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| Mill Creek Entertainment; AMAZON |
Long before Liam Neeson became known as the old-guy action-guy, Charles Bronson owned that role, many thanks to the Death Wish films and many other revenge flicks from the 1970s and 1980s.
Recently, Mill Creek Entertainment released the Charles Bronson: 4 Movie Collection on a two-disc Blu-ray set. Those four movies are:
The Valachi Papers (1972; PG; 126 minutes) - Directed by Terence Young and based on the book of the same name by by Peter Maas, the film tells the true story of Joe Valachi (played by Charles Bronson), a former "button man" who becomes an informant after a Mafia crime boss gives him the kiss of death.
The Stone Killer (1973; R; 95 minutes) - Directed by Michael Winner and based on the book A Complete State of Death by John Gardner, the film centers on Mafia don (played by Martin Balsam) hiring Vietnam vets (aka - Stone Killers) to kill the leaders of the Italian and Jewish syndicates. Charles Bronson plays Detective Lou Torrey who gets tangled up in the plot.
Breakout (1975; PG; 97 minutes) - Directed by Tom Gries, the film centers on Jay Wagner (played by Robert Duvall) being framed for murder by his grandfather (played by John Huston). Jay's wife Ann (played by Jill Ireland) hires Texas Bush pilot Nick Colton (played by Charles Bronson) and his partner Hawk (played by Randy Quaid) to break her husband out of prison.
Hard Times (1975; PG; 94 minutes) - Directed by Walter Hill and set during the Great Depression, the film centers around a a drifter freighthopping named Chaney (played by Charles Bronson) who becomes a bare-knuckle fighter after meeting promoter Speed (played by James Coburn).
Final Thoughts
My dad is a big Charles Bronson fan, so I saw most of Bronson's films during my childhood, which most of them aired on TBS (back in the late 80s and early 90s). While the four films on the Blu-ray aren't Bronson's most popular films, they're still quite good, and I'm glad to see them get released to Blu-ray.
Out of the four flicks, I would say Hard Times would be my favorite only because I have a soft spot for boxing movies, even the bare-knuckle kind. Breakout is an entertaining action film. While The Stone Killer has plenty of problems, it's still a decent hard-hitting movie. My least favorite is The Valachi Papers. It's an okay movie, but I'm just not the biggest fan of mafia films.
Like all Mill Creek Entertainment releases, the menus for the two discs are simple as you can get. The picture quality for all four films are excellent, especially considering there are two films per disc. Each film has
Overall, for a budget Blu-ray you can't go wrong with the Charles Bronson: 4 Movie Collection, especially if you love old action films!
*Note : I received a complimentary copy for review purposes.
All opinions are my own.
All opinions are my own.
Breakout was great. It was so good I'm surprised there hasn't been a remake in this era of remakes.
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