The Crack Connection (1987)
"Zabou" (original title)

Director:

Hajo Gies

Writers:

Martin Gies, Axel Götz

Stars:

Götz George, Claudia Messner, Eberhard Feik

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Götz George	...	Schimanski
Claudia Messner	...	Conny
Eberhard Feik	...	Thanner
Wolfram Berger	...	Hocks
Hannes Jaenicke	...	Melting
Dieter Pfaff	...	Schäfer
Ralf Richter	...	Sandrowski
Klaus Lage	...	Koch
Gerry Jochum	...	Geschäftsführer (as Gerd Jochum)
Sünje Zittel	...	Punkerin
Bettina Schüssler	...	Klein-Conny
Martin May
Annette Kreft	...	Empfangsdame
Gabriele Ausböck
Claudia Gärtner

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

organized crime | crime investigation | prostitution | drug deal | police

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Taglines:

Götz George ist Schimanski

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Genres:

Action

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Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

5 March 1987 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Crack Connection

Filming Locations:

Duisburg, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Neue Constantin Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The 1911 Tanner points at Schimanski bears all the markings of a blank firing gun. One can clearly see the "PTB" logo (German National Firing Proof House) and the "Cal. 9mm K" writing on the slide.

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Connections

Spun-off from Tatort (1970)

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Soundtracks

"Now That You're Gone"
Performed by Joe Cocker

User Reviews

Missed opportunity

Schimanski was such a successful character in the long running Tatort series that in the eighties he was granted two outings in the cinema. The adavantage was of course a much larger budget but with both films that didn't really translate into quality. They had the money to have Joe Cocker do the title song but had it written by third rate hacks (except for Klaus Lage) that make Dieter Bohlen sound like Mozart. Essentially, the weakest point of both films is the writing. Zabou doesn't really have much of a story but more an excuse for a string of car chases and fight scenes. Maybe the director should not have asked his brother to write the screenplay. It's preditable and a good writer would have certainly helped to make it more intelligent but as an action film it works fine particularly for German standards. The car chases are really well made but some of the fight scenes look extremely amateurish. All in all the film works surprinsingly well and provides good entertainment for 90 minutes. There are some very well made atmospheric shots of Duisburg and particvularly the location of the last scene is spectacular. However you can't help thinking that in a way it is a missed opportunity due to he sub standard writing which the later Schmanski episodes show. What they lack in action the make up interms of quality of the stories.