Cabo Blanco

A big fan of j lee thompson and charles bronson i found this movie worth a watch. its very layed back and old school like a visit to your folks.its south American local and tropic feel was a real plus and Charley was in in good form.but thompson was slumming it a bit,maybe enjoying the sun to much.the pace was slow even for this sort of film.

i think i could of enjoyed it more if the copy i had was any good, but it is poor with only the widescreen formate save it from being unwatchable. it is such a rare movie that i was happy enough to see it at all.

if you enjoy 70's style movies and gumshoe movies give it a go its good late night fodder.

Judging solely from the cool poster art (featuring a mean looking Bronson with a .357 magnum in hand) I expected a gritty 70s/80s style crime flick with the main twist being that it's set in a tropical Latin American location instead of the typical NYC or LA. Instead what we get is a 1940s era neo-noir with shades of 'Casablanca'. I guess I would have been fine with that as it would have been an interesting change of pace for a Bronson flick (so long as it were accompanied by plenty of hard-hitting action). However whatever potential this film had quickly deteriorates as the plot becomes nothing more than a lame, slow paced, sunken treasure movie.

Highlights include a few creative(though underwhelming) action scenes, topless Latina chicks, and appearances by Fernando Rey and Jason Robards (who isn't very convincing as a German expatriate). Even a cameo by a talking parrot can't save it. Avoid.

This is very slickly made film which sadly doesn't have a good reputation or a decent widescreen release. The camera-work on the film is excellent with much moving camera a great score and good locations.

The odd thing is the bursts of full frontal nudity and one really graphic death scene. These seem to be included for fans of Bronson's gritty films but seem totally out of place here.

Sondra is dull as usual. Bronson solid. Robards doesn't seem to want to be bothered by doing a German accent. It has real visual sweep. Odd rather forced voice over which seems to be trying to set this up for a sequel perhaps at the end.

Despite these forced elements--of violence, nudity,and nostalgia--the bulk of the film works as a mystery and intrigue--rather than say action. One of the few of director Thompson's later films that really hearken back to his early Hollywood career of sweeping location quasi epics.

The ending builds suspense only to pay it off in an offbeat--and perhaps off putting way for some. Jerry Goldsmith contributes a fantastic score too, btw.

Deserves more respect and proper restoration than it gets especially among the later career of Bronson. In fact, as a bit of an update a blu ray of the film does now exist, you can see and enjoy the widescreen phototgraphy to it's full impact. The blu ray also includes a well made making-of-film done at the time, by one of Gregory Peck's children, no less!

It seems like almost all Hollywood stars have to have their own version of Casablanca.

Even Shakespeare plays must not have attracted so many varied 'interpretations'.

Even Charles Bronson ?!

But surprisingly the movie is still a typical Bronson movie. Factor in the nudity, the fights, the thrills, and the 'he-men' that populate your regular Bronson movie.

I personally found the ending a bit'weak and maybe obscure'; but it helps to differentiate the movie from being a direct Casablanca copy.

Overall, it stands up OK for die-hard Bronson fans.

Director J. Lee Thompson and actor Charles Bronson always made an interesting team, and this particular effort was the last one I needed to see. Compared with most of their collaborations in the 80s, this is a diamond in the rough and quite an off-kilter, old-fashion adventure / mystery story that sets out to be intriguing and creates a nice feel of the times, than anything relying on Bronson handing out nasty punishment. Well on that point, the violence when it does eventuate is surprisingly brutal, if quick and too the point. When it happens, it comes from nowhere. However Bronson is given a chance to spread his wings, and act with confidence and stalwart appeal. It's a terrifically surly, down-played performance by Chuck in a suitable heroine role. Working off Bronson is a tremendously solid cast. Jason Robards' is subtly powerful in a fine turn and Fernando Rey's sly style always amuses. Dominique Sanda displays a potently classy presence. The support cast rounding it off are just as good with Simon Mac Corkindale, Dennis Millar, Clifton James and Camilla Sparv.

Looming from the presentation is a film-noir tone, and I don't really get the 'Casablanca' references (from it being a rip-off to an unfunny spoof) made about it. There's no denying it's rather talky though, but the script is involving and smartly weaved together. This works due to the screenplay having a busy (if muddled) plot and still keeping a breezy (almost brooding) air to it. Some contrived, and convenient actions occur, and the drama can seem a little uncertain. But it never becomes a worry. Also how they used the breathtakingly erotic Mexican backdrop in the action was accordingly staged and well-framed. Talk about nice sight seeing. The swirling, wide-screen camera-work had that ability to capture that organic sense of place, although the underwater shots came off terribly murky. Thompson's direction is undoubtedly workman-like, slow and effective on a much larger scale, despite the dreary look to its visual styling. Jerry Goldsmith's rousing melancholic score is picture-perfect. Everything boils up to an thrilling climax, as the calmness makes way for a stormy (literally) confrontations of two men, who share something in common, but how they go about things are entirely different. They have a past they like to forget, and this is their chance for that to happen and put away that lingering fear of something catching up.

One of Bronson's interestingly obscure oddities, which unjustly flopped and deserves an audience.

p.s I would love to see a good DVD print of this film, because the grainy VHS copy I rented doesn't do it any justice.