3.0 out of 5 stars
aka Der Diamantencoup, aka Controrapina, aka The Rip Off, aka L'ultimo colpo, aka..., October 18, 2009
This review is from: Squeeze,the [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Dubs for 'gray market' VHS mfrs are "best available source" and can vary from very good to only fair.
About the movie--
Antonio Margheriti's THE SQUEEZE (aka "Diamond Thieves") would be an adequate crime drama if it wasn't so darn dated. Here a mega-annoying homogenized disco music score, plus some polyester threads and a bizarrely shaped Afro all scream: "late 70s schlock!!!"
Star Lee Van Cleef's long hair and bald pate make him look much older than his 53 years. Karen Black's 'nails on the blackboard' Bronx accent is spot-on, although her comic relief isn't. Edward Albert, son of
GREEN ACRES star Eddie is good here, as are character actor Lionel Stander (
BARETTA) and Robert Alda (father of Alan). Balance of the cast is European, best known being Ron Van Clief.
Albert plays the son of a friend of ex-safecracker Van Cleef who convinces the older man to leave his Mexican horse ranch to pull one final high-paying jewel heist. Van Cleef learns that after he opens the safe, the Germans who've arranged this robbery will kill him and keep all the diamonds, so he double-crosses them never suspecting that his young friend has done the same to him.
Van Cleef catches a bullet in the leg during his escape which is how he meets the slightly nutsy Black. This socially-conscious lone tenant of an abandoned apartment house removes the slug and bandages his wound. Stander is the pawnshop owner who plans to fence the stolen rocks and Alda is a NYC detective trying to solve the case. The real mystery here though is why this at times disjointed picture isn't better than it is. (2.5 stars out of 5)
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3.0 out of 5 stars
aka Der Diamantencoup, aka Controrapina, aka The Rip Off, aka L'ultimo colpo, aka..., October 18, 2009
This is a privately-manufactured DVD. My experience with DVD-Rs has been satisfactory only because the commentary, deleted scenes and other bonus features these gray market dealers don't provide aren't of interest to me. Dubs are "best available source" and can vary from very good to only fair.
About the movie--
Antonio Margheriti's DIAMOND THIEVES (aka "The Squeeze") would be an adequate crime drama if it wasn't so darn dated. Here a mega-annoying homogenized disco music score, plus some polyester threads and a bizarrely shaped Afro all scream: "late 70s schlock!!!"
Star Lee Van Cleef's long hair and bald pate make him look much older than his 53 years. Karen Black's 'nails on the blackboard' Bronx accent is spot-on, although her comic relief isn't. Edward Albert, son of
GREEN ACRES star Eddie is good here, as are character actor Lionel Stander (
BARETTA) and Robert Alda (father of Alan). Balance of the cast is European, best known being Ron Van Clief.
Albert plays the son of a friend of ex-safecracker Van Cleef who convinces the older man to leave his Mexican horse ranch to pull one final high-paying jewel heist. Van Cleef learns that after he opens the safe, the Germans who've arranged this robbery will kill him and keep all the diamonds, so he double-crosses them never suspecting that his young friend has done the same to him.
Van Cleef catches a bullet in the leg during his escape which is how he meets the slightly nutsy Black. This socially-conscious lone tenant of an abandoned apartment house removes the slug and bandages his wound. Stander is the pawnshop owner who plans to fence the stolen rocks and Alda is a NYC detective trying to solve the case. The real mystery here though is why this at times disjointed picture isn't better than it is. (2.5 stars out of 5)
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