via DVR earlier in the day; as my original review for that 1974 picture had several mistakes... here you go:
More often than I'd like to admit, I've looked at old reviews and noted various mistakes, most of which I am embarrassed by-in fact I am too shamed to list any specific examples. This movie played on TCM-which just earlier this month debuted a new more colorful look-real late last night so that inspired me to look at what I wrote about it the day after it aired on the channel in 2015. That night, Edgar Wright was the co-host; he is the most notable fan of the picture and in fact is the main reason it received a Blu-ray release from Warner Archive. This is a noted influence on Hot Fuzz so if you love that... looking at that old review, it had more than one foolish error that made me look the buffoon; thus, that's been deleted and in its place is this new review. It was a movie I was happy to revisit anyhow.
The movie is based on a true story of a pair of New York City cops known as Batman & Robin (David Greenberg, played by Ron Leibman and Robert Hantz, played by David Selby) who you see start off straight from the police academy. They try hard to try and make busts despite being traffic cops at first... too hard, in fact; this rankles their at times corrupt superiors. They do unorthodox things to capture criminals and yet still face resistance, and not even a transfer to an undesirable precinct is enough to hamper their aggressive style. Serpico wasn't the only one at the time to experience trouble with the NYC police force and try to expose “dirty cops.” Unlike that Pacino classic, this is far lighter in tone; after all, it was said to inspire the famed 70's cop TV show Startsky & Hutch.
What I've always thought of the movie is that besides the performances of the leads (especially Leibman's manic performance), the movie has a relentless pace. I don't mean that in a bad way, where you're exhausted. It's just put together where there's no lull time and you get to see a lot happen in an hour and a half. There's also a lot of yelling-something I typically don't care for-yet it managed to work in this instance. That makes it fun and this is well-directed by Gordon Parks of Shaft fame. A funky as hell score also helps. An added bonus is a look at the “crappy New York City of old”, a favorite trope of mine. Those that like the gritty NYC cop dramas of the period and want to see a more comedic take that manages to work as both a comedy and drama, this is the way to go.
One last thing: the beginning and end of the movie you get to see the real life Greenberg and Hantz, talking to reporters about a case. Well, sad to say the two officers experienced a downfall-Greenberg went to jail twice for mail fraud then insurance fraud and Hantz quit the force after being arrested for holding several joints. They did try to make the police force less corrupt... yet there are rumors that a key event in the movie was more “murder” than self defense and their treatment of suspects fits into the ACAB category. Irregardless, at least The Super Cops is a blast.
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