Product Description

Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 05/03/2005

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12970 in DVD
• Brand: BRONSON,CHARLES
• Released on: 2002-01-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

From the Back Cover
In a city set to explode, one man has just lit the fuse. After a bloody double-cross leaves him for dead, professional hit man Jeff (Charles Bronson) tracks the shooter and his beautiful mistress (Jill Ireland) to New Orleans. But when Jeff takes both revenge and the woman, he finds himself blackmailed by a powerful crime boss (Telly Savalas), who wants the fiercely independent gunman to join his organization. Jeff refuses and is hunted through an unforgiving city where love is like a loaded gun and debts of vengeance are paid in bullets.
This is no ordinary Bronson movie. Packed with savage action and a shocking twist ending, Violent City (also known as The Family) is directed by Sergio Sollima (The Big Gundown) from a fast-paced screenplay co-written by Lina Wertmuller and features a remarkable score by the legendary Ennio Morricone.

Customer Reviews

"This is no ordinary Bronson movie."
That's from the back cover on the DVD. I guess what they're saying is, "This is a GOOD Bronson movie." Indeed -- ANY movie written by Lina Wertmuller and scored by Ennio Morricone is bound to be at least interesting, no matter the subject or the star. *Violent City*, set in New Orleans but Italian-produced (and directed by journeyman Sergio Sollima), is a really nasty piece of work that explores the seamy underbelly of petty organized crime and its contract killers. Charles Bronson plays a retired independent hitman hilariously named "Jeff". At first, he gets our sympathy. He's a nice guy, on the surface: well, he's nice as long as he's got a yacht and a hot broad to play with. But when things turn sour -- when he's double-crossed by the hot broad and an old pal -- he shows his true colors as a thoroughgoing b---ard. He's a remorseless killer with a rapist mentality. But in the milieu of *Violent City*, one can hardly single Jeff out for condemnation: it's every man (and woman) for him/herself. No good guys, here. Speaking of the woman, Bronson's wife Jill Ireland nicely brings to life Wertmuller's brilliant conception of the Dumb Blonde who hides the heart of a Medusa. Telly Savalas also makes an impression as the New Orleans kingpin who puts a roadblock in Jeff's plans for revenge. Savalas, wearing gigantic eyeglasses, gives us an oddly sympathetic Mob boss. (Bronson, btw, is terrible as usual, but so what?) I think I'll refrain from giving out plot details, because the movie depends on its plot twists to keep the audience hooked. Seekers of the "visual aesthetic" will definitely be hooked by the superb locales. Sollima manages to avoid the Quarter almost entirely: the majority of the location shots are in the seedy ghettos, swampy suburbs, and shipping docks of New Orleans. Never has this city looked so ugly and untouristy (no cliched scenes of the main characters wending their way through Bourbon St., et al.), but the scenery certainly befits the savage storyline. In any case, ALL will be impressed by the violent, slowly operatic finale. *Violent City* is a classic example of "neo-noir" at its conception in the early Seventies. It's a gem ripe for discovery. Especially recommendable to fans of Sam Peckinpah: the concerns with masculine power, and the blending of sex and violence, will make the Peckinpah fan feel right at home.

This is "The Family" re-titled...
First I want all Bronson fans to know that this movie was originally out as "The Family" back in the 70's! I had been looking for Bronson in "the Family" for a while, when a friend told me the plot of this one and I immediately realized it was "The Family"! Why the studio re-titled it is unknown to me and I believe will only confuse Bronson fans looking for this title. The movie itself is classic Bronson fare and if you're a fan who has not seen it, you will enjoy it. Good Bronson action with witty Bronson one-liners. Hey, Telly Savalas is in it too- what more can you ask for!

The Beauty Of Violence
This is a relatively unheard of Bronson movie, which should take its place on the mantel of other great Bronson works such as Mr. Majestyk, The Mechanic, Rider on the Rain and Once Upon a Time in the West. Bronson is the cold killer in this film, and as anyone who has seen The Mechanic knows, no one plays cold blooded killer better than Charles Bronson. Only in this film Bronson is caught between being a "professional" and his love for the double crossing Jill Ireland. The director Sergio Sollima plays with this relationship and also with the audiences' minds by building up anticipation and delivering something they are expecting, but delivering it in the most shocking way possible. Sollima knows the rules of the genre he is working in and he toys with it. In turn this brings out some of the most innovative narrative that cinema has ever seen. Adding salt to the already tasty dish is Ennio Morricone's moody score, which has the undertones of a spaghetti western being played out in the present time. The score is layering every pore in Bronson's face as it is the film. The cinematography is perfect, as it entices the plot to move furthur on in the beautifully created shots and colours of the film. COOL is the word to sum up Violent City.