The Seven-Ups (1973)

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.

Damn! The chase sound track and the script for the chase scene is ripped off topknot-to-toenail from Steve McQueen's much better pursuit sequence in "Bullit". You've even got the same actor driving the killer's car and a shotgun blast from his confederate takes off the hero's hood in both movies. Nevertheless, my favorite insult is when Roy Schneider is ripping and dipping through the streets of NYC to the classic sounds of McQueen's '68 GT Mustang's growls, his automatic transmission shifter is column mounted and in PARK! Harrumph! "Some people believe it's Bolivian bandits." "Others think it is the Banditos Yan-kees" "If they move, kill 'em!" Boston Strong! Go Sox!

"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.

This 70s police movie by the same director as the French Connection is worth a watch...Some clever kidnappers go after gang related targets...crooked bondsmen in this case. They pretend to be under cover cops when they nab their victims---. An undercover cop group is ultimately investigated by the police force who think this group (the seven ups) might be involved in this. The action comes when the seven ups clear up their name.Good standard entertainment and a good car chase...as one reviewer put it no subplots no sex the only female in the entire movie an old gangsters wife who is threatened while the undercover cops seek to prove their innocence and catch the real kidnappers. No PC garbage no gimmicky weapons...just a good solid police action story.Great car chase with Pontiacs including a Ventura II a Nova name tag clone.This movie probably deserves about an 8. I give a 7 to decent entertaining movies nothing exceptionally good or bad... a 6 and below to formula stuff. A 1 to PC garbage pseudo intellectual art films and so forth.RECOMMEND