Published via Ecency

(source:tmdb.org)

These days, when the world’s richest people appear to enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the US government, it is somewhat difficult to accept the premise behind Firepower, the 1979 action film directed by Michael Winner. The plot deals with the US government’s attempts to capture Karl Stagner, a powerful and influential business tycoon wanted for tax evasion and similar crimes. Bringing him to justice is not an easy task, because Stagner not only happens to be the world’s third-richest man, but also has a fear of being photographed, so nobody knows what he actually looks like. The government is so desperate that it turns to mob-connected lawyer Sal Hyman (played by Eli Wallach) who, in return for judicial immunity, agrees to locate and recruit his old associate and former top assassin Jerry Fannon (played by James Coburn). Fannon agrees to end his retirement and, after recruiting an old friend and top burglar Catlett (played by O. J. Simpson), goes to Antigua where Stagner is believed to live in a heavily-guarded villa. Part of Fannon’s plan is to lure Stagner out by confronting his trusted associates with Adele Tesca (played by Sophia Loren), a glamorous woman whose husband was assassinated after finding compromising evidence of Stagner’s misdeeds.

Firepower was originally developed as a script for a film in the Dirty Harry series, but what actually appears on screen looks more like a James Bond adventure. The film, made with a relatively high budget, follows the Bondian formula with the use of an exotic Caribbean location, glamorous women (in this case, one) and plenty of action scenes. Michael Winner, known for his collaboration with Charles Bronson, placed the emphasis on the latter, so Firepower from beginning to end contains scenes that required a lot of pyrotechnics and stunt work. Most of those scenes are adequate, despite sometimes looking over the top – like the one in which Fannon uses a bulldozer to penetrate Stagner’s hiding place. Winner’s efforts, however, cannot compensate for the abysmal script, burdened with a complicated plot and large number of characters; the audience will become further confused by constantly shifting loyalties among characters, as well as plot twists that make the film look more chaotic than interesting. The cast is mostly solid, although at many times it gives the impression of having more fun on the set than delivering it to the audience on the screen.

RATING: 4/10 (++)