take place.
Despite its weak points, the movie isn't bad overall due to its fast pace, a very good soundtrack, the great stunt work, a short but great car-chase scene and the spectacular and stylish gunfight scenes. In terms of action this is by far Michael Winner's best movie. The Stone Killer is an entertaining movie with many enjoyable moments...
