Point Blank (1967)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Badass.

• First L

  
  Discordant editing, jarring violence, and an angular storyline give Point Blank it's unique 60s cross between french new wave cinema and classic film noir. Lee Marvin is the guy who is betrayed and left for dead by his partner over the sum of $90,000. While it's not… More
  Discordant editing, jarring violence, and an angular storyline give Point Blank it's unique 60s cross between french new wave cinema and classic film noir. Lee Marvin is the guy who is betrayed and left for dead by his partner over the sum of $90,000. While it's not exactly chump change today, it would've been a small fortune back in the days of the film's setting. At first, it seems as if he's after revenge alone, but it quickly becomes obvious he's after his money. With the help of a mysterious benefactor, he tracks down his wife, who along with his former partner betrayed him. She has no idea where he is, only that she's sorry and wishes to die. When he finally does find the former partner (with the help of his sister-in-law, as played by Angie Dickinson), it turns out it's only the beginning of his journey for justice. Is Lee Marvin's "Walker" character insane? Some automaton bent on achieving a goal that has long since lost all meaning? As Dickenson exclaims in one scene "You really did die at alcatraz". There are moments of surrealism, dreamlike moments where things don't make a whole lot of sense. Walker may be motivated by hatred, but there's very little emotion to what he does. He's a broken man, a monster.

• Kevin C

  
  Lee Marvin kicks so much ass in this neo-noir, genre bending crime classic.

• moon r

  
  Lee Marvin is double-crossed for a little folding green and goes after the skunks who shorted him. That's the plot, revenge, old school, but the presentation is film noir --- in color. John Boorman directs an all star cast with Euro- art house flair from Alcatraz to L.A. and… More
  Lee Marvin is double-crossed for a little folding green and goes after the skunks who shorted him. That's the plot, revenge, old school, but the presentation is film noir --- in color. John Boorman directs an all star cast with Euro- art house flair from Alcatraz to L.A. and back again through this icy river of human desire. Tasty indeed.

• Daniel P

  
  Trippy and creatively-shot adaptation of The Hunter, a pulp novel by Donald E. Westlake that was also the basis for Full Contact (1993) and Payback (1999), not to mention a remake of this film (1997). Point Blank may have been relevant in its time, but watching it today I found it… More
  Trippy and creatively-shot adaptation of The Hunter, a pulp novel by Donald E. Westlake that was also the basis for Full Contact (1993) and Payback (1999), not to mention a remake of this film (1997). Point Blank may have been relevant in its time, but watching it today I found it really annoying and kind of boring - one man with one purpose one-dimensionally goes after it. Ho-hum.

• xGary X

  
  Lee Marvin gives his most uncompromising performance as Walker, a hired gun who goes on the warpath after he is double-crossed and left for dead by his wife and friend. John Boorman resurrects film noir, overlaying elements of contemporary trippy psychadelia and western themes to… More
  Lee Marvin gives his most uncompromising performance as Walker, a hired gun who goes on the warpath after he is double-crossed and left for dead by his wife and friend. John Boorman resurrects film noir, overlaying elements of contemporary trippy psychadelia and western themes to create an ice cold revenge thriller to rival the likes of Get Carter and Coogan's Bluff. Alongside an iconic Marvin stars John Vernon who sets out his stall and makes this the starting point to his career of playing every douchebag in the 1970s and Angie Dickinson who is the epitome of swinging 60s glamour. The one criticism I would have to make is the fact that its roots in contemporary culture has dated it a little, particularly the occasionally dreadful soundtrack and the unnecessary romantic scenes. Otherwise it is a wonderfully hard-nosed character study of a man obsessed with revenge, doomed to repeat the previous mistakes of his life and completely misunderstood by the long since corporate-minded "organisation" that becomes his prey. It is flawed, but with moments of genius and hugely influential.

• Michael G

  
  Point Blank is such a badass movie you'll get a black eye watching it. Lee Marvin is icy cold as he gets revenge after being on the wrong end of a screw job. Angie Dickinson's as fine as frog hair and John Boorman's direction is spectacular as he blends psychedelia,… More
  Point Blank is such a badass movie you'll get a black eye watching it. Lee Marvin is icy cold as he gets revenge after being on the wrong end of a screw job. Angie Dickinson's as fine as frog hair and John Boorman's direction is spectacular as he blends psychedelia, film noir and still photos wonderfully. Admittedly, its a bit weird seeing Lee Marvin smile at certain points in the movie but this is the best I've seen him. The rest of the cast is great and by the time the Point Blank was done I was kind of disappointed that more people don't know about or love this movie. Completely underrated and underappreciated. And the ending's fantastic. Surpasses the remake (Payback with Mel Gibson) in every way...

• Pierluigi P

  
  Just when everyone thought good old noir was under the ground, John Boorman resurrected it in style, mixing it with a little psychedelia and avant-garde techniques, adding sex appeal of blond babes Angie Dickinson and Sharon Acker, and last but not least, placing the tough guy Lee… More
  Just when everyone thought good old noir was under the ground, John Boorman resurrected it in style, mixing it with a little psychedelia and avant-garde techniques, adding sex appeal of blond babes Angie Dickinson and Sharon Acker, and last but not least, placing the tough guy Lee Marvin in the deadly assignment of getting the money he was double-crossed for. Topnotch example of innovative, hypnotic and thrilling filmmaking.

• Michael S

  
  Classic Lee Marvin noir.

• Ken S

  
  What happened to John Boorman? I mean how did he make a movie that kicks this much ass and then make Zardoz? WTF?

• Aaron N

  
  Brewster: You're a very bad man, Walker, a very destructive man! Why do you run around doing things like this? Walker: I want my money. I want my $93,000. Brewster: $93,000? You threaten a financial structure like this for $93,000? No, Walker, I don't believe you. What do… More
  Brewster: You're a very bad man, Walker, a very destructive man! Why do you run around doing things like this? Walker: I want my money. I want my $93,000. Brewster: $93,000? You threaten a financial structure like this for $93,000? No, Walker, I don't believe you. What do you really want? Walker: I - I really want my money. A revenge flick, steeped in noir attitudes, involving a hard boiled Lee Marvin on a pursuit to get back the money that is owed to him. The synopsis may be familiar, because it has been remade as Payback with Mel Gibson. Both of these movies work on the same premise, and basically the same characters, but what separates them is the protagonist. In Payback, you had Gibson, who even when trying to be a hard ass, he still had that Gibson charm. In this film, Lee Marvin does what Lee Marvin does best, is a man who you believe is as mean he shows it. He can be a cool cat to follow, but don't get on his bad side. This movie is a very enjoyable watch, that starts off with a bang, gives us some time to know Walker, and then follows his journey for justice and his money. Walker: Somebody's got to pay.

• William G

  
  Primo sixties noir featuring the big, bad, brooding Lee Marvin at perhaps his best.

• Brian R

  
  John Booreman's "Point Blank" is an art house picture filled with non-linear editing, smooth cinematography, and gritty performances. I admire the Lee Marvin character Walker, a character who just wants his money and will continue by any means necessary to accomplish… More
  John Booreman's "Point Blank" is an art house picture filled with non-linear editing, smooth cinematography, and gritty performances. I admire the Lee Marvin character Walker, a character who just wants his money and will continue by any means necessary to accomplish his goal. I also admire Walker's personality as a quiet man who has this uncannily terminator like quality who survives multiple rounds, keeps on going, and when it's all said in done vanishes through the shadows. The ending is a put off but for a crime thriller it's quite something.

• Barry L

  
  Brilliant.

Read all 14 featured audience ratings