CaponeReviewed by R. Hancock, 2009-11-18
This is one of Sylvester Stallone's early movies and a very good film about Al Capone. The one I bought is written in portugese on the cover, but the spoken language is in english/spanish or portugese, your choice. So, it's not a problem.
Corman's Cash-in on the Godfather CrazeReviewed by Dr. O'Boogie, 2008-12-27
Roger Corman may have pretty much stuck with low-budget B flicks,
but he sure knew what buttons to push which is why he is the
undesputed king of the Bs. Cashing in on the then current Godfather
craze, old Roger decided to go for a real-life gangster figure and
who else better than Al Capone.
Ben Gazzara put's in a completely over-the-top performance of the
title character complete with padding stuffed in his cheeks (I
wonder where he got that idea from?) Then we get a pre-Rocky Sly
Stallone in a small but key role as Frank Nitti. Sexy Susan Blakely
does a turn as Al's love interest featuring a full frontal nude
scene, lucky us!
Is the film bad? Not really, it's actually pretty good. Period
detail is quite impressive with the sets, costumes and vintage cars
most likely borrowed from other studios used in other period films
like The Great Gatspy. The dialog and acting is so-so, but it still
manages to hold your interest. Violence comes in buckets here
obviously trying to out do The Godfather in that dept, however the
recreation of the St. Valentine's Day massacre seems pretty
accurate.
There have been numerous attempts to do biopics on old lovable Al
with little success. Rod Stieger made a go at it with mediocre
results and Robert DeNiro's depiction of Al in DePalma's The
Untouchables is borderline fiction to say the least. This film at
least tries to be accurate but unfortunately it doesn't quite
succeed given the limited production involved.
I saw this film in the theater on it's release in 1975. I thought
it was ok then, and I think it's ok now. A nice little flick to
check out, if you can find it.
Excellent MovieReviewed by Dave P., 2008-08-19
This movie is a very accurate account of Al Capone's rise to power
and eventual demise. It depicts life in Chicago during prohibition
and the violent times in which Capone lived in very accurately. It
has a lot of violence, as you might expect from this type of story.
Some strong language and nudity. It is definitely an R Rated
movie.
The movie has a long list of established actors and a very young
Sylvester Stallone in one of his first roles. He portrays Capone's
right hand man, Frank Nitti.
I was fortunate enough to get a DVD copy made in Portugal since the
studio has not yet made this film available in DVD format in the
U.S. The Portuguese version is flawless and is Region 0 which plays
on all DVD players. I recommend it. It is in English. Only the
cover is in Portuguese.
the best Capone movie made to date.Reviewed by R. E. Miller, 2006-05-28
I saw this great movie at the Earlen theater in Philadelphia in 1975 and never forgot it. The reason is I saw it 12 times over a five day period. The movie itself was great for the action and brutal unyeilding pace. Ben Gazarra is great in the part of Capone and a young and very hot Susan Blakely is on full display in one very memorable scene (its the reason I saw it twelve times - lets just say she(Blakely) invented the Sharone Stone Basic Insticnt maneuver - I could not believe my 16 year old eyes) and those who will see the movie will know it when they see it). The great John Cassavettes is also in the film as is a very good Sly Stallone. Great film, but hard to get or see because it is out of print. You may have to get an overseas PAL version and convert.