Customer Reviews

Silver Bears [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie is available on DVD in Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand) and I picked it up from an online retailer to play in my region-free player. What a fortuitous choice.
It was funny to watch a young Jay Leno and Louis Jourdan was a good choice to play a down on his luck Italian count, but what really made this movie for me was Michael Caine playing it both ruthless and charming.
The movies plot follows Caine's idea of having the American Mafia buy a bank in Switzerland with which to launder money. All seems to be going as planned until he arrives in Geneva and things start to unravel.
Thinking on his feet Caine and his chums decide to make the best of their situation and in the process of turning things around become entangled in a silver smuggling operation, an unscrupulous banker (played by Joss Ackland), a shrewd silver merchant (Charles Gray) and a flighty, affectionate American "tourist" played by Cybill (Moonlighting) Shepherd.
It's all good fun and a delightful romp. For fans of the movie (like me) it's well worth picking up a copy and putting it into your region-free DVD player. You won't be sorry.

This movie is like Catch 22 or Kelly's Hero's in that everyone in it became a star...Tope acting with a good story line leads to a movie that is very enjoyable and a pleasent way to spend a couple hours...if you think Michael Caine, Charles Grodin, and yes even a very young Jay Leno trying to buy a bank from an Italian Count so they can launder mafia money sounds like fun...this is it...a cornerstone of a comedy collection

no one is as he or she seems,everybody is out to screw everybody else but in the end to their benefit.good fun. Also one of the few movies that i know of featuring a very young jay leno!!

This film is based on Paul Erdman's novel "The Silver Bears." Like Mr. Erdman's books, this film is rivetting from start to finish. Not unlike James Bond movies of the 1970s in some respects (exotic locations - in this case Lugano, Switzerland and the Persian Gulf, high finance, sex, corruption etc. etc.). If you have an interest in finance, commodities, or simply a good honest to goodness story with interesting and colourul characters etc. then you will enjoy this film. I for one watch it again and again. Although there is some satire in the movie, and many of the characters are used for humorous purposes, I would not describe this as a comedy movie. First and foremost it is a thriller about corruption, greed and the interplays between a man who works for a criminal organisation and his attempts to break away into a 'legitimate' business of his own. On the way, he is made to question the nature of friendship, love, and more besides. Charles Gray gives an excellent performance (as always). There is a lot of humour and comedy-esque moments - but not more than in a typical James Bond movie of the period. So not a comedy in my opinion - a light hearted romp with comic moments and a thriller theme would perhaps be a better description.

But what ever you call it, one thing it certainly is: First class entertainment. Something for everyone! Buy it. You will watch it again and again! One of my personal favourite movies of all time, and I'm sure it will become one of yours too......

Plot twists and turns abound. This low budget comedy is delightful. It entertains from start to finish. Lots of throw-away humor. Amazing cast includes Jay Leno (in his first movie), Tom Smothers, Michael Caine, Cybil Shepard. A satirical look at banking, insurance, mob crime, commodities traders: All are shamelessly crooked. Really fine ending. Guaranteed to entertain.