Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

JLRVancouver Ben Johnson is 'Melvin Purvis, G-man' and Warren Oates is 'public enemy number one' in this violent, fedora-rich biopic that takes some liberties with the facts. The film follows John Dillinger's rise from bank robber to criminal icon, portraying him as violent and vain, but also an anti-hero to some poor depression-era Americans (similar to the superior "Bonnie and Clyde", 1967). The rest of the gang is a bit of a 'who's who' of period gangsters: Pretty-boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, etc. Oates and Johnson (the Gorch brothers in Peckinpah's great "The Wild Bunch", 1969) are quite good in their roles, as are the rest of the cast except for a hammy Richard Dreyfuss as Baby Face Nelson. As Billie Frechette, Dillinger's moll, Michelle Phillips (of 'The Mamas & the Papas' fame) seems like a bit of gimmick casting and she certainly does not look 'half Indian', which, as is mentioned several times in the film, Frechette was. Typical of the trend in late '60's/early '70's R-rated action films, lots of blood-squibs were used, so the shootouts are quite messy and 'realistic'. Many of the gang-members' demises are fictionalised to allow Purvis to be pulling the trigger (or at least be on hand), and while I appreciate that movies are not meant to be history lessons, I dislike it when they rewrite the past for simplistic dramatic effect. Not a great gangster film, but entertaining enough to warrant a viewing, especially by fans of the genre. One interesting side-note: Oates actually resembles Dillinger. No mention is made of Dillinger's mythic monstrous member, which urban-legend states is in the custody of the Smithsonian.

Mark Turner Most younger viewers today have no concept of the term gangster as it applied to films of the seventies or for that matter the gangsters of the past. For them gangster refers to gang bangers and gang members in today's world with no relation to where the term originally came from. While for the term "O.G." or original gangster means gang members in the hood the reality is that the true original gangsters were the bank robbers and killers of the 20s and 30s who ran rampant at the time. Perhaps the most famous of these was John Dillinger and Arrow Film has just released the blu-ray version of a movie made about him back in 1973.In the late 60s and early 70s gangster movies were making a comeback as seen in the success of films like BONNIE AND CLYDE and THE GODFATHER. So it was natural for a studio like AIP, known to make low budget films on popular film cycles, to dip their toe into the water. The result of their efforts was this film starring Warren Oates as Dillinger.Picking up in midpoint of the career of Dillinger the movie shows him as a folk hero to some and a hard boiled killer to others. Dillinger and his gang robbed banks at gunpoint and were not shy of firing on anyone who tried to stop them. As the film opens their robbing a bank and escaping, wounded after a gun battle at their latest bank robbery.The film is told through the narration of FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson) as he tracks down not just Dillinger but any and all gangsters on the run. With Dillinger as public enemy number one, Purvis has set his sights on him but knows it will take time. Time is on his side as he tracks down each criminal in the hopes they will lead to Dillinger.Dillinger on the other hand is content to live his life on the run. With original gang members Homer Van Meter (Harry Dean Stanton), Harry Pierpont (Geoffrey Lewis) he takes on two new recruits, Pretty Boy Floyd (Steve Kanaly) and Baby Face Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss). His inclusion of the psychopathic Nelson will help with his downfall.While most of us are aware of the life and times of John Dillinger this movie gives us a perspective of him rarely seen. Showing both sides of his life, perspectives from his point of view and Purvis', we get an idea of the real man rather than just those who were out to capture or kill him. Many of the movies made at the time attempted this with their depiction of gangsters. While BONNIE AND CLYDE almost made heroes of their characters, DILLINGER doesn't quite do so displaying the harshness of the character as well as the moments when things were calmer.One of the things that stands out in this film is that it was the first major film directed by John Milius who went on to direct films like CONAN THE BARBARIAN and RED DAWN. Milius was more known as a screenwriter having written DIRTY HARRY, JEREMIAH JOHNSON and THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN prior to this film. Fans of Milius will be overjoyed to see this release on blu-ray. Not only that they'll be delighted to see it get the full on Arrow Film treatment.As with all Arrow releases this film provides the cleanest transfer to be found of the movie. Their transfers are so well done that there are times you feel as if you're watching a film for the first time no matter if you've seen it before or not. But that's never enough for Arrow and the new release is packed with extras as well. Included are a commentary track featuring Stephen Prince the author of SAVAGE CINEMA and SCREENING VIOLENCE, a new interview with producer Lawrence Gordon, a new interview with director of photography Jules Brenner, a new interview with composer Barry De Vorzon, a stills gallery, the theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with new artwork by Sean Phillips and a collector's booklet that includes an interview with Milius.At the time of the film's release I was a year shy of a driver's license and the ability to see an R rated film. I'd looked forward to seeing this one for some time since and for some reason never had the chance. I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. If you're a fan of the genre or seventies films then this one is not just worth watching but one to own as well. You won't find a better version out there.

funkyfry While it falls short of real greatness by an inch here and a mile there, John Milius' debut film "Dillinger" is a nasty treat, packed with a Peckinpah-ish cast headed by Warren Oates and Ben Johnson, with Harry Dean Stanton, Michelle Phillips and Richard Dreyfuss in strong support. While dialog is often rough and cartoonish -- you can almost feel Milius' strain as he attempts to write dialog that is both romantic and cynical for the love scenes between Oates and Phillips -- the action scenes are top notch in both staging and execution. The cinematography is crisp and just lightly overstated, Milius' direction is assured if never subtle, and the performances rise well above the script.Although it's a rare pleasure to see the incomparable Warren Oates in a leading role, this film is not as rewarding in that sense as Peckinpah's "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" from the following year. There's a feeling that Oates and Milius are a bit too concerned with making Dillinger a macho badass, although they do a good job of showing how his farmboy roots shine through. A few too many scenes verge on hero-worship. As good as Oates is, I thought Ben Johnson was perhaps even more impressive, particularly since he's been cast here well outside of his normal comfort zone. He's very impressive, for example, in a brief scene where he connects with a young boy who idolizes Dillinger and admits he "wouldn't wanna be a G-man." Chinatown, it is not. Milius stages mythology in an impressive manner but with no subtlety and very little flair. The film does have a special sort of quality about it, but we don't feel the exhilaration that a good bank-robbing movie should impart. There's too much focus on the Phillips/Oates relationship, which begins with a beating, rape, and kidnapping and suddenly veers into romance. It's all very confusing and feels, like much else in this film, like a attempt to "top" the earlier "Bonnie and Clyde" (dismissed in the film as "amateurs").

telegonus The 1973 film version of the (criminal) life of notorious bank robber John Dillinger, not really a remake of the 1945 film of the same title but a re-imagining of its eponymous character's career in crime, is hugely entertaining, featuring a star turn performance from Warren Oates that shows that the actor had major star potential, hampered, sadly, by his short stature, which doesn't really figure in the film as its director, John Milius, manages somehow to make Oates look taller than he was.Allegedly made on the cheap by American-International, it doesn't look cheap to me. It has, in its modest way, a kind of epic sweep, as we see Dillinger and his gang move through the Midwest like a tornado. The supporting roles are mostly played by young, at the time unknown players, one of which, Richard Dreyfuss, strangely well cast as Baby Face Nelson, went on to a starring career. As Dillinger's squeeze, Michelle Phillips is surprisingly effective and very sexy. There's good work, too, from Steve Kanaly and, especially, Harry Dean Stanton, who plays the most likable of the Dillinger gang.A problem I have with the film, and it's a fairly big one, is Ben Johnson's performance as FBI man Melvin Purvis. A former stunt man, Johnson became an accomplished player in western films, had a fine, mellow voice and a pleasing presence. He was not, however, a versatile actor, and this hurts Dillinger, as Johnson has the second biggest part in the film, and director Milius seems to favor him. Johnson looks his age, well past fifty at the time, and doesn't strike me as trim enough to be an FBI man. But if he was otherwise good casting this could be overlooked. Johnson simply lacks the authority, the heroic presence, to be Dillinger's nemesis, especially Dillinger as electrifying played by Warren Oates. Johnson was an actor who could steal scenes from major stars, hold his own with the best of them; and yet when "handed" scene after scene in Dillinger he just doesn't measure up. Worse, he often comes off as smug when what he should really be conveying is confidence, competence at what he does.With better casting in the Purvis role this Dillinger might have been a classic. As it is, it's excellent. The action scenes are done to perfection, nearly choreographed, I suspect, and yet they feel real none the less. There isn't a wasted moment in the film. Indeed, it could have been longer and worked just as well, maybe even better. The characters could have been more fleshed out; and some sections in the film, the one in the gang's Little Bohemia retreat in particular, could, with more time, greatly enhanced this already very well made film. John Milius was on a roll when he made this one, never fulfilled his potential. I wonder what went wrong.