Violent City – DVD Review

There are certain elements that are very much constant when looking at the best Charles Bronson movies. First off, Bronson has to star as either a common man that deep down is actually a super badass (Death Wish, Mr. Majestik), or he plays a man that has no pretensions of hiding just how badass he really is (The Mechanic, Once Upon a Time in the West). Bronson is so stoic that the films usually have to have an interesting supporting cast that has to do the heavy lifting when it comes to dialogue, in the form of actors such as Al Lettieri or Vincent Gardenia. Next, the best of his films contain plenty of hard-hitting action where Bronson’s character has to fight for his very survival, usually becoming an unstoppable killing machine in the process. Lastly, these films are all put together with a terrific sense of style by their director, from the psychological moodiness of Michael Winner to the operatic genius of Sergio Leone.

Upon looking at Violent City, an Italian film made at a time when the actor was the biggest star in Europe, you would think that it could possibly join the ranks of the four above-mentioned great movies. Bronson plays a professional assassin named Jeff Heston, a man giving up his life of crime in order to retire and marry his lover, Vanessa (Bronson’s real-life wife Jill Ireland). With everything seeming perfect, Jeff’s life shatters in front of him in a hail of gunfire pretty early in the picture. Betrayed by a close associate, Jeff survives a brutal car chase and gun fight, but ends up getting arrested for his troubles.

At this point, the movie seems to have all it’s ducks in a row, but unfortunately, the car chase and shootout ends up being the highlight of Violent City. The film starts to die a slow death with Jeff’s incarceration, trying desperately to flood us with imagery and flashbacks, the way John Boorman’s masterpiece Point Blank does at its outset, but in no way can this film match the profundity of Lee Marvin’s best film. The flick is mildly successful at building atmosphere, but too long do we have to wait for moments that never really pan out as real excitement.

Even the talents of Telly Savalas are wasted here, as he plays a mob boss trying to hire Jeff, but the actor is really utilized to simply carry whole conversations by himself with long, pointless monologues. We only get fleeting glimpses of just how cool Savalas can be on screen, which makes the rest of his scenes an even worse chore to sit through. The actor does the best he can with the material he’s given, but overall he can’t overcome the picture’s many shortcomings.

Over-packed with obvious, but pointless plot twists, Violent City is a let down on most levels. Even Bronson himself never gets to really shine in the way he should here. Too often we’re left waiting for crescendos that end up leaving us just wanting instead. Bronson may have been the king of this kind of picture at the time, but you’d be hard pressed to tell it if you only saw this movie. If you’re looking for an excellent piece of Tough Guy cinema from this period, pick up The Mechanic instead.

Generally the Audio/Video portion of the movie is just fine. The movie is dubbed throughout, but really this is something you should expect with Italian cinema from this period. Where it can get distracting is the fact that this is an extended cut of the film with extra scenes with no English dialogue, so some sequences will go completely in and out of Italian. The visual portions of the film have been cleaned up and look about as good as it did upon the film’s release. The movie is presented in Widescreen, with an aspect ratio of 2:35.1.

Shooting Violent City – This is a decent featurette, mostly featuring Director Sergio Sollima talking about how the picture developed, first with different stars, and then eventually how it went down with Charles Bronson in front of the camera. The director has some interesting tidbits, but there’s nothing mind-blowing here.

Trailer

Galleries

Ultimately, Violent City is a disappointment, both movie-wise and as far as the extras go on this disc. The film itself is not really worth purchasing, other than if you’re a Charles Bronson super fan, and even then it’s a little disappointing.

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Blue Underground presents Violent City. Directed by Sergio Sollima . Starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, and Telly Sevalas. Written by Massimo De Rita and Gianfranco Galligarich. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: March 25, 2008. Available at Amazon.com.