Based on the Richard Start novel "The Hunter," which was earlier filmed by John Boorman in the classic Lee Marvin picture "Point Blank," brings the story into the modern era with Mel Gibson in the lead. Gibson plays a crook who's double crossed by his partner and wife, and left for dead. However, Gibson is not dead and works his way up the "Syndicate" ladder to get back his money, as well as revenge upon those who crossed him. Although the story takes place in a contemporary setting, the film is wonderfully retro, featuring timeless business suits, old 70s looking cars, and more anachronistic rotary phones than you can shake a stick at. The story is a pretty straightforward revenge tale, but it's filled with so many colorful moments that it's pieces add up to a greater whole. One of my favorite moments is (SPOILER ALERT!) Gibson finding his ex-wife dead in bed and lying down next to her to recall the events leading up to his double-cross in a dreamlike flashback sequence, which manages to be both surreal and melancholy. The film is also filled with clever bits of action, such as when Gibson purposefully crashes a car head on during a heist, including a nice touch of close-up of a mouthguard hitting the ground as he get's out of the car to denote Gibson's premeditation of the crash. There's also a memorable toe smashing torture sequence that's not all that graphic, but effectively unsettling. "Payback" also has some great supporting performances by Maria Bello, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Deborah Kara Unger, John Glover, William Devane, Kris Kristofferson, and James Coburn. I was particularly taken with the underused Gregg Henry as Gibson's friend who double crosses him on a caper and steals his wife, setting off the events of the film. Lucy Liu (billed at Lucy Alexis Liu) is also quite memorable as a dominatrix/torturer friend/mistress of Henry's."Payback" came out at the peak of 1990s Quentin Tarantino ripoffs, but to lump this film in with that batch of imitators does not do it justice. "Payback" is a closer cousin to Don Siegel style of crime films (i.e. "The Killers" or "Charley Varrick") than to Tarantino. It's minus the pop culture references and has it's own unique dark sense of humor. The film is shot with a color palette of black and blues that make it nicely reminiscent of the black and white film noirs that it's referencing. And to be clear, this is the original theatrical version of the film I watched, which is supposed to be vastly different than the director's cut. Thirty percent of the film was re-shot when Brian Helgeland was replaced as director. The theatrical version is said to have had more humor and a generally more breezy tone. At the time this film was released, I was dubious of Gibson's tinkering, but since then Gibson has proven himself as a brilliant filmmaker, so I was less dubious this time around. Gibson years later co-write and produced a spiritual sequel to "Payback" with "Get the Gringo," in which Gibson plays another thief with a single name, which Gibson also narrates, and where his character at one point even says how he was once married, but his wife ran off with a former business associate. Overall, "Payback" is not in the same league as "Point Blank," but it does stand on it's own as a wonderfully retro crime film with an amazingly strong cast.

This is basically a run of the mill revenge action movie that worked when it first came out. Even today it's a okay flick to just pop in and sit through, mainly because of Mel Gibson's portrayal of a bad guy going after the mob to get his money back. He seemed like the type of guy that has a set of principles that he stands by but isn't someone you want to stab in the back. He is a very vengeful character and to a certain extent I could understand where he was coming from. He isn't necessarily a character I could root for but he is someone that resonated with me to a certain extent. Yeah, there is some cool bits then and there but overall it's a generic revenge action movie that is actually quite forgettable. It would have been very forgettable if it was for Mel Gibson's performance, but than again the guy is really good at playing anti-heroes or bad guys that doesn't go full evil.6/10

It's natural to have low expectations when watching a remake of a top class movie but in this update of John Boorman's "Point Blank" (1967), sufficient changes have been made to give "Payback" its own distinctive style whilst still retaining the toughness and coldness of the original. Right from the start, its washed-out colour palette effectively evokes the classic film noir look and the addition of a world-weary narration also contributes to the rather ominous atmosphere of the piece.Predictably, for a revenge thriller, there's plenty of action, violence and explosions and a whole gallery of colourful characters that include gangsters, prostitutes and crooked cops. The dialogue is also brilliant throughout and ranges from a typically hardboiled voice-over to some darkly humorous one-liners.Following a heist in which some Chinese gangsters were relieved of $140,000, Porter (Mel Gibson) is betrayed by his two accomplices when his wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) shoots him in the back, leaves him for dead and takes off with his partner Val Resnick (Gregg Henry) and all the loot. After having bullets removed from his back by a whisky-drinking "doctor" and taking five months to recuperate, Porter sets out for revenge and to recover his cut from the heist which amounts to $70,000. His mission is complicated however, because soon after he traces his drug-addicted wife, she dies from a heroin overdose and then he learns that Resnick is unable to pay up because he'd needed $130,000 to repay a debt he owed to a crime syndicate known as "the outfit".With the help of Rosie (Maria Bello), an outfit-connected call girl for whom he used to act as a driver and bodyguard, Porter then pursues the repayment of his money with incredible determination and despite being beaten up and tortured at different stages, remains totally single-minded as he confronts a whole series of the outfit's mobsters. Inevitably, his endeavours eventually bring him into a confrontation with the outfit's top man who's the only one who actually has the authority to repay him but, of course, has no intention of doing so, especially after Porter kidnaps his son.Porter, who's only known by his surname throughout the whole movie, is introduced as a despicable anti-hero who steals money from a street beggar, picks the pocket of a random man in the street and steals cigarettes from a woman who works in a diner. He's regarded as insane by all the mobsters who think that the risks he takes in pursuit of a mere $70,000 are absurd. He obviously sees things differently though because, in his mind, what he's doing involves a matter of principle and this provides the movie with a running joke as, at various times, members of the outfit talk about making higher payments only for Porter to reiterate that the sum he's pursuing is just the $70,000.Mel Gibson is well-suited to his role as he's convincingly tough and violent but also adds a certain tongue-in-cheek quality which distinguishes his performance from that of Lee Marvin's in "Point Blank". The rest of the cast is also very good with Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn and William Devane all standing out and Lucy Lui absolutely sensational as a highly-enthusiastic, leather-clad dominatrix whose sudden outbursts of violence are both physically impressive and comical at the same time."Payback" is visually strong, nicely paced and features some well-executed action sequences. It's thoroughly entertaining from start to finish and despite not reaching the standards set in John Boorman's original, is enjoyable, full of atmosphere and well worth watching.

From what I have heard the general release cut some of the best stuff (as being to violent towards a woman (she deserved it), and added a third act and narrator, that it did not need. The director was forces out, in a way, because he did not cave in. I am glad to see his original work. It was excellent. And I am a women. This sight lol sight is telling me I have not written enough lines which is ironic, because the Director's cut was though to be to short. What else can I say? There was a lot of smoking which is always fun. Yes, I just added in the tile that Banchee owes a lot to this cut, as does Cable TV in general. When the studios released this, Cable TV had not made the great influence that we have now. And FX of course.