The Seven-Ups (DVD, 2006)

An old fashioned cop movie. Roy Scheider is the leader of a group of New York City cops going after hoods in a way that they don't understand, using tactics like hoods! The object is to only go after offenses that will put them away for seven years or above. When two crooks disguised as cops start kidnapping gangsters for ransom, a cop gets killed. To avenge the death of one of their own the cops almost have to go to war. A lot of the information passed by a friend of Scheider's has been false. He finds out that his friend is playing both ends and is part of the kidnap team. This information has now leaked back to the gangsters. Very average mid 1970's type of copycat movie in the Dirty Harry genre.

"The Seven Ups"

This 1973 film brings auto stunt driving legend Bill Hickman (Bullitt, French Connection) to the big screen again for another taut and thrilling chase scene. This time it is through the gritty late winter streets of New York city. Hickman and his partner (Richard Lynch) are running a scheme kidnapping mobsters for the ransom money, when they inadvertantly shoot and kill an undercover cop who is part of an elite task force known internally to the police as the "Seven Ups".
Veteran actor Roy Scheider is another of the "Seven Ups" group, and catches Hickman and Lynch leaving the parking garage where his undercover partner has just been shot.
This is the beginning of a 10 minute high speed chase through the streets of NYC.
The plot and acting are average to good - nothing that would make your Top 10 movie list. But the chase scene, like the one in Bullitt, is nothing short of amazing.

Overall, for fans of Roy Scheider, and most especially for fans of the Bill Hickman style of pedal flat to the floor driving - this is a worthwhile movie to catch.

Seven-Ups has one of the best car chase sequences in any movie. It is almost as good as the one in the Steve McQueen movie Bullit. Roy Scheider does an excellent job as a tough cop in charge of a secret team focused on taking down mobsters and racketeers. The film is gritty and realistic and shows the tough choices that face many law enforcement people. This movie does not rely on special effects or CGI to tell a great story in a dramatic way.

Circa SERPICO and THE FRENCH CONNECTION, THE SEVEN-UPS script is predictable but the car chase is one of the best (pre-RONIN). It rivals BULLET but in New York rather than San Francisco. Even without the hills its 4-wheels off the ground! The bad guys are bad, the good guys are almost bad. The settings are gritty. Enjoy the ride.

Bullet set the standard for the best car chase scene in movie history...until the 7-ups was made. Philp D'Antoni was the producer in Bullet and took that expereince and enhanced it in the 7-ups. There is even a special feature diagraming the making of the famous chase scene on the DVD. This is must see movie. Turn up the surround sound on your sound system and sit back in your seat for a thrilling ride. You will not be disappointed.