In the film's best and most famous scene, Lee Marvin's forsaken criminal trudges purposefully through a white-walled corridor, the echoes of his leaden footsteps filling the empty chamber like gunshots—CLOP! CLOP! CLOP! The caroming reverberations seem to lull him into reflection, and as the camera suddenly cuts away from his impassive face, the following quickly edited images evoke the disorienting sensation of flitting back and forth through his memory. Some of these images, like the eternally recurring shot of him lying supine on a cell floor in Alcatraz, we've seen before; others curiously herald events yet to happen. As the camera jumps between mind fragments, his footsteps plaintively persist on the soundtrack, like a metronome keeping track of the cumulative effects of Marvin's regret, rage and guilt. Although this sequence only lasts several minutes, it is significant in how it carves out a first-person psychological perspective from which the film rarely wavers and it is provocative for suggesting that Marvin might just be imagining his bad ass quest for redemption as he lies dying an undignified death in a dirty, abandoned prison; what we may be watching are the confused, dying thoughts of one who is simultaneously regretful (that he hadn't gotten out of the crime game sooner), heartbroken (that his best friend and wife betrayed him for $93,000) and determined to recapture what's his (the money, his honor, his anachronistic moral code).

The rest of the film is also deeply unconventional: As Marvin makes his way through the ghosts of his past—including a deeply lyrical reunion with his wife and a hauntingly narrated (by her in distant, foggy undertones) stream-of-memory précis of their relationship—and he delves deeper into his mission, the world makes less sense. He has to negotiate with a shadowy corporation called "The Organization" that purportedly has his money; several bizarre deaths later, he is no closer to recompense and cripplingly unable to reconcile his direct moral universe of duty and accountability with the seriously corrupt bureaucracy he must contend with. The conclusions the film makes are profoundly anti-institutional: his perception is clearly the least cynical of the dialectic, and by film's end his mission seems almost benign, his revenge less an act of violence than in claiming a rightful bit of solace in death that The Organization won't allow him. This is one of the most innovative films of the '60s—and clearly due to its overlapping, stream-of-consciousness narrative, one heavily inspired by the European vanguard—persuasively evincing a world where individual responsibility is dead (for once, a perspective on existentialism that sees the idea past simple notions of defeatist loneliness and despair) and the abstract, terrifyingly nondescript authority structure extends to God himself.

Interesting though strange picture plenty of flashbacks , slow-moving and a difficult pace . Being based on the book "Hunter" by Donald E. Westlake or Richard Stark and rightly adapted by Alexander Jacobs , David Newhouse and Rafe Newhouse . After being double-crossed by his partner (John Vernon) and left for dead by unfaithful wife , a mysterious man named Walker (Lee Marvin) single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him and he seeks reckoning with a strange Organization (Lloyd Bochner, Carroll O'Connor) , a crime syndicate to which he belongs that takes on all comers . He is betrayed and becomes determined to exact vendetta on his betrayer , no matter how great the odds . There are two kinds of people in his up-tight world : his victims and his women. And sometimes you can't tell them apart .

Noir film dealing with a complex intrigue that contains action , thrills , suspense , violence and high body count : 8 . Violent story grows more exciting with each new plot twist . Main cast is frankly magnificent such as a sensational Lee Marvin , a gorgeous Angie Dickinson and the nasty John Vernon . Lee Marvin was Boorman's favorite actor , he told : ¨I learned more from Lee about filmmaking than from anyone , he has this incredible economy and brilliant camera technique ; most actors are completely spastic when it comes to moving properly, but Lee has the economy and quickness¨ . Excellent support cast such as Lloyd Bochner , Keenan Wynn , Michael Strong , James Sikking and special mention to Carroll O'Connor . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by good director of photography Philip H. Lathrop , being filmed on location , as this was the first major picture to film on location at Alcatraz Island after the closure of the federal prison in 1963 . Imaginative and haunting score by Johnny Mandel . ¨Point Blank¨ and its taut remake Payback (1999) by Brian Helgeland with Mel Gibson,Gregg Henry , Deborah Kara Unger , David Paymer , Bill Duke are both based on the book "Hunter" by Richard Stark or Donald Westlake . The picture was ignored during its premiere but now regarded as one of the best films of the 60s .

The motion picture was well directed by John Boorman . He's a real professional filmmaking from the 6os , though sparsely scattered and giving various classics . John started as an assistant direction and his friendship with Lee Marvin allowed him to work in Hollywood as ¨Point Blank¨ (1967) and ¨Hell in the Pacific¨ (1968) from where he returned to the UK and directed ¨Leo¨ (1970) , a rare Sci-Fi titled ¨Zardoz¨ (1974) or the ¨failure Exorcist II¨ (1977). His films are without exception among the most exciting visually in the modern cinema . He became famous for Excalibur (1981), the best of them , ¨Emerald forest¨ (1985) with a ecologist denounce included and his autobiographic story ¨Hope and Glory¨ (1987) and which brought him another Academy Award Nomination after ¨Deliverance¨ . ¨Point blank¨ rating : Better than average . Wholesome watching .

After watching the first 15 minutes of this film, I was ready to turn it off and see something else. I am very glad I stuck with it, but still don't understand why the beginning of the film was handled in such a confusing and over-the-top manner. Instead of telling a straight story, the film bounces back and forth from the distant past to the past to the present and frankly this all seemed overdone and made my head hurt! However, despite this apparent attempt to be "artsy", the plot was so good and the performances so cold that the film couldn't help but be good.

Lee Marvin is a man who was shot and left for dead by his best friend, played by John Vernon. To make things worse, Marvin's wife stood by and did nothing to stop it and, in fact, went on to marry Vernon! Exactly how Marvin survived and where he spent the next two years were never really explored--he just shows up two years later looking to not only kill Vernon but to get the $93,000 stolen from him. And, when Vernon doesn't pay him back, Marvin goes up the chain of command in the mob to make sure SOMEONE pays him back! It's really interesting how the film lacked context but still was highly engaging. I think a lot of this was the intensity of the action and the ironic twists and turns throughout the film--it was very well-written and acted. Also, despite being a pretty violent film, the film didn't go so far as to alienate the average adult viewer and all the violence did help to convey the story. This is a very creative and unusual film that is a good choice for someone wanting something different.