DaveyJoe

I'm sorry but a list of titles does nothing for me. Can people say just a few words about the movies they'd like to recommend, so I can get a sense of whether or not I might enjoy them?

Ash Ketchum

THE FRENCH CONNECTION: "Did you ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?"

DIRTY HARRY: "I'm all broken up about that man's...rights."
"Do ya feel lucky...punk?"

CHINATOWN: "My daughter!" [SLAP!] "My sister!"[SLAP!] "My daughter!" [SLAP!] "My sister!"[SLAP!]

TAXI DRIVER: "You talkin' to me?"

DOG DAY AFTERNOON: "Attica! Attica! Attica!"

DEATH WISH: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs: "Where's the money, honey?" Charles Bronson: Blam! Blam! Blam!

TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3: "Ah-CHOO!"

Does that help?

DaveyJoe

Haha, I think everybody is familiar with those films. I've seen a lot of films in this thread that I had never heard of before, but there are way too many for me to look them all up on the chance that I'd enjoy them. I don't see the point of just listing recommendations without including a single reason why you recommend them.

Mondo Kane

There were 2 hunchback movies? Wow. EDIT-According to wiki, there was a sequel. Looks like that was the one I thought it was.

GoH is definetly my most favorite Fukasaku yakuza flick. My 2nd favorite is Sympathy/Underdog. It's got a Wild Bunch vibe (Especially towards the end)

I'm a little surprised at the love the Yakuza Papers' films always recieve. I've seen about 3 of them, but the only one I liked was the one with Sonny Chiba (I remember that one having a basic storyline compared to the others) Where as Battles/Humanity & Proxy War ended up being on the complicated side. Thanks to all those hundreds of characters you're supposed to keep track of.

DaveyJoe

I've seen Battle Royale, but none of his other films, I know he's a legend of Japanese cinema and was a unique voice in the Yakuza genre. I will be sure to check out his films, starting with the movies you've listed here. Thanks for taking the time to talk about the movies instead of just listing titles.

Ash Ketchum

Going through all the titles listed in this thread, I now count 54 that I saw when they came out, with most of the others seen on TV afterwards. What a great decade for crime films. That's pretty much the only thing I'm nostalgic about from the 1970s: the constant stream of movies like these in neighborhood theaters. Over the course of the decade you had your choice of mid-range Hollywood genre films (e.g. DIRTY HARRY, WALKING TALL, FRENCH CONNECTION, et al; low-budget drive-in/exploitation films; foreign genre films dubbed in English, including kung fu, Italian westerns, Italian crime, the occasional samurai film, etc.; plus: more arthouse-type versions of these films some of which might be called neo-noir, e.g. CHINATOWN, NIGHT MOVES, SHORT EYES, FINGERS, STRAIGHT TIME, or films by Scorsese, Schrader, etc. And I went to the movies several times a week in those years, from neighborhood theaters in the Bronx to art houses and revival theaters in Manhattan.

Nowadays, I'm lucky if I get a DRIVE every now and then or a decent Jason Statham crime film every couple of years. Back then, we had the equivalent every week!

inri222

Don't forget Graveyard of Honor and the 70's Yakuza films of Hideo Gosha.

Hiro11

/thread
This film defines "gritty". It's also up there with The French Connection as one of the great nihilistic endings of the 70s.

DaveyJoe

I will be sure to check out Graveyard of Honor, because of its mention here and it's one of the major titles I've already heard of, in addition to The Yakuza Papers. I also saw a Takashi Miike film of the same title, but I'm not sure if it was a remake or not.

Where should I start with Hideo Gosha? I didn't know he did yakuza films. The only Gosha film I've seen is Sword of the Beast, although I've been very tempted to blind buy the Three Outlaw Samurai Criterion.

Geofferson

Good call on The Silent Partner. One of Christopher Plummer's more interesting roles.

I'll add two more Bo Svenson movies to the mix. Both from 1976: Breaking Point and Special Delivery.

PhantomStranger

Another gritty Italian classic, Shoot First, Die Later. If you like movies like The French Connection, this is a unknown dandy to most Americans.

inri222

Takashi Miike's Graveyard of Honor is a remake.
Check out Hideo Gosha's The Wolves with Tatsuya Nakadai.

DaveyJoe

Will do, Tatsuya Nakadai is one of my favorites, thanks for the recommendation.

rw2516

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned: Prime Cut with Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman.

bluetoast

I don't think the "/thread" thing quite works when we're looking for multiple movies.

JumpCutz

Good call.

Geofferson

Yeah, totally overlooked that one (despite owning it on DVD).

Paff

I probably should have resurrected this thread last week, but TCM is running a look back to 70s-set NYC films all this month, and many of them fit the "gritty crime film" genre. Just last week I watched a mini marathon of
The Panic in Needle Park
The Taking of Pelham 123
Klute
Fingers
Report to the Commissioner

Report was one of the more interesting ones. I watched it years ago (I think MGM HD had it on) and found it unmemorable, but this time I really dug it. I found it totally riveting. It's possibly due to all the Law & Order I'm watching while on lockdown, and just can't get enough of Michael "ADA Ben Stone" Moriarty as a "hippy cop". The rooftop chase scene is fantastic, then the elevator stand-off, which is at least 1/4 of the film's total running length, is as tense as it gets. I was just bummed that TCM chose to show it in 1.33:1 ratio.

Fingers. Glad I have an option other than Reservoir Dogs, Bad Lieutenant, City of Industry, or The Piano if I need to see Harvey Keitel naked and/or crying in anguish.

Ash Ketchum

The most justified 7-year thread bump in quite some time!

Nick Danger

Awesome post. I'm glad you're still hanging around here.

We've watched both Klute and Marathon Man for the first time in the last two months.

MARATHON MAN: "Is it safe?"

DWilson

This was my first time actually watching "Fingers", though I've known it by reputation for years and years.. Writer/Director James Toback is one really odd cat and he definitely makes the film all about him and his particular mind-set, -in particular, his attitude toward Women. Actually, it's true of all his films.

Paff

I looked up his filmography, and this was the first and only Toback film I've seen. So I can't really see any trends, obviously.

The only thing that takes me out of these movies is when you recognize a before-they-were-famous actor or actress.
"Hey, that's Midge from That 70's Show that he's boffing in the ladies' room!"
"Hey, the henchman is Officer Joe Coffey!"
"Hey, the john that the hooker ripped off is Paul Sorvino!"
"Hey, the pimp is Richard Gere!"

Toddarino

I just watched Street People for the first time and really dug it.

davidlynchfan

Boulevard Nights - My favorite street gangster film.
Strange Shadows in an Empty Room - Car chase scene was nuts.
Mikey and Nicky - Buds helping eaching other evade the mob.
Stone Cold Dead - Sniper shooting pros.

JeffTheAlpaca

Too bad that era will never happen again.

If only the studios let the the directors control what gets made.