#43 on the list:
Point Blank
Is Lee Marvin truly on a rampage and eager to kill who-the-hell-ever in order to recover $93,000 stolen from him through a wicked betrayal involving his own wife?
Or are we watching a dream, the revenge fantasy of a man slowly bleeding out?
I don't buy the idea that Keenan Wynn's character is a ghost and the whole think is Walker's (Marvin's character) dying fantasy.
Point Blank is based on the book
The Hunter, the first of the Parker novels by Richard Stark (one of the many pen names of Donald E. Westlake). Walker in the movie is Parker in the book. Parker/Walker goes on for 23 additional novels.
Of the half dozen or so movies based on the Parker novels
Point Blank is absolutely the best but, unfortunately, one of the least faithful to the material. Walker in
Point Blank does not kill anyone. Parker in
The Hunter either personally kills or is legally an accessory to over 20 murders. Walker is a sympathetic character, Parker is not.
The Outfit, #27 on the list, is the sequel to
The Hunter/Point Blank and the two actually tell one story. Both movies have open endings with no resolution.
The Outfit novel does resolve the issue.
Of the Parker movies two are not worth seeing IMHO, namely
Made in U.S.A. based on
The Jugger where Parker is a girl, and
Slayground where Peter Coyote portrays Parker as a crybaby.
Of the novels two are not worth reading, namely
The Man With the Getaway Face and
The Black Ice Score.
Parker(2013) is the only movie where Parker is actually called Parker. It was a critical and box office flop. I can understand where the criticism of the movie comes from but as a fan of the books I enjoyed it because it's very faithful to the book and follows the formula (for lack of a better word). Jason Statham's Parker is the best (next to Marvin's) but still fails to portray Parker as the badass he is.
