4/5 Marathon Man - Good 1976 Movie Worth Buying
  by M. Gibson (Cincinnati, Ohio United States)
Another 1970's suspenseful thriller movie worth buying and watching. Many great actors; Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, William Devane, Roy Scheider, to name several.

5/5 EXCELLENT ! HOFFMAN & OLIVIER ARE A BLAST
  by FRED C. DOBBS (USA)
Terrific film directed by John Schlesinger of MIDNIGHT COWBOY [1969] fame. All about an exiled ex-Nazi monster, played unsettlingly well by Laurence Olivier, who must leave his hideout in South America and come to New York to claim millions in diamonds he has accrued, the whereabouts of which are in question. Roy Scheider, as 'Doc', plays a covert US government agent who follows him. Dustin Hoffman, in one of his finest performances, plays his brother---an unwitting graduate student who believes his sibling is in the oil business. Hoffman, an avid jogger, seems to be running from the childhood memory of witnessing his father's suicide. He can't seem to confront the reality that his dad, a brilliant and prestigious college professor who was under McCarthyism scrutiny, committed the ultimate act of mental attenuation. The misanthropic Hoffman, with major abandonment issues and anger towards the establishment/government at fault, lives in a dump, modestly and alone. Scheider's short part in this film is memorable as the seemingly smart, sophisticated and strong-willed agent who undergoes two successive murder attempts---the first by a hired assassin, barely surviving, and the second a harrowing successful impalement with a concealed blade by the brutally nefarious Olivier. Olivier, playing the ex-Nazi dentist and torturer known as 'Szell', obviously just a little annoyed that Scheider would not reveal the whereabouts of his diamonds. Hoffman's shriek as brother Scheider staggers mortally wounded into his apartment, only to die on his living room floor, is startling. All hell breaks loose now as Szell and his accomplices believe that Doc revealed info regarding the jewels to his brother just before dying. Cops, government agents and bad guys now come knocking on his door. Hoffman now becomes cognizant of his brother's true identity and becomes enmeshed in this international pursuit and intrigue. Interesting how he incurrs another shattering personal loss and must now stop running and confront the system [government] he despises if he wants to find out who killed his beloved Doc. Hoffman shuns the cops, is kidnapped by Szell's heavies and is conned by an avaricious rogue US agent, working with Szell, who supposedly was his brother's partner---the latter played deliciously well by William Devane. The kidnapping is highlighted by the now classic dental torture scene and the now familiar "is it safe?" quote by Olivier. The actual torture scene is brief. What disturbs and unsettles is Olivier's matter-of-fact delivery, his countenance, the instruments, the unfathomable motive. Hoffman escapes but decides to confront the gunsels, Devane and finally Szell. Nice scene early in the film where Hoffman is jogging and can't seem to catch up to another runner who passes him by---possibly symbolic of his inability to attain resolution of his losses. Driven by the need to find his brother's killer, Hoffman now 'resolves' by confronting Szell in the film's finale. Blast of a film. A great New York film with both earthy & iconic NYC locations. A tour de force by both Olivier and Hoffman with Olivier nominated for Oscar and Hoffman deserving of one.

5/5 "Chilling"
  by Terry Richard (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada)
Dustin Hoffman plays a young history student and marathon runner who gets embroiled with the Nazi's who are trying to smuggle diamonds out of the United States. The film is known for the powerhouse performance of Sir Laurence Olivier who plays a Nazi dentist who tortures the Hoffman character by drilling holes in his teeth without anesthetic while muttering the words "is it safe?". Olivier would receive an Oscar nomination for his performance. Roy Scheider and William Devane also star. William Goldman, who wrote the original novel, also wrote the screenplay.
The "Marathon Man" DVD comes with cast and crew interviews, rehearsal footage, and an original featurette of the film. The movie is presented is superb widescreen format enhanced for 16:9 TV's and english subtitles are included.
Leonard Maltin says "Hoffman and arch-villain Olivier are superb!".
The movie was filmed in beautiful New York City.

2/5 Over-rated and unbelievable
  by Jery Tillotson (new york city)
I've seen Marathon Man in brief snippets but finally got around to watching it from beginning to end. It was more like a badly scripted cartoon than a thiller. Although Laurence Olivier is terrific, Dustin Hoffman over-acts and underplays hyterically. We're supposed to believe that boyish, short Hoffman takes on a vicious mob of rogue para-military killers. After vanquishing them all, he finally captures the monstrous Nazi psycho, Olivier. Never does Hoffman ever seek assistance. He handles all this alone. In one scene, he's advised to be on alert for killers who'll be coming after him.

So what does he do? He takes a relaxing, long bath in his cubbyhole of an apartment. Although he has a loaded gun, he keeps it locked up in his desk. It never occurs to him to (1) find another hiding place; (2) keep his gun close by; (3) tell cops,friends that he's being hunted by killers; (3) leave town.

And at the end, he marches his captive Nazi--the subject of an international search--into a water processing chamber, located in populous Central Park--where Hoffman runs off the plant manager (who never calls the cops)and teases Olivier as to whether or not he'll kill him. As it happens, instead of killing the murderous Nazi, the killer trips and falls and accidentally knives himself. In a "Making of documentary..." that accompanies this DVD, we learn that the script has marathon man Hoffman shooting him. But...

Hoffman says he refused to follow the script and shoot the Nazi. Why? "Because I'm Jewish and wouldn't want to murder someone." Huh? Olivier portrays one of the most monstrous of Nazi killers! Hoffman's diva like demands of following his "artistic sense" destroys the needed act of revenge and ruins this movie.

The first hour is so confusing, with unexplicable red herrings and plot devices never explained, that we wonder why it wasn't shorn from the final edit. For instance, who was the sinister Oriental man following Roy Schieder? Why was he killed off? How does this relate to Dustin Hoffman's character? This movie is terribly over-hyped and drooled over.

3/5 Not Nearly As Good As the Book!!!
  by Melodie King (Missouri)
It's a pretty well known fact that books are almost always better than the movies that are based on them. In this case, it is extremely true. Marathon Man is my favorite book of all time. It is the most thrilling page-turner I have ever read. When I finished reading it, I immediately proceeded to watch the movie, excited to see the characters put to life before my eyes. However, I was gravely disappointed. The people cast in this film do a wonderful job of playing the charaters they are portraying. But the movie is hard to follow...if I had not read the book beforehand, I would have had no idea what was going on. It's not nearly as exciting. And the end is NOTHING like the book...this is what upset me the most. Definitely read the book before watching the movie!