Heist away
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 01/07/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The PERFECT HEISTS 4 Movie Pack has several great actors in some really fine action/crime dramas. It's a solid collection at one super-low price.
CONTENTS:
THE GREAT ST. LOUIS BANK ROBBERY-- In his follow-up to cult fave THE BLOB, Steve McQueen is excellent as a naive youth recruited to be a wheelman for a gang of bank robbers. A series of events leads him to take a more active role in the stick-up, which immediately goes wrong. Based on a true event, original locales and some police and actual victims of the robbery are included in the film.
HIGH RISK-- Four buddies steal 5 million dollars from an American expatriate living in South America. Getting out of the country with their haul proves a lot harder than their entry and thievery. Rousing film has an outstanding cast.
THE MASTER TOUCH-- A just-released-from-prison heist expert enlists the aid of an aerialist to break into a huge vault and steal its considerable cash holdings. Film has a great car chase and fight scene as bonuses. Nicely done.
THE SQUEEZE-- Retired safecracker Van Cleef has one more go at it-- this time for a million dollar payoff. His co-stars include character actor Lionel Stander, whose career dates back to 1932, and Robert Alda, father of TV's Alan ("Hawkeye Pierce" on M.A.S.H.).
COLD STEEL HOT LEAD 4 Movie Pack is yet another BCI / Eclipse crime drama DVD collection.
BRENTWOOD's 4-fers are nicely priced movie bundles. Video and sound quality of these digitally unrestored public domain films is generally fine. Discs are dual-side recorded.
.
Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website
(5.9) The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) - Steve McQueen/Crahan Denton/David Clarke/Molly McCarthy/Larry Gerst
(5.6) High Risk (USA/Mexico-1981) - James Brolin/Anthony Quinn/Lindsay Wagner/James Coburn/Ernest Borgnine/Bruce Davison/Cleavon Little
(5.4) The Master Touch (Italy/W Ger-1972) - Kirk Douglas/Giuliano Gemma/Florinda Bolkan
(5.2) The Squeeze (Italy/W Ger-1982) - Lee Van Cleef/Karen Black/Edward Albert/Lionel Stander/Robert Alda/Ron Van Clief"