It would be easy to dismiss this film as mindless tosh with a shallow attempt at deep subtext, but that would be way too easy. This is a hard man's film. Unlike other attempts (Get Carter, McVicar, the more-recent Kray brothers film), it feels almost like watching found-footage. The reasons are two-fold: Reed and McShane. Reed surpasses his usual scenery-chewing with moments of stillness so menacing that he joins Di Nero in 'Taxi Driver,' Michael Rooker in 'Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer' and Ben Kingsley in 'Sexy Beast' as truly terrifying. Far from over-the-top his moments of rage seem real, psychotic, and literally beyond his control. McShane, however, is a revelation to those who know him mainly from his more recent successes. His nasty, pared-down, pattering con is far more believable than many characters in similar roles in American crime flicks. He is in many ways the real snake in the grass. Finlay surpasseth all understanding as a sleazy tout. Again, compared to villains in films of the 'Shaft' or 'Dirty Harry' genre, his sleazy crook Marty is a whole character, not a two-dimensional cliché. One even feels a bit sorry for him. The entire film is worth a look for the jail-break scene alone. I'd love to see this one on the big screen. It's an exploitation film that, like Lee Marvin's 'Point Blank,' is more than the sum of its parts.

As brutal and bleak as you're like to find in an early 70s British crime thriller. Director Douglas Hickox pulls no punches with this balls-to-the-wall potboiler. Oliver Reed has a plethora of anger management issues, mostly directed at unfaithful wife Jill St. John. He doesn't allow prison walls to stop him from getting to her. He breaks out with an assist from sleazy fellow con Ian McShane. It's an unrelentingly depressing film with Reed in top form and McShane every inch his squalid equal. Hicokox's direction is dynamite (the prison break is a nail biter). Jill St. John affects a slight English accent, never overdoing it and is quite convincing. She's also a knockout, making it easier to see why the demented Reed goes to such lengths to get to her. The cinematography is by Edward Scaife, who shot everything from the Connie Francis vehicle FOLLOW THE BOYS to the WWII classic THE DIRTY DOZEN. The supporting cast includes Frank Finley and the great Edward Woodward.

This little known film has many aspects that make it stand out from other violent crime films of the 70s. There is stylish photography and music. Some well known stars in unusual roles (eg Jill St John lives next door to June Brown!) and a plot where characters have obscure motivations that even they cannot seem to fathom. This results in some very intense scenes. The ending is too melodramatic but there are many images that remain vivid and make this film worth watching more than once.

To this day SITTING TARGET is one of the most bleak and disturbingly violent thrillers Britain has ever produced . I remember watching this one TV in the early 1980s and being slightly shocked as to how nihilistic it all was . If there's any type of message in this film it's that there's no honour amongst thieves and that it's bad news to drive a motorcycle while the petrol tank explodes . It's also one of the few British films to show the mind numbing living death of long term imprisonment and this alone makes it worth watching . It's also interesting to note that Ian McShane is playing a villain . It might not be surprising casting with hindsight since we'll all remember McShane for his scene stealing role in DEADWOOD but before that HBO series he was always cast as likable good guys