Joe Moran is a fisherman who rents out boats in the south of France for holidaymakers. But what his wife & stepdaughter don't know is that he was originally Joe Martin, an ex-soldier who left his corrupt comrades to get caught after they killed a German cop during a prison escape. The gang's leader, Captain Ross, manages to track Joe down & kidnaps his family in order to force him to help them secure the money needed to escape the country. But Joe doesn't take too kindly to those who threaten his family & promptly tries to sabotage their mission.
Charles Bronson was one of the 1980s B-grade action icons, mainly due to starring as legendary vigilante Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series & some supporting roles in films ranging from the Vincent Price classic House of Wax to the likes of The Dirty Dozen. In the early 1970s, before he became a superstar thanks to Death Wish, he was making a living starring in thrillers like The Mechanic & Cold Sweat.
Cold Sweat is a pretty reasonable thriller, nothing more. The pace is a bit on the slow side, enough to show the action set-pieces as being decidedly forced. Key point being the shootout & car chase during the final third of the film – the chase takes too long for the film's pacing & is completely superfluous. There are also glaring flaws in the film's story & internal logic.
But what makes this otherwise mediocre thriller rate as passable for me is the fact that Charles Bronson, who is somewhat an underrated actor to me, gives a good performance (even though he only has one facial expression in that granite slab that passes for his face) & even has a little fun constantly thwarting the bad guys' plans. The scene where Bronson & (future wife) Jill Ireland & a doctor they abducted to treat James Mason's wounded villain are speeding to evade the police while Mason & a traitor comrade exchange gunfire while Liv Ullmann & Yannick de Lulle attempt to escape is passably exciting. This is also probably the only film you'll ever find that has James Mason speaking in a Southern accent AND Jill Ireland playing a spaced out hippie. Not to mention that this is based on a story written by legendary Twilight Zone writer Richard Matheson (who also wrote I Am Legend). Not as well known as some of Bronson's other films but if you track this down, it should make for interesting viewing.
Charles Bronson was one of the 1980s B-grade action icons, mainly due to starring as legendary vigilante Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series & some supporting roles in films ranging from the Vincent Price classic House of Wax to the likes of The Dirty Dozen. In the early 1970s, before he became a superstar thanks to Death Wish, he was making a living starring in thrillers like The Mechanic & Cold Sweat.
Cold Sweat is a pretty reasonable thriller, nothing more. The pace is a bit on the slow side, enough to show the action set-pieces as being decidedly forced. Key point being the shootout & car chase during the final third of the film – the chase takes too long for the film's pacing & is completely superfluous. There are also glaring flaws in the film's story & internal logic.
But what makes this otherwise mediocre thriller rate as passable for me is the fact that Charles Bronson, who is somewhat an underrated actor to me, gives a good performance (even though he only has one facial expression in that granite slab that passes for his face) & even has a little fun constantly thwarting the bad guys' plans. The scene where Bronson & (future wife) Jill Ireland & a doctor they abducted to treat James Mason's wounded villain are speeding to evade the police while Mason & a traitor comrade exchange gunfire while Liv Ullmann & Yannick de Lulle attempt to escape is passably exciting. This is also probably the only film you'll ever find that has James Mason speaking in a Southern accent AND Jill Ireland playing a spaced out hippie. Not to mention that this is based on a story written by legendary Twilight Zone writer Richard Matheson (who also wrote I Am Legend). Not as well known as some of Bronson's other films but if you track this down, it should make for interesting viewing.