The Mechanic

"He has 100 ways to kill... and they all work!"

1972 1h 39m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🥫

50%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 363🥫50%Rotten Tomatoes●51Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 17,674

ActionCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Arthur Bishop is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks himself an artist. It's made him very rich, but as he hits middle age, he's so depressed and lonely that he takes on one of his victim's sons, Steve McKenna, as his apprentice. Arthur puts him through a rigorous training period and brings him on several hits. As Steven improves, Arthur worries that he'll discover who killed his father.

“He has 100 ways to kill... and they all work!”

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Cast

Charles Bronson
Arthur Bishop
Jan-Michael Vincent
Steve McKenna
Keenan Wynn
Harry McKenna
Jill Ireland
The Girl
Linda Ridgeway
Louise, Steve McKenna's Girlfriend
Frank De Kova
The Man
James Davidson
Intern
Lindsay Crosby
Policeman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Winner
Writers: Lewis John Carlino, Lewis John Carlino
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

54 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Winner, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jerry Fielding. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Frederick Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent and Keenan Wynn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He has 100 ways to kill... and they all work!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0068931 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Winner directs. Richard H. Kline behind the camera. Jerry Fielding scores. Frederick Wilson cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
254 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Michael Winner, shot by Richard H. Kline. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jerry Fielding. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Frederick Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent and Keenan Wynn carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "He has 100 ways to kill... and they all work!".
8IMDB entry: tt0068931 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "assassin", "hitman", "map", "professional hit".

The technical file

Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Original score: Jerry Fielding
Editing: Frederick Wilson
Makeup / hair: Phil Rhodes
Sound: Maurice Askew
Stunt coordinator: Alan Gibbs
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Mechanic (1972)
Rotten Tomatoes: 50% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 51/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 17,674 votes
MPAA: PG

Also by

Michael Winner

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-12-05
★ 7/10
"Bishop" (Charles Bronson) is the epitome of the hit man. Highly paid, he meticulously plans his projects so as to leave no trace of anything to suggest the deaths are not natural or accidents. When he is ordered to carry out a job on his handler "Harry" (Keenan Wynn), he doesn't flinch but he does take the man's son "Steve" (Jan-Michael Vincent) under his wing afterwards. It's clear that the younger man wants to emulate "Bishop" and so he takes him in training and onto a couple of jobs. These jobs don't go as smoothly as he'd expected, though, and pretty swiftly "Bishop" begins to wonder if he's being set up. If his employers can turn on "Harry" then could they turn on him, too - no more loose ends? Bronson is on his best form here as the grumpy but highly effective killer and as the plot develops, his less-is-more style of delivery, aided by a sensible paucity of dialogue, helps to build quite a sense of peril. Vincent isn't quite in that class, but he's adequate enough as the enthusiastic apostle in a story that maybe isn't the hardest to solve, but one that does play out well with a fine twist at the end. It's got some elements of "007" to it - fast cars, speed boats and even Jill Ireland, and shows why the star had the box office status he did have at the start of the 1970s.

Production companies