Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Charlton Heston | ... | ||
John Cassavetes | ... |
Sgt. Button
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Martin Balsam | ... |
Sam McKeever
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Beau Bridges | ... |
Mike Ramsay
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Marilyn Hassett | ... |
Lucy
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David Janssen | ... |
Steve
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Jack Klugman | ... |
Sandman
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Gena Rowlands | ... |
Janet
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Walter Pidgeon | ... |
The Pickpocket
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Brock Peters | ... |
Paul
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David Groh | ... |
Al
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Mitchell Ryan | ... |
The Priest
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Joe Kapp | ... |
Charlie Tyler
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Pamela Bellwood | ... |
Peggy Ramsay
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Jon Korkes | ... |
Jeffrey
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A psychotic sniper plans a massive killing spree in a Los Angeles football stadium during a major championship game. The police, led by Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston) and SWAT commander Sergeant Button (John Cassavetes), learn of the plot and rush to the scene. Still, they may be too late, as an all-star cast finds itself lined up in the sights of a gun-toting madman. Written by Tim Tompkins <homerjer@hotmail.com>
The sheer atmosphere of this film tells the tale right off the bat. First off all, we see the sniper shoot a man riding a bike for no reason. This is to show us that this man is really nothing but a psychopath, and we have no choice but to hate him for the remainder of the film.
Charleton Heston, Hollywood's most conservative actor (my kind of guy!) decides to try to take the sniper out when he sneaks into a football game and spend the majority of the film looking at people through his rifle scope. With the help of John Cassavettes and his team of SWAT supermen, the cops try to figure some gameplan to stop the sniper before he opens fire on the crowd.
The film itself is uneven, (don't even try to watch the tv version) but you will be cheering for the good guys when the two minute warning is called. By the way, for the reviewer who dissed this movie two reviews ahead of me, quit reading to far into things! The sniper is a cold blooded killer; from when we see him shoot the bicyclist we know he has a compeupance in store for him. I don't want to feel sorry for him!
Anyway, this is a decent movie to watch on a slow day. By the way, for all the people who thought that slasher movies invented first person perspective camera work of seeing what the killer sees, obviously they never saw this movie. I think this was the first time in Hollywood the camera tried to show such a perspective.