Point Blank

This movie shows that someone else besides Hollywood knows how to make an action movie. I saw the movie with my wife who is notoriously averse to violent movies but thoroughly enjoyed this one. It is good enough that I purchased the DVD to add to my permanent collection. The action starts in the first seconds and does not quit until the end credits. This movie is notably effective in that there is no gratuitous violence and the violence that there is, is entirely logical and minimal related directly to the story. That is not to say that the story itself is somewhat of a stretch but that is the way of most engaging action movies. It is the story of a common man involved by chance in a much larger sequence of events involving criminal actions by certain police officers and criminal elements. Beyond that I would not like to give away any more of the story. My advice is to purchase it or arrange to,see it for yourself, you will be well rewarded if you enjoy this genre.

This is a French crime thriller which has borrowed a bit from the `Die Hard' franchise. It tells the story of trainee nurse Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche), whose wife is very heavily pregnant. One night a man is taken into the Hospital after he has suffered a stomach laceration and been run over by a (quite fast) motorbike. He is on a ventilator, and not in a good way. Someone cuts the life saving tube and he starts to suffocate. Samuel spots it just in time and saves the mans life. That was a big mistake; this guy is a wanted high calibre thief - Hugo Sartet (Roscidy Zem). His compatriots have followed Samuel home and then decide to take his wife hostage and force him to `spring' their boss. Samuels wife has been told she is in danger of losing the baby and has to spend the rest of her pregnancy lying down, so this brutal interruption sends Sam a bit desperate. He decides to do all it takes to get her back. He goes back into work (after a night shift) and puts a rather crude plan into operation, meanwhile the Gendarmes have taken fingerprints from the unknown guy and are heading back to ask some pesky questions. The cops are also investigating the murder of an uber rich business guy, but are the matters linked? Well this tries to avoid formulaic plot developments, and has some brilliant touches. I liked the French police driving Alfa Romeos. There is an however, and that is the number of plot holes. If you just go with the flow, then this is an excellent action movie, with full throttle action, double crosses and plot twists, but the contrivances just took something away for me. I am a big fan of World Cinema and especially love European Cinema and I think Director Fred Cavaye has done an above average job, but some of the artifice he uses means that this is hard to take that seriously. If you want to suspend belief for 84 mins, with full on action, some blood and guts and some really rather good performances from all involved, then this will tick your boxes, if you thought `Anything For Her' was a bit of a stretch, then best to avoid.

Where in the hell did this thing come from? This is one of the best films I have ever seen, foreign or domestic. It never lets up. Slam bang action from start to finish. Great acting and immaculately edited. I see the director has worked with Russell Crowe on something, and I doubt Russell can speak french convincingly,so it must be in english. Possibly the best action vehicle of the past 30 years. Watch it. You won't be disappointed.

I love a really good crime-thriller and this is about as good of one as I've ever seen. Here's the scoop. Sam works at a hospital. He's inches away from becoming a certified nurse. His wife, whom he loves dearly, is pregnant but must take it easy to avoid complications. One night he's helping on a case where a man has been hit by a motorcycle. Next thing you know his wife is kidnapped and he has only hours to deliver the accident victim or she's history. Now he's teamed up with the accident victim, who might be a murderer, and way over his head in a complicated situation that might involve dirty cops. What to do? This has a similar look and feel to the "Bourne" films. It runs at breakneck speeds with little time out. The music score is also reminiscent of "Bourne." The plot turns quickly, but the turns don't seem forced. They all seem natural to the situation. It builds up a fever pitch and, like a Hitchcock film, you wonder how our hero will ever make it out of the mess. Yup. There are some filthy cops, but one female detective, who smells something fishy, is on hand to help even things out. And when you think they can't turn the knot any tighter, they somehow manage to. This one comes down to the wire. There were some elements, and at least one stunt, that were lifted from other movies which is a shame being that everything else seems so fresh. Had those not reared their heads I might have given this the big five stars. Be that as it may, this is a heck of a romp. It has it all and then some. If you're into this type of flick, this will serve up a seven course meal for you.

Hard to find movie, glad Amazon carried it. I found it interesting and fast paced after the first couple of scenes set things up. Actors were all good kept me interested throughout and a kind of tricky ending. To me a bad French-action films is better than 90% of the American ones. And this film is a very good one.

From the very beginning this story has you locked in. The movie has never a dull moment and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Definitely one at the tippy top of my list!

Saw this French film at the movies last year and knew I wanted to buy it in the first 5 minutes. Begins explosively and never lets up. And still able to establish character and relationships amidst the relentless forward momentum of the plot and non-stop action. Don't worry about reading subtitles - this one is a winner! Highly recommend Point Blank!!

Très bon film

“Oh my good lord, it’s been said stupid does what stupid say, that was my saying, Can I Tell You, this Has Nothing To Do With Any, Okay Any Die Hard Movie, you should stop watching movies, (It’ll help others)I can’t understand people saying that to a movie like this, for one thing, there was no Dam pregnancy in any, “Again” Die Hard that I’ve seen, when people make up stories they must feel very prouder than not with themselves, but with the fact they’ve told a completely different story than the original, “Point Blank” is not a crime thriller by any stretch of the imagination, it’s about a Very Desperate man on his own quest to save his pregnant wife from some very bad people, that happen to enter his normal everyday life of peace, with bad police in pursuit of a Art thief, who happen to see the killing of a prominent figure, this is a very fast paced movie at only one Hour an twenty four min, it remind me of Red Eye” with Cillian Murphy” an Rachel McAdams” closer to the end you're on edge hoping if he’ll make it before the movie ends, great thriller, French With English Dub 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Runtime 84 Min. Widescreen 2.35:1 Very Very Entertaining Movie.

Per i fan dell'action un film piacevole, nonostante una fotografia che suggerisce quasi al prodotto televisivo il film riesce ad elevarsi a qualcosa di più. Punto di forza assoluto è un ritmo invidiabile, sempre galoppante fino al finale, regia che regge il tutto e storia interessante nonostante richieda una certa sospensione dalla realtà. Una visione di sicuro non dispiacerà a chi ama certi generi. buono.

Im Grunde kann man diesem Film nichts grob Schlechtes anhängen, wenn man auch zugeben muss das dieser Film an viele ähnliche Streifen erinnert, die in meinen Augen klar besser sind. Wer dieses Genre mag kann sich diesen Film gern ansehen, aber die Werbeslogan des Films stimmen in meinen Augen nicht. "ZEHNMAL BESSER ALS 96 HOURS" -> NIEMALS, er kommt an diesen Film nicht ran, schon alleine die Hauptfigur aus "Point Blank" kann mit "Liam Nesson" aus "96 HOURS" nicht mithalten. "BLITZSCHNELL WIE EINE KUGEL! HITCHCOCK TRIFFT AUF LOLA RENNT" -> Übertriebener konnte es nicht sein, er hat eher bisschen Geschwindigkeit und Spannung, aber das ist auch alles. Der Vergleich ist unpassend ... "EIN ATEMLOSER THRILLER" -> Da hab ich schon andere Filme gesehen, wo mir wirklich förmlich der Atem weggeblieben ist. Point Blank hat da gute Szenen, aber auch leider viele flache Passagen. Ich mag diesen Film nicht zu schlecht machen, aber mehr als ein Mittelklasse Action-Thriller ist er leider nicht. Der Trailer versucht klar ein anderes Bild zu erzeugen, die Szene des Trailers sind die einzigsten Stellen des Films die wirklich gut sind. Der Rest plätschert eher so dahin ... Wer Filme dieser Kategorie mag kann ihn sich gern anschauen, wer aber ein Feuerwerk erwartet wird in meinen Augen enttäuscht.

Directed by Cavayé, who gave us the excellent "Anything For Her", this film is non-stop action from 10 minutes into the story until the very end. While AFH was a slow build-up for two thirds of the story, climaxing in the last third with fast-paced action, "Point Blank" feels as if the writer/director decided to make the whole film in that fast pace. The result is a picture that keeps you at the edge of your couch practically from start to finish. I can see the American remake coming in the horizon... Probably with a budget five times bigger. This French original feels very real, filmed on location at neck-breaking speed. The "making of" featurette included in the blu-ray DVD is well worth watching. It's a wonder there were not more people injured during the filming in the streets and subway stations of Paris. The choice of title ("Point Blank") could not have been worse in translating it from the French "à bout portant". It creates confusion with John Boorman's classic with Lee Marvin, and the stories are totally different. I could think of twenty other suitable titles for this picture: "Relentless", "Unflinching", "Practical Training For Nurse Exam"... Do distributors do this deliberately to confuse us?