Search - Honor Among Thieves on DVD

Good film, terrible DVD

11/23/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Bronson and Delon fair much better here than in their second collaboration, Red Sun. But then again, much of Honor Among Thieves has the pair trapped in an office building, which allows for actual chemistry to develop between their respective characters. The interaction between Bronson and Delon add immeasurably to the charms of this cool, low-key thriller. But the Essex/D-Vision DVD is terrible. It looks to be mastered from an old videotape, and maybe not a complete one. Towards the end, there's what seems to be a jump cut. Nothing significant, but annoying if you've seen the film before, giving an odd sense that something is missing."

Full screen DVD. Someone tell Lionsgate this is 2007 not 199

Ollie | Ireland | 06/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Updated *** At the time this review was originally written, Amazon had this DVD listed with an aspect ratio of Fullscreen. However the DVD is now listed with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 ***

A classic 4 star old style 1960's thriller with good performances from Alain Delon and Charles Bronson. However, do not be fooled by Lionsgate's marketing department DVD cover art, this is in no way a Bronson action film such as The Mechanic, Mr Majestyk, Stone Killer, Death Wish or any number of other 1970's/1980's action rolls Bronson took on. This movie is for one third of its running time, a two man show with Alain Delon and Charles Bronson trapped inside a bank vault with little dialogue at times. Honor Among Thieves is one of four 1968 movies Bronson made in Europe after his big break in The Dirty Dozen the previous year. This one was made in France and as such is very typical of the type of movies being made in that time period. Honor Among Thieves is a small scale thriller reliant on characters with little to no action but does show that Bronson as an actor had more to offer than the simple action man roles that he ended up being type cast in. If you enjoyed other non action Bronson outings such as Twinky, Someone Behind The Door or Cabo Blanco then you will probably enjoy Honor Among Thieves also.

This movie has been out on Region 2 DVD for 3 years now under its European title "Farewell Friend". The Region 2 DVD is from a Studio Canal master with an excellent transfer to DVD with an Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen. This Lionsgate DVD has been presented in full screen.

It's good to see semi-respectable studio releases of some of these lesser know Bronson outings on DVD and perhaps Lionsgate may also get the distribution rights with decent DVD transfers for Rider On The Rain, Guns For San Sabastian, You Can't Win'Em All, Telefon or the two Bronson movies Paramount Pictures hold the rights to, When Hell Broke Loose and Villa Rides. This is 2007, 10 years since DVD first hit the market and still we have not seen DVD releases of Run Of The Arrow, Target Zero or A Thunder Of Drums.
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Poor quality of a great Movie

Anuschka | Koblenz | 04/20/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"For me one of the best gangster films ever made this film shows great action with terrific playing stars Charles Bronson and Alain Delon. The quality of this Essex Entertainment/D-vision Edition of the film is horrible. Its somewhere between black and white and coulor picture in the quality of a bad video pirate copy. The voices of the actors seem to sound out of a deep cellar. There are no additional features even no chapter choice or sound setup. Its not worth buying this edition but to hope, that some company is going to remaster the picture and will publish a better edition of this great gangster classic."

Farewell Friend

Trevor Willsmer | London, England | 02/17/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Farewell Friend aka Adieu L'Ami/Honour Among Thieves isn't perfect but it is a neat and entertaining thriller that sees mismatched demobbed French Algerian War veterans Alain Delon and Charles Bronson trapped in the same basement vault, one to return stolen bonds, the other to clean out the two million in wages sitting there over the Christmas weekend. Naturally things aren't quite that simple even after they open the vault, leading to some neat twists and turns. On the debit side, there's a very bizarre striptease scene in a car park, Bronson has a very irritating Fonzie-like catchphrase he uses at the most inopportune moments, Brigitte Fossey, sporting perhaps the most hideously misconceived hairstyle of the 60s (it makes her look like a bald woman whose wig is blown back off the top of her head by a high wind), is something of a liability - her "I'll cook spaghetti! I'll learn to make love well! I'll read Shakespeare!" speech is hysterical in all the wrong ways - and it's a shame about the horrible last line/shot, but otherwise this is a surprisingly entertaining and unpretentious number that's worth checking out if you can find a decent print.

While LionsGate's Region 1 NTSC DVD is fullscreen, those with multi-region might want to seek out Cinema Club's UK PAL DVD, released as 'Farewell, Friend.' It only offers the English soundtrack, but since Delon voices himself and the rest of the cast are fairly well dubbed that's no great problem, especially since the widescreen transfer is pretty good quality.
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