After reading some of the negative reviews on this board, I'm compelled to warn future viewers that it's not recommended for those with attention deficit. There's a myriad of flashback sequences, some only seconds long, that take gangster Walker (Lee Marvin) back to an event that turned him into a veritable revenge machine. All over a ninety three grand payday that he was screwed out of after a partner double crossed him. Too bad, the hierarchy of 'The Organization' is about to experience some forced retirements.
Walker doles out punishment in unique fashion and the film itself has some artistically rendered violence, but even for 1967, I didn't find it to be all that ground breaking as the host of Turner Classics found it to be. "Bonnie and Clyde" came out the same year and that one had it's own fair share of grisly rub outs. The idea here was that Marvin's character was a loner depending only on himself; the back story of Walker having a wife who committed suicide didn't even seem particularly necessary for taking on the mob.
Angie Dickinson has a pretty thankless role as the sister of Walker's dead wife. She has a great scene pounding away on Walker's chest following the flight lesson he gives to former partner Mal Reese (John Vernon), going at it until she dropped from tiring herself out. The scene highlighted Walker's stoic nature in accepting virtually anything that came his way with principled self assurance. The guy was like a great white shark waiting out his enemies and circling his victims until dead in his sights.
The picture's slickest move had the the unnamed sniper hired by The Organization (James Sikking) taking out one of his own bosses when Walker sniffed out a set-up. How he knew that is one of the mysteries of the story, but then again, he was quite the intelligent guy under that cold exterior. One word of warning though, don't go with him on a test drive.
Walker doles out punishment in unique fashion and the film itself has some artistically rendered violence, but even for 1967, I didn't find it to be all that ground breaking as the host of Turner Classics found it to be. "Bonnie and Clyde" came out the same year and that one had it's own fair share of grisly rub outs. The idea here was that Marvin's character was a loner depending only on himself; the back story of Walker having a wife who committed suicide didn't even seem particularly necessary for taking on the mob.
Angie Dickinson has a pretty thankless role as the sister of Walker's dead wife. She has a great scene pounding away on Walker's chest following the flight lesson he gives to former partner Mal Reese (John Vernon), going at it until she dropped from tiring herself out. The scene highlighted Walker's stoic nature in accepting virtually anything that came his way with principled self assurance. The guy was like a great white shark waiting out his enemies and circling his victims until dead in his sights.
The picture's slickest move had the the unnamed sniper hired by The Organization (James Sikking) taking out one of his own bosses when Walker sniffed out a set-up. How he knew that is one of the mysteries of the story, but then again, he was quite the intelligent guy under that cold exterior. One word of warning though, don't go with him on a test drive.