s3276169 This film had almost everything going for it. A good cast, solid idea and the potential for lots and lots of gun play. Sadly it was let down by some not insubstantial shortfalls in the story including limited character development. There's a real absence of logic in a lot of what takes place story wise with a thin overriding motivation on the part of the bad guys, that does not stand up to scrutiny. The potential for contemporized Western style gun play is lost too. A great showdown between the key protagonist and his nemesis is watered down and disappoints. Characters, equally, who look interesting and could have jelled well ,enhancing the story, are either overlooked or killed off too early, to contribute anything meaningful. This is such a shame but sadly what you are left with is a marginally watchable French cop drama with a flaky story-line and a few underwhelming gun fights. 5/10 from me.

Bantam The premise of the movie is rather intriguing: A young police-man, working as instructor and gun-smith gets entangled in the machinations of a secret police force.Unfortunately the movie does not live up the the high standards it set itself.The story starts out with Vincent (protagonist) being at some sort of tournament. This tournament is basically a time-trail: kill the most people in the shortest time possible (excuse moi, targets). Since Vincent is the beast, he is being singled out by some sort of shady recruiter for some clandestine organization, but refuses the offer to join some sort of shady "above the law" task force. "You were born to rule in hell, not to serve in heaven" - that's how he's described by that recruiter.This is where the story gets a bit convoluted and gnarly. Milo is being hired to get Vincent recruited but the entire stunt backfires. The covert-ops guys are SO above and beyond the law, that they do not get official funding, but have to get their own money. To do so they rob a money transport and afterward kill a few local thugs to grab their equipment and loot. Seriously?From there on the movie spirals into a half-baked back and fro of somewhat related sub-plots: Police corruption, local rivalries between cops (on both a personal, as well well as professional level), unfinished sub-plots and some real life drama.Luckily the movie sheds this entire plumage of frill towards the end gets its act together. The acting is decent, and I really liked the character portrayals. Also, the casting was, IMO, rather good. Especially the supporting characters were life-like and really 'tart', big plus. As per usual in Euroflicks the action is stout, the violence is brutal, and little is larger than life- which really salvaged the entire pot- hole ridden ride. A decent flick for the Euroflick enthusiast.

roland-wirtz Wasn't expecting much but it was a pleasant surprise! It's very violent, very bleak. The story is easy to follow but some plot points had me scratching my head. A reviewer said the film was butchered by suits and it kinda figure why some plot points didn't make any sense. But the film is still good though. The shootouts were good, very intense. The actors did a good job and they use their guns like pros. Going through the cast and crew list, I wasn't surprised the guy who worked on Heat and Collateral was involved in that film. If the film was cut by the studio, I wonder what the director's cut would be like. Bottom line: it was good to see an old school action film that isn't a blockbuster, superhero flick or a reboot, remake or whatever Hollywood is doing these days. The french know how to do it!

GUENOT PHILIPPE What a true masterpiece. Terrific, outstanding piece of work. Jean-Pierre Melville in addition to Olivier Marchal at power ten thousand. Brutal, bloody, dark, and not for the squeamish. Of course Fred Cavayé would have made a different film, with more action and stunt sequences but also more f...romance and happy ending for sissies. Yes a very dark tale with an outstanding lead character played by an unknown Young actor who gives here his best performance of his whole career, whatever he will do in the future. Gerad Lanvin, Joey Starr and Simon Abkarian are just supporting characters here. But this movie suffers of a too short running time. It's no good for it. I can't explain why. The scheme about super rounds of ammunition getting through bullet proof vests was already told in LETHAL WEAPON 3, with also a Young cop as an gunsmith who lived only for his pieces and who looked like the Young gunsmith here. I guess the screen writer was influenced by the Richard Donner's film.You may also think of LA GUERRE DES POLICES back in 1980, but at a large lesser scale. For the Robin Davis's film I mean.And for the sissies who could find this film too violent, I will tell them that a crime movie has perfectly the right to be violent, brutal, and bloody. And, above all, dark with no ethics at all. As in the real life. But that doesn't mean that a crime flick absolutely must be violent. Don't misunderstand me.The same scheme concerning westerns. A western is not supposed to always show Indians, state troopers or outlaws. But it can...Get it?In resume, I love this film. In the most powerful and deepest passionate way. And more because it was torn to pieces, wiped out in the cutting room. I feel pain Inside of me. Shame on those pricks who did it.Shame on them.