Uh-oh! We've got a hit-man here who has fallen in love and wants to go straight – we all know that there's only one way to leave the mob, right? Bronson is the hit-man and Jill Ireland is the chick who's turned his head, and after one of my favourite credit sequences ever where we see Bronson under observation to a kick-ass Morricone soundtrack, a bunch of guys turn up to waste our stone-face killer. One car chase and a double-cross later, Bronson's having bullets pulled out of him and sent to jail for a while. It gives him plenty of time to stew over what's happened. Seems the last guy who hired to him to kill someone has double-crossed him and somehow his missus seems to be involved. Being a 'let bygones be bygones' kind of guy, Bronson's first task upon being released from jail is to try and track down these two and kill them both. Luckily for us his past-employer is also a race car driver! That gives us a lengthy sequence at a race track where Bronson scopes out a good place to take out this guy with a sniper rifle, a sequence which is dialogue free and lasts about ten minutes. Also, it takes place under a huge advertisement for Pan-Am airlines, so I guess they were fitting the bill for the film, or Sergio Sollima was just a big fan of that airline. Once this guy has been incinerated, Bronson starts receiving pictures of him setting up the kill at the race track, and realizes that starting a new life won't be so easy after all…Those expecting an action-packed film with Bronson taking down waves of bad guys would probably be better switching the film off around the ten minute mark because the film is more about Bronson brooding about his relationship with Jill Ireland and arguing with Telly Savalas (a mob boss who is blackmailing Bronson and wants to hire Bronson full time). Savalas is good here as a seemingly legit-businessman who may be telling more home truths than Bronson wishes to hear. Set possibly in New Orleans and Detroit Michigan at the same time (I was a bit confused by that), the film looks great, sounds great and for the first half is great, but be warned that pace slows way down before you get to the grim ending. Also, the version I watched had eight minutes of extra footage added in Italian with English subtitles that seems to add a bit more depth to the proceedings. For the mopiest hit-man that wants to leave the mob, look out for Tony Arzenta!

Charles Bronson's tenure in Europe featured roles vastly different from his potboilers of the late 1970s and 1980s. 'Città violenta' AKA 'Violent City' or 'The Family' is an example that was co-written and directed by Sergio Sollima, known mostly for against-the-grain thrillers and westerns. 'Violent City' is part of Bronson's sizeable résumé in international co-productions, which includes the Sergio Leone epic 'Once Upon a Time in the West' and René Clément's 'Rider on the Rain.' The film appeared during Italy's creative shift from the giallo to the poliziottescho, an over-the-top crime film that depicts urban life on the brink of chaos. Effectively made and highly unpleasant, 'Violent City' hits paydirt with its cast of Bronson, eventual 'Kojak' star Telly Savalas, and Jill Ireland, who acted in over a dozen films with her husband.Filmed at excellent locations in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New Orleans, 'Violent City' is vaguely similar to Bronson's 1972 drama 'The Mechanic.' Bronson plays Jeff Heston, a freelance assassin who is vacationing with his lover, jet-setting fashion model Vanessa Sheldon (Ireland). While enjoying a quiet trip, Jeff and Vanessa find themselves tailed by a band of hit men who are looking to finish Heston off. A car chase ensues in which Jeff is left for dead and Vanessa flees the scene with Coogan (Michel Constantin), a racecar driver who had previously hired Jeff to murder his uncle. Jeff is saved on an operating table, thrown into jail on suspicion of murder, and released with help from his lawyer Steve (Umberto Orsini). He returns to the U.S. and asks heroin-shooting investigator Killain (Michel Constantin again) to locate Vanessa so he can get to the bottom of things. Jeff soon finds himself in a love triangle with Vanessa and New Orleans mobster Al Weber (Savalas), who has since married his girlfriend.Unlike crime films by such directors as Umberto Lenzi and Ruggero Deodato that pour on the bloodshed, Sollima uses action sparingly and puts greater focus on character development. The film seems to have an almost Marxist undertone in dealing with Jeff and Vanessa as peons amidst a huge game where money (especially Weber's) is the determining factor. All of the characters are self-serving and unlikable; the only person you can really sympathize with is Vanessa, who finds herself in one erotic jam after another. But even then, Vanessa is a woman who continuously seeks power rather than trying to escape the cycle. The only admirable feature of Jeff Heston, meanwhile, is a desire for self-respect that often loses control and translates into bloodlust.While 'Violent City' is an effective thriller, it is bogged down at times by Sollima's heavy-handed, overtly political style. Sollima is a skilled director who knows how to counterbalance action and character far more than others of his generation. Violent City's opening car chase is expertly filmed and leaves you breathless, while later scenes gaze into the characters' psyches. However, 'Violent City' has stretches of philosophizing (wealth as power, control of the mass media, etc.) that get on one's nerves. This philosophizing helps to give characters dimension, but the script (co-written by Sollima and Lina Wertmüller, director of 'Seven Beauties') becomes too preachy for its own good. What helps to make other Spaghetti crime films effective is their fast tempo, leaving worn-on-the-sleeve philosophy in the background.Nevertheless, the three lead actors play their roles solidly. Bronson is a marginal character for once and shows the range of talent that he possessed. Savalas seems to be having fun in his role as Weber, taking full advantage of the wisecracks with Heston. This is also the best work I have seen from Jill Ireland, largely because her role asks for more than usual. Umberto Orsini and Michel Constantin are decent as supporting actors but overshadowed by the English-speaking leads. 'Violent City' is competently edited by Nino Baragli and photographed by Aldo Tonti, who later shot Dino Di Laurentiis's 'The Valachi Papers.' The score by Ennio Morricone is well-made as usual, although it's quite similar to his other Spaghetti crime films (especially 'Milano Odia').'Violent City' has received an excellent DVD release from Anchor Bay Entertainment; it gets fine presentation with several extras and restores footage not seen in its previous English releases. The film is offered in widescreen (2.35:1, enhanced for 16 x 9 televisions) with dubbing options in English, French, and Italian. Extras include a 15-minute interview with Sergio Sollima, a gallery of stills and posters, bios of the lead cast and crew, and the theatrical trailer. 'Violent City' has good print quality, although colors seem a bit washed out at times; artifacts and grain are rare. The original mono track is supplied with Dolby enhancement, making dialogue, effects, and Morricone's soundtrack crystal clear.Because the restored footage was never dubbed into English, it is supplied in Italian with English subtitles. This occurs at various points in the film, some apparently for censorship reasons and others by decision of the filmmakers; inconsequent lines were sliced from conversations between actors, while racy moments were toned down, such as Heston forcing himself on Vanessa. Nothing of impact was previously missing, but the restored footage does help to make 'Violent City' a smoother, more developed film. Overall, it's an interesting project from Bronson, Savalas, and Ireland, although its weighed-down atmosphere costs it a few points.** ½ out of 4

After the highly entertaining Run,Man, Run, writer/ Director Sergio Sollima returned with this satisfying,if not all successful, tale of a hit-man, Jeff, who gained a conscience (Charles Bronson) and his quest to find the people who've double-crossed him and had him thrown in jail (and almost killed). Mrs. Bronson, Jill Ireland, is on hand as the conniving girlfriend who along with local mafioso boss, Weber (Telly Savalas) play him for a patsy. Entertaining enough and the re-added minutes of footage in the Anchor Bay released DVD of this is very welcome. Any fellow Bronson appreciator will find nothing to complain about with this one, and Jill (it very well could be a body double though) supplies the T&A content quite nicely (and multiple times). Fans of the director will be slightly off-put as this isn't as good as his films that came directly before (Run, Man, Run, The Big Gundown, Face to Face), nor after (Revolver) all of which are highly recommended by me by the way. However this is still a welcome enough diversion.My Grade: B-

Violent City is a real mixed bag. I'll start with the good. The ending is fabulous. The way our hero, hit-man Jeff Heston (Charles Bronson), gets his ultimate revenge is nothing short of sweet. His revenge comes out of nowhere and is startling when you realize what's happening. Bronson is another real bonus in the movie. Without too much dialogue, he's more than capable of portraying a variety of emotions. It's a refreshing change to see Bronson smiling and running on the beach as he does in one scene. You don't see that too often. Another highlight is the car chase at the beginning of the movie. Sollima lets the movie go on for a good 15 minutes during the car chase without a single line of dialogue being spoken. The chase is the key thing. Finally, Ennio Morricone's score nicely fits the action on screen. It's not his best, but any Morricone score is a winner.As for the bad, there are stretches of the movie where nothing happens. I was fighting to keep my eyes open during some of the middle of the movie. Another bad, and I hate to say this, is Jill Ireland. She's surely got to be one of the worst actresses to ever appear in film. Finally, the show down between Bronson and Telly Savalas. It's over way too quick. I would have liked to see it drawn out to build the tension.Finally, the ugly. If a half naked Telly Savalas doesn't classify as ugly, I don't know what does.Overall, the good outweighs the bad in Violent City, but just barely. Without the "killer" ending, I would have rated the movie a point or two lower.