Belfast is the setting for horrific opening when the wife and daughter of Rod Steiger are build in a confrontation between IRA rioters and the British military. This sets Steiger off on the path towards vengeance, and he decides to create a masterful plot to blow up Parliament. Having been involved peacefully in IRA political causes, he had no interest in their violent methods, but now it has gone too far and he's going to take his own way of retribution. The actual riot is exactly like the fighting between the college students and the military in "Les Miserables", and the results are the same, only innocent bystanders are affected. Why Steiger's wife and daughter didn't just remain indoors and walked towards the shooting officials it's in explain, an unnecessary tragedy that could have been avoided.
After the tragedy is released on the news, Steiger turns to the widow of another Ira operatives, Lee Remick, and she offers him a hiding place, but is badgered by government officials as to his whereabouts after it becomes clear that he is up to something. It's pretty obvious what will happen to her, and that's even after Steiger has told her to spare him her tears. The film starts off violent and gets progressively more violent. The young Army recruit who is machine gun goes off seemingly accidentally and mows down a dozen or so young people is explaining that he doesn't know how his automatic went off and then gets a bullet in the head from a sniper.
There are all sorts of other hits like that, shocking and bloody. Richard Johnson, Trevor Howard, Eric Porter, a young Patrick Stewart and even the queen (seen in a newsreel edited into the film) make appearances. The film bogs down as Steiger's revenge is plotted out, and he even disguises himself to be completely unrecognizable. It's not a pleasant movie, but one that does get your attention because of its intensity. Had this been done by one of the major studios rather than American International, it might have had a less rushed script, and seemed less gratuitous. The location footage helps though, but it is as depressing as watching the nightly news that shows a troubled world without any signs of hope of resolving social issues like the ones presented here.
After the tragedy is released on the news, Steiger turns to the widow of another Ira operatives, Lee Remick, and she offers him a hiding place, but is badgered by government officials as to his whereabouts after it becomes clear that he is up to something. It's pretty obvious what will happen to her, and that's even after Steiger has told her to spare him her tears. The film starts off violent and gets progressively more violent. The young Army recruit who is machine gun goes off seemingly accidentally and mows down a dozen or so young people is explaining that he doesn't know how his automatic went off and then gets a bullet in the head from a sniper.
There are all sorts of other hits like that, shocking and bloody. Richard Johnson, Trevor Howard, Eric Porter, a young Patrick Stewart and even the queen (seen in a newsreel edited into the film) make appearances. The film bogs down as Steiger's revenge is plotted out, and he even disguises himself to be completely unrecognizable. It's not a pleasant movie, but one that does get your attention because of its intensity. Had this been done by one of the major studios rather than American International, it might have had a less rushed script, and seemed less gratuitous. The location footage helps though, but it is as depressing as watching the nightly news that shows a troubled world without any signs of hope of resolving social issues like the ones presented here.