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.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 3, 2021

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

Lancaster manages to combine the fear of the fugitive with the toughness and resource we have come to expect of him.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 3, 2021

A slick, talky, occasionally theatrical, but frequently audacious and exciting yarn...

| Jun 3, 2021

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

"Scorpio" is a swell example of its kind, a story about spies who spy on each other, a dagger under everyone's cloak and suspicion endemic.

| Jun 3, 2021

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

Lancaster brings a resigned, world weary charm to his role of the fugitive and the devastatingly handsome Delon is subtly sinister as his nemesis.

| Jun 3, 2021

In a word: "Scorpio" would even excite a Taurus.

| Jun 3, 2021

A polished gem of a movie which crams a wealth of action, suspense, and pure entertainment into its two hours of footage.

| Jun 3, 2021

The strain of cynicism and paranoia that marked the majority of '70s political thrillers can be found in the effectively dour Scorpio, which feels like a Yankee version of the sort of espionage tales churned out by the late John le Carre over in England.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 28, 2020

The nihilistic tone, cynicism towards governmental authority, and nostalgia for a lost age of honor are perfect products of the early '70s atmosphere in which it was made.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 28, 2018

Conventional double-cross Cold War espionage tale that's exciting but to be a great film could have used a more forceful direction by Michael Winner.

| Original Score: B | Sep 14, 2017

Scorpio might have been an acceptable action programmer if its narrative were clearer, its dialog less 'cultured' and its visuals more straightforward.

| Mar 26, 2009

Winner directs with typically crass abandon, wasting a solid performance from Lancaster and a story that a director like Jean-Pierre Melville might have made something of.

| Feb 9, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 9, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 23, 2005

I doubt if anyone could take "Scorpio" seriously, and that is the best I can say about it.

| May 9, 2005

The movie dissipates itself by trying to include too much: Too many characters, too many situations, finally too many twists.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 23, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 16, 2003