A lot of fun.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

"The Human Factor" was made in 1975, which means it's turning 40 years old this year. And yet, the themes and several aspects that feature here are still painfully relevant nowadays as well. I'm writing this user-comment in January 2015, not even two weeks after the cowardly terrorist attack in Paris, France, and still during the aftermath of numerous terror alerts all across Europe. The film centers on American families being the unwary and innocent targets of ruthless Italian left-wing terrorists. Whether for political or religious reasons, embassies and authorities in various countries are still protecting their compatriots that work abroad out of fear for kidnapping or murder. It's truly sad to see that the world hasn't changed one bit and that humanity is still as selfish and extreme as it ever was. But hey, I'm just supposed to write a review… The final project of director Edward Dmytryk, who was particularly famous in the forties & fifties thanks to movies like "Crossfire" and "The Caine Mutiny", is a tense and engaging action/thriller with a handful of harshly violent sequences and a remarkable lead role for veteran actor George Kennedy. He stars as NATO computer specialist John Kingsdale, working in Naples and playing computer games with his friendly colleague most of the time. But when he returns home to his beloved wife and three children one night, they have been viciously massacred by unknown assailants for an unknown reason. After the funeral the deeply saddened John hesitates one moment to shoot himself through the head, but he shoots the TV-screen instead and vows to personally track down his family's killers. With the help of his colleague and their computer equipment, John discovers that he deals with a group of terrorists that invade the homes of American families through responding to newspaper ads. He prevents another massacre, but meanwhile John himself is also chased by the local authorities. "The Human Factor" is an overall very solid vigilante/revenge thriller. The script is occasionally tedious and confusing due to all the computer slang, especially during the first half of the film, but this is widely compensated during the explosive final act, with a furious battle in a Naples' backstreet alley and a gritty finale inside a crowded supermarket. Several people pointed out that George Kennedy was an odd choice to play the mad avenger, but he's a terrific all-around actor and brings more realism to the part. If, for example, Charles Bronson would have played John Kingsdale, "The Human Factor" would have been more stereotypical and a lot less persuasive. Recommended!

***SPOILERS*** "Death Wish" like film with the big and as harmless as a Teddy Bear John Kingsdale, George Kennedy, going ballistic when his family is massacred by a gang of international terrorists in their home in Naples Italy. Working for NATO as an electronic expert Kingsdale with the help of his computer expert friend Mike McAllister, John Mills, uses NATO's most state of the art commuter equipment, the ironically named 9/11 computer system, to track down his family's murderers and exact brutal revenge, not justice, on them.Going against his good friend McAllister's advice in letting the law do the job of tracking his family's killers down Kingsdale with an 8% chance, according to he 9/11 computer system, of getting the job done and 92% chance of getting killed in trying goes all out in what seems like a kamikaze like attempt to finish the bloody job that he's about to start. A job that will leave a trail of corpses, terrorists and their victims, that is to end in a bloodbath at the NATO commissary in Naples!Big George Kennedy despite his menacing size seems so out of shape that there's times in many of the movie chase scenes that he looks like he'll collapse from sheer exhaustion in chasing terrorists 100 pounds lighter and 20 years younger then himself. Getting a hold of one of the terrorists leader's the American Taylor, Thomas Hunter, Kennedy or Kingsdale needed a car to catch up with him in that there's no way to convince the audience that he could have done that on his own with just shoe leather! Huffing and puffing his way through the movie where in some scenes it looked like he needed oxygen to stay on his feet the almost out of breath Kingsdale finally gets to the NATO commissary where the terrorist group headed by Palestinian born Kamal, Frank Alvance, is hold up with some 100 hostages. ***SPOILERS*** Going into action before help, the Italian police and NATO forces, can arrive at the NATO commissary by driving a stolen car through it's front entrance Kingsdale blasts away at anything in his gun sights taking out the entire terrorist crew with Kamel the only survivor making a mad dash to the commissary's exits. With the heavy footed, at well over 250 pounds, Kingsdale catching up with him he makes sure that Kamel never gets a chance to stand trial by pumping a full magazine, that he reloaded his 9.mm with, of slugs into him!

** ENDING SPOILERS (which might save you the bother of watching it!!) **NATO electronics expert Kennedy is out for blood after his family are done in by terrorists, with Mills on hand rather incongruously to give technical advice. The most worrying facet of this appallingly scripted and unprepossessingly staged bit of misanthropic reactionary violence is its marking of the passing of the surely senile Dmytryk; however its apogee of tastelessness is reached in the climactic supermarket shoot-out, replete with women and children cowering on the floor whilst blowsily unlikely 'Lone Wolf' Kennedy riddles his adversaries with very visceral holes amidst a maelstrom of baked beans and soap powder.

When I first saw this movie, I was only 9 years old. The movies idea, losing one's entire family to terrorists, haunted me for years. George Kennedy's strong portrayl of a father who is obsessed about tracking down the killers of his family, can easily be outdone by newer more daring plots. For it's time though, The Human Factor was 'on the edge of your seat' suspense that left you with a weary, empty feeling when the movie was over. Although dated, I feel it can still create an emotional response for someone who looks for more than special effects in a picture. Too bad it is out of print.