The Amsterdam Kill (1977)

Former DEA Agent Quinlan, removed from the force some years earlier for stealing confiscated drug money, is hired by Chung Wei, a leader in the Amsterdam drug cartel, who wants out of the ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Clouse

Writers:

Robert Clouse, Gregory Teifer (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Richard Egan, Leslie Nielsen

Cast

Credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Larry Quinlan (as Law Bat Mai Cham)
Richard Egan	...	Ridgeway
Leslie Nielsen	...	Riley Knight
Bradford Dillman	...	Howard Odums
Keye Luke	...	Chung Wei
George Cheung	...	Jimmy Wong
Sing Chen
Stephen Leung
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Chan	...	[Extra]
Ching-Ying Lam
Biao Yuen
Wah Yuen

Storyline

Former DEA Agent Quinlan, removed from the force some years earlier for stealing confiscated drug money, is hired by Chung Wei, a leader in the Amsterdam drug cartel, who wants out of the business. Quinlan's job is to use Chung's information to tip DEA agents to drug busts, thereby destroying the cartel. But when the first two "tips" go awry, resulting in murdered DEA officers, the feds must decide whether to trust Quinlan further...

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | drug enforcement | independent film | 

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Taglines:

He was the Hunter and the Hunted! - The Web Stretched from London - Amsterdam to Hong Kong [UK]

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

In his autobiography, Bradford Dillman says that he only took the role so he could bring his wife Suzy Parker on a trip to the Orient.

User Reviews

Slow And Lacking Action, TAK Is Worth A Watch At Least Once!!

At a time when Golden Harvest were trying new things, including a host of international productions, director Robert Clouse seemed to be the go-to-guy after the success of Enter The Dragon. That experience obviously gave him a taste for the Orient, following with films such as Black Belt Jones, Golden Needles, Game Of Death, The Big Brawl, and more...

Shot between Hong Kong, Amsterdam and England, The Amsterdam Kill, while a Golden Harvest production, is definitely one of his weakest - in terms of martial action and excitement. While I'm not a huge fan of his work, Clouse proved to be successful enough even though he was completely deaf, using assistant directors to help him get what he needed. Hal Schaefer joins him once again to complete a score that, honestly, I don't even remember hearing!

Although it features Hong Kong stars such as Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching Ying and Chen Sing, these are only bit-part, bad guy roles at best. American actor George Cheung wins the role as Mitchum's sidekick. Talking about Robert Mitchum - the guy looks old, bored and totally uninteresting, although he does deliver lines wonderfully. I don't know what the appeal was, but he is the star and does become a bit more watchable as the story moves on. The great Leslie Nielsen co-stars (in a serious role of course), but all in all, this feels like a TV movie marred by the directors usually flat story-telling technique.

When the action comes about, its mainly shoot-outs (and not fun ones), with a car stunt into a canal, and a bizarre ending with Mitchum driving a bulldozer through a host of green-houses after setting free a pack of horses that trample the 2 Yuen's to death!

Overall: Watchable, if only once, The Amsterdam Kill isn't fantastic but it passes the time...

Details

Country:

Hong Kong USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

23 February 1978 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Amsterdam Kill

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fantastic Films S.A., Golden Harvest Company

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1