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Synopsis
British secret agent Major John Tarrant (Michael Caine, Get Carter) has his son kidnapped by ruthless gunrunners who demand a batch of uncut diamonds in exchange for his son's life. As Tarrant embarks on a chilling trail of revenge, he is forced to steal the diamonds and he finds himself having to not only contend with the criminals but his colleagues too. Action director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) takes the unusual step of making a British spy thriller. The Black Windmill is based on the book Seven Days to a Killing by Clive Eggleton and features a host of good performances by the talented cast, which includes Donald Pleasance (Halloween) as Tarrant's boss Cedric Harper.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A nice letter box 2.35.1 image & no extras, which is not that bad.
But the film itself just seems to amble on. Fine performances from the cast it just seems that Don Siegle, who gave us terrific paced movies as Dirty Harry & Telefon just seem to be stuck in the slow groove with this 1.
A fine book which had a really interesting story line just seems to plodding along.
No doubt with the never ending stream of remakes going on, maybe this 1 will reappear.
Not terrible, just not great.
But the film itself just seems to amble on. Fine performances from the cast it just seems that Don Siegle, who gave us terrific paced movies as Dirty Harry & Telefon just seem to be stuck in the slow groove with this 1.
A fine book which had a really interesting story line just seems to plodding along.
No doubt with the never ending stream of remakes going on, maybe this 1 will reappear.
Not terrible, just not great.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Black Windmill has a workable premise, a unspectacularly decent cast (Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasance, Janet Suzman, Clive Revill, Dennis Quilley, Edward Hardwicke and Joss Ackland among them) and a good director in Don Siegel, but it never catches fire. Michael Caine, playing a very different spy to Harry Palmer - more of a middle class career army officer who never needed to be blackmailed into the job - finds himself being set up by the vicious kidnappers of his young son to steal some diamonds intended for some dubious operation, eventually finding himself having to avoid his employers, the French and British police and take out the very bad guys (hey, it is John Vernon). All of which sounds at least more energetic than the film actually is. It moves along with competence, dotting the `i's and crossing the `t's, but even though a surprising amount happens in the last half hour, it never seems to develop any tension or urgency. Along the way there's a nice Sean Connery joke and a neat scene that manages to reference both The sound of Music and Caine's own Battle of Britain, but the good Scope composition and the typical 70s Roy Budd score make more of an impression than anything else in the film.
Uiniversal's DVD has no extras, but it does boast a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer that at least ensures the film looks its best and has none of the panning-and-scanning problems of the TV prints.
Uiniversal's DVD has no extras, but it does boast a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer that at least ensures the film looks its best and has none of the panning-and-scanning problems of the TV prints.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The young son of a British intelligence agent (Michael Caine), who is working on breaking an arms smuggling ring, is kidnapped by the very people his father is investigating. When they demand a ransom of uncut diamonds which are held by his superiors, Caine finds they refuse to aid in the rescue of his child and it falls on his shoulders to get justice done. Directed by Don Siegel, this spy thriller is uneven. The first portion is very good what with Caine playing a variation on his Harry Palmer roles, only this time with a wife (Janet Suzman, NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA) and child. It jumps the shark toward the last third when it becomes far fetched and an uninspired bang-bang conclusion. The script seems rather sloppy in the details as in when Caine remarks how his son made him take him to THE SOUND OF MUSIC four times though the boy doesn't appear to have been born when the film came out. Donald Pleasence makes for a chillingly bureaucratic MI6 head and the wonderful Delphine Seyrig is marvelous as a rather slutty kidnapper. With Clive Revill, John Vernon, Joss Ackland, Catherine Schell, Denis Quilley and Hermione Baddeley.
The Universal DVD from Great Britain is a handsome anamorphic wide screen 2.35 transfer.
The Universal DVD from Great Britain is a handsome anamorphic wide screen 2.35 transfer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
There are no screen gimmicks but is more nearer to reality of a spy...
(THE FILM):Michael Caine stars as an espionage agent whose young son is kidnapped. Complicating matters is the fact that the kidnappers (John Vernon and Delphine Seyrig) are... Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. F. husseiny
"A Siegal Film" Hmm!
After that first pretentious credit you expect a bit more than you actually get. I agree with nearly all my fellow reviewers (except DGNB who is,of course, entitled to his... Read more
Published 9 months ago by A. W. Wilson
One of the better Michael Caine movies
I've watched many Michael Caine movies and this certainly is one of his better films, my second favorite (with "Hannah and her Sisters" being my favorite Michael Caine film). Read more
Published 12 months ago by C. Mathieu
Not worth watching
This is one of Michael Caine's worst films, it's really boring and corny and not worth watching. Don't waste your money.
Published 19 months ago by DGNB
A very good interesting spy thriller
The Black Windmill is a very good spy thriller featuring a fine cast of actors including Michael Caine, Donald Pleasance, Joss Ackland and many others. Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by Mr. A. J. Tennant
A decent spy film
Don't be set off by the 3 stars: I reserve the 5 stars for films such as Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Frost/Nixon, Blood Diamond, Sleuth and many others; for me, 3 stars is a... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by D. Vidal
Underrated Michael Caine thriller
Michael Caine gives an effectively understated and terse performance as the persistently tough John Tarrant in this solid outing from the legendary Don Siegel who gave us Dirty... Read more
Published on 12 July 2009 by Mr. Haseebuddin Ahmad
The Black Windmill
This is one of Michael Caine's best films of the early 1970's. It is a spy thriller. Michael Caine plays John Tarrant a British Intelligence agent who has his son kidnapped for a... Read more
Published on 31 May 2009 by Mr J Sheales
Good but not great
This isn't up there with The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin or Get Carter - but that's not to say it's a bad film. Read more
Published on 25 May 2008 by John A. Clouston
poor man's ipcress file.
this is certainly not michael caine's finest hour. just a routine spy thriller where there should have been more suspense, better plot and more action. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2006 by Mr. A. E. Ward Davies
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