A 1973 action neo noir thriller directed by Michael Winner that has a New York detective (Charles Bronson) going to LA to solve a case involving a mafia family feud.
The movie also stars Martin Balsam, David Sheiner, Norman Fell, Ralph Waite, Paul Koslo, Stuart Margolin, Jack Colvin, and John Ritter.
It was released on August 8, 1973.
Tropes for the film:
- The '70s: Hippies, Vietnam veterans regarded as sociopaths, police hampered by civil liberties in their fight against an ever-increasing wave of crime...
- Best Served Cold: The Plan is meant to avenge the deaths of old time dons back in 1931 which led to the rise of the current Mafia Commission.
- Car Fu: Det. Lou Torrey (Bronson) does an accidental version thanks to a criminal firing a couple of bullets into his windscreen, then getting run over because Torrey is too busy ducking to slam on the brakes. As he's a Cowboy Cop, he's then accused of having run over the guy deliberately.
- Confess to a Lesser Crime: At the end of the movie the Mafia boss who planned everything is shown attending confession during which he confesses to various petty sins and asks for absolution for these "and any other sins" he might have committed.
- Despair Speech: Torrey gives one for society at the end, about how the police are fighting an unstoppable tide of crime and violence. It doesn't quite work as the character is played by Charles Bronson, and even an unstoppable tide would find it difficult to erode his stoic features.
- Empty Elevator: The mercenaries sent to kill several mobsters are hanging beneath the elevator using abseiling gear. Once the mobsters have reached their floor and the doors close, they climb in through the service hatch, enter the room and kill everyone. The mercenaries are shown rehearsing for the attack using a dummy elevator in their training camp in the desert.
- Parking Garage: After massacring a mob commission meeting, the Hired Guns flee to their cars in the parking garage beneath the building, only to get into a shootout with police who have gotten wind of the plan and are rushing to intercept them.
- Private Military Contractors: The plot involves using ex-Vietnam veterans with no connection to The Mafia, similar to the imported 'stone men' who committed the massacre of 1931.
- Revealing Cover-Up: Torrey arrests a washed-up mafia killer, who claims to know information about an impending hit which he'll trade for immunity. Bronson isn't impressed until the man is gunned down in front of him, right after being handed over to the NYPD.
- Skeleton Key: A police officer sees a car thief opening a truck with a huge bunch of keys, and detains him when he tries to flee.
- Trick-and-Follow Ploy: The police know there's a mercenary training camp out in the Mojave desert somewhere, so they release one of the mercenaries they arrested earlier (ostensibly he's bailed out by the public defender thanks to the Cowboy Cop Torrey beating him up) and follow him via helicopter. Da Chief mutters, "There goes my pension" after Torrey talks him into it, as his superior makes it clear they'll both take the blame if it doesn't pan out.
- Tricked into Escaping: A criminal undergoing medical examination is provided with a pistol which he uses to disarm the police officer escorting him. His colleagues are waiting in the carpark with a getaway car and shout for the criminal to run to them; when he does so they kill him with a submachine gun.
- Turn in Your Badge: A variation in that it happens at the start of the movie. Torrey has to hand in his gun and badge after a controversial shooting depicted in the Action Prologue. Rather than wait to be cleared by an inquiry, he resigns and joins another police department on the other side of the country.
- Under the Truck: Torrey is in a car chase with a criminal who tries this, but he falls off his motorcycle in the process and can't get back on before the pursuing car catches up.
