History Film / TheMechanic1972

Arthur Bishop (Bronson), an aging assassin, is hired to kill "Big Harry" [=McKenna=] (Creator/KeenanWynn), which he does with his usual resourceful genius. At the funeral he meets Big Harry's son, Steve [=McKenna=] (Jan-Michael Vincent). Steve becomes interested in the art of being an assassin, so Bishop plays along and then trains the young man to become a ProfessionalKiller. Steve is taught to use [[TitleDrop the mechanic]]'s tools until he becomes a master. Arthur Bishop's superiors aren't accepting of Bishop doing this, and in the end they find that they can trust no one. It is a defining example of the seventies action film, and has existentialist themes.

* HitmanWithAHeart: Averted with the LackOfEmpathy of the two protagonists highlighted in several ways--for instance Arthur realises Steve has what it takes to be his understudy when the latter watches Louise, a former girlfriend who's slit her wrists to get his attention, bleed over the course of several hours (she lives, but only because they give her the car keys so she can drive herself to the hospital). A more subtle scene is when Arthur is at the hospital, he walks past a young boy with an artificial leg without even a sympathetic glance.

Arthur Bishop (Bronson), an aging assassin, is hired to kill "Big Harry" [=McKenna=] (Keenan Wynn), which he does with his usual resourceful genius. At the funeral he meets Big Harry's son, Steve [=McKenna=] (Jan-Michael Vincent). Steve becomes interested in the art of being an assassin, so Bishop plays along and then trains the young man to become a ProfessionalKiller. Steve is taught to use [[TitleDrop the mechanic]]'s tools until he becomes a master. Arthur Bishop's superiors aren't accepting of Bishop doing this, and in the end they find that they can trust no one. It is a defining example of the seventies action film, and has existentialist themes.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* SceneryPorn: Filmed on-location in {{Italy}} and LosAngeles.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Both Arthur Bishop and Steve [=McKenna=] are cold-blooded killers who work for other cold-blooded killers. However, it is suggested the job is taking an emotional toll on Bishop when he is seen taking a number of pills at home, passing out in public from an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_stress_reaction acute stress reaction]], and paying someone to love him. Meanwhile, [=McKenna=] is a sociopath who shows too much interest in killing and has little to no remorse for anyone, holding a wild party in his house as soon as he hears that his father died and sitting by while his former girlfriend bleeds out from slitting her wrists. [[spoiler:In fact, Steve plans to murder his new mentor solely for personal gain.]]

* HitmanWithAHeart: Averted with the LackOfEmpathy of the two protagonists highlighted in several ways--for instance Arthur realises Steve has what it takes to be his understudy when the latter watches a former girlfriend who's slit her wrists to get his attention bleed over the course of several hours (she lives, but only because they give her the car keys so she can drive herself to the hospital). A more subtle scene is when Arthur is at the hospital, he walks past a young boy with an artificial leg without even a sympathetic glance.

** Steve comes over after his girlfriend calls him to say she's going to commit suicide. Making no effort to stop her or even recommend against her doing so, he calmly watches as she slits her wrists. Eventually, he does toss her the keys to her car and point out if she drives fast can make the nearest ranger station in 20 minutes if she's not really interested in dying.

''The Mechanic'' is a 1972 action thriller directed by Michael Winner and starring Creator/CharlesBronson.

* BeyondGoodAndEvil: Bishop claims that "Murder is only killing without a license." [[spoiler:While Bishop is dying, Steve points out that he does need a license -- the permission of his Mob bosses. So Steve murders his mentor so he will become TheUnfettered.]]

Arthur Bishop (Bronson), an aging assassin, is hired to kill "Big Harry" [=McKenna=] (Keenan Wynn), which he does with his usual resourceful genius. At the funeral he meets Big Harry's son, Steve [=McKenna=] (Jan-Michael Vincent). Steve becomes interested in the art of being an assassin, so Bishop plays along and then trains the young man to become a professional killer. Steve is taught to use [[TitleDrop the mechanic]]'s tools until he becomes a master. Arthur Bishop's superiors aren't accepting of Bishop doing this, and in the end they find that they can trust no one. It is a defining example of the seventies action film, and has existentialist themes.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Steve's Girlfriend Louise, Inverted. She survives her suicide attempt and later Steve (off screen) visits her for "a certain thing she does" which is implied to be something sexual in nature.

''The Mechanic'' is a 1972 action thriller directed by Michael Winner and starring Creator/CharlesBronsn.

''The Mechanic'' is a 1972 action thriller. Arthur Bishop (Creator/CharlesBronson), an aging assassin, is hired to kill "Big Harry" [=McKenna=] (Keenan Wynn), which he does with his usual resourceful genius. At the funeral he meets Big Harry's son, Steve [=McKenna=] (Jan-Michael Vincent). Steve becomes interested in the art of being an assassin, so Bishop plays along and then trains the young man to become a professional killer. Steve is taught to use [[TitleDrop the mechanic]]'s tools until he becomes a master. Arthur Bishop's superiors aren't accepting of Bishop doing this, and in the end they find that they can trust no one. It is a defining example of the seventies action film, and has existentialist themes.

* SilenceIsGolden: The first 16 minutes of the film have no dialog.

%%* BastardUnderstudy
%%* BlackAndGrayMorality
* CarChase: And a bike chase.
* ContractOnTheHitman: Bronson's character trains the son of a Mafia boss in his art without getting permission from his employers, so they set them both up to be killed. [[spoiler:Ironically after escaping the trap, the mobster's son then murders Bronson for his own personal reasons, and is himself killed by a bomb left by Bronson in his car.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Bishop and Steve are watching a martial arts demonstration where Bishop points out there is a new guy who has new moves and the older man who believes they are useless, but they aren't really trying to hurt each other. When the new guy pulls an illegal move which injures the older man, he then proceeds to beat the living tar out of the new guy. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Steve later when he remarks to Bishop how the old man almost murdered the new guy.

%%* EveryCarIsAPinto

* HitmanWithAHeart: Averted with the LackOfEmpathy of the two protagonists highlighted in several ways — for instance Arthur realises Steve has what it takes to be his understudy when the latter watches a former girlfriend who's slit her wrists to get his attention bleed over the course of several hours (she lives, but only because they give her the car keys so she can drive herself to the hospital). A more subtle scene is when Arthur is at the hospital, he walks past a young boy with an artificial leg without even a sympathetic glance.

%%* PerfectPoison

** Although, you have to wonder... I checked up on brucine, it's an alkaloid so it should taste bitter. Plus, the lethal dose is like 1 gram of pure stuff, so if enough of it gets added to wine so that the victim gets a gram in one mouthful I'm thinking that's going to really change the taste. Steve said he coated the glass with a solution, which can't have been enough. Plus, Bishop kind of got his heart attack way too quickly; you'd think for an ingested poison there'd be some delay before the effects kick in. Maybe it was more a BatmanGambit - Bishop was planning to disappear anyway, so he pretended he got poisoned then blew up Steve so the organization would think he was the one in the car.