Rating: 
Summary: Tightly-Written Masterpiece
Review: "The Mechanic" with Charles Bronson, at first glance, nothing more than an unusually tightly-written work of violence, is so well done that it stays with the viewer long after being watched. While a great study of the "proverbial" hit man with no conscience who has no close family or friendly ties, this movie delves into the secret desire of "Arthur Bishop" to actually be a part of "normal" humanity (the lonliness he feels until his assistant comes along; the visit to the prostitute who he pays to act like a normal girlfriend who loves and misses him dearly each time he leaves; the anxiety attack he suffers for no apparent reason, etc.). It's this personality "flaw", so well hidden from even himself, that brings Bronson's character down in the end, since his desire and need for a pseudo-friendship and partnership with an assistant proves to be his biggest mistake. If you want to watch a film that combines the twists of a spiralling-down mind within the confines of the violent world of crime with an ending that will stay with the viewer forever - then this is the movie to watch!
Rating:
Summary: Tightly-Written Masterpiece
Review: "The Mechanic" with Charles Bronson, at first glance, nothing more than an unusually tightly-written work of violence, is so well done that it stays with the viewer long after being watched. While a great study of the "proverbial" hit man with no conscience who has no close family or friendly ties, this movie delves into the secret desire of "Arthur Bishop" to actually be a part of "normal" humanity (the lonliness he feels until his assistant comes along; the visit to the prostitute who he pays to act like a normal girlfriend who loves and misses him dearly each time he leaves; the anxiety attack he suffers for no apparent reason, etc.). It's this personality "flaw", so well hidden from even himself, that brings Bronson's character down in the end, since his desire and need for a pseudo-friendship and partnership with an assistant proves to be his biggest mistake. If you want to watch a film that combines the twists of a spiralling-down mind within the confines of the violent world of crime with an ending that will stay with the viewer forever - then this is the movie to watch!
Rating: 
Summary: CULT MOVIES 15
Review: 15. THE MECHANIC (action, 1972) Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is the mechanic, a hit man hired by the Organization (a Mafia-life firm) as its own assassin. Bishop's contact to the Organization is Harry, a long time confidant of his late father. Bishop is meticulous in his work. Before any hits he studies the targets weaknesses so as not to leave any leaks. He is without feelings or remorse, the consummate professional. Bishop's next target is Harry. He carries the job through without hesitation. Harry's son Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent) lives the life of a dilenta playboy. He suspects Bishop's involvement in his father's death, and tries to find out what his ties to the Organization are. Steve comes to admire Bishop's unwavering and ruthless personality, as Bishop admires Steve's youthful promiscuity and cunning nature. They are both alike. Bishop takes him under his wing and trains him as his new partner. On their first hit together their assigned to a "cowboy ride" (a hit that has to be done quickly). It turns out to be a set-up engineered by the Organization. Bishop escapes, but someone is still out to eliminate him. Critique: As far as spy and espionage films go The Mechanic is one of the best. Not only for those Charles Bronson aficionados (like myself), but for lovers of well-made auctioneer. Michael Winner's clever direction adds a sparkle to the genre. He sets up interesting insights into assassin's mode of work. A cut above Death Wish (1974- Bronson's best known film), in both content and script, Bronson's performance is the epitome of cool. He's perfect at playing a character that has been totally detached from the outside world, and a man trapped in a world he can only have created. In the same way that Steve McQueen used his laconic presence to great use, Winner makes full use of Bronson's craggy features. QUOTE: Bishop: "Murder is killing without a license. Everybody kills."
Rating:
Summary: 4 reasons...
Review: 4 reasons to watch this movie: 1- If you are the one who can easily get bored when predict the end of a movie from the beginning. Get "The mechanic" 2- If you are a Charles Bronson fan. Get "The mechanic" 3- If you love to say "woow" when watching a movie. Get "The mechanic" 4- If you love to discover that not-known movies can be better than award winners. Get "The mechanic"
Rating:
Summary: CD
Review: A must-see for any Bronson fan. This is truly Bronson at his best. Excellent supporting performance from Jan-Michael Vincent as well. And WHAT AN ENDING!!
Rating:
Summary: CD
Review: A must-see for any Bronson fan. This is truly Bronson at his best. Excellent supporting performance from Jan-Michael Vincent as well. And WHAT AN ENDING!!
Rating:
Summary: Very 70s B-action movie curiously devoid of action
Review: Anyone who has seen the Charles Bronson movies of the 1970s and 1980s will pretty much know what to expect of this movie made in 1972 with longtime Bronson collaborator Michael Winner.
Bronson plays hitman Bishop who takes on a eager young rookie (played by a very young Jan Michael Vincent later of AIRWOLF fame) under his wing to teach him the ways of his craft.
Probably the best parts of this movie are in the first half hour or so. We see Bronson's character set up a hit disguised as a gas explosion. He sets up across the street from his target and watches the man make coffee (presumably), read a book and then fall asleep - all the while knowing that in a matter of hours he will be the method of the mans destruction.
In another scene we see Bronson perform another hit, this time on a person who trusts him and then in another we see him coldly explain to a desperate young girl how long it will take her to die and the feelings and sensations she will go through before death.
Taken at its basic level this movie is very disturbing. Anyone who is expecting another GROSSE POINT BLANK will not get it here. This movie is both cold and voyeuristically fascinating to see a man who cares little about life - others or even his own (he blatently ignores a doctors advice at one point, even throwing away some pills designed to help him with anxiety).
The movie is a strange one. There is very little action, and what we do have seems muted by the experiences of Bishop.
Rating:
Summary: The thinking man's solution
Review: Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is a 'mechanic' -- a contract killer. Given an assignment, Mr. Bishop studies his target's habits, lifestyle and schedule, seeking weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Mr. Bishop then decides where and how to complete his assignment, using martial arts, weapons, explosives, or anything else deemed necessary. Mr. Bishop is an expert in a stress-filled occupation, but Mr. Bishop is beginning to experience anxiety attacks in his daily life. Steve McKenna (Jan Michael Vincent) is the jaded son of a deceased crime boss. At Steve's urging Arthur accepts Steve as an apprentice. Arthur teaches Steve the tricks of the mechanic's trade. Their first assignment together is awkward. Their next assignment is a rush job and it blows up in their faces ... Charles Bronson's career is marked by violent characterizations. The Arthur Bishop role is interesting because Arthur Bishop is an aesthetic -- Arthur Bishop treats contract killing as an art form. If Charles Bronson normally plays bludgeon characters, Arthur Bishop is a scalpel. And Jan Michael Vincent plays Steve McKenna both with sensitivity and with his usual attractive swagger. Coupled in a well-written plot, Bronson and Vincent's performances make "The Mechanic" a memorable film.
Rating:
Summary: The thinking man's solution
Review: Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is a 'mechanic' -- a contract killer. Given an assignment, Mr. Bishop studies his target's habits, lifestyle and schedule, seeking weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Mr. Bishop then decides where and how to complete his assignment, using martial arts, weapons, explosives, or anything else deemed necessary. Mr. Bishop is an expert in a stress-filled occupation, but Mr. Bishop is beginning to experience anxiety attacks in his daily life. Steve McKenna (Jan Michael Vincent) is the jaded son of a deceased crime boss. At Steve's urging Arthur accepts Steve as an apprentice. Arthur teaches Steve the tricks of the mechanic's trade. Their first assignment together is awkward. Their next assignment is a rush job and it blows up in their faces ... Charles Bronson's career is marked by violent characterizations. The Arthur Bishop role is interesting because Arthur Bishop is an aesthetic -- Arthur Bishop treats contract killing as an art form. If Charles Bronson normally plays bludgeon characters, Arthur Bishop is a scalpel. And Jan Michael Vincent plays Steve McKenna both with sensitivity and with his usual attractive swagger. Coupled in a well-written plot, Bronson and Vincent's performances make "The Mechanic" a memorable film.
Rating: 
Summary: No man is an island
Review: Arthur Bishop is a connoisseur of the finer things in life - wine, art, literature, music - and lives a secluded existence in his own organized world, observing the rest of humanity as an "outsider." His detached persona makes him uniquely suited to the demands of his profession, that of "the mechanic" or "hit man." Arthur is no moralist, but the ultimate pragmatist, and his victims mere losers in the giant scheme of life and death. He wryly observes that most of history's hero's were killers. His job simply affords him the opportunity to create his own "book of rules" in a game that he was born into, but did not invent. He has molded his entire existence into one of absolute control, but the years have caught up with him in the form of loneliness and anxiety. A hit on a long time family friend becomes the catalyst for Arthur to take on an associate, more out of loneliness than necessity, and with this breach into this inner sanctuary, the entire premise of his "outside" existence is compromised.
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