SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

lost-in-limbo Charles Bronson at his best? In a way yes, but maybe no. I guess it all depends in what you want to see. An all out action film, moving like a speeding car (in which the opening sequence ---and what a beginning it is! --- has a beautifully staged car chase through the slender streets of the Virgin Islands) and throwing caution to the wind. Well that would be a no on that aspect. However something a little twisty within its narrative, tension building through its dramatic story developments and brooding atmospherics with a watershed performance by Bronson. I would go yes. After a double-cross that leaves him for dead, professional hit man Jeff survives and serves some time before tracking down the culprit - an old friend and his former mistress to New Orleans. Jeff gets revenge and his lady back, but he finds himself being blackmailed by an influential crime boss Al Weber. Bronson at this period of his career was etching out a name through European productions and "Violent City" aka "The Family" happens to be one of those better enterprises. Italian director Sergio Sollima ("The Big Gundown", "Run, Man, Run" and "Revolver") stylishly lays out the rough and ready groundwork like a fuse waiting to ignite. The slow-tempo works, due to the plots knotty structure of betrayals and double-crossings with slice of tragedy in something of a modern western vibe and these moments are either broken up by reflective instances (like splicing together flashbacks), getting reactions in a game of wits between characters or relentlessly dynamic and imaginative action sequences. Sollima's crisp cinematography frames it all with remarkable long shots and showy camera angles, as the visuals are simply stunning and the location work is brought live by its authentically flavoured New Orleans backdrop. Ennio Morricone composes the scorching music score, which is excitingly cued with its majestically saucy edge… but despite the masterful effort I thought the greatest sequences arose from the silent periods in the intensely crackling opening spectacle and climatic finale passage of the film (which was beautifully unsettling). The tight screenplay keeps it sly and cynical, but at the core behind its engagingly complicated plot mechanisms is a simple minded, but seething revenge outlook. The acting fairs-up with more of a physical, but terse performance by Bronson, which his silent and tough persona fitted right at home with. There's burning conviction by Jill Ireland with her tantalizingly devious turn and Terry Savalas is living it up as a powerful crime figure. Umberto Orsini and Michel Constantin are quite good too. A gritty, compelling crime potboiler.

sc8031 Man, Charles Bronson was such a weirdo. His on-screen presence was so cold, shady and unlikable, but the bad guys were even worse. So the viewer is always left to reluctantly root for Charlie -- by default. This one is no different (of course, why should it be otherwise?). "Violent City" starts out with some badass car chase and action sequences. The driving in this movie (sans power-steering!) is really legit. But the second half of the movie just drags.I thought the plot was okay: the idea of this sexy girl double-crossing the main character, using her feminine wiles to survive in an underworld of sleazy, dangerous mobsters and killers. She's blameless but ultimately as guilty as the rest of them! There are some okay plot twists that come along, and Bronson's crazed "tragic love" seems reasonable: there aren't that many hot babes that will fall in love with a contract killer (unless I'm mistaken). The movie is pretty violent and sexually explicit, though. The sexual themed moments are either cheesy or rough, and the (surprisingly) monotonous score by Morricone makes this a total '70s gangster exploitation film.Unfortunately the editing is a little choppy, some plot elements just are not explained very well (such as what happens in prison near the beginning of the film) and the American version is overly censored. I should point out that this film does not have Italian in the American script, contrary to what some other reviewers have mentioned. It was dubbed, both in Italian and in English, and the non-American releases have segments in Italian. The version I watched was a non-American version, so the parts that had been cut out from the American version were in Italian. The sudden transitions into Italian were pretty amusing.It was entertaining, but not that memorable. The car chases and the sniper scenes are pretty hot, though.4.5

Jonny_Numb Sergio Sollima's "Violent City" begins on an outstanding note: real-life couple Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland vacationing in the Virgin Islands, are mercilessly chased through the city, with the scene culminating in a shootout where Bronson is shot and Ireland runs off with one of Charlie's former "business associates." Based on the strength of this 10-minute sequence (written entirely without dialog), it would be wishful thinking to believe that the rest of the film maintains that same level of adrenalin-pumping intensity. Unfortunately, nothing else in the film even comes close to touching that chase; instead, what we get is a drawn-out (the uncut version runs 109 minutes) tale of double-crosses, double-talk, and just...a lot of talk, in general (the current DVD release restores scenes that were previously lost, and would have been better that way). Bronson aims to get even with the traitor who imprisoned him, but once that's accomplished, a whole new string of complications (involving Telly Savalas' mob boss and an oily lawyer) pop up. Despite the film's run time and the emphasis on exposition, the characters remain fairly one-dimensional (for the most part, they're crime-genre ciphers manipulated by the plot), and Bronson never gets to let loose with the stone-cold, messenger-of-death charisma that made his performance in "Death Wish" so iconic. And this is what ultimately makes "Violent City" a "who cares?" footnote to the Italian crime thrillers of the 1970s.4.5 out of 10

Witchfinder General 666 I'm a big fan of Sergio Sollima's ingenious Spaghetti Westerns, and Charles Bronson is without doubt a great enrichment to any movie he played in. Sollima's "Citta Violenta" aka. "Violent City" aka. "The Family" of 1970 is a very good crime/action flick with Bronson in the leading role and a great score by Ennio Morricone. "The Family" may not quite share the brilliance of Sollima's Westerns, but it is definitely a very solid, greatly acted film that no Bronson fan can afford to miss! After hit man Jeff Heston (Charles Bronson) is double crossed by his girlfriend (Bronson's real life wife Jill Ireland), and almost gets killed by rival gangsters, he spends the following four years in prison. After getting out of jail, he wants to track down those who betrayed him. It is not so easy, however, to find out who was involved in his assassination attempt, and Heston has to make quite an effort to distinguish between friends and enemies.Charles Bronson is once again great as the leading character, and definitely the best choice to play Jeff Heston. Telly Savalas also delivers a great performance as the boss of a crime family. Although many folks seem to think differently, I also found that Jill Ireland did a great job as femme fatale Vanessa. One of the few things that were not quite necessary in "Citta Violenta", were the endless car chases. Car chases are of course mandatory for a film like this, but when they get too long, they can get a bit boring easily. The car chase sequences here are usually followed by violent action, however. The movie is quite imaginatively photographed, and Ennio Morricone's score is, as always, great, and although it is a bit different to the 'typical' Morricone that we're used to from Westerns, it is immediately clear who composed this soundtrack.A very well made action flick with a great leading performance by Bronson, "Citta Violenta" is a great flick, maybe not quite as essential as Sollima's Westerns, but immensely entertaining, atmospheric and totally badass, and not to be missed by a Bronson fan. 8/10