The Formula

Starring: George C. Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller, et al.

Where police detective Barney Caine goes, assassination follows: Someone is gunning down his contacts. As Caine connects the dots and dodges death, he finds his investigation is tied to a secret formula for a nonpolluting synthetic fuel that wouldn't just revolutionize the oil industry...it would destroy it. Big oil (and bigger conspiracy) runs the jigsaw-thriller world of The Formula, directed by John G. Avildsen (Rocky). George C. Scott portrays Caine, who thinks he's making headway in the case. As events play out, he may be only where certain powers allow him to be. Marlon Brando is oil magnate and mover and shaker Adam Steiffel. And Marthe Keller is a woman of mystery who's player or pawn -- or both. "You're not in the oil business. You're in the oil shortage business," Caine tells Steiffel. Is the detective right? You decide

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 879431000480
• Release Date: January 1
• Rating: Unrated (Not Rated)
• Publisher: VCI Entertainment
• Director: John G. Avildsen
• Starring: George C. Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller, John Van Dreelen, Calvin Jung, John Gielgud, Beatrice Straight, Richard Lynch, Robin Clarke, Ike Eisenmann
• Runtime: 1 hour, 57 minutes
• Number of Disks: 1
• Other Video Info: Color; NTSC; DVD
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

“I’m just a customer” – Barney Caine.

Based on a novel by Steve S-h-a-g-a-n, Lt. Barney Caine, LAPD, finds a friend murdered. In pursuit of the culprit, he may get mixed up in something so big that we may cringe. Looks like there is a cabal protecting a formula; But where does Barney come in, and will he come out alive? This may have been unique in 1982, but it has been overplayed lately. Still, this makes for a great entertaining who-dun-it movie. Yes, it had George C. Scott and Marlon Brando at their best. However, it was held together by the rest of the cast. A side note is that I only had two years of German, and they never once used anything past that. It was so simple that they probably did not need the subtitles. The DVD I watched has a voice-over commentary by Steve S-h-a-g-a-n. See another unique mystery with George C. Scott: “They Might Be Giants” (1971).