Wordiezett So much average

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Tweekums Arthur Bishop is a hit-man who works with care; every detail is planned out and when he strikes the target will certainly be killed but it won't be identified as a murder. After observing one of his hits we see he go to see his boss, a man he has known all his life and clearly considers a friend. He is asks to look into a problem. Shortly afterwards he is given his next target; his boss! They may be friends but that doesn't stop him doing his job. After the funeral Steve, the man's son, asks for a lift home; they get talking and over a series of meetings Steve gets to know what Bishop does and eventually asks if he can work with him. He accepts and they start training; their first hit together is successful but ends up messier than Bishop's employers would have liked… they are also displeased that he took on an apprentice without asking their permission. Bishop is given another job, this time in Italy… there is a complication though; he has learnt that Steve has been given his own job… to kill Bishop!This is a solid thriller that doesn't rush things; not a word is spoken in the first ten minutes during which time we see Bishop setting up a hit in intricate detail. This ends in explosive style. There are more moments of action as Bishop and Steve engage in more jobs; this is especially true of the job on Italy which features shootings, an impressive chase along a winding coast road and more explosions. There are some disturbing moments; most notably when it looks as if Steve and Bishop will just look on as the former's girlfriend attempts suicide. The twist of having Steve targeting Bishop wasn't a huge surprise but once we, and Bishop, knew about it the tension was raised nicely. They must work together one is constantly wondering when Steve will turn on his mentor. Michael Winner directs in a no-nonsense manner and is willing to go long periods without dialogue. Charles Bronson does a fine job as the very precise Bishop and Jan-Michael Vincent contrasts nicely as Steve; a man who seems to enjoy his work. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of the genre.

Michael Thompson Charles Bronson has a tough imagine, image that I find totally boring now, in everything he does,including the Death Wish Films.He strolls quietly and unassuming through his movies to a degree which I find frustrating, yes he gets his man, and yes he is predictable.The Mechanic served up yet another Michael Winner directed movie. This was no different.In its favour there was a twist in the end which I never saw coming.But ultimately this movie was for me a total bore.I want to like Charles Bronson following his superb performances in the Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape, where he revealed passion and anger and frustration.But for me, since Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape, Charles Bronson has put all that away in favour of the formula Death Wish films, which Charles Bronson strolls through as though walking in the park. The Mechanic was no exception to that rule.I apologies to all Charles Bronson fans reading this.

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")

Thorsten-Krings Michael Winner is not very popular these days. Some see him as a mediocre film maker. I would disagree with that: Winner has made some very good films and some which are not memorable so I would rank him with Val Guest as a very talented director who also works as a craftsman. The Mechanic is a good example of Winner at his best. He tells the story of a lone hit-man who seems to have no feelings at all and operates detached from the outside world almost like a Samurai. However, below that surface we see a very lonely man who pays a hooker to write him love letters and who suffers from depression and anxiety. He is a man of contradictions, a cultivated lover of classical music and fine wine and also ruthless killer. My only misgiving about the film is that I just don't see that degree of being torn between two extremes in Bronson's performance. I wonder what an actor like Clint Eastwood would have made of that role. Anyway, this leads to him adopting a seemingly kindred spirit as an apprentice to murder. Ironically, he is the son of his last victim. That is seen as breaking the rules by the organisation he seemingly freelances for and he realizes that he is not as independent as he thought he was. So both men are hunted and eventually set against each other. Bronson loses but the motive is not revenge, simply the lust to kill. The film then ends with a very twisted ending that makes you wonder whether Bronson's character really committed suicide through a third person. The story is originally and well paced with some spectacular action scenes. So all in all the film is both intelligent as well as full of suspense. Very, very watchable!