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Scorpio
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Scorpio
Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: November, 2015.
Director: Michael Winner
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, John Colicos, Joanne Linville
Year: 1973
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The Movie:
In Michael Winner's 1973 thriller Scorpio, Burt Lancaster plays a man named Cross, a well-trained and highly experienced C.I.A. man whose main purpose at the agency, where he reports to McLeod (John Colicos), is to take out foreign operatives deemed inconvenient to American interests. When it comes time to take out an Arab terrorist, he uses a freelance assassin named Jean 'Scorpio' Laurier (Alain Delon) to make the hit, which he sets out to do. From there, however, things get complicated with Scorpio finds out that Cross' superiors want him to take out Cross himself.
Laurier doesn't want to kill Cross, but he's offered enough money to make it worth his while and as such, he agrees. But Cross is a tricky man and when he learns he's accused of pilfering government secrets to the Russians, he takes off to Vienna to look for help from a KGB agent he knows named Sergei Zharkov (Paul Scofield). When the C.I.A. has Cross' wife Sarah (Joanne Linville), however, all bets are off and he heads back to the United States to take care of this problem once and for all.
This nicely shot globe-trotting thriller, set to a pretty killer score courtesy of composer Jerry Fielding, benefits more from the strong performances of an A-list cast than it does tight pacing or unbearable suspense. Lancaster, no spring chicken when he made this picture, is a strong lead. He's gruff but believably sly, he's got smarts and skills and experience, the kind that just might keep him alive through all of this. On the flipside there's Delon, just about one of the coolest actors to ever walk the face of the Earth. A protégé of Cross' to a certain extent, he's a dangerous man but not the type to crack under pressure. They complement one another well and it's interesting to watch them as they essentially play a cat and mouse game that takes them from the United States to Europe and back again. Paul Scofield is also decent as the KGB liaison that Cross winds up counting on with supporting work from Joanna Linville and Gayle Hunnicutt are both fine as Cross and Scorpio's respective love interests.
Although the film does tend to lag in spots, it does a fine job with character development and it does build towards a pretty interesting and, by modern standards at least, unorthodox finale. This isn't an action packed film, it can be heavy on dialogue at times, but the cast make those dialogue heavy scenes interesting enough on their own so that when the action does come, it's worth it. There is solid suspense to enjoy in the last forty minutes or so of the film and the production values are nice. The camera work is slick, the lighting is strong and the locations add a nice vibe to the whole thing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Twilight Time presents Scorpio on Blu-ray in an impressive 1.85.1 widescreen presentation in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. Generally speaking the picture here is nice and film-like without much in the way of obvious digital manipulation to speak of at all. Detail looks excellent in the close up shots and a bit softer in medium and some long distance shots while colors are consistently accurate and life like (although this is sometimes a fairly gritty looking film and not the brightest in terms of its color scheme). Black levels are strong and print damage is never much of a problem at all. There are no obvious issues with noise reduction while depth and clarity are strong throughout the film.
The only audio option provided is an English language DTS-HD Mono track but it's a very good one. Levels are very nicely balanced and there are no problems at all with any hiss or distortion. The score sounds nice and clarity is strong from start to finish. There's good depth and presence to the audio here and it sounds as strong as you could want it to. Optional English subtitles are provided.
The main extra on the disc is a commentary track from film Historians Lem Dobbs, Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman that does a really good job of putting this movie into its proper social and political context while exploring its merits and its place in Winner's filmography. They make some interesting observations about the infamously tempestuous filmmaker's directing style on this picture, offer up plenty of interesting factoids about the cast and crew, offer some analysis of the leads' work in the film and note the impressive score from Jerry Fielding. It's a well-paced track and a nice addition to the disc.
Aside from that, there's the inclusion of the aforementioned score in DTS-HD 2.0. It's a great piece of work and it sounds nice and clear here on this isolated score option. Additionally we also get a trailer for the feature, static menus and chapter selection. Julie Kirgo once again contributes a nice selection of liner notes that talk up the importance of the cast, make some astute observations about Winner's direction and that also offer some welcome background information on the picture.
The Final Word:
Scorpio is a little on the slow side but it ramps up some decent tension towards the end and it features a strong enough cast that, even during those slower moments, watching these talented thespians do their thing is enjoyable enough. Some of Winner's flourishes are fun to see where and Fielding's score is a winner. Twilight Time presents the movie in excellent shape in a strong transfer with clean, clear audio and a really strong commentary as its main supplement. A strong release for an interesting, if imperfect, political thriller.
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