The Mechanic (1972)

He fixes people so they never work again.

The Mechanic

The Mechanic features a typically stoic and leathery Charles Bronson and a young Jan-Michael Vincent who some of you might remember from the 1980s TV series "Airwolf."  He starred opposite Ernest Borgnine as the pilot of a top secret helicopter that defied the laws of physics and took on the Soviets every week for three seasons. I thought Jan-Michael Vincent was dead but after a quick Google search, it turns out it was just his career that died.

Bronson and Vincent spend 100 minutes trying to out-squint one another. Who will win!?  I mean...  After killing an associate, an aging hitman or "mechanic" (Bronson) takes the dead man's 24 year old son (Vincent) under his wing to teach him the tricks of the trade.  Vincent makes an excellent student and learns quickly.  However, Bronson's employers don't like the idea of having two assassins working together and Vincent receives instructions to take Bronson out.  Bronson learns about the orders, and the master and student play a psychological game of cat and mouse until the explosive end. 

"Quick! Staring contest. Me and you now!"

Every Bronson movie is a good movie just because he's in it, but The Mechanic is an especially good one.  There's plenty of action and explosions as you can see in the trailer, but unfortunately there is no boobage.  Bronson does however smoke a pipe in the film so, you know, he's got that going for him.

Violence Rating:  3 out of 5
Pipe Smoking Rating:  2.5 out of 5
Booby Rating:  1 out of 5

Get The Mechanic at TLACult.com