Prime Cut (1972) - Paramount Widescreen Region 2 PAL, English audio & subtitles

It's difficult to review a film of this nature that's 50 years old. In 1972, with the censorship at that time, this was considered to be a film to shock, & it did. Since then censorship has gradually relaxed &, because of that, there have been numerous films made over the years which have made Prime Cut look a little tame. Had this been made in the last 5yrs or so this would've been a blood bath with much more nudity & sex, but most likely not starring 2 "A" lister actors, the shock factor being enough to carry the film, or so today's film makers seem to believe. I'm surprised nobody has come up with a remake in all this time, although not disappointed as remakes are rarely as good as the original, as with Straw Dogs, a similar type film to Prime Cut only, in my opinion, better. Another example being The Italian Job. What were they thinking!!I won't give a synopsis of the plot as the other reviews say it all. I will say that, as I was almost old enough to have been allowed in to cinema's upon it's release, I enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Like a lot of young blokes in the 70's these were the films we had on a must see list.

I rather liked this weird, shocking and less than half-serious 1972 crime film, even if it is not exactly a masterpiece. Below, more of my impressions, with some SPOILERS.Irish mob bosses from Chicago have a problem - one of their business partners, known as Mary Ann (Gene Hackman) owes them money - in fact A LOT of money - and not only he obstinately refuses to pay, but treats most unkindly all those who are send to collect. Mary Ann lives on a farm near Kansas City and officially makes his money in cattle slaughtering and meat packaging, but in fact he is a dangeorus and vicious crime lord, ruling his rural neighborhood almost as a feodal duke.Having received loud and clear (by mail) Mary Ann's latest unequivocal (and, in a way, very tasty) refusal to pay, Chicago mob bosses decide to send in another crew of debt collectors - this time more numerous and especially headed by a particularly vicious enforcer, Nick Devlin (Lee Marvin). Other than 50.000 dollars fee Devlin is also incited to take this offer by the oportunity of revenge - indeed, between him and Mary Ann there is considerable beef (sorry, I couldn't resist)... And then the film really begins.This film mixes elements of:- gangster movie, as there is lots of gangsters- film noir, as there is a femme not only fatale but "très fatale"- western, as there are gunfights and chases in a very rural environment, and also lots of chattel (both four and two legged), shotguns and hats,- parody, as the two bad guys, both "muy macho", are called Mary Ann and Weenie...))) Also, the wife of the main villain, who as we remember has a cattle slaughterhouse and meat packing business, is named Clarabelle...)))...)))...)))- soft porn, as for most of the film young Sissy Spacek, for whom it was the first role ever and who is cute like a button and delicious as a damsel in distress, runs completely naked, full frontal included... We also learn a lot about intimate life of little orphan girls who never saw a man in their life...)))- promotion of vegetarianism becasue CLASSIFIED TO AVOID SPOILERS - but believe me, you will probably not want a steak or a sausage for some time after watching "Prime Cut"- child movie (SPOILER WARNING HERE), as at one moment murderous gangsters with machine guns will mount on the white horse (OK, in fact get in a black car - but metaphorically speaking it is true) to save a virgin princess kept in a tower by two ogres and later a lot of poor orphans kept prisoners by a bad, bad, bad lady...As we can see, the coctail is indeed exotic and sometimes surrealistic - in fact it reminded me a little bit of Quentin Tarantino scenarios...This film contains some deliberately very shocking scenes, including a slave auction - it certainly made a splash in 1972 - all rhytmed by a very good musical score by Lalo Shifrin. Action scenes however aged a lot and are rather boring and the great finale showdown is very, very disappointing. Dialogs are a mixture of good one liners and smart come backs, but also sadly some banalities. Finally, actions of the bad guys finally don't make much sense and for that reason the frontal shock between Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman doesn't deliver as much as it could be expected.But still it is an interesting film, with two excellent actors, a cute (and naked) damsel in distress, some shocking moments, some good dialogs, a femme (très) fatale and, let's say it again, a lot of beef...))) ENJOY!

Very good.

White-bread Mid Western farm boys are angering Chicago mobsters by muscling in on their business and sending their representatives back disguised as sausages.Micheal Richie's Prime Cut is one of the oddest and finest crime films of 1970s,taking in everything from Gothic horror, romance, sleaze, shoot em' ups and satire. For once the mob is Irish rather than Italian and the good ole boys are from the heartlands rather than the South. Gene Hackman adopts one of his most sinister beep-eating-grins and delivers pure evil. Lee Marvin handles his machine gun like only a WWII vet could do and is way cooler than even Clint Eastwood was at his height. Sissy Spacek makes a great and surprisingly tough damsel in distress.There are some stunning set pieces. The fire fight in a field full of sun flowers stands out, as does the sight of a cadillac being eaten up by a combine harvester and the grand guignol final confrontation in a barn full of pigs is one of the all time greats.Prime Cut is also an oddly prescient action movie. The concentration on visuals, disinterest in social realism and genre cross-pollination are much more like the concerns of a graphic novel than was the norm in 1970s crime dramas. In other words, a great film that was ahead of its time.The region 1 DVD is in widescreen and features optional subtitles, but no extras.

There were moments that were a bit silly, like the combine harvester chewing up a car, with huge chunks of metal dropping out the rear, or incredibly accurate fire from a sub-machine gun, and there was a plot you just didnt know where it might go, which was good. The 70s feel was nice, the sparse dialogue, under-explained back-story where you had to make assumptions, all made it watchable, and the rather extreme plot devices thrown in to shock 70s audiences were what makes it a curiousity, but it also felt like good acting talent was wasted, and better writing could have made it a classic. The script had some moments where a pithy Clint-style one-liner was called for, but all we got was lame forgettable dialogue. eg. when at a very key moment Hackman declares 'a man and a beast are just the same', instead of a killer memorable line and then walking off Lee Marvin just says, "no, you're wrong" and walks off. The film was a wasted opportunity.