Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

InformationRap 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.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Art Vandelay First time I saw Point Blank I thought it was an empty wank-fest. Maybe it didn't appeal to me because I saw it on a cheap VHS tape rented from Movies-R-Us in the 90s. But along comes TCM and I got to see it in its widescreen format. Then I saw it again. And again. And again. Each time around there's something more to discover, even though on the surface it is a spare, lean revenge drama. There's the cinematography. The sound. The color choices. Everyone mentons Marvin's performance, sure, but Dickinson, my goodness in that sweater dress in John Vernon's apartment, and the way she wails on Marvin's chest until she falls down exhausted. Keean Wynn, surely one of Hollywood's all-time most versatile character actors, showing up every 15 minutes or so to add a layer of creepy tension. This is a movie with zero good guys but innumerable gripping performances. One day I might even have watched it enough times to figure out the subtext, but for now it's just one great movie in what I call American movie-making's greatest decade between Bonnie & Clyde (released nearly simultaneously to Point Blank) and Jaws.

Jackson Booth-Millard I found this film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I was looking forward to seeing it because it was the chance to see the leading actor in a different kind of role than I've seen from him before, directed by John Boorman (Deliverance, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Excalibur, The Tailor of Panama). Basically a man known to everyone only as Walker (Lee Marvin) who was double-crossed by his partner and his wife Lynne (Sharon Acker) is unfaithful to him. Walker does not seek retribution, all he wants is his share of the loot, $93,000, and nothing and no-one will stop him from doing whatever it takes to get it. Walker goes through a number of henchmen, slick operators and shrewd entrepreneurs that stand in his way of getting to the main man and his money. Walker's self- motivated operations takes to locations such as Alcatraz Island and Fort Point, he does force the criminals to give him what he wants, the final confrontation sees the man who set him up leaving the money in a briefcase, but in the end Walker leaves it, the criminals assume he will return to collect it, it is unclear if he does. Also starring Keenan Wynn as Yost, Carroll O'Connor as Brewster, Lloyd Bochner as Frederick Carter, Michael Strong as Stegman and John Vernon as Mal Reese. Marvin who I knew best for being in westerns and playing rough or messy characters gives a magnificent performance as the revenge-seeking lethal weapon man, the film makes great use of cinematography and Los Angeles locations, and the violence throughout really draws you in, I agree with critics the slightly complicated characters and story mean it may require repeat viewings, but I can confirm it is a most worthwhile crime thriller. Very good!

Ore-Sama One of the first American films to show clear influence from the french new wave, a cinematic movement in France that rewrote the book on what film could do.John Boorman's thriller was not exactly a blockbuster, but even at the time it caught the eyes of many a film makers and critics and survives as a cult classic, enduring long after it's 1999 remake was forgotten."Point Blank" stars Lee Marvin as Walker (no last name), a man who agrees to help his close friend, along with his wife, pull off a heist in Alcatraz. However Walker is betrayed and left for dead. Surviving, he escapes the island and begins a relentless hunt for Reese, who is now living the high life. However this seemingly simple revenge tale gets far more complex.In "The Terminator", Kyle Reese described the title killer as something that cannot be reasoned with, that will not stop until his target is dead. That description could just as easily apply to Walker. Played with brilliant creepy subtlety, Walker is an absolutely menacing presence on screen. Devoid of emotions besides anger, the film follows his growingly meaningless rampage.He is no hero. He tortures without relent, hurts without remorse, and he doesn't stop. I can't imagine any other actor, even one who might be fit for the role, bringing everything to the table Lee Marvin does. He's hypnotically good, and that is perhaps what makes his journey of interest, rather than any traditional sense of like ability.Lee Marvin's performance and the intricate, constantly twisting plot are also accompanied by the most unique aspect of the film, being the way it's made. A broad use of flashbacks, including flashbacks within flashbacks, giving a very dream like feel to the film at times. Sound is often displaced, with some bits having little to no sound and others having sound carry into scenes they couldn't be a logical part of, such as the "walking" scene where Walker's foot steps are heard even as he's driving. The brilliant use of the wide frame, and make no mistake, this film NEEDS to be seen in wide screen. This is a beautiful looking film, and while certain aspects of the film have been copied, not many have brought it all together the way "Point Blank" has, making it a very unique experience.Exciting, masterfully made and acted, with a haunting and brilliant ending, "Point Blank" is almost incomparable to anything else, and is well worth giving a view.

Bill Slocum Lee Marvin was a quintessential man of action in 1960s cinema, always acting, never explaining. While he enjoyed a run of good films and an Oscar for one that wasn't, this remains his finest hour-and-a-half on film.Marvin is Walker, a man with no first name and a burning desire for getting back $93,000 stolen from him by his faithless wife and his false friend, Reese (John Vernon). As if by magic, a mystery man named Yost (Keenan Wynn) materializes to offer him a shot at the money...and revenge. Reese is now a part of something called the Organization, and Yost wants Walker's help bringing Reese down."You want Reese, and I want the Organization, you understand," Yost explains. "I'm going to help you and you're going to help me."Marvin's spare approach to acting was never on better display than it is here. His face is granite inexpressiveness, but he never stops until he gets what he is after. The result is a grimly satisfying piece of pure cinema expertly directed by John Boorman and drawing from Marvin's own real-life combat experience. Walker's walking wounded, but never shows pain or much of anything else except when it helps him get what he's after.The riddle of "Point Blank" rests in who Walker really is; the film is designed magnificently to keep you guessing. Normal human interaction is played at a curious minimum. Walker doesn't even ask questions when he confronts his wife, she simply talks in a monotone while he stares into space. Later, confronting a messenger, he just repeats whatever the fellow blurts out. For about ten minutes, from the time he meets Yost to the reunion with his wife, Walker doesn't speak at all. We just hear his footsteps echoing down an endless corridor.Is he a ghost? Is he having a vision, perhaps in a dying dream? It's hard to say, and people have had a field day guessing about it. He appears and disappears in elevators and parking garages seemingly at will. Everyone he meets says they thought he was dead. He doesn't even kill anyone directly, except perhaps one death which Walker operates with the help of a bedsheet, something we associate with ghosts. The bedsheet even blows up and covers Walker at the climactic moment.I'm still not sure what Walker is, but I enjoy watching Marvin make me guess. He doesn't even seem bothered when his sister-in-law Chris (Angie Dickinson) batters him with his hands for a couple of minutes, though her tagging him with a pool cue does get his attention for a little while. Mostly he just moves and watches, self-contained.He gets off a couple of funny lines, too, though you have to pay attention. At one point, Chris asks him why he brought her along for a meeting with a top Organization guy. "I thought you'd be safer with me than you would be by yourself," he answers. We have seen a lot of people by this point in the film who would have been much safer by themselves.Occasionally "Point Blank's" arid tone and zen vibe are bothersome elements, and there's a scene in a modern home (actually the same pad the Beatles hung out in when they visited Los Angeles) where Chris and Walker seem a bit too caught up in the movie's farther-out elements. But mostly this is a very involving and crafty movie, with a left- field ending that sticks.The film's unique style and rapid pace make for the kind of entertainment that is completely of its time and yet timeless, too. The same can be said for Lee Marvin, the hard-living man who left us this study of a man too hard for his own good.