Messenger of Death

L'd watched this movie in December 1996 for first time on television, in that time l'd rated 5/10 but now on full length DVD with original audio it's seem much better, Cannon made a lot of movies during the 80' action movies and J Lee Thompson was really good director of this kind of movies, Messenger of Death has Charles Bronson as newspaper's reporter an unusual role to "Stone Face", the plot is totally improbable but is around two Mormons families whom are in clash after women and children massacre, but Bronson suspicious that the real reason is a Water Company, apart the plot the amazing Colorado landscape is breathtaking and the music score is properly fine, as always Bronson never disappoints his fans.

A very intersting film. Even as a newspaper reporter he still acts like a cop and that is why I love Charles Bronson's acting style and his films.

Instead of doing actual writing today I decided to procrastinate and view this 1980s Charles Bronson masterpiece. Here are my two cents... Bronson is a Denver journalist who find him self out for lunch and serial homicide one afternoon. It appears some whackjob lost his gauge on reality and unloaded on an entire Mormon family. Even killing the kids. It does not take a prophet to get the fact no one cares for this . Bronson befriends the Mormon family patriarch and a strange friendship starts. He first tells the man's father who then accuses his own brother. We then hop off to Glenwood Springs , Colorado where the local not so friendly sheriff points Bronson to the farm of the accused brother. After hitching a ride with one of the brothers many cousins , the accused brother accuses the brother who accused him. More back n forth than a washing machine in motion. Bronson doesn't buy it. The tanker truck that suddenly runs them off the road certainly makes the brothers doing it not wash. As Bronson digs deeper he finds the debutante of a very powerful businessman owns the tanker truck company. Back home in New Zion the brother has decided that when it comes to the violent murder of his grand children God can sit judgment out. After organizing his flock he heads to Colorado for a shootout with his brother. Bronsan warns the brother moments before a shootout begins and during the fire fight learns this piece of land has billions of gallons of water under it , that guess what some nearby water company has been dying to get their hands on , even with all the pieces he can't stop both brothers from killing one another . Afterwards , the tanker truck returns with its friends , and demolishes the vehicle Bronson Is leaving in. Back in Denver the chief of police is holding his first fundraiser via his old business partner Fox. After the death of a source and an earlier knife fight with the killer, Bronson comes face to face with the cutthroat again. After a brief struggle we get all the answers. Disclaimer : A Golan - Globas production. That's 80's film speak for B- Rate , but remember without these two you would never know who Chuck Norris is. I have to admit it was a good script no problem with it. The acting could be shaky at times and the direction clearly had a problem with achieving the psychological moods in scenes. There is enough here to pass a Sunday afternoon sometime but not much else.

Director J. Lee Thompson used Charles Bronson more than any other actor in his eighties movies (Ten to Midnight, Cabo Blanco, Death Wish 4, Murphys Law) and this was his second to last outing with Bronson (the last being Kinjite:Forbidden Subjects). Charles Bronson plays Garrett Smith, a reporter who is very curious as to why a family of Mormons (women and children) were all shot to death in a rural farmhouse. He finds a sketch of an angel on a piece of paper that is taped to the wall where one of the victims bodies had laid against. From here, Bronson goes from source to source to try to unravel whatever mystery he has bounded himself in. For those who prefer the 'Paul Kersey/Death Wish' Charles Bronson, you might wanna look elsewhere for a movie, this is a Bronson action character of a different type. He seems to be a very laidback individual and he doesn't really possess that knack of persistently annoying people like most reporters do, but Bronson as usual makes the character work. The plot is very strong, the mystery of the movie definitely kept me guessing until the very, very end of the movie and then BANG! it's all over... I miss Cannon films...

The wife and children of the Mormon Orville Beecham become victims of a massacre in his own house. The police believe the crime had a religious motive. Orville doesn't give any comment on the case, is taken into protective custody. Journalist Smith persuades him to help him in the investigation - and finds out about the economic motives for the murder...... Coming from Cannon pictures, and being released between two of Bronsons greatest films of the eighties, I was expecting some silly action film that would make me laugh for all,the wrong reasons, but blimey, this is something else. It's basically Bronson playing a nosey reporter who gets involved in other people's business and spends the majority of the film in a long warm coat. To say its his most annoying performance is an understatement, there are time when you really start to root for the bad guys, because Bronson just turns up every now and again with that smug look on his face, and you know he's going to go a snooping again. Now, I'm quite aware that's a journalists job, but he really takes it up to 11 at times. But there are a couple of pluses. It has the best faked heart attack I've ever seen, and then Bronson proving a point by shooting a coffin. And the ending, the ending is fantastic. It literally finishes with Bronson turning around with a look that's either saying 'is that all done then?', or 'that was a bit harsh'. Believe me, it finishes like a Columbo two parter, but the first part cliffhanger. And it's worth the insufferable ninety previous minutes.

The film has Charles Bronson in its favor, and is fairly well-made. It'a a little unbelievable, but fans of the genre or Bronson should enjoy it. Basically, Charles Bronson is an investigative reporter who investigates the slaying of a man's family, originally under the impression that the slaying was due to religious differences. One thing of minor note...it's not really a feud between different Mormon sects. The LDS Church has banned polygamy, in accordance with federal law, and excommunicates members who practice it. I suppose some might say that all the break-off groups(like the RLDS, FLDS and polygamist clans) can be considered part of a Mormon Religious Umbrella....but that would be kind of like saying members of the Russian Orthodox Church are really Catholic.

Easily skip-able Charles Bronson movie that starts out strongly but doesn't follow through. He unconvincingly plays a Denver reporter covering a case of a Mormon family living in the Colorado mountains who had nine members massacred, including five children. He then sets out to find the killer by visiting the eccentric community and finds that much of the evidence leads to a family feud between two brothers, along with ties to a water company. Why Chuck's character would feel so personally bent on dealing out vengeance when it's not his own flesh and blood didn't ever strike me as authentic. J. Lee Thompson directs (as usual) and manages to serve up some pretty scenery along with a good cast including John Ireland and Jeff Corey, but this is rather weak tea. ** out of ****

Bronson is rather miscast as a reporter (who still can punch and defeat any opponent), but this is one of his least typical and most solid vehicles from the 80's. It begins with a weird, effectively staged massacre and includes some offbeat elements along with the familiar ones. It's still nothing special, though. It's one of those curiously forgettable films that keep you interested while you're watching them, but leave no lasting impression.

Boy, this is a mess. This is one of those films that, on paper, look like they have a lot going for them but, when they put it on the screen, nothing meshes. There's a decent cast – Bronson, van Devere, Benzali, Ireland, Corey – and an intriguing setting, but the plot is fatally anaemic and the direction, considering it comes from an old trooper like Thompson, is surprisingly shoddy. Much of the acting is second-rate at best, while characters perform abrupt about turns for no explicable reason. For instance, Orville Beecham (Charles Dierkop), a clean-living Mormon farmer, is crazy for revenge after mysterious intruders murder his wives and children and yet is full of forgiveness after the rest of his family is wiped out in a gunfight. The film opens well, with an atmospheric prologue in which two mysterious gunmen massacre the wives and children, although why the gunmen's identities are concealed is something of a mystery as they disappear for the next thirty minutes and are immediately confirmed as the killers when they re-appear. Anyway, from this neatly paced opener, the film goes rapidly downhill. Charles Bronson plays a Denver reporter who gets involved with the warring Mormon clans who go to war over the killings, and he's pretty bad here. He was 67 when the film was made, and he looks bloated and tired. On top of that, he's saddled with an awful script and a frankly ludicrous storyline – which is a crime really because the unusual subject matter here deserves much better writing than that offered by 73-year-old writer Paul Jarrico. Director J. Lee Thompson manages a couple of effective scenes, and there is a good sequence in which two water tankers attempt to crush Bronson's vehicle on a winding country road, but for the most part his direction is flat and uninspired and the story simply fails to engage. Bottom line: give this one a miss.

This is a very good Bronson thriller, that's at times creepy, with an amazing performance from Charles Bronson!. It's pretty engaging, and at times very creepy, and the ending was very memorable, plus it had quite a few shocking moments. The first 10 minutes were absolutely fantastic, it had lots of tension and was very creepy, and it was cool to see Bronson do something different, plus it was unpredictable throughout!. If your looking for lots of action, look elsewhere, however if your looking for a very good thriller, look no further as the film provides plenty of thrills and suspense!, plus the finale was great and very suspenseful. I wasn't expecting much from this film, because a lot of people consider it to be one of Bronson's worst, however i enjoyed it very much and i highly recommend it!. The Direction is very good. J. Lee Thompson does a very good job here, with good camera work and keeping the film at an engaging pace!. There is a tiny bit of blood. We get quite a few bloody gunshot wounds but that's it. The Acting is excellent!. Charles Bronson is AMAZING as he always was, and is Amazing here, he is extremely likable, convincing, was intense, kicked that ass, and was tons of fun to watch! (Bronson ruled!). Trish Van Devere is okay with what she had to do, and did her job adequately. Laurence Luckinbill is good when he was on screen and did his job well. Daniel Benzali is also good with what she had to do. Charles Dierkop,Jeff Corey and John Ireland are all awesome as the Beecham's. rest of the cast are fine. Overall highly recommended!. ***1/2 out of 5