pkpera
In first minutes main hero, Barney Caine explained why is rude - he was pulled in case at Sunday, while spent his time with his son. Like other detective was happy to do it ... Just first in list of nonsense, bad dialog. Dead body count raises. and barely recognizable Marlon Brando appears. I thought that I seen all his movies, but this one I missed over decades. I guess with reason - probably weakest his movie. And he looks awful, although that's perfect for role.
First 50 minutes were pretty messy. Things gone better with part in Germany, EU. Martha Keller was best part of movie, and I dare to say that some movie with her character as main character would be much more interesting and realistic.
Because all this oil like fuel from coal thing was just forced. Yes, during WWII Germany was forced to solve somehow fuel problem for war machinery. But that was not normal situation, and they did not care about price of that process. Pretty much nonsense that 35-40 years later nobody couldn't discover it again. Or even some better way. But main stupidity is that we need gas for cars from domestic sources. What about electric power ? That was in in those years too. But whole thing would be less bad if Barney listened to what John Gielgud's character said him. He failed in that, in bad script way. Authors of movie failed in making main character likeable, at beginning. What was the point of all it ? To feed conspiracy theorists ?
Ending was a bit of funny. Main villain solved it all from chair, wit couple moves, one phone call and very short negotiation. Greatness of Marlon Brando is that he played even it well.
utgard14
LAPD detective George C. Scott investigates the murder of an old friend. More and more murders happen as the investigation leads him into a conspiracy plot involving a formula for synthetic fuel created by Nazi scientists in World War II.Overlong thriller with dull stretches. Main selling point being that it's the only movie to costar heavy hitters George C. Scott and Marlon Brando, coincidentally the only two actors to refuse their Best Actor Oscars. Brando only appears in three scenes. For some reason he insisted on making himself up to look ridiculous with fake teeth, a comb-over, and something stuck up his nose. Beside that, he does fine and so does Scott. Nothing special in the career of either man but not the stinker some make it out to be. The plot involving the formula conspiracy is interesting. It's not a terrible film. It goes on too long and the fact that everybody Scott talks to seems to be murdered almost immediately afterward is pretty funny. But it's watchable.
bkoganbing
Of course any chance to see a film with George C. Scott and Marlon Brando is not to be missed, but I do so wish that they had done something better than The Formula.The Formula referred to in the title is in fact a formula that the Nazi scientists developed for getting oil fuel out of coal. The only source of it in all of Europe is in Ploesti in Romania. Which was why the Nazis made damn sure to occupy the place and also wanted to get to the Soviet Union oil fields as well.Anyway a former cop who in retirement found working on the other side of the law, a lucrative supplement for his pension is murdered in Los Angeles. George C. Scott is the LAPD detective put in charge of the case. The former cop's widow Beatrice Straight is also murdered along with just about everyone else who talks with Scott during the course of the investigation.Said investigation takes Scott from LA to Germany and back to LA and mysterious gazillionaire Marlon Brando. The story takes in old Nazis, new Nazis, Arab terrorists, and the oil establishment who wants The Formula on its terms.What I don't understand is that if the powerful conglomerate that Brando controlled wanted things shut down, why in heaven's name was Scott put in charge of the investigation? Doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it.Brando and Scott together in their final confrontation scene are fabulous. Would that the rest of The Formula was done so well.
MartinHafer
The reviews for this movie have been rather consistently poor--both when it was released and on IMDb. For some reason, I actually liked this film--maybe I have bad taste, but I found it to be a very pleasant surprise! Maybe some of my positive regard for this is because I like George C. Scott so much and because I like paranoid and depressing movies (and this one has all these elements). In fact, I am guessing that the depressing nature of the film is much of the reason why others dislike it (there are a lot of murders in the movie). But I liked it for the odd plot--about the evil oil producers trying to suppress a secret for a cheaper fuel through murders and payoffs. But, if you do decide to watch this film, please try to remember that it's only a film. This is not a piece of non-fiction!UPDATE--8/08. I re-watched this film (something I rarely do) and was surprised how dull I found it a second time. While I still liked the paranoid plot involving a worldwide oil conspiracy, this time I noticed that the film was a bit too talky and the plot a bit too convoluted. Plus, and I know Brando fans will hate me for saying this, but his acting seemed a tad over-done. Still, it's a decent film even if I did knock my original score from 8 to 6.
AD
