The Mechanic

1972

Action / Crime / Thriller

17
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 45% · 11 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 65% · 2.5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.8/10 10 16099 16.1K

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Plot summary

Arthur Bishop is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks himself an artist. It's made him very rich, but as he hits middle age, he's so depressed and lonely that he takes on one of his victim's sons, Steve McKenna, as his apprentice. Arthur puts him through a rigorous training period and brings him on several hits. As Steven improves, Arthur worries that he'll discover who killed his father.


Uploaded by: OTTO
November 24, 2014 at 01:55 PM

Director

Top cast

Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop
Jill Ireland as The Girl
Jan-Michael Vincent as Steve McKenna
Louise Lewis as Librarian
1080p.BLU
1.45 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 18

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Thorsten-Krings 8 / 10

Very, very watchable!

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!

Reviewed by paul_johnr 7 / 10

No, he doesn't fix cars

Of the numerous tough guy roles played over five decades by Charles Bronson, 'The Mechanic' is a pretty safe bet for the movie that best captures his on-screen persona. While cases can be made for 'Once Upon a Time in the West,' 'Mr. Majestyk,' and 'Death Wish,' Michael Winner's 1972 potboiler not only sketches Bronson as a quiet, almost stealth-like force, but also gives us deep motivations for his character.

'The Mechanic' is one of Michael Winner's best efforts as an action director, although it falls somewhat short of the original 'Death Wish,' probably his crowning achievement in this genre. But 'The Mechanic' was a considerable effort for its time, mixing neat action sequences with ongoing character development. This is a far cry from many actioners before or since, which feature men who tear up everything in sight while not undergoing the slightest bit of change internally.

In an adaptation by Lewis John Carlino from his own story, Bronson plays Arthur Bishop, a California hit-man who is in the twilight of his career. Bishop is still capable physically, but his work as a cold-hearted assassin is wearing heavily on his nerves and may even be creating guilt deep within him. After performing hits against a nameless felon and his good friend Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn), he suffers a nervous breakdown and decides that an apprentice would be useful as backup.

He discovers his protégé in Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), a twenty-ish son of Harry. Bishop finds Steve an ideal candidate, having no clear empathy for the people around him. McKenna is taken under Bishop's wing and taught how to perform assassinations without leaving a trace of evidence. The hiring becomes a mistake, however, as it was made without the permission of Bishop's overseers (called 'the organization') and violates their code of ethics.

Falling just shy of 100 minutes in length, 'The Mechanic' is a tightly-bound drama that uses everything - dialogue, emotion, physical action - with stunning economy. Like a tightly-written novel, the film sheds all unnecessary padding and only gives us what is absolutely important to the storyline. The opening 15 minutes present a "day in the life" of Arthur Bishop, when he carries out a murder disguised as a gas explosion. There is no dialogue in this sequence, except for a hotel clerk who offers Bishop his quick hello. The murder of Harry McKenna follows, in which Bishop shows no outward regret for his actions, putting the brutal demands of his job over friendship.

The Mechanic's final hour tracks a growing relationship between Bishop and Steve McKenna, who proves even more ruthless than his mentor. Three well-made action sequences take place: a motorcycle chase, a yacht bombing, and a car chase along the mountainsides of Naples. The action sets are primitive by today's standards, but they do have a nostalgic charm that fans of the genre should like. The choppy pacing used by Michael Winner in these scenes more than delivers the goods; Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent are a sturdy pair in the ensuing gunplay. The supporting cast are all second fiddle to Bronson and Vincent, but help to move this film along. Besides Keenan Wynn, Jill Ireland has a small role as Bishop's high-cost prostitute and a disturbing suicide attempt is carried out by Steve McKenna's girlfriend Louise, played by Linda Ridgeway.

It would be easy to write this film off as another shoot-'em-up, but Lewis John Carlino's script offers much more. While the characters are from a way of life unfamiliar to us, they have much to say about how unfeeling ordinary people can be. There is also a deep-lying moral about why certain secrets may be best kept as secrets and why there is a price to be paid for not respecting the feelings of others. Michael Winner is not exactly known for philosophical discourse in his movies, but 'The Mechanic' is about as close as he gets to this area.

'The Mechanic' is good but not perfect technically. Winner's trademark camera angles, zooms, and wobbles are used to great effect, backed by sharp cinematography from Richard H. Kline and Robert Paynter (European scenes only). Unfortunately, there is shod editing at times from Frederick Wilson (listed as Freddie Wilson in the credits) and Winner himself (using his pen name of Arnold Crust Jr.). While the gas explosion sequence is finely crafted, the seaside murder of Harry features a change from sunset to pitch-darkness in a single cut and Keenan Wynn's voice is badly dubbed. The final scene is also bungled (in my opinion, anyway) when end credits appear too soon and the film blacks out prematurely.

Composer Jerry Fielding, who teamed with Winner on 'Chato's Land,' 'Scorpio,' and 'The Big Sleep' amongst others, wrote a minimalist score that adds tension in the right places. Production values are very good, particularly in the Italian setting, which is to be expected from a United Artists film of thirty years ago. Yes, the early 1970s style is there, with a psychedelic atmosphere and emphasis on bright colors, but I haven't seen a film yet that updates itself each time you watch it.

And if there are such films, I wouldn't count on MGM to offer them, especially with how disappointing its DVD presentations of Bronson have been. The 'Mechanic' DVD offers widescreen and standard format, unlike such retails as 'Death Wish 3' and 'Death Wish 4' that are full frame only. English mono and French 'dubbing' are included as audio options, with English, French, and Spanish subtitles. Bronson DVD extras rarely get past the theatrical trailer and MGM's 'Mechanic' disc adds insult to injury by using not the original trailer print, but what looks like a TV spot with the film's alternative title 'Killer of Killers.' 'Death Wish' is mentioned in the ad, which means it was shown no earlier than 1974. Good movie, rotten package by this low-balling Hollywood outfit.

*** out of 4

Reviewed by Woodyanders 9 / 10

One of Charles Bronson's best 70's action thrillers

Charles Bronson gives a splendidly steely and stoical performance as Arthur Bishop, a merciless and meticulous, but stressed-out aging veteran hit-man who lives by his own strict personal moral code. Cocky eager beaver Steve McKenna (excellently played by Jan-Michael Vincent) befriends Bishop. Bishop teaches McKenna the tricks of his lethal trade. But does McKenna have some other nefarious secret agenda concerning Bishop? Tautly directed in a supremely mean'n'lean stripped-down no-nonsense style by Michael ("Death Wish") Winner, with a crafty and ingenious script by Lewis John Carlino, slick cinematography by Robert H. Kline, a superbly shivery'n'spooky score by Jerry Fielding, and several stirring slam-bang action set pieces, this fine film certainly makes the grade as a very tense, exciting and suspenseful crime thriller. Popping up in nifty minor roles are Keenan Wynn as a crusty mob capo and Jill Ireland as an alluring prostitute. From its bravura laconic, virtually wordless first fifteen minutes to its startling double whammy surprise twist ending, this superior favorite never makes a single false step and delivers the immensely satisfying goods with exceptional skill and efficiency.

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