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Scorpio

Play trailer Poster for Scorpio PG Released Apr 19, 1973 1h 54m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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59% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Cross (Burt Lancaster) is an experienced assassin for the CIA who decides he's quitting the business. When he announces his intentions, however, the CIA decides they'd rather have him dead than retired. They assign Scorpio (Alain Delon), a French assassin whom Cross has mentored for years, to do the job. A complicated game of cat and mouse follows, during which Cross relies on his many contacts and years of experience to elude the man he's taught everything he knows.

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Scorpio

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Critics Consensus

Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon add some much-needed weight, but Scorpio doesn't offer much that spy thriller fans haven't already seen before.

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Critics Reviews

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Jerry Oster New York Daily News A spy movie that tries to transcend the dutifully ordinary twists of its plot and tell a tale of a squalid world in which nothing not friendship nor love nor life has any value. It is so relentless in rendering meanness that it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Rated: 2/4 Jun 3, 2021 Full Review Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times Follows a trite formula on such an unduly large, far-flung scale that it finally gets out of hand, leaving the viewer confused and therefore indifferent. Jun 3, 2021 Full Review George McKinnon Boston Globe Just when you think the international spy intrigue films have reeled to the final fadeout, along comes a picture like "Scorpio" to prove there's life in the old genre yet. Jun 3, 2021 Full Review David Parkinson Radio Times Lancaster manages to combine the fear of the fugitive with the toughness and resource we have come to expect of him. Rated: 3/5 Jun 3, 2021 Full Review John Huddy Miami Herald A slick, talky, occasionally theatrical, but frequently audacious and exciting yarn... Jun 3, 2021 Full Review R.H. Gardner Baltimore Sun Even with a good script, it wouldn't have amounted to much, being a cliché treatment of an idea that has been used to better advantage countless times before. Jun 3, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D A depressing predictable drag. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/04/23 Full Review paul d Michael Winner's Scorpio is an engaging spy thriller. It's got the same basic ingredients as many films in the genre: Cold War tension, brilliant covert solo operators who take on the world, untrustworthy bureaucrats in Washington and Moscow, double-crosses, ageing spys and their young replacements … should I continue ? This film succeeds because the three leads Lancaster, Delon and Scofield command our attention, each in their own way. And Lancaster's athletic stunts at age 59 are impressive. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The bad guys are the CIA! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A lot of stunning cinematography and wonderful writing, but I wasn't a fan of the ending. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Unconventional confusion. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Solid if undistinguished Burt Lancaster action flick. Burt is a retiring CIA operative who is training youngster Alain Delon, Scorpio, to take his place. But the inevitable double cross happens when Delon is ordered to kill his mentor, which then involves Russians and other assorted spies and killers. While the story lacks originality, director Michael Winner peppers the film with his usual terse action sequences, which is enough to carry the film. Interestingly, director Winner's previous film was the Charles Bronson classic "The Mechanic" where Bronson mentors youngster Jan-Michael Vincent in the ways of being a hitman, who then is ordered to kill his mentor. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

Scorpio

Scorpio: Official Clip - I Want Cross Scorpio: Official Clip - I Want Cross 2:00 Scorpio: Official Clip - Getting the Drop on the Opposition Scorpio: Official Clip - Getting the Drop on the Opposition 1:34 Scorpio: Official Clip - I'm Still a Communist Scorpio: Official Clip - I'm Still a Communist 2:32 Scorpio: Official Clip - Hit and Run Scorpio: Official Clip - Hit and Run 1:03 Scorpio: Official Clip - Let Me Get My Bag Scorpio: Official Clip - Let Me Get My Bag 0:30 Scorpio: Official Clip - Can We Talk? Scorpio: Official Clip - Can We Talk? 2:15 Scorpio: Official Clip - The Object Is Not to Win Scorpio: Official Clip - The Object Is Not to Win 3:43 Scorpio: Official Clip - Crashing His Tail Scorpio: Official Clip - Crashing His Tail 2:12 Scorpio: Official Clip - Construction Shoot Out Scorpio: Official Clip - Construction Shoot Out 3:43 Scorpio: Official Clip - Cross Came Back Scorpio: Official Clip - Cross Came Back 1:21 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis Cross (Burt Lancaster) is an experienced assassin for the CIA who decides he's quitting the business. When he announces his intentions, however, the CIA decides they'd rather have him dead than retired. They assign Scorpio (Alain Delon), a French assassin whom Cross has mentored for years, to do the job. A complicated game of cat and mouse follows, during which Cross relies on his many contacts and years of experience to elude the man he's taught everything he knows.
Director
Michael Winner
Producer
Walter Mirisch
Screenwriter
David W. Rintels, Gerald Wilson
Production Co
Mirisch Corporation, Scimitar Productions
Rating
PG
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 19, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Runtime
1h 54m
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