BallWubba
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
alexanderdavies-99382
"Scorpio" is too talky and over-plotted. It becomes difficult after the opening scene to figure out what's going on and it stays that way. The action scenes are far and few between and the tedium is rampant throughout. Michael Winner's direction is almost non-existent. The running time doesn't help matters, at 15 minutes should have been edited from the final version. Burt Lancaster and Paul Schofield act well and their scenes are good. For a man of 59, Lancaster is remarkably fit and he can still perform the athletics. This film could have been better but it's a long haul.......
zardoz-13
Director Michael Winner cast brawny Burt Lancaster as a veteran CIA agent on the lam in "Scorpio" and handsome French contract assassin Alain Delon cannot decide when he will kill him in this sinister international thriller. Despite some dreary, loquacious interludes, this espionage epic contains some energetic action scenes with Lancaster at his acrobatic best. Cross (Burt Lancaster of "Valdez Is Coming") recruits a former French Foreign Legion soldier, Jean Laurier (Alain Delon of "Purple Noon"), to assassinate a diplomat at Orly Airport in Paris while a young radical Arab terrorist distracts the authorities. As it turns out, Laurier had been paid by the CIA to ice Cross while the two men were in Paris. They fly back to Washington, D.C., where they part company on good terms. Cross goes home with his wife, Sarah (Joanne Linville of "Gable and Lombard"), but isn't surprised that the CIA are maintaining surveillance on his residence. Instead of walking back into CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Cross skips town, disguised as a priest and flies to Europe. Meantime, Laurier is arrested on a trumped-up heroin charge and rudely pistol whipped by a pugnacious D.C. Detective during his arrest. Just to make matters worse, the cops barged into Laurier's bedroom while he was snuggled up next to his beautiful girlfriend, English Literature instructor Susan (Gayle Hunnicutt of "The Wild Angels") who has been scheming to marry him. CIA official McLeod (John Colicos of "Raid on Rommel") offers Laurier a choice to walk away from a possible 30-year sentence if he cooperates and helps the Agency locate and then eliminate Cross. Ironically, despite the cutthroat tactics of both the CIA and Cross, Laurier appear reluctant to terminate his mentor with extreme prejudice because the man has provided him with so much information to protect himself from people like McLeod and his second-in-command Filchock (J.D. Cannon of "Cool Hand Luke") who desperately want Cross's head on a platter. Cross seeks unofficial asylum from a Soviet, Zharkov (Paul Scofield of "The Train"), who is an old friend. Meantime, McLeod fears that Cross has been selling out to the Soviets. Tensions come to a boil when McLeod's clumsy CIA gunmen kill Sarah, and Cross comes back to America with vengeance in his heart. Cross hires an acrobat to step in front of McLeod's car and the fearless fellow hurls himself on the hood brings the car to a sudden stop. While everybody is focused on helping the poor, unfortunate man who steps into the oncoming path of the vehicle, Cross steals on phantom up to the other side of the car without attracting attention and shoots McLeod dead in the back of his limo.Although he was getting pretty long in the tooth at the time, Burt Lancaster doesn't let us forget that he was once a nimble circus acrobat. He has some rigorous moments in "Scorpio" where it is abundantly clear that the Oscar-winning actor shunned the services of a stunt double. One instance involves him leaping from a high place to plunge across a huge drum in the bottom of a subway station under construction in Vienna. He bounces off the gigantic drum and tumbles to the floor next to in without injury. It is a cool stunt, and it is done all in one shot so you know that it was Burt the entire time. The international locations add zest to this tale of friendship and betrayal. Winner directs with his customary brusque style, and the mentoring melodrama that occurs here is reminiscent of Winner's earlier film "The Mechanic." Lenser Robert Paynter composes some of the tightest compositions that you will ever see. This is one of those spy thrillers where virtually everybody dies. Altogether, if you enjoy watching Lancaster, "Scorpio" won't sting you.
erniemunger
Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon are the star cast of this archetypal seventies spy film where, as the final line goes, "the only rule is to stay in the game". A taciturn Lancaster is Cross, a veteran CIA agent who comes under suspicion of double play by the young wisecracks who run the shop. Cross's hit-man Jean Laurier aka Scorpio, a French mercenary played by Alain Delon, is hired by top officer McLeod to get rid of the old man but something tells him there's more to it and he decides to wait. Soon, Cross knows the time on his watch and is on the run, seeking refuge in Vienna with his KGB counterpart and buddy Sergei Zharkov (Paul Scofield in a posture reminiscent of Fernando Rey in French Connection) while trying to reunite with his wife (Joanne Linville) and quit the game. Though not convinced of Cross's alleged defection, Scorpio finally agrees to go after him. Ensues a twisted tale of foul play, double entendre and grim realpolitik. Though not an unforgettable classic nor, by any means, an extravaganza, and despite obvious flaws – among which the sketchy synchronising, some phony dialogue and the occasional action blunder – Scorpio is a highly entertaining and at all times suspenseful flick, which hardly ever loses pace and offers a great platform for a no-nonsense performance by the bulky Lancaster and the sly Delon. Unlike Costa Gavras, director Michael Winner clearly chooses story intrigue over naturalism or verisimilitude, and turns in a solid thriller with overall likable types. Certainly, there is no moral authority here, and not even so much as true friendship or love – he who trusts will get stung.
Filmbuff-55
The thing about spys and espionage is that there is a differencebetween good guys and bad guys. Burt Lancaster portrays aging C.I.A agent Cross who wants to leave the C.I.A to spend more time with his wife (Joanne Linville). However he has been training another mentor Jean code name "Scorpio"(Alain Delon) who is just been learning the tricks of the trade as a C.I.A assasin. C.I.A boss (John Colicos) feels that Cross knows too much and that he should be killed. He soons asks Scorpio to do the job, but he refuses. Scorpio is later arrested on phony narcotics rap and is blackmailed to do the job of eliminating Cross, so he accepts it. Cross however catches on that he is being by the watched C.I.A and the game of cat and mouse between him and Scorpio begins. He later takes refuge in with on old colleague (Paul Scofield) in Venice. Yet the question remains. Who is doublecrossing who? Who will survive the game? Who is good and who is bad? This a great film. Burt Lancaster was 59 years old and he had the ability to perform his running scenes as he is being pursued by Delon and another C.I.A hitman. He is proven to be a good actor who attributed the physical-athletic attributes in the film. Alain Delon gives a marvelous performance the man forced to hunt down and kill Lancaster. I give this film 10 out of 10**********.
