The Seven-Ups (1973)

Dreadfully Boring

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

I enjoyed THE SEVEN-UPS, one of the lesser-known cop thrillers of the 1970s. It's not as good as the big classics of the genre, like THE FRENCH CONNECTION movies or SERPICO, but it is interesting and it has that suitably gritty and realistic look going on. It also has one of the best and most exciting car chases ever put on film, certainly a top ten chase scene, with an incredible bit where a car hides in front of a bus to spring a shotgun-blasting ambush on our hero. Roy Scheider is reliably good as the hero of the hour, a cop on the trail of a kidnapping gang, and the genuinely nasty Richard Lynch has a great role as the chief villain. The film has a low key look which enhances the realism and is generally fast-paced and literate, not needing to spoon feed every little thing to the viewer.

I watched this film for the first time the other night and was stunned by the similarities between it and the 1968 Steve McQueen film Bullit. Some of the casting was the same, but the real give away was the car chase, right down to the sawed off shotgun blast at the front of Roy Scheider's car. It was a good chase. But the casting with the driver in both cars being the same actor (Bill Hickman). I enjoyed the film but was struck by the similarities between the two films. Roy Scheider wearing dark turtle necks and being his own self contained police department was a flashback to Bullit also. There are enough differences in the plot line to allow both films to stand on their own as good movies.

"The Seven-Ups", an unofficial sequel of sorts to "The French Connection", does have some merit here and there. The movie does capture well the cold and dirty feeling of New York City in the early 1970s before it was eventually cleaned up. And every so often there is a good moment - the opening bust sequence, the robbery at the car wash, several tough interrogations, and of course the car chase sequence, a chase that has become a classic of sorts. The cast also does well with what they are given, though what they are given is not much. The characters are kind of thin; all we pretty much learn about them is that they don't play by the rules. The story is kind of slow, and there are some confusing details that don't get explained for a long time (or at all). If you are a fan of '70s crime drama, there's probably enough here to make it worth a viewing. If you are not, you might want to look elsewhere.

"The Seven-Ups" is a follow-up of sorts to "The French Connection", based on a story by the legendary detective Sonny Grosso, and uses some of the same talents from that other movie. Philip D'Antoni, who'd produced "The French Connection", makes his first (and to date only) directorial effort, creating an engrossing NYC tale that keeps its grip thanks to a very matter- of-fact presentation. Unlike a lot of slick Hollywood productions, this never gets bogged down in spectacle (save for one major set piece which I'll get to in a moment) or unnecessary melodrama.Grossos' gritty tale tells of tough undercover detective Buddy (Roy Scheider), part of an elite unit that goes after organized crime and resorts to some pretty unorthodox methods. What causes problems for Buddy and his men - played by Victor Arnold, Jerry Leon, and Ken Kercheval - is the interesting situation of a pair of rogue cops (Bill Hickman and the great screen villain Richard Lynch, in one of his earliest roles) going around abducting underworld figures for ransom.The movie is highlighted by one absolutely incredible car chase, occurring just past the halfway point and cranking up the films' energy level to a high degree. This is old school stunt driving and editing at its finest. As for the rest of the film, it's done in a very low key, gritty, and realistic style. Some viewers may grow impatient and wish that most of the movie were like its car chase, but others will appreciate the restraint that D'Antoni shows. He gets superb performances out of his cast, with Scheider projecting a quiet authority in the lead role. Tony Lo Bianco, also from "The French Connection", scores as amiable informant Vito. Larry Haines co-stars as mobster Max Kalish and familiar faces Joe Spinell ("Maniac") and Rex Everhart ("Friday the 13th") can be seen as well. About the only thing in "The Seven-Ups" that isn't too subtle is the intense music score by Don Ellis.Overall this is genuinely good stuff and well worth watching for any fan of crime pictures, especially the great NYC films of the 1970s.Eight out of 10.