sesht
I'd not watched this one before enjoying the hell out the Jason Statham / Ben Foster - Simon West remake, that was made a few years back.My exposure to Bronson were his movies in the 60s and the 70s, but I had not watched any recently, other than 'The Great escape', 'Once upon a time in the West', 'The magnificent 7', 'The Dirty Dozen', in all of which he was part of an ensemble cast, and stood out in any case, but the true viewing experience of a stand-along Bronson movie was something I had experienced a decade or so previously, if not more. First off, this flick is sparse in terms of prod design, using the motif, less is more. And how true that is. All the excesses of the remake seemed very loud and pretentious to me, while watching the set-pieces and the planning that went into keeping this simple.I also did not know that director Michael Winner made this with Bronson before they went full-iconic with 'Death Wish'. Nice preparing ground for that.For those who know the plot, knowing that this is set in a world of elite super-assassins that spend time preparing their kills, and report only to uber-businessmen/politician conglomerates, who're never seen and always behind-the-scenes, who're the puppet-masters, so to speak, won't be a surprise, since the largely-seen remake covered similar ground. However, what made this relatively more refreshing and more sane, is the choice this makes in keeping those characters in the background, instead of bringing forth the Tony Goldwyns of the day, for Statham and Foster to 'take care' of at the end.This choice made, seemed respectful of the idea that thrillers should at least try to keep the plot and their characters grounded, in order for the audience to empathize and get on the side of their anti- heroes, which otherwise might be a difficult task, like it is with every mainstream flick one encounters these days.The best part/s? The 2 chases, one bike chase, and the other by car, sans CGI, pure stunt-work. The plot, and the grounded-ness of it. The performances, all alpha. The tangential turns into meta-weirdness, esp. the scene set in a bungalow. The chance to compare how inferior the remake is to the original. Sad for the Statham flick, since I thought it was good before watching this. The fantastic pre-climax ending.I do hope they redeem themselves with the sequel to the remake, but do not have the required confidence that they will, considering West also has not signed back on (that might be a good thing, considering 'Wild card', but who knows).All in all, worth a watch, or maybe even a revisit.
Scott LeBrun
Charles Bronson plays Arthur Bishop, an experienced hit man with a real skill at what he does. His work is almost like art - very morbid art, to be sure, but he's not content to merely drop victims with a bullet to the head. Unfortunately, he ends up ordered by his bosses to eliminate his old family friend, Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn). After reluctantly doing the job, he finds himself drawn to Harry's son Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent), a cheerfully unambitious young man. Arthur decides that he will take on Steve as a partner, a move that will not sit well with the people for whom Arthur works.After their historic first teaming on the Western "Chato's Land", Bronson and director Michael Winner reunited shortly after, for what is essentially a character study. And that character, much like Bronson himself, is fascinating, revealing himself as a careful and precise person and also highly cultured. Not surprisingly, he has little time for such things as relationships (as shown in the scene with Arthur and a lady friend, played by Bronsons' wife Jill Ireland). There are fine action scenes here, to be sure, especially a motorcycle chase, and there are a couple of explosions along the way. But first and foremost, this is a film that takes a clinical look at two fairly icy men. The most telling scene occurs when Arthur and Steve debate how long it will take Steve's suicidal girlfriend (Linda Ridgeway) to succumb to the slashing of her wrists. Originally, screenwriter Lewis John Carlino had intended for the evolving relationship between professional killer and neophyte to be overtly homosexual, with the younger man at odds with his desires, but that idea was nixed, and in order for his script to get filmed, Carlino had to remove almost all of that subtext.Jerry Fielding supplies a terrific score, and the acting is efficient from our two main characters. Bronson is well cast, and Vincent holds his own quite well opposite his veteran co-star. Wynn is wonderful in his brief time on screen.Certainly the double twist ending is effective and "The Mechanic" is all the better for it. In the end, this is a good collaboration between a star and director that carried on to the iconic masterpiece "Death Wish".Seven out of 10.
Claudio Carvalho
The forty-two year old hit-man Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is frequently hired to kill without a trace and he carefully studies the profiles of his victims to find the perfect and clean way to execute them. When he is hired to kill "Big" Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn), who was a former friend of his father, Arthur meets his son Steve McKenna (Jan- Michael Vincent) asking money to Harry at home. Later in Harry's funeral, Steve asks for a ride to Arthur and they become very close. Arthur finds potential in the twenty-four year old Steve to become a professional killer and he invites the youngster to form a partnership with him. However his attitude displeases the Powers that Be and Arthur is sent to Naples to kill a mobster. Arthur finds a file about him in a drawer at Steve's house but he invites Steve to travel with him to Italy. Sooner they learn that someone wants them to see Naples and die."The Mechanic" is an engaging film by Michael Winner with another great performance of Charles Bronson in the role of a "mechanic", meaning a hired hit-man that kills his victims without leaving a trace. One of the best lines in this film is when he tells to Steve that murder is only killing without a license. Jan-Michael Vincent has one of his best performances in the role of a youngster that believe that he has learned how to lure an experienced man. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Assassino a Preço Fixo" ("Killer at a Fixed Price")
