Steineded How sad is this?

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

anthonymclaughlin86 Firstly I will say that this film definitely has an impact like the original 'Planet of Apes' with the late great Charlton Heston.However, with multiple viewing you will discover more and more about the lead character 'Talbot' - so believably played out by the under-rated talented actor Barry Newman, and the storyline will become even more engaging. I would simply recommend you either buy the DVD or await the Blue-Ray version when it comes out from the date I have posted this review.The supporting cast is very good, including Dolph Sweet, John Vernon, earliest appearance of Ben Kingsley (with some hair still) and the lovely Suzy Kendall.It is not until near the end of the film that you realise where the film is actually going with it's unique ending inside a mini-submarine (or Bath-Escape as it was called) called the Fathom. The car chase is well choreographed and in a Smokey and the Bandit style - even longer than the car chases in Bullitt and French Connection.Without going into too much detail, I have not read the book by the classic novelist Alistair MaClean, but if it is even better than the theatre adaptation of the story then maybe one day I will have to seek out the book, because this film, despite it's old age is a classic in my mind.Find it, and I guarantee you will like it a lot. It takes a bit of getting used to when seeing Barry Newman in a role like this, because he definitely has an 'un-likely' hero look about him. But the more you watch it, the more you will realise that he has the perfect face for the role.

udar55 WOW! I watched this adaptation of an Alistair MacLean novel tonight and it is fantastic. Barry Newman stars as John Talbot, a drifter who ends up getting into it with the local police in a parish in Louisiana. He gets hauled before a judge but breaks out of the courtroom, taking oil heiress Sarah Ruthven (Suzy Kendall) hostage in the process. What happens after that is gonna remain a secret for the element of surprise.This is a slammin' action film in reverse. The first half hour is comprised of an amazing car chase that is right up there with the likes of THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Seriously, this is one of the greatest (and unheralded) car chases of all-time (courtesy of VANISHING POINT's stunt coordinator Cary Loftin). After that, the film settles down to tell Talbot's complex story. Newman, also fresh off that other car chase epic VANISHING POINT, is quite good as the mysterious Talbot. Supporting turns include John Vernon (I wonder if he a good guy), Dolph Sweet and a weaselly looking guy in his film debut named Ben Kingsley. The stellar score is supplied by Roy Budd (GET CARTER).

dbdumonteil The title is some kind of misnomer.I would rather call the film " Appearances are the key".The beginning of the film is triteness ,routine thriller : car chase,hostage-taking,fighting...But little by little we begin to realize that all that we are watching is like a trompe-l'oeil painting.Things are not what they seem.You've got to pay attention during the very first scene -a very tragic one,which is given a thoroughly neuter even inhuman treatment-,cause the answer to the questions you ask yourselves only comes at the end.The final sequences pack a real wallop ,particularly when we see the plane.This film was almost an anomaly in the seventies scene:to think that at the time the blockbusters were "dirty Harry" and "Shaft" .Talbot is finally much more human than the two superheroes."Fear is the key" has a contemporary feel ,but no remake needed.

Jonathon Dabell I like Alistair MacLean's books, so I approached this film with a sense of dread. Could it be another MacLean book ruined on the big screen, like Bear Island, Caravan to Vaccares or River of Death? Fortunately, this is perhaps the best of all the MacLean's film adaptations. It begins with the most extraordinary car chase imaginable (far better than the much touted one in The French Connection) and never relaxes from that point on. To reveal much of the plot would be a spoiler, but suffice to say that the hero spends most of the film acting as the bad guy, trying to confuse some crooks that he's on their side so that he can get into their organisation and carry out his terrible revenge plan. Barry Newman is terrific as the hero, in a role similar to his Vanishing Point character. John Vernon is a mean villain, too, and Dolph Sweet has a short but pivotal role as a friendly insider. It's impossible to guess what will happen next, but the final scene brings everything together brilliantly, and leaves you quite literally gasping for air. See this soon!!