French Screen Icons-Jean-Paul Belmondo-Volume 3

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     This four disc set from Madman is a varied collection: one is a classic, two are good and one not so good, but for the price this is a good introduction to the later films of a genuine French screen icon. Three of the films have not before been available on DVD in Australia.

     The Professional is a riveting, intelligent French thriller told with charm and humour, with a superb star turn by Jean-Paul Belmondo and a wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. The film is a must for fans of Belmondo or French cinema.

     The Outside Man is an action film with some style and decent stunts, but the narrative is fragmentary, much of what happens is obvious and predictable and even the master Ennio Morricone’s score lacks sparkle. While the film is minus the charm and wit of earlier Belmondo films, it is not uninteresting and still worth watching.

     The Loner is a well-structured, well-acted, police drama with plenty of interesting characters and situations, plus the charisma and charm of Jean-Paul Belmondo.

     Amazon is not a very good film, mostly due to some over-shrill acting and a silly script. As an attempt to reignite the previously successful partnership of director Philippe de Broca and Jean-Paul Belmondo it didn’t work, but the locations are beautiful and Belmondo, even in his late 60s, is still well worth watching.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Professional (Le professionnel) (1981)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1981
Running Time	103:43
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Georges Lautner
Studio Distributor	Canal+ Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean Desailly Robert Hossein Michel Beaune Cyrielle Clair Jean-Louis Richard Sidiki Bakaba Pierre Saintons Marie-Christine Descouard Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu Elisabeth Margoni
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Ennio Morricone

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     French Secret Service agent Major Josselin “Joss” Beaumont (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is sent to the African republic of Malagawi to assassinate President Njala (Pierre Saintons). However political realities change and the Secret Service betrays Joss to the Africans and he is captured, tried and sentenced to hard labour. After two years Joss escapes and returns to Paris. Njala just happens to be on a state visit to France at the time and Joss sends a telegram to his old masters informing them that he intends to carry out his previous mission. It is up to the Secret Service, especially ruthless Commissioner Rosen (Robert Hossein) and Joss’ old friend Edouard Valeras (Michel Beaune) to stop him if they can.

     The Professional (Le professionnel is a riveting, intelligent thriller told with style, charm and humour. From the opening garishly coloured credit sequence set to the haunting theme music of master Ennio Morricone, it is clear that this film is something special. Without preliminary, the film launches into Joss’ trial in Malagawi and he is soon enduring hard labour under the hot sun. He escapes amid explosions and gunfire but this is a thriller rather than an action film and the action, while impressive, is not overdone and each sequence has a purpose in developing the narrative. This action, for example, includes a realistic car chase through the streets of Paris past Paris icons, done without the more modern jumpy intercutting that so often means that the editor is the most important aspect of the chase, not the cars. There is also a very Leone type western gunfighter standoff, complete of course with Morricone music, that is deliciously undercut by the addition of a flower delivery man! But without a doubt this is Belmondo’s film and he is superb, whether breaking rocks, engaging in hand to hand combat or romancing beautiful women. His combination of rugged good looks, off-hand charm and charisma on the screen is very special and very watchable. It is hard to imagine anyone else playing the part, except perhaps Steve McQueen in an English language version.

    The Professional was a huge hit in France. It is an intelligent thriller told with style and humour with a superb star turn by Jean-Paul Belmondo and a wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. A must for fans of Belmondo or French cinema.

     The Professional is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Outside Man (1983), The Loner (1987) and Amazon (2000).

     The Professional has also been released previously in Region 4 as part of the Best French Crime Flicks box set and was reviewed on this site here. That DVD release seems identical to the one included in the Belmondo 3 set.

Video

     The Professional is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a nice print with good detail for a 30 year old film. The colours, after the garish opening title sequence, are natural, deep and rich, blacks solid and shadow detail fine. There was slight colour bleed early on the judges’ red robes, grain and some variation in brightness but nothing distracting. Apart from one small hair, there were only minor small artefacts so it was a clean print overall.

     English subtitles are in an easy to read white font. They seemed well timed and I noticed only one minor spelling error and no grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps that does a good job. Dialogue is clear, the explosions and gunshots had a reasonable resonance. There was obviously no surround or subwoofer use. The music of Ennio Morricone, including the memorable main theme, is nicely presented.

     Lip synchronisation was good.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     None

     The Professional has received a number of single disc releases in various regions. There are two listed in Region 1 US – one is showing as in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the other in the correct ratio of 1.66:1. A Region 2 UK version is apparently in 1.85:1 – and none of these English friendly releases seem to have extras. Perhaps the best version is a Region 2 French release in 1.66:1 with French or English language options. It includes filmographies, a photo gallery, posters and trailers. However, while an English dub is available, there are no subtitles for the French language version, a serious omission. The Professional I cannot find an equivalent Belmondo collection listed on sales sites. The only thing close is a Region 2 UK collection that includes Breathless, Pierrot Le Fou, Le Professional, Stavisky and A Double Tour.

     As noted, The Professional has been released previously in Region 4 as part of the Best French Crime Flicks. That version seems identical to the release in this Belmondo set.

     The Professional is a riveting, intelligent thriller told with style and humour with a superb star turn by Jean-Paul Belmondo and a wonderful score by Ennio Morricone. A must for fans of Belmondo or French cinema who do not already have a copy. .

     The DVD has good video and audio. There are no extras but the film is presented in a box set with three other Belmondo films, which is great value.

     The Professional is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Outside Man (1983), The Loner (1987) and Amazon (2000).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Outside Man (Le marginal) (1983)

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General		Extras
Category	Crime	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1983
Running Time	98:15
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jacques Deray
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jean-Paul Belmondo Henry Silva Carlos Sotto Mayor Pierre Vernier Maurice Barrier Claude Brosset Tchéky Karyo Jacques Maury Roger Dumas Gabriel Cattand
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Ennio Morricone

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Unorthodox Police Commissioner Philippe Jordan (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is sent to Marseilles to break up the drug running activities of crime boss Sauveur Meccacci (Henry Silva). He succeeds in intercepting and destroying a major heroin shipment, but Meccacci has highly placed friends in politics and the police and Jordan is shuffled back to Paris and posted to a dead end precinct in the red light district to keep him out of the way. But Jordan is not a man to let things be however much the police hierarchy impedes him. With honest cop Inspector Rojinski (Pierre Vernier) and hooker Livia (Carlos Sotto Mayor) Jordan moves through the bars and clubs of the district, mixing with the Paris underclass and taking every chance he can to obstruct Meccacci, especially when his old friend Frankie (Tcheky Karyo) becomes entangled. This is unlikely to end peacefully!

     The Outside Man (Le marginal) was directed / co-written by Jacques Deray who is known for films that are intended to entertain, not make political or artistic statements. He worked frequently with that other great French action star Alain Delon in eight films including Borsalino (1970), which starred both Delon and Belmondo, before directing Belmondo in Le marginal and four years later Le solitaire (The Loner). The Outside Man has American Henry Silva as its main villain but in truth he is underused due to a fragmentary and disjointed plot that sees Belmondo wandering the red light district dealing with men in gay bars, rescuing a 16 year old drug addicted girl from a house full of West Indian squatters and fighting a couple of pimps who had cut up Livia. Much of this may well show just how tough / cool Jordan (or Belmondo) is but it is only towards the end that the film seems to remember Meccacci and return to the main narrative.

     The film does have some good moments. Although Belmondo looks a little jaded, his stunts, whether running across motorways dodging speeding cars, jumping from helicopters or brawling in bars, are athletic and impressive. His cool and charisma have been compared to that of Steve McQueen, and in The Outside Man we have Belmondo chasing his quarry through Paris in a Ford Mustang, a la McQueen’s famous chase in Bullit (1968). Also in the cast in an early role is a clean shaven Tcheky Karyo, better known for his later roles such as in Besson’s La femme Nikita (1990).

    The Outside Man was another huge hit in France for Belmondo. It is an action film with some style and decent stunts, but the narrative is fragmentary and does not provide any character arc for any of the participants. Much of what happens is obvious and predictable and even the master Ennio Morricone’s score lacks sparkle. While the film is minus the charm and wit of earlier Belmondo films, it is not uninteresting and still worth watching.

     The Outside Man is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Professional (1981), The Loner (1987) and Amazon (2000).

Video

     The Outside Man is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     The print, especially in the outside shots, lacks sharpness, although inside scenes have crisper detail. The colours are also fairly dull and muted throughout, with the exception of Belmondo’s red shirt! Blacks and shadow detail are fine, but contrast does vary considerably in some shots, as does brightness. There is occasional breakup of the image under motion (see 8:45 as one example), aliasing (such as at 14:53) and the odd flicker and artefact, but nothing too serious.

     There are no subtitles available.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is disappointing because the original French audio track is not offered. Instead, the only audio available is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono dub at 224 Kbps, which really is a pity.

     Dialogue can occasionally be difficult to hear, and the lack of subtitles does not help. This, of course, is an English dub and not a particularly good one at that with some silly accents. The effects, such as the car chase, are acceptable. There was no surround or subwoofer use.

     The score by Ennio Morricone is one of his lesser efforts with nothing standing out. It came across cleanly.

     As this was the English dub of the original French language, lip synchronisation was poor, except for Henry Silva who, as far as I could tell, was speaking English on set.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     None

     The only other release I can find for The Outside Man is a Region 2 French version. It is listed as having English, French, German and Italian mono audio dubs plus a commentary, filmographies, photo gallery and trailers, but whether any subtitles are available for the feature and commentary is unknown.

     I cannot find an equivalent Belmondo collection listed on sales sites, indeed Amazon.co only lists our Region 4 release. The only thing close is a Region 2 UK collection that includes Breathless, Pierrot Le Fou, Le Professional, Stavisky and A Double Tour.

     The Outside Man is an action film with some style and decent stunts, but the narrative is fragmentary and does not provide any character arc for any of the participants; even the master Ennio Morricone’s score lacks sparkle. While the film is minus the charm and wit of earlier Belmondo films it is not uninteresting and still worth watching.

     The DVD has acceptable video but the audio is an atrocious English dub rather than the original French language. There are no extras but the film is presented in a box set with three other Belmondo films, which is great value.

     The Outside Man is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Professional (1981), The Loner (1987) and Amazon (2000).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

The Loner (Le solitaire) (1987)

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General		Extras
Category	Crime	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	91:58
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jacques Deray
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Pierre Malo Michel Beaune Pierre Vernier François Dunoyer Franck Ayas Laurent Gendron Jean-Claude de Goros Guy Pannequin Patricia Malvoisin André Landais Alan Coriolan
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Danny Shogger

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes, constantly
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Police Superintendent Stan Jalard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a disillusioned policeman about to retire to a Caribbean island with his best friend. But when his friend is brutally gunned down by psychopath Charly Schneider (Jean-Pierre Malo) Jalard remains with the force with the aim of finding and arresting Schneider. His methods are unorthodox, and he is not above beating and framing possible leads, which results in obstruction and conflict with Commissioner Pezzoli (Michel Beaune). But Jalard is determined and with the help of his team he trolls through Schneider’s underworld acquaintances and contacts until it becomes an all-out war that only one of them can win.

     The Loner (Le solitaire) was directed / co-written by Jacques Deray who is known for films that are intended to entertain, not make political or artistic statements. He worked frequently with that other great French action star Alain Delon in eight films including Borsalino (1970), which starred both Delon and Belmondo, before directing Belmondo in Le marginal and four years later Le solitaire. The Loner is the better film of the two although it was not as successful as The Outside Man at the French box office.

     Part of the reason was that by 1987 Belmondo was getting a bit old and grizzled to play dashing, romantic action heroes and, indeed, the French movie-going public were seemingly tiring of the crime thriller genre. As well, Belmondo, who prided himself on doing his own stunts, had suffered an injury in an earlier film and Deray made the decision to limit the action stunts in The Loner. The result is a film that is much tauter in its narrative than Le marginal, more a police procedural, outlining police surveillance techniques and working through leads than mindless action. This slower pace in The Loner actually allows Belmondo more room to develop a far more interesting and subtle character than the one he played in Le marginal. The Loner also has more wit and humour than the earlier collaboration, and while the introduction of Jalard’s godson, whose role seems to be to mess up Jalard’s love-life and who can be a bit annoying, it is all done with such good humour it is easy to forgive.

    As noted, The Loner was not as successful as previous Belmondo films. After this film, Belmondo gave up films to return to a (very successful) stage career, only returning for a handful of movies for the rest of his career. Nevertheless, The Loner is a well-structured, well-acted, police drama with plenty of interesting characters and situations, plus the charisma and charm of Jean-Paul Belmondo. The Loner is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Professional (1981), The Outside Man (1983) and Amazon (2000).

Video

     The Loner is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a reasonably print with good detail, although some scenes could be a little soft. The colours are muted and natural, blacks solid and shadow detail fine. There is prominent grain in many scenes, some variation in brightness and contrast, occasional minor aliasing and small artefacts but nothing distracting except a minor breakup during motion at 75:20.

     English subtitles are in an easy to read yellow font, except when they are placed over the yellow opening titles. They seemed well timed and I noticed no obvious spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps that did what was required. Dialogue is clear, effects were shallow but gunshots had a reasonable resonance. There was no surround or subwoofer use. The musical score by Dany Schogger was laid-back and low key, which suited the mood of the film.

     Lip synchronisation was good.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing.

     There are a couple of DVD releases in Region 2 France of The Loner without English subtitles but as far as I can tell there is no single disc release in either Region 1 US or Region 2 UK.

     I also cannot find an equivalent Belmondo collection listed on sales sites, indeed Amazon.co only lists our Region 4 release. The only thing close is a Region 2 UK collection that includes Breathless, Pierrot Le Fou, Le Professional, Stavisky and A Double Tour.

     The Loner is a well-structured, well-acted, police drama with plenty of interesting characters and situations; plus the charisma and charm of Jean-Paul Belmondo. While others might not agree, The Loner is a better film than The Outside Man although it was not as successful at the French box office.

     The DVD has adequate video and audio. There are no extras but the film is presented in a box set with three other Belmondo films which is great value.

     The Loner is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Professional (1981), The Outside Man (1983) and Amazon (2000).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Amazon (Amazone) (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Adventure	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	84:28
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Philippe de Broca
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jean-Paul Belmondo Arielle Dombasle Patrick Bouchitey Thylda Barès André Penvern Jackie De la Nuez Ronny Bandomo Casanova Carlos Padrón Fernando Echevarría
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Alexandre Desplat

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Edouard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a recluse in the Amazon jungle hiding away from a life of eight failed marriages amid the tree tops. One day after a storm he finds a little girl, Lulu (Thylda Bares), who is knowledgeable far beyond her years. He does not realise that she is a long lived creature from another world who came to Earth to experience life, love and death for herself. It seems she had intended to land in Central Park New York, but ended up in the jungle instead! Meanwhile, French astronomer Margot (Arielle Dombasle) had been tracking a message form an alien craft in space and had concluded it had crashed in the Amazon jungle, so sets out to track the site down. To her chagrin, the French secret service is also very interested and sends a force led by Commissioner Benardin (Patrick Bouchity) to accompany her. This is not what she envisages, so she escapes up river alone, attaching herself to Edouard on the way despite his distain and opposition.

     In the interim, Lulu had been having fun and integrating herself with the locals. Margot arrives with Edouard and she quickly realises what Lulu is. She starts to find out more about Lulu and her alien world, such as her anti-aging pill and the fact that her people would be returning for her at the next full moon, while the love/hate banter with Edouard continues. When the military arrive, they abduct Lulu and take her down river where they start conducting tests. It is up to Edouard and Margot, provided they can stop bickering long enough, to rescue Lulu and return her to the jungle in time to be reunited with her own people.

     Amazon (Amazone) had a reasonable pedigree. It was written / directed by Philippe de Broca, who had previously made a number of high successful action adventure films with Belmondo including L’homme de Rio (1964), (Belmondo’s first out and out smash hit), Les Tribulations d’un chinois en Chine (1965) and Le Magnifique (1973). On board for the Amazon score was highly regarded composer Alexandre Desplot whose later credits would include Tree of Life (2009) for Terence Malick and The Ghost Writer (2010) for Roman Polanski. Yet, if the collaboration between Belmondo and de Broca was looking to rekindle the previous magic, the result is a disappointment.

     Amazon had a pretty bad press: “dire” is one word used to describe it. It truth it is not as bad as that, and is interesting in parts, particularly when Belmondo is on screen alone. At this time he was a few years short of 70, and looks suitably grizzled, but he is still in great shape with his shirt off, and retains a screen charisma and knowing glint in his eye that is a pleasure to watch. Less successful is Arielle Dombasle who spends a lot of time being loud and shrill, and is mostly annoying and the relationship between her and Belmondo called for by the script lacks any sparkle. Indeed, the script tries for whimsy and banter that seldom works, although the idea of a benevolent alien, who looks like a little girl, is interesting. The other major plus is the spectacular river and jungle cinematography by Jean-Francois Robin (Betty Blue (1986)).

    Amazon is not a very good film, mostly due to the over-shrill acting of Arielle Dombasle and a silly script. As an attempt to reignite the previously successful partnership of director Philippe de Broca and Belmondo it didn’t work, but the film locations (in Cuba) are beautiful and Belmondo, even in his late 60s, is still well worth watching.

    Amazon is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Professional (1981), The Outside Man (1983) and The Loner (1987).

Video

     Amazon is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is not 16x9 enhanced.

     Surprisingly, the only film in this collection not 16x9 enhanced is the most recent and the one with the most spectacular widescreen landscapes! Detail and colours in close-up are fine but any time the film opens up into a wide shot it loses sharpness and the colours become muted and dull. Blacks are fine, but shadow detail is only acceptable. There are a number of small artefacts, aliasing (22:33), a few black marks in the top right hand corner of the screen that look like mini-tyre tracks (18:24, 34:45), end title jump, and occasional motion breakup. However, the most distracting element is the brightness levels, which are sometimes very glary indeed, white clothing takes on a sheen and skin tones vary considerably. Whenever the light is beyond the actor, they can become blurred – stop the film at 18:24 for one good example amid many. At times this becomes quite distracting.

     Burnt in English subtitles are a white font which seem mostly well timed and contain no obvious spelling or grammatical errors. At times they can be difficult to see due to the glare.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded at 224 Kbps that is quite good. Dialogue is clear and effects, such as rain, give a nice enveloping feel. My sub even added a little bass to thunder. The musical score by Alexandre Desplot was occasionally as lush as the jungle, and sometimes added are more playful flamenco beat. It was not intrusive and did a reasonable, if not memorable job.

     Lip synchronisation was good.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing.

     There are no listed releases of Amazon in either Region 1 US or Region 2 UK; in fact Amazon.com only lists our Region 4 box set release. There is a Region 2 French version that is listed as including filmographies, publicity spots and interviews, but details are sketchy. That release is listed as having English subtitles, but it is unclear if they are for the extras as well as the feature. With the good value of our release, including 3 other films, it is to be preferred.

     I also cannot find an equivalent Belmondo collection listed on sales sites. The only thing close is a Region 2 UK collection that includes Breathless, Pierrot Le Fou, Le Professional, Stavisky and A Double Tour.

     Amazon is not a very good film, mostly due to some over-shrill acting and a silly script. As an attempt to reignite the previously successful partnership of director Philippe de Broca and Jean-Paul Belmondo it didn’t work, but the locations are beautiful and Belmondo, even in his late 60s, is still well worth watching.

     The DVD has rather poor video but good audio. There are no extras but the film is presented in a box set with three other Belmondo films which is great value.

     Amazon is included in the four disc set French Screen Icons: Jean-Paul Belmondo 3 from Madman that also includes The Professional (1981), The Outside Man (1983) and The Loner (1987).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall