|
|
 |
Evil That Men Do (The) (1984)
R2 - United Kingdom - Network DVD Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (22nd March 2007). |
|
The Film
 I miss Charles Bronson. This “tough guy” actor never won any real prizes and was hardly (at least not after “Once Upon a Time in the West AKA C'era Una Volta Il West (1968)”) noticed by the “film scholars”, but the audience loved him. Bronson was among the rare breed of actors - along with the ones like Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and James Coburn, who were tough as nails in real life too, not behaving like school kids in the same fashion as some of the modern “superstars”. They did their job and went home. Only the inside circle of friends and family really knew them. Bronson is still surrounded with big enigma; a man who kept everything to himself and rarely talked about his life to strangers. He was mostly quiet on the set, quoted as saying “I don´t need any friends”. Bronson was “real”, perhaps that´s the one reason I miss actors like him. After cutting his teeth in the supporting roles in American films, and on TV, Bronson briefly worked in Europe - his first steps to stardom. It was in the early 1970s when he really broke through in the US also - in a genre of films in which he would be associated for the rest of his career. With the British born director Michael Winner, Bronson did “Chato's Land (1972)”, “The Mechanic (1972)”, “The Stone Killer (1973)” and of course, “Death Wish (1974)” - all violent and rugged films. He was that “Mother***kin' Charlie Bronson, Mr. Majestyk”, like Gary Oldman´s character famously quoted in “True Romance (1993)”. When the 1980s was on the horizon, Bronson was a bona fide “action star”, which culminated in the countless “Cannon Films”-productions later on of that era. The more subtle 1970s vibe was now gone and there were films like “Death Wish 3 (1985)”, where Bronson is hunting criminals with a bazooka (!). Not all of those films were this over-the-top, but many people will only remember his bad-ass action flicks and not e.g. Sean Penn´s “The Indian Runner (1991)”, where he gave a simply superb supporting performance. Still, one of the few films from the 1980s that wasn´t a “Cannon Films” vehicle was “The Evil That Men Do (1984)” - directed by another Brit, J. Lee Thompson. Bronson trusted Thompson and they did 9 films together; from “St. Ives (1976)” all the way to “Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989)”. It shows that if Bronson liked someone, they probably would collaborate more than once. “The Evil That Men Do” is a film that I quite vividly remember from my youth. Not because it´s a great film, but mainly because of its nihilism and violence. I recall, that it kind of felt “different” back then, even when it was mainly just another “Bronson + gun + revenge”-type of story. The film will reveal its true nature all the way from the opening scenes, where Dr. Molloch (Joseph Maher) is giving some shocking demonstration of his torture skills to some South American military regime. His victim is a known journalist, who has gotten too close to Molloch and his dirty operation. After the poor guy is electrocuted to death, the film moves to the sunny Cayman Islands, where retired (a hit man, I believe) Holland (Bronson) is having a surprise visitor. Dr. Hector Lomelin (José Ferrer - Oscar winner from “Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)”) from Mexico City is brief, but convincing. The dead journalist is the old friend of Holland and just one of the hundreds victims that have faced the sadistic Dr. Molloch. He must be eliminated. To make Holland focus, Lomelin has some taped testimonies from the tortured victims (even when you don´t see anything, the stories are quite gruesome). Eventually this will convince Holland to take the job. The wife of the dead journalist, Rhiana (Theresa Saldana) and her child are pretending to be Holland´s family and their contact Max Ortiz (René Enríquez - from e.g. “Hill Street Blues (1981-1985)”) is providing the weapons and other help. Holland must face a well protected Molloch; he has several bodyguards - e.g. the powerhouse Randolph (Raymond St. Jacques) and friends in high places - e.g. Paul Briggs (John Glover) from the US Embassy. Despite that, Holland goes to work. And he means business. You would think that Bronson going after some plain evil torturers in South America would be an instant winner for his fans, but unfortunately the film works only momentarily. There are some cool scenes in the film (e.g. Bronson facing the “giant” at the bar and how he handles the shotgun near the end), but the script is rather naïve and not very exciting. There are many scenes that could´ve been much better, if they would´ve simply offered more tension and some proper action. Now the film falls short and you just wait for the inevitable - Bronson taking out all the bad guys (which is of course always fun). Director J. Lee Thompson is a veteran of the business and he has done a few genuine classics (e.g. “Ice-Cold in Alex (1958)”, “The Guns of Navarone (1961)”, and “Cape Fear (1962)”), along with several action-drama films. He had the skill to make Bronson look good in their collaborations (even if the films weren´t anything that special) and in “The Evil That Men Do”, Bronson is again natural and always believable, using the strengths that he had as an actor – never overdoing his part. Too bad that the script isn´t that good and the direction lacks true passion. The problem originates from the basic setting of the story; you´ve a hard time believing that the dead journalist was actually the friend of Holland and that it would be a “personal” thing for him. Sure, Molloch is a man without any remorse or feelings (his only real love being his sister), but it would´ve been a good idea to tell more about Holland and his inner feelings. Or at least tell something about him as a “man”, not just a paid hit man. “The Evil That Men Do” could´ve offered more drama - even the psychological one, but now it´s mainly a cold action film and in the end a rather typical “1980s Bronson vehicle”. I still take it, since one Bronson is always better than 5 cheap action clones, but it´s not that this film will be remembered from the years to come - not even by his fans. Note, that serving as an associate producer is Bronson´s wife Jill Ireland.
Video
This is the second time that the film has been released on DVD in the UK and this time “Network” preserves the Anamorphic 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is still mediocre at its best and compared to the older R1-release (which I have), it´s slightly softer, more washed out in the terms of colours and darker. It has also more compression artifacts. R1 is grainy and not winning any awards, but it´s looking more warm and natural. Still, the transfer on the “Network”-release is not all bad and without any comparisons it´s watchable. “Single layer” disc is coded “R2”, and the film runs minutes 86:51 minutes (PAL) - including 16 second “Granada” logo at the beginning of the film. There are 12 chapters. EDIT (some SPOILERS!): The film appears to be the same version as the "R-rated" R1 (hence, no BBFC cuts), but it´s missing the following; -(approx.) 2 second shot of actor David Glover with blood shooting out of his back - which is included in the earlier UK-release by "Carlton Video" (but which was badly cut by the BBFC). -A very brief cut to the death of Mollochs henchman Randolph (Raymond St. Jacques) with the knife in his throat. The UK "Carlton Video"-release contains a shot of blood running from Randolphs mouth and over his left forearm. R1 and "Network DVD" -releases cuts the scene as soon as blood begins to dribble from Randolphs mouth. All this info comes from "Melon Farmers" and our forums.
Audio
The film offers English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono-track and no subtitles of any kind. Some hiss can be heard and the track is a bit muffled, but dialogue is clear and there are no major issues.
Extras
Nothing.
Overall
Even when the film is in widescreen now, the overall look and feel becomes disappointing. It´s still good that Bronson keeps re-appearing on DVD; a new generation should know who kicked butt in the 1980s. It wasn´t The Rock, I´ll tell you that. For more info, please visit the homepage of Network DVD.
|
|||||
|