Recent Posts21
Movies & TV / Re: What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV
« Last post by Charger on October 13, 2025, 09:07:43 AM »THE SEVEN UPS (Courtesy of Typhon!)
A tough cop squad in the NYPD is doing some routine stakeout when one of their own gets killed by a crew that is targeting mobsters for ransom. The leader of the squad Buddy (played brilliantly by Roy Scheider) makes it his mission to find the ones responsible.
The movie starts out bit slowly setting the scene but then it explodes into one of the greatest car chases of the 70s! This has some of the same realistic grittiness that The French Connection had, which is no surprise as some of the same creative forces were behind both films. And even the main character Buddy is based on the same character that French Connection's Cloudy was based on..Sonny Grosso, who worked as a creative consultant/writer on both films. And both are loosely inspired by actual events.
Also producer Philip D'Antoni wanted William Friedkin to direct this one as well but he wasn't interested in doing another so similar film so D'Antoni directed this himself.
The car chase is rather phenomenal and most certainly the main focus point of the movie. And what is spectacular about it, it doesn't feature loud music or fast edits (which seem to be the way car chases have been done in the past 20 or so years) but long shorts and only engine and tire noices as the soundtrack...making it a very immersive experience.
The movie isn't as intense or as brilliant as The French Connection but it's clearly a gritty tough 70s cop action flick...and I have to say I am ashamed that I have never seen this before!
* * * ½
A tough cop squad in the NYPD is doing some routine stakeout when one of their own gets killed by a crew that is targeting mobsters for ransom. The leader of the squad Buddy (played brilliantly by Roy Scheider) makes it his mission to find the ones responsible.
The movie starts out bit slowly setting the scene but then it explodes into one of the greatest car chases of the 70s! This has some of the same realistic grittiness that The French Connection had, which is no surprise as some of the same creative forces were behind both films. And even the main character Buddy is based on the same character that French Connection's Cloudy was based on..Sonny Grosso, who worked as a creative consultant/writer on both films. And both are loosely inspired by actual events.
Also producer Philip D'Antoni wanted William Friedkin to direct this one as well but he wasn't interested in doing another so similar film so D'Antoni directed this himself.
The car chase is rather phenomenal and most certainly the main focus point of the movie. And what is spectacular about it, it doesn't feature loud music or fast edits (which seem to be the way car chases have been done in the past 20 or so years) but long shorts and only engine and tire noices as the soundtrack...making it a very immersive experience.
The movie isn't as intense or as brilliant as The French Connection but it's clearly a gritty tough 70s cop action flick...and I have to say I am ashamed that I have never seen this before!
* * * ½
