Man of Violence (1970)
Moon (Michael Latimer) is a mercenary who joins forces with two crooked cops in an attempt to steal 90 million dollars in gold from an Arab country decimated by political chaos. Sex, violence and mayhem accompany the group of double-crossing heavies who covet the purloined loot. A bevy of females willingly submit to seduction, and a sadistic homosexual murderer trails Moon and his malevolent gang for the gold in this compelling crime drama.
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Simply A Masterpiece
Admirable film.
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.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Man of Violence (1971) ** (out of 4)With the need for some stolen gold, Moon (Michael Latimer) gets involved with gangsters and some crooked cops as he tries to play both sides against each other. Pretty soon all three sides are battling as the end result they all want are the riches.Pete Walker's MAN OF VIOLENCE also goes by the title MOON and its available in a couple different versions but this review is for the longest cut of the film, which is the 109-minute version. What you've got here is a crime drama that wants to be like a James Bond film with elements of YOJIMBO thrown in for good measure. The film certainly isn't what I'd call a good one, although Walker does do more with the budget than you would expect.I'd say the best thing this film has going for it is the cinematography, which was actually very good. The film certainly looks a lot better than it actually is and the director also managed to give the film a very professional look. It certainly seems like you're looking at a high budget than they actually had to work with. There are also a number of beautiful ladies on hand including Luan Peters from TWINS OF EVIL fame. The ladies and their nudity certainly make the film a tad bit more sleazy than your Bond pictures.As far as the film's flaws, well, there are quite a few of them. The biggest is the fact that the story itself just gets overly complicated and there is so much dialogue that it doesn't take long for you to grow tired of the situation as well as the characters. I'd also argue that the lead is rather bland and just doesn't add enough energy to the movie. The film really struggles to keep you entertained throughout the expanded running time.
This was the final movie Walker made before moving into the horror field where he would make his name. The plot concerns rival gangs and a stash of gold being smuggled into the country. Several thieves have their plans to make the gold theirs, and much double crossing ensues. One crook, Moom, ends up in the middle of the rival groups and has plans to make off with the loot himself. Violence is not up to future Walker levels and is tame, but eye candy from Hammer girls Luan Peters and Virginia Wetherell helps pass the time with Luan revealing her ample charms a highlight. The ending hints at future Walker conclusions, bleak and downbeat.
90% of this film consists of people standing around talking, a lot of it shot outdoors in such darkness that you can't see much of anything. In fact, the most interesting thing on the videotape I rented was a trailer (at the end) for a film called "Surabaya Conspiracy" that doesn't seem to exist, according to the IMDB. Too bad this one hadn't faded into similar obscurity. It would have saved me $2.10.