The Destructors

Three great actors and a well paced film and what more can you ask for !!! Underrated film and a good story and nice locations Worth watching

For most of its runtime, The Marseille Contract is a cool cocktail of espionage, moral ambiguity, and sharp performances-Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, and James Mason chew the screen with effortless gravitas. The build-up? Tense. The pacing? Tight. The premise? Classic Euro-thriller gold.

And then... the ending.

Without spoiling it, let's just say the final twist feels less like a knockout punch and more like a producer yelling "Wrap it up!" at the 11th hour. Character arcs? Abruptly halted. Emotional payoff? MIA. Resolution? More like a cliffhanger with vertigo.

We need The Marseille Contract: Part II-or at least a director's cut with an epilogue.

Still, for fans of cerebral thrillers with vintage flair, it's worth the watch. Just don't expect closure-expect to shout "That's it?!" at your screen.

As a fan of Micheal Caine and of action thrillers from the seventies I was looking forward to watching this film. I'd listened to the wickedly funky soundtrack by Roy "Get Carter" Budd, and spent a while tracking down a copy of the film on VHS.

Firstly i'll deal with the good points. Marseille is a good location to film a thriller, think of French Connection 2 for example, and it is well used. I'm in love with the Citroen DS, especially in black, so I was pleased to see them used throughout the film. There's a playful "cat and mouse" car scene, which was later copied in a more OTT style by John Woo in MI:2! There are a few interesting killings. Caine looks very seventies cool.

Now for the not so good points. Budds soundtrack although is efficient, it is too efficient for my liking, i'd like to hear more of it in the film. The music never really gets going. There are a couple more chase scenes thrown in for good measure, but they are boring. The acting is very very average, as is the film.

In my opinion I think that the director should have made a decision to go with either A) A gritty, hard hitting thriller. Or B) A more tongue in cheek, stylish caper movie. This film has both qualities at certain points within the movie, but it doesn't have the mix right. This is a shame because it could have been much better, perhaps a bigger budget was needed, who knows.

So to sum up, if Michael Caine in various seventies fashions such as roll neck sweaters, giant aviator sunglasses, a smoking jacket with cravat and the odd kipper tie floats your boat, this is the move for you!

Unlike some other reviewers, I found this little known piece to be very entertaining. Yes, Tony Quinn over-emotes on occasion (e.g., poker scene) and his affair with Rita (Alexandra Stewart) goes undeveloped, but the story line itself is well paced, interesting and suspenseful. If you're looking for an esoteric, psychologically penetrating example of the crime drama genre, this film is probably not for you. It is, however, a 90 minute "straight, no chaser" crime caper with the obligatory chase scenes, double-crosses, romantic entanglements, etc. Is it Caine and Mason at their best? No, but they don't need to be to fulfill their contribution, individually and collectively, to the flow of the story line. Also, the not-so-well known French actors (to American audiences) cast in the film were up to the task at hand.

In conclusion, great camera shots of Paris, southern France and Marseille. In no small manner, they augmented the film's overall thrust and added an extra dimension of cinematic flavor.

I am wary when a film's writer is also its main producer, or vice versa. Either we are in the presence of greatness, or ... not. Here, not. Judd Bernard has done a decent job as a producer, and a good one as the writer of the story, but he should have left the screenplay and dialogue to someone else. The Marseille Contract (aka The Destructors) from 1974 has an unfortunate pedestrian tone to the writing. But it's a decent thriller, worth a watch. The location shooting in Paris and Marseille creates a great 1970s vibe, and the story is full of tension. Anthony Quinn's acting here was terrific. Michael Caine is a pleasure to watch, but he seemed to be in remote control. James Mason was miscast as the French drug king, but it's always a pleasure to watch him anyway. The two car chase scenes are great. Many people have criticized the film as a blatant rip off of The French Connection, and of course that came to my mind very early in the film. But I don't mind them copying that film so much as I wish they had just made this one a bit better.