AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

chaswe-28402 "The greatest actor I ever worked with", said the great Sergio Leone. He worked quickly and efficiently. Acted so natural it didn't look like acting. Bronson is wonderful in this very fine movie, although some of the snide reviewers here don't seem to agree. Inexplicably rated at only 6.8 on this site. Ridiculous. Formulaic and predictable ? An opinion that beggars belief. Superb script by Elmore Leonard, a professional, keeps you guessing. I saw nothing predictable about the way the action unrolls. I had no idea what Majestyk would think up next. Entertaining, suspenseful, humorous, in fact deadpan witty. When times are hard, everyone gets Bronson on their side. Even the weasel. He's simply the nemesis that Drexl Spivey had in mind. Bronson is REAL; and Al Lettieri is a terrific bad guy, especially in his handling of the weasel. Their relationship was hilarious.

Cristi_Ciopron Although the desert landscape and lowlife milieu appalled me strongly, I remember having seen the Majestyk flick twice, or thrice, knowing as I did that I was supposed to enjoy it, and a similar impression was made upon me, at the same age, by an _actioner with Chuck Norris and Carradine, but I never managed to like Norris as much as Bronson, whom I had first seen in a railway western from the early '70s. Anyway, Bronson brought and suggested a world that was very unlike my own—and sordid, depressing. I know Majestyk isn't a very acclaimed flick, quite on the contrary; but, when I was merely 12, I strove to enjoy it, it was supposed to be manly and what not. (It wasn't boring—and I didn't find it ridiculous, but convincing.) As subject, it's fit for Bronson—sleaze masquerading as social awareness —socially aware sleaze.Its world of scum seemed alien, menacing and disheartening. Later, I grasped that it was the world of pulp and hardboiled fiction—taken, of course, here, to a very undemanding and mindless level. I mean, this is not, I presume, how hardboiled is supposed to look like.Nowadays, movies bore me—maybe all of them, and certainly the very idea of watching them, or taking an interest in them, as I have found them to be only surrogates of art or fun; I have ceased seeing movies. Therefore, I only publish here now and then. As I don't watch movies anymore, perhaps I will go on remembering movies I have seen long ago. Take it as a treat for the fans of this page. The cold ashes of my movie criticism, and of a former identity.

Coventry "Mr. Majestyk" is inarguably one of Charles Bronson's most masterful action movie accomplishments (not counting the westerns like "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "The Magnificent Seven" because he didn't play the central character in those) and this is mainly thanks to the skillful writing of Elmore Leonard and the tight direction of Richard Fleischer. More than in the other contemporary Bronson action vehicles, "Mr. Majestyk" benefices from a steadily paced and intelligent screenplay that fully revolves on Charles Bronson, but at least never exaggeratedly idolizes him. Vince Majestyk is a modest and introvert Colorado melon farmer who only wants to bring in his harvest… He ends up in jail after a conflict with a local small time crook, but things get really serious when a wanted mafia hit man targets him for assassination. Mr. Majestyk wanted to deliver the escaped convict Frank Renda back to the police, but his plan failed and now Renda is obsessed with killing Vince with his own hands. The plot isn't hyper-convoluted, but it's definitely more ambitious than the average "Death Wish" sequel in which Charles blows away random street scum. The villainous characters in "Mr. Majestyk" are interesting personalities. Frank Renda (brilliant performance from Al Lettieri) is a genuinely menacing and relentless criminal, whereas Bobby Kopas is just a sleazy and cowardly local marauder who thinks he's a big shot. The interactions between Vince and these gangsters confirm their personalities. He's not afraid of Renda but remains wary and respectful at all times, whereas he continuously mocks and humiliates the racist wannabe cowboy Bobby Kopas. It is definitely the sharp and seasoned writing of Elmore Leonard what brings the film to a higher quality level. "Mr. Majestyk" certainly isn't a non-stop spitfire of action sequences, but there are a couple of explosively violent moments that are unforgettable. The escape during the prison transportation, for example, as well as the Ford pick-up chase and the climatic shootout. Great film, highly recommended to all action cinema fanatics!

JoeytheBrit Charlie Bronson's a melon farmer who just wants to get his melons in on time, but fate conspires against him. First of all when he arrives at his melon fields with a crew of migrant labour, he finds that a wannabe tough guy has already set a crew of drunks and vagrants to work. Of course, Charlie soon sees him off with his tail between his legs. The pipsqueak reports him to the police, and because there's a gun involved and Charlie has a history, he finds himself locked up with only his anxiety over his melons going mouldy to keep him company.Actually, that's not quite true because while in the cells he comes across the wonderful Al Lettieri as a ruthless hit man. The bus they're in is ambushed by some of Al's men but Charlie turns the situation to his advantage by kidnapping Al and trading him with the police in return for his own freedom.This is a typical seventies crime thriller that lacks any credible storyline and falls back on the kind of violence typical of both the era and Charles Bronson movies in general. It's also a typical example, I suppose, of why Elmore Leonard never really enjoyed the success as a screenwriter as he did as a writer of novels, even though his novels were 80% dialogue for some reason he never seemed able to translate the natural sound of his written dialogue to the screen. Anyway, the violence is quite brutal – and often gratuitous. At one point bad guy Lettieri and his cronies drive into a portable toilet into which one luckless deputy has just entered. Lettieri prevents his comrade from shooting the dazed cop to death, and picks up a plank instead, which he uses to efficiently batter the poor soul to death. 'Make them think he was run over by a truck,' he explains. We don't actually see the act, just Lettieri's face as he dispassionately goes about his work, and for this reason it is probably the most effective moment of the film.Speaking of Lettieri, he's by far the best thing about this film; it's a shame that he would die within a year or two, cut down by a heart attack at the relatively young age of 47. He was just beginning to make a name for himself as a Hollywood heavy, and there's no doubting that, like here, he would have enlivened many an otherwise routine film if he'd had the opportunity. If you like Bronson films you probably won't be disappointed by this one, but it isn't one that most people are likely to remember.