Colt 45 (2014) User Reviews

Weapons expert

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 June 2019]

If you were (or are) a cynic, you would be excused to think this could be an ad for pro gun people/organisation. The NRA will surely love this, if they have watched it that is. Then again, this being french they may not even be aware of it. But if you leave that aside and just can enjoy the movie for what it is: a fictional crime story with lots of action.

The stunt/action scenes are really good. And as mentioned the movie is french and up until now there is no remake in sight, which is a bit surprising. You could see an US version of this for many reasons. Apart from the already mentioned, the tension is there and the movie really holds up everything until the end. Which may or may not be dissapointing to some ...

Wasted potential....

[s3276169 · 6/10 · 4 July 2018]

This film had almost everything going for it. A good cast, solid idea and the potential for lots and lots of gun play.

Sadly it was let down by some not insubstantial shortfalls in the story including limited character development. There's a real absence of logic in a lot of what takes place story wise with a thin overriding motivation on the part of the bad guys, that does not stand up to scrutiny.

The potential for contemporized Western style gun play is lost too. A great showdown between the key protagonist and his nemesis is watered down and disappoints.

Characters, equally, who look interesting and could have jelled well ,enhancing the story, are either overlooked or killed off too early, to contribute anything meaningful.

This is such a shame but sadly what you are left with is a marginally watchable French cop drama with a flaky story-line and a few underwhelming gun fights. 5/10 from me.

The grooming of an assasin.

[imseeg · 7/10 · 7 March 2022]

Quite an impressive flick about a young cop with superb shooter capabilities, but who fiercely objects to taking part into joining an attack squad, because he abhors violence. The core of this story is about the moral struggle this young and inexperienced politceman has to got through to. What is right or wrong? Original plot, which I applaud.

There are enough hardhitting, bleak and mean violent action scenes to be seen, but they only come in the last 20 or so minutes.

But when they come, they do impress! So have some patience, because it has got quite a slowburning start, without much action or thrill.

Solid police crime flick. Subtle, but bleak. Quite impressive.

A killer is born

[searchanddestroy-1 · 11 August 2014]

What a true masterpiece. Terrific, outstanding piece of work. Jean-Pierre Melville in addition to Olivier Marchal at power ten thousand. Brutal, bloody, dark, and not for the squeamish. Of course Fred Cavayé would have made a different film, with more action and stunt sequences but also more f...romance and happy ending for sissies. Yes a very dark tale with an outstanding lead character played by an unknown Young actor who gives here his best performance of his whole career, whatever he will do in the future. Gerad Lanvin, Joey Starr and Simon Abkarian are just supporting characters here. But this movie suffers of a too short running time. It's no good for it. I can't explain why. The scheme about super rounds of ammunition getting through bullet proof vests was already told in LETHAL WEAPON 3, with also a Young cop as an gunsmith who lived only for his pieces and who looked like the Young gunsmith here. I guess the screen writer was influenced by the Richard Donner's film.

You may also think of LA GUERRE DES POLICES back in 1980, but at a large lesser scale. For the Robin Davis's film I mean.

And for the sissies who could find this film too violent, I will tell them that a crime movie has perfectly the right to be violent, brutal, and bloody. And, above all, dark with no ethics at all. As in the real life. But that doesn't mean that a crime flick absolutely must be violent. Don't misunderstand me.

The same scheme concerning westerns. A western is not supposed to always show Indians, state troopers or outlaws. But it can...

Get it?

In resume, I love this film. In the most powerful and deepest passionate way. And more because it was torn to pieces, wiped out in the cutting room. I feel pain Inside of me. Shame on those pricks who did it.

Shame on them.

Very common gun war movies

[yoggwork · 5/10 · 19 February 2019]

Very common gun war movies. The color of the picture is bleak and the plot setting is unreasonable. The rhythm does not fluctuate too much and the characters have no characteristics. The advantage is that the gun battle is realistic and the cartridge clips are limited.

Some pot-holes along the way

[Bantam · 5/10 · 4 November 2015]

The premise of the movie is rather intriguing: A young police-man, working as instructor and gun-smith gets entangled in the machinations of a secret police force.

Unfortunately the movie does not live up the the high standards it set itself.

The story starts out with Vincent (protagonist) being at some sort of tournament. This tournament is basically a time-trail: kill the most people in the shortest time possible (excuse moi, targets). Since Vincent is the beast, he is being singled out by some sort of shady recruiter for some clandestine organization, but refuses the offer to join some sort of shady "above the law" task force. "You were born to rule in hell, not to serve in heaven" - that's how he's described by that recruiter.

This is where the story gets a bit convoluted and gnarly. Milo is being hired to get Vincent recruited but the entire stunt backfires. The covert-ops guys are SO above and beyond the law, that they do not get official funding, but have to get their own money. To do so they rob a money transport and afterward kill a few local thugs to grab their equipment and loot. Seriously?

From there on the movie spirals into a half-baked back and fro of somewhat related sub-plots: Police corruption, local rivalries between cops (on both a personal, as well well as professional level), unfinished sub-plots and some real life drama.

Luckily the movie sheds this entire plumage of frill towards the end gets its act together.

The acting is decent, and I really liked the character portrayals. Also, the casting was, IMO, rather good. Especially the supporting characters were life-like and really 'tart', big plus. As per usual in Euroflicks the action is stout, the violence is brutal, and little is larger than life- which really salvaged the entire pot- hole ridden ride. A decent flick for the Euroflick enthusiast.

Pleasant surprise

[roland-wirtz · 8/10 · 3 October 2014]

Wasn't expecting much but it was a pleasant surprise! It's very violent, very bleak. The story is easy to follow but some plot points had me scratching my head. A reviewer said the film was butchered by suits and it kinda figure why some plot points didn't make any sense. But the film is still good though. The shootouts were good, very intense. The actors did a good job and they use their guns like pros. Going through the cast and crew list, I wasn't surprised the guy who worked on Heat and Collateral was involved in that film. If the film was cut by the studio, I wonder what the director's cut would be like. Bottom line: it was good to see an old school action film that isn't a blockbuster, superhero flick or a reboot, remake or whatever Hollywood is doing these days. The french know how to do it!

a stunning destiny for a young gun champion cop

[happytrigger-64-390517 · 10/10 · 6 August 2014]

From Belgium, here comes the fifth movie directed by Fabrice Du Welz.

And what an excellent thriller, a unique and tragic initiation for a young cop who is the most skillful in guns but refuses to get involved in criminal investigation. But he is required by some very special cops, and what a hell... in the french war police. His story is diving in deeper and darker waters...

Ymanol Perset is perfect in playing this magnificent character. We must not forget Gérard Lanvin, Joey Starr, Alexandre Brasseur (remember his father Claude in Robin Davis movie on a similar subject 35 years ago) and all the others. Special appearance by Gerard Watkins (son of Peter Watkins).

Du Welz direction is precise and full of strong surprises, offering us a 85 minutes masterpiece, no length at all.

Hanx to Philippe for recommending it since a long time.

Unexpected !!!! will keep you breathless

[abisio · 10/10 · 1 March 2015]

Vincent Milès is a young but highly skilled shooting instructor for the French police. No family or friends (his father was killed by criminals and he was raised by his best friend; a very tough and obsessive cop). Miles is an outstanding shooter but he never wanted to be in the streets; but unexpected circumstances forces him to the real world of criminals and corruption. Forget everything you imagine. The movie is quite unpredictable and nothing is like it seem. Things gets extremely ugly and violent. This is not the typical political correct movie about police. Cops here are corrupt in different levels and far from friends. Events are barely explained and occur so fast you cannot blink or stop paying attention. Many will die in really unexpected ways. In brief; the lesser to know about the movie is the better but it will keep you hook up for brief 85 minutes but stay in your mind for long time.