The Great Riviera Bank Robbery (1980)

Brilliant and touching

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I can't really rate this film as I saw it once when I was about 12, but what I do remember is that it was fantastic, dirty, gritty and defined my knowledge of McShane as a great actor.I remember sewers, drills and bank vaults full of money that the robbers had all weekend to spend robbing I also remember the scene at the end where the hero jumps from a police station window onto a waiting motorbike that speeds away once he is safely seated.What this post is really about is to see if someone has a copy. I'd happily pay good money, so please drop me a message if you come across one!

This film is just perfect. Why it is not available on video is a mystery. It is a great caper film.I do not know much about the Algerian/French nonsense but the implementation of the bank robbery is done very well.The politics mean nothing. The crime is the thing.Planning the operation, getting the help, and then getting away are all you really need for a good caper film.Yeah, they get caught later but spending the cash is where they catch everyone.Damn good film.We need this available once again!

First thing to bear in mind is that there are actually TWO movies ,made at the same time,dealing with the same subject :a true life event of ex-firebrands using the sewers to rob a bank.-The French version,made by Jose Giovanni , ("les egouts du paradis" = sewers of paradise (sic))which kept the hero's real name but is rather listless. The "hero" becomes a nice guy ,some kind of Arsene Lupin,who visits the old ladies in the hospital.-The English version,which features a best lead (Ian McShane billed as "Brain") and seems more honest.Far from being heroes,like in Giovanni's flick,the characters are fascists (anti communist) and their paramilitary activities are not passed over in silence :in the French attempt,all they show is weapons in the thieves' den in the country.

This movie was released on VHS back in the 1980's, and is very difficult to find (at least in N. America). I really hope a DVD edition comes out soon. Excellent movie! By chance, right after I saw it, The Learning Channel (TLC) aired a special called "Daring Capers: Plunder Under Nice". The movie was very accurate and realistic. It's nice to see a movie without Tom Cruise heroics. I would rate it 9-out-of-10.