Taped this back in 1996
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Black Windmill
h-ahmad-1 — 20 years ago(January 14, 2006 05:37 AM)
When I was a sixth-form student, I used to stay up late and occasionally watch stuff on ITV (commercial UK TV channel). I checked this film out in a TV guide, and because it was directed by Don 'Dirty Harry' Siegel, I recorded it one night. I remember watching about an hour of it, then suddenly, it stopped, and I realized the tape ran out (my fault, as I should have rewinded it to the very beginning before I started recording). From what I remember, it seemed like a lively, pacey affair. There is a scene where Caine is being chased by a cop or an agent, and then when the agent loses him, Caine pops up his head, smiles and waves at him. It would be nice if they released this on DVD (other Caine spy thrillers like Funeral In Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain are already available), as they are releasing The Ipcress File next week.
I've heard people say that Caine was perhaps miscast as Tarrant. If Caine was unavailable, then they should have got Stanley Baker - he was one of THE best at playing tough guys, and he'd also done lots of thrillers. -
drwalpurgis — 19 years ago(February 14, 2007 10:05 AM)
This used to be an absolute staple of late night TV in the late seventies/early nineties.
It's much better than it's ever credited with being, IMO, the only major disappointment being Roy Budd's uncharacteristically lacklustre score. -
vitch — 17 years ago(November 28, 2008 09:59 PM)
I saw this film when it was originally released in Canada, and at the drive-in no less. I was nine years old at the time and haven't seen it since, but the one scene that sticks in my mind is the kid getting kidnapped by some fake Brit soldiers at what I seem to remember was an abandoned military airstrip somewhere.
I hear it's available on R2 DVD in UK but not in North America at all save for some dusty VHS copies churned out a decade ago. That's why Amazon.uk has received a TON of my business this year, as increasingly whenever I think of some film I haven't seen since I was a kid amazon.uk is the only place that stocks it.