The Family

Violent City (The family) is a curious introspective into the life of a paid assassin and the chain of events that unravel around him. Brilliant score by Ennio Morricone, it empowers the film ten-fold without question. Bronsons stoic nature and animalistic presence are used to their strengths perfectly here, his character counteracts Jill Ireland's soft & innocent persona wonderfully and works well. Telly Savalas is entertaining as always, brimming with charm and personality as usual. Violent City never got the exposure in the U.S. that it saw in Europe, a recent U.S. DVD release has finally brought this seemingly-lost gem back into the conversation. The film has a fast pace to it, this is the quintessential Italian crime film that others are replicated from. Car chases, shoot-outs and Charles Bronson. Worth a watch!

I've waited many years to see this movie. Now that I saw it, it turned out to be a great disappointment, the worst film with Charles Bronson. And that's not because of Jill Ireland (who acted in 16 movies with Bronson just because she was his wife...), but because of the script, which is a s..t wrapped in cabbage. Charles Bronson is a great love for me. Same as Telly Savalas and Michel Constantin. Morricone's music resembles that of many Italian films with mobsters, signed also by him (that is he copied himself). Once again, great disappointment.

Sergio Sollima's "Violent City" begins on an outstanding note: real-life couple Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland vacationing in the Virgin Islands, are mercilessly chased through the city, with the scene culminating in a shootout where Bronson is shot and Ireland runs off with one of Charlie's former "business associates." Based on the strength of this 10-minute sequence (written entirely without dialog), it would be wishful thinking to believe that the rest of the film maintains that same level of adrenalin-pumping intensity. Unfortunately, nothing else in the film even comes close to touching that chase; instead, what we get is a drawn-out (the uncut version runs 109 minutes) tale of double-crosses, double-talk, and just...a lot of talk, in general (the current DVD release restores scenes that were previously lost, and would have been better that way). Bronson aims to get even with the traitor who imprisoned him, but once that's accomplished, a whole new string of complications (involving Telly Savalas' mob boss and an oily lawyer) pop up. Despite the film's run time and the emphasis on exposition, the characters remain fairly one-dimensional (for the most part, they're crime-genre ciphers manipulated by the plot), and Bronson never gets to let loose with the stone-cold, messenger-of-death charisma that made his performance in "Death Wish" so iconic. And this is what ultimately makes "Violent City" a "who cares?" footnote to the Italian crime thrillers of the 1970s. 4.5 out of 10

Charles Bronson is at his coolest and most bad ass in this entertaining Italian crime flick. Bronson plays Jeff Heston, a professional hit man who wants to leave that line of work behind him. But his associates will have NONE of that, and spend a lot of time trying to set him up and take him out. When attempts are made on his life, Jeff makes it his mission to get revenge on the old "friend" and current flame who tried to eliminate him. Adding a shot in the arm is Telly Savalas, appearing around the one hour mark, as a slick, rich gangster, Al Weber. Telly is a lot of fun to watch. Female lead Jill Ireland is less satisfactory (but looks amazing), but she's not bad as this scheming, conniving person. The excellent international cast also includes Michel Constantin as Killain, Umberto Orsini as Steve, and Ray Saunders as one of Jeffs' cell mates. This twist laden script, with six people in total credited for the story and screenplay (including Lina Wertmuller and director Sergio Sollima), has the potential to confuse the viewer, especially as it doesn't always exist in one time frame. But Sollima does an excellent job at crafting the action. One can hardly fail to notice that the opening set piece plays out wordlessly, with no actors speaking until about 12 minutes along. A climactic elevator ride similarly plays out almost without sound. The camera work is first rate, as is the use of various locations. The pacing may cause some viewers to fidget, as it's very deliberate most of the time. Bronson fans will see a different side of him here, as he roughs up his real life wife Ireland on more than one occasion. He's not a squeaky clean protagonist, for sure. The ending may likewise take some people by surprise. Overall this is stylish trash, well shot in Techniscope and featuring a typically eclectic soundtrack courtesy of the legendary Ennio Morricone. There are also little doses of nudity along the way. Seven out of 10.

an italian hitman film with charlie bronson? how can it be anything less than amazing? well, i'm not sure either but this Sergio Sollima film didn't live up to the expectations i had when i saw the trailer. the trailer makes it look like a portrait of a killer growing old and watching his craft lose the honour it once had at the hands of the newer generation of more ruthless crooks. plus the score is possibly Ennio Morricone's best. but, when i actually saw the film it was a little less than what i had hoped for. while Bronsons role is awesome and his dialogue sounds at times out of a Micheal Mann film like THEIF or HEAT, i think had their been a bit more heart in this film it could've been a ton better. still, if you like mob movies or Charlie Bronson movies you should make a point of seeing this at least once. while it's not a classic, it's still a good spaghetti crime film. had it been Sergio Leone and not Sergio Sollima that directed this it may have been a masterpiece!

I have to say that even my being a Charles Bronson fan didn't help me watching this movie. The beginning is not bad and much promising with a nice car chase scene. But that's all the good you'll see because then it starts getting weaker and weaker and weaker. The problem of this movie is that the plot is very little, uninteresting and has no integrity. It's just a sequence of events. I constantly had the feeling there was no firm hand making this movie and all the actors were just wasted. They couldn't even figure out to the very end of the movie in what direction it should be going. So, as you can probably guess the writing in whole was really bad to say the least. Although there were some good lines delivered by Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson, nothing redeems this movie to me. Speaking of the absence of definiteness, here's an example: you see Telly's thugs at least in 2 or 3 scenes, that is they did exist, but it turns out so easy for Bronson's character to just step into Telly's house and kill him. So what was the purpose of those guys? That's what I'm saying. There's no outcome to anything in this movie, no culmination, in other words everything turns out in the worst way one might expect. A lifeless and empty movie shot in a very unorganized way. I truly hope this review will prevent other people from being disappointed the way I saw. Just avoid it.

in this brillant piece of cinema, charles bronson plays a sniper who is double crossed by his girl while on vacation....they almost kill him but after a bloody shoot out and a fairly lame car chase, he gets away....only to be offered a job to kill someone....he turns it down and ends up killing the guy who tried to kill him instead...he then proceeds to be hunted by the guys who tried to hire him, this group of men happens to be lead by none other than telly savalis....!....plot twists and a surprise ending make this one of the more interesting bronson films....with the film not being made in the usa you get a different sense of charlie....check out the jail scene and see if you catch the fact that he has a lisp....that explains all the long shots....oh yeah, jill ireland plays his girl....big surprise. don't get me wrong i love charles bronosn....but her, not so much. the end.

I've been watching a lot of these Italian cop flicks recently, but unfortunately; Violent City isn't one of the best. The film was released before Dirty Harry (unlike the rest of the genre), so it does deserve some credit for originality. That's not to say it's bad by any means, but this Charles Bronson vehicle doesn't entertain on the same level as a lot of the rest of the genre. There are certainly a lot of good things about this film; but unfortunately, there's also a lot of bad and the film features long stretches where little or nothing happens, which certainly isn't to its credit. It's a shame really as this has the basis to be one of the best of the Italian crime films just because of the fact that it stars the 'man of few words' Charles Bronson. The plot is pretty standard stuff, and focuses on a hit-man that is double crossed by his friend and girlfriend. After getting out of jail, he decides to take revenge on those that wronged him. However, some way into his revenge; he begins being blackmailed by a powerful crime boss that wants the hit-man in his organisation. Charles Bronson has a lot of screen presence, despite the fact that this role doesn't really suit him. His character is called 'Jeff' (it's really hard to imagine the grizzled Charles Bronson being called "Jeff"), and it's also rather difficult to imagine him having the women after him... The film's positives are, luckily, enough to save it from being a complete loss. The opening car chase is really good, and provides the perfect opening to the film. From there, we are treated to a handful of good action scenes, including plenty of shooting (a given, since the lead character is a hit-man). The sequence at the end is the best part of the film, as it's both exciting and inventive, and provides the perfect way for our lead character to get his revenge. The support cast isn't great, and features Telly Savalas, who is decent enough and Jill Ireland, who looks nice throughout. However, the plotting continually gets in the way and the fact that the film doesn't run smoothly greatly hinders it. Overall, Violent City certainly has its moments; but it's not one of the best crime films to come out of Italy during the seventies.

There's absolutely no way that any movie can start off better than "Violent City". Charlie Bronson on a yacht with a ravishing blond chick, then moving onto land where the couple immediately gets subjected to a wild car chase through extremely narrow streets (and over stairs!) and ending with a violent shootout! And all this time not a single word is being spoken by anyone and all we here are the sounds of squeaking tires, snorting car engines and Ennio Moricone's umpteenth fabulous soundtrack. The first ten minutes of "Violent City" are so damn brilliant I was even tempted to stop watching the film because I honestly feared things could only go downwards from that point, ha! Luckily it didn't. Sure the pacing slowed down a bit (only a little bit, mind you) but a great film unfolds itself, with a simplistic but nevertheless compelling plot, gritty atmosphere and terrific acting performances by Charles Bronson (as the silent as always but deadly killer), Telly Savalas (as the sneering, sleazy and eccentric super-villain) and Jill Ireland (as the bimbo who appears to screw around with half of the city). Jeff is a retiring hit man who completes one more personal killing job when a former friend double-crosses him, leaves him for dead and runs off with his lady friend. Jeff's spectacular payback, executed at a race car circuit) gets him noticed by the big boss of the city's organized crime network. He wants Jeff to be a part of his successful crime-family, and when he refuses an exhilarating and testosterone-packed cat and mouse game ensues. The plot isn't highly original, but several independent sequences are magnificent, like the aforementioned opening, the intense finale or – most of all – the scene where Vanessa gets introduced to Weber (Savalas) in a restaurant. Sergio Sollima is a gifted director, who primarily earned his fame in the spaghetti western genre ("The Big Gundown" and "Run Man Run"). That's also exactly what "Violent City" often resembles; a gritty urban western with Bronson in his familiar role of lone outlaw passing through a town where no one can be trusted. If I understood correctly, the titular violent city is supposed to be Michigan, where strangely everyone speaks a combination of English and Italian. Funny detail on the Dutch DVD-release is that the dubbing is incomplete. Some of the dialogs start in English but halfway the conversation swifts to Italian and back to English again. Not at all bothering, especially not in case you looked forward to this movie as much as I did.

I'm a big fan of Sergio Sollima's ingenious Spaghetti Westerns, and Charles Bronson is without doubt a great enrichment to any movie he played in. Sollima's "Citta Violenta" aka. "Violent City" aka. "The Family" of 1970 is a very good crime/action flick with Bronson in the leading role and a great score by Ennio Morricone. "The Family" may not quite share the brilliance of Sollima's Westerns, but it is definitely a very solid, greatly acted film that no Bronson fan can afford to miss! After hit man Jeff Heston (Charles Bronson) is double crossed by his girlfriend (Bronson's real life wife Jill Ireland), and almost gets killed by rival gangsters, he spends the following four years in prison. After getting out of jail, he wants to track down those who betrayed him. It is not so easy, however, to find out who was involved in his assassination attempt, and Heston has to make quite an effort to distinguish between friends and enemies. Charles Bronson is once again great as the leading character, and definitely the best choice to play Jeff Heston. Telly Savalas also delivers a great performance as the boss of a crime family. Although many folks seem to think differently, I also found that Jill Ireland did a great job as femme fatale Vanessa. One of the few things that were not quite necessary in "Citta Violenta", were the endless car chases. Car chases are of course mandatory for a film like this, but when they get too long, they can get a bit boring easily. The car chase sequences here are usually followed by violent action, however. The movie is quite imaginatively photographed, and Ennio Morricone's score is, as always, great, and although it is a bit different to the 'typical' Morricone that we're used to from Westerns, it is immediately clear who composed this soundtrack. A very well made action flick with a great leading performance by Bronson, "Citta Violenta" is a great flick, maybe not quite as essential as Sollima's Westerns, but immensely entertaining, atmospheric and totally badass, and not to be missed by a Bronson fan. 8/10