Call Him Mr. Shatter [Slim Case]

Call him Mr. Shatter!
Back in the 70's, England's Hammer Studios contracted with the famous Shaw Brothers to produce a few movies in Hong Kong. Only two ever came from the union, this tepid movie and the much better Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1979). I think the idea behind this movie was to combine the action of kung fu, whose popularity was in full swing thanks to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (1973) and the grittiness of Mario Puzo's The Godfather (1972). This hybrid fell short of this lofty goal. Actually, it didn't even come close to the mark, as this movie really sucked rotten eggs. I hesitate to mention this movie with those two, truly wonderful achievements in cinema history, but I wanted to give you an idea of what you're in for here.

Craggy faced actor Stuart Whitman, probably best known for his television work from the early 50's through the 70's, stars as Shatter, a hit man contracted to kill an African dictator. He completes his assignment, returns to Hong Kong to...

Bulletproof.
Everybody trashes this movie it seems, even its own director (Carreras) hated it. But how anyone can hate a movie blessed with the presence of Cushing is a tall question indeed. -He's wonderful in a rather small part, one I understand he even did more or less as a favor to Hammer boss Carreras. The action scenes involving gun-fights and car-chases are nice to watch, but because the Shaw Brothers co-produced we sadly have to endure some martial arts stuff as well. Not only is this a Hammer film with the great sir Peter, but two other faves of mine are also featured; Stuart Whitman and Anton Diffring. By no means a great movie, but most certainly not the terrible mess some would have you believe, either.

Quite good for fans of Stuart Whitman.
The print is excellent but what makes this DVD worth purchasing is the audio commentary. The uncredited director Monte Hellman offers some insight into the trouble bound production. Stuart Whitman's commentary is recorded in a hotel room and is not as clear as I would have liked,though his stories are fascinating.

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