The Mechanic

The early seventies was a great period for Bronson. Having already reached fifty and a string of classics under his belt as a support player in the sixties, the seventies was his decade. His ice cool tough guy image and immaculate physique made up for his rugged leading man looks and put him more in line ahead of the Redfords and the Newman's for gritty urban thrillers. In Basic terms Bronson could play a ruthless good guy, he had played his fair share of Indians and Mexican Bandits, but never was he better cast than when he portrayed Arthur Bishop, professional hitman for the Mob, The Mechanic.

With great locations, exciting outbursts of action and a surprise twist, this is seventies action entertainment at it's best and it was the period where Director Michael Winner's collaboration with Bronson proved to be his best work to date. They went on to make another great urban crime thriller THE STONE KILLER and then DEATH WISH, Bronson's most famous movie.

It's a shame that both Bronson and Winner's films and reputations went down hill in the eighties but perhaps age went against the seventies icon, as for Winner he returned to Britain and went back to making dire comedies.

But the seventies saw Bronson in many roles that would categorise him as typecast but perhaps he knew his limitations and knew he was never gonna be a romantic lead. Although his late wife, Jill Ireland may have disagreed, she appeared alongside him several times over the space of twenties years, check out a movie entitled FROM NOON TIL THREE, a romantic western that people didn't want to see.

Audiences want to see Bronson as tough, cool, calculated and deadly that's why THE MECHANIC is the perfect vehicle for the screen legend.

The forty-two year old hit-man Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is frequently hired to kill without a trace and he carefully studies the profiles of his victims to find the perfect and clean way to execute them.

When he is hired to kill "Big" Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn), who was a former friend of his father, Arthur meets his son Steve McKenna (Jan- Michael Vincent) asking money to Harry at home. Later in Harry's funeral, Steve asks for a ride to Arthur and they become very close. Arthur finds potential in the twenty-four year old Steve to become a professional killer and he invites the youngster to form a partnership with him. However his attitude displeases the Powers that Be and Arthur is sent to Naples to kill a mobster. Arthur finds a file about him in a drawer at Steve's house but he invites Steve to travel with him to Italy. Sooner they learn that someone wants them to see Naples and die.

"The Mechanic" is an engaging film by Michael Winner with another great performance of Charles Bronson in the role of a "mechanic", meaning a hired hit-man that kills his victims without leaving a trace. One of the best lines in this film is when he tells to Steve that murder is only killing without a license. Jan-Michael Vincent has one of his best performances in the role of a youngster that believe that he has learned how to lure an experienced man. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Assassino a Preço Fixo" ("Killer at a Fixed Price")

Another classic Bronson movie and not to be missed. This time Charles is Arthur Bishop, a merciless, unfeeling, uncaring and strictly by the book assassin who is the standard by which all other professional killers are measured. Meticulous to a fault and as calculatingly efficient as can be, Bishop systematically completes his missions and returns to his mansion each night. Soon after eliminating one of his old friends, he becomes attached to the dead man's young and impertinent son Steve (John Michael Vincent), which quickly progresses from friendship to business relationship. Bishop agrees to mentor Steve in the tricks of the trade as an "associate" and after working with him he is free to do as he pleases. However, Bishop quickly discovers that is apt pupil is more nefarious than he appears as Steve has already accepted a contract on Bishop's life. But what Arthur doesn't realize yet is "the organization" to which Bishop belongs now wants him eliminated and will stop at nothing to achieve this goal. Bishop has broken a rule in taking Steve under his wing without first getting approval of "The Man" and is therefore marked for death. This film is filled with action, intrigue, and of course suspense as you continue to wonder the whole time which "mechanic" is gonna get his car fixed first. The ending is quite unpredictable for a 70's Bronson movie but enjoyable to the last second. Also features a cameo by Bronson's late wife Jill Ireland. One of Charles Bronson's better accomplishments on the silver screen I sure was impressed.

Since the sixties, most of the movies in which I have watched Charles Bronson, he was always the tough guy...gritty man of action...macho man (The Great Escape, Magnificent Seven, Chato's Land, Mr Majestyck, Death Wish I to IV, Family of Cops I to III, Telefon, Murphy's Law, Red Sun, 10 to Midnight, The Evil That Men Do...) except for one, The Sandpiper, in which he played a painter, opposite Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor. I have always enjoyed watching his movies.

I consider this particular one as the best of his action movies.

The storyline is pretty straight-forward, except for an unexpected twist at the end: A contract hit-man, seemingly about to retire, took on a cocky young man as protégé, who eventually turned the table on the master.

Charles Bronson, played the contract hit-man (hence, the name, The Mechanic), Arthur Bishop. He was a loner but had expensive tastes. He worked for a sinister group known only as The Organisation, which issued all the contract hits. (It so happened that all the hits were criminals.) He took on Steve McKenna (played menacingly by Jan-Michael Vincent) as his protégé. His mind was cold as ice & apparently twisted. They screwed up one hit assignment while working together, after which The Organisation, was upset & put out a contract on Bishop. Apparently, McKenna took up the contract. The rest of the movie was a battle of wits among the two hit men.

What struck me most about the movie was the quiet characterization of a contract hit during the first fifteen minutes or so. No dialog at all,...only a very sober music score. Bishop studied the habits, life-style & schedule of his target, with meticulous observation & detailed planning. Thereafter, the movie went on to show Bishop, working with McKenna, going after different targets - each with different circumstances & each executed differently...ruthlessly, of course. The hot-pursuit action sequences - there were many of them - in the movie were beautifully orchestrated,...really exciting, especially the motor-cycle chase segment.

There seemed to be one puzzling part in the movie: McKenna happened to be the son of one of Bishop's hit victims. Bishop knew McKenna's father, Big Harry (played by Keenan Wynn) since he was a kid. In fact, Big Harry was an associate of Bishop's own father, who also happened to be a founding father of The Organisation. I can only conclude this way: hit men have certainly to be cold-blooded animals. Not only that, they have to be calculatingly efficient in their work.

The last fifteen minutes of the movie were quite unexpected. I would have preferred a totally different outcome. Go & watch this movie to find out what I meant.

On the whole, I find The Mechanic, to be an intelligent action thriller, with Charles Bronson in his best action role!

They sure don't make them like this anymore: smart, realistic, tough and fascinating. Charles Bronson is in top form here, he plays a hit man with creative and untraceable way methods of killing, he is like a "death doctor" and when he "fix something, it never works again". But things aren't so good for him lately, he suffers from anxiety and collapses in one memorable scene. He then decides to take under his wing the young Steve Mackenna (Jan Michael Vincent in one of his better roles) and teach his the skills of the trade. Director Michael Winner put together a piece of classic cinema with everything seems to work perfectly. The cinematography is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, especially the final scenes located in Italy. It's a shame that this film is almost unknown to the young generation and is way underrated here. The twisted ending certainly lifts up the already high level of the film. Highly recommended 10/10.