King of New York
1990 Directed by Abel Ferrara
Synopsis
Not everyone who runs a city is elected.
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.
Cast
Studios
Popular reviews
More-
Dark and gritty and sleazy in that way Abel Ferrara has perfected up to this point, KING OF NEW YORK features Christopher Walken at the peak of his acting powers, calling the shots and taking out his rivals. Ferrara flips the tables though, as a lot of Walken's violence seems strangely justified, like a robin hood gangster with a heart of gold. That doesn't prevent cop David Caruso (in a possibly Boston accent) from hating his ever-loving guts though. Despite a great performance from Laurence Fishburne, including some great toe-to-toe scenes with Wesley Snipes, I feel like his performance was the one thing holding the movie back. In most of the early and middle portions of the movie, he lays…
-
Walken being his usual badass self.
-
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
-
To be honest, I'm not sure why I enjoyed this film so much. Abel Ferrara meshes together ideas that don't always fit together, but are stimulating nonetheless. That and action, violence and sex aplenty make it a challenging, yet thrilling 106 minutes.
Drug lord Frank White is released from prison, and with his matured outlook on life he decides that he will regain control of New York and use the money to rebuild a poverty-stricken hospital. But his self-righteous crusade quickly takes a violent path as his old ways catch up to him. Utilizing the New York City backdrop to its fullest, contrasting the lifestyles of the wealthy upper-class and the seedy underworld that Frank controls with a totalitarian grip.…
-
It’s a peculiarly paced little film this: meandering along fairly slowly, before a sudden burst of violence and it settles back down again for a while. It could feel incongruous but somehow director Abel Ferrara makes these disparate elements work. It’s about an hour in before all the little power plays and jockeying for position from parties on both sides of the law coalesces in to something resembling a plot after which and we are given a really top notch shoot out and car chase sequence.
Christopher Walken has now become such a parody of himself with the affected delivery and mad, starey eyes that it’s easy to forget he is actually a talented actor. Here, as gangster Frank White,…
-
From now on, nothing goes down unless I'm involved. No blackjack, no dope deals, no nothing. A nickel bag gets sold in the park: I want in.
-Frank WhiteA great performance by Christopher Walken and the rest of the cast saves this film from it's flawed and weak plot. It ends up being a very unbalanced experience, but the good outweighs the bad.
My main problem with the film is the script. The dialogue seems fine, but the plot is poorly developed. I'm supposed to believe that Frank White (Walken) is the Robin Hood of gangsters, but there's very little to nothing to show this. He does accomplish one huge good deed, but it's so vaguely explained how he…
Recent reviews
More-
A bloody mess
-
Problem with this film is that both Walken's gang and the police are both equally repulsive.
Walken's character can give all the money to the poor that he wants, but you really don't have any sympathy for him when the director probably wishes that you did. Very confusing movie.
-
Tumša un brutāla Bronksas režisora Abela Fareras gangsterfilma ar nelielu blaxploitation pieskaņu. Scenārijs varbūt nav tas izcilākais, bet tas nekas, jo šis dramatiskais stāsts ir nofilmēts ļoti labi (uzslavas operatoram Bojanam Bacelli). Galvenā varoņa, bijušā cietumnieka, Ņujorkas karaļa atveidotājs Kristofers Volkens ir vienkārši apbrīnojams, tik skarbs, un es nezinu, varbūt man tā vienīgajam liekas, bet pat tad, kad šis aktieris filmā ar šaujamo šķaida citus, viņš vienalga šķiet tīri jauks, lai gan tāds nav. Iespējams labākais sniegums viņa karjerā, un lielā mērā tas arī nosaka cik zvaigznes šoreiz ielikšu.
-
Exeptionnel.
Connaissait pas du tout alors que c'est un film "culte"
Acteurs parfaits : Christopher Walken (tueur froid, pas bcp de paroles), Harvey Keitel, Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso.
Scénario de Robin des bois moderne avec les filcs.
Mise en scène et photographie sont géniales juste les fusillades et les styles vestimentaires qui ont un peu mal veillis mais cela reste un tout grand film.
-
Dark and gritty and sleazy in that way Abel Ferrara has perfected up to this point, KING OF NEW YORK features Christopher Walken at the peak of his acting powers, calling the shots and taking out his rivals. Ferrara flips the tables though, as a lot of Walken's violence seems strangely justified, like a robin hood gangster with a heart of gold. That doesn't prevent cop David Caruso (in a possibly Boston accent) from hating his ever-loving guts though. Despite a great performance from Laurence Fishburne, including some great toe-to-toe scenes with Wesley Snipes, I feel like his performance was the one thing holding the movie back. In most of the early and middle portions of the movie, he lays…
-
If Seven Psychopaths has taught us anything it's that Christopher Walken is best when he's taken seriously and not when he's playing a small time piss take of his own persona. Walken is a memorable performance in this film, but supports from Lawrence Fishbourne and David Caruso are also very solid. And not many can capture urban decay like Abel Ferrara.
-
Perfect blend of unsentimental crime drama and exploitation. Laurence Fishburne is absolutely bananas in it. Abel's commentary track is worth the listen.
-
A propitious (though bit over the top) crime drama with an ensemble cast.
-
Ugh, man, there was a lot about this film not to like. Incredibly unrealistic characters, some shaky acting, a fairly poor script where very little seems to actually happen.
And yet I've given it 3.5 stars, and I think this is largely thanks to the fantastic visual style. It's somewhere close to Blade Runner; more dark than noir, with a super slick, super stylish veneer, and separate, very distinct gangs. The whole sequence where White's gang fight the vigilante police officers is excellent, and extremely exciting.
Generally speaking, style over substance is the order of the day. The end is wonderfully anti-climatic, and the director's decision over what to show and what to leave is bang on in the subway train showdown. Like Dead Zone perhaps, this is worth watching for the tone, the style, and the presence of Christopher Walken.