Despite a family friend being a big fan of their work,I've never had the chance to catch a glimpse of Michael Winner/Charles Bronson's collaborations.Checking updates on Netflix UK,I found out that one of their team-ups was going to be taken off the site in a few days,which led to me fixing things up with the mechanic.The plot:Cutting out any connection to a social or personal life, Arthur Bishop trains himself to be a mechanic/hit-man for a group which demands the very best from their assassins. Successfully following an order to kill a member of the group,Bishop attends the funeral of his victim. During the funeral,Bishop crosses paths with the victims son Steve McKenna. Finding McKenna to have a detachment to life that matches his,Bishop begins to think that McKenna has the tools to be a fellow mechanic.View on the film:For someone who always sounded like the life of the party in interviews,director Michael Winner displays an unexpected ear for silence,with Winner breaking Bishop's merciless Film Noir loner veins with extended sequences featuring no dialogue,which strike at the cold, soulless emotion Bishop feels towards his job. Whilst screenwriter Lewis John Carlino complained over the hard-nosed script being softened,Winner keeps the Noir chill at the frozen heart of Bishop, shining in stylish scatter-gun tracking shots keeping track of the mechanical nature of Bishop's kills.Bringing an outsider in to join Bishop and sending them both to Italy,Winner pushes the Noir shoulder aside for a dash in Italian Crime,that despite bringing some frantic chase moments in,does leave to a pause in looking at the empty reflection of Bishop. Opening Bishop's bag of tools for the final,Winner whips the title back to the dour Noir soul of Bishop,in a richly cynical ending that delivers a burning parting shot from Bishop. Stuck with a smug Jan- Michael Vincent as Steve McKenna, Bronson cuts a note of pure Noir class as Bishop. Slithering in the shadows of his victims, Bronson brilliantly expresses in silence the coldness Bishop feels towards each murder,as Bishop sets his target on another mechanical kill.

I had no idea the Jason Statham film of the same name was a remake, so I thought it was only right I see the original before, and you can definitely see this as a taste of what would come later with the same lead actor and director Michael Winner in Death Wish. Basically ageing professional hit-man and mechanic Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is constantly hired to kill people leaving no traces, carefully studying his victims to get away with the perfect execution, one of his latest targets is 'Big' Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn), who was formerly a friend of his father, Arthur is planning to retire soon after this job. At the funeral of Harry, Arthur meets Harry's son Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent), the young man asks him for a ride and they get to know each other more, he sees the twenty four year old has potential to become a professional killer, and he suggests they form a partnership, of course he realises as time passes that he is highly narcissistic and ruthless. There also comes a point later where Bishop roots through Steve's belongings and finds files about himself, and when the two are hired for a job in Italy it becomes clear that someone is out to get them, they are the targets, and this turns into a car chase, but the two hit men are able to defeat and kill their would-be assassins. In the end Steve is supposedly ready to become his own professional hit-man, but he poisons Bishop's wine as revenge for him killing his father, he was not acting on someone else's orders, but the final blow comes, literally, when Steve gets in Bishop's Ford Mustang, and Bishop has a left a note with a personal message, ending with "Bang! Your dead.", and that is when the car explodes before he can get out. Also starring Jill Ireland as The Girl/Prostitute, Linda Ridgeway as Louise - Steve McKenna's Girlfriend, Frank DeKova as The Man/Syndicate Head, Lindsay H. Crosby as Policeman and Takayuki Kubota as Yamoto. Bronson is great being the often silent and often deadly killer for hire, the most entertaining parts of the film are of course the assassination sequences and the fast paced chase moments, there are the glossy bits that slow it down slightly, but the explosions and violence more than makes up for it, it is an entertaining enough action thriller. Worth watching!

Charles Bronson has a tough imagine, image that I find totally boring now, in everything he does,including the Death Wish Films.He strolls quietly and unassuming through his movies to a degree which I find frustrating, yes he gets his man, and yes he is predictable.The Mechanic served up yet another Michael Winner directed movie. This was no different.In its favour there was a twist in the end which I never saw coming.But ultimately this movie was for me a total bore.I want to like Charles Bronson following his superb performances in the Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape, where he revealed passion and anger and frustration.But for me, since Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape, Charles Bronson has put all that away in favour of the formula Death Wish films, which Charles Bronson strolls through as though walking in the park. The Mechanic was no exception to that rule.I apologies to all Charles Bronson fans reading this.

Charles Bronson plays expert professional Hit man Arthur Bishop, who is tiring of the assassin's life, and wants to retire, but finds that it isn't as simple as he would like, not to mention he is befriended by a young man(Jan Michael Vincent) who wants to be his apprentice. Intrigued, Bishop agrees, and shows his apprentice the ropes, and finds that he is surprisingly adept at this profession. Unfortunately, outside forces conspire to tear this partnership apart, leading to an explosive finale...Well acted and directed(Michael Winner) drama is quite interesting and compelling. Though viewer is at arms-length because lead characters are not really likable(they are paid assassins after all!)this doesn't adversely affect the film, because story works so well, leading to a memorable double-twist ending.