While both this movie and the signature car chase have been shown a lack of respect by many critics, both are way above average. Roy Scheider does an excellent job playing his best type; a tough, courageous cop who works hard to get the job done in spite of the desk drivers and politicians who should be supporting him rather than hindering. (He played a suburbanized version of this same role as the tourist town police chief in Jaws. Not nearly as gritty, but the same "get the job done despite the politicians" and gutsy approach. If a man who can't swim and is terrified of everything in the water going out on an old boat with an Ahab wannabee and a nerd, to confront a huge killer shark, isn't gutsy, then tell me what is...).Tony Lo Bianco is good as a surprisingly complex villain; most of the villains, in fact, have some depth and complexity. This is one of those movies that gets better with repeated viewings. Overall, it captures the atmosphere of parts of NY City: gritty, unglamorous, often dangerous, but filled with energy. The story is spare, tight, and subtle; it gets the job done without extraneous elements. It may not be one of the all time greats, but it is an exceptionally good movie.Everyone has an opinion about car chases. Mine is that this one is right up there with the Mustang vs Dodge Charger chase in Bullitt. The Pontiac Ventura/Chevy Nova was similar to the Mustang in being a compact car chassis with beefed up suspension and a powerful small block V8 stuffed into an engine bay meant for an insipid 6. The Ventura/Novas got little respect off the drag strip, but with the proper suspension mods, they made affordable performance cars that could handle on both the road and the track. The bawling of those GM V8's as they wind up is music to the enthusiast's ear. I've heard this chase criticized for "imitating" the Bullitt chase. The truth is that they are two works by the same master, Bill Hickman, who also choreographed and drove for the French Connection chase. Besides driving most of the car chase scenes, he created a brooding, malevolent presence and a good match with Richard Lynch as a pair of coldly evil killers.Yes, the chase has "realism errors" often noted, like the use of 3 different NY roads to represent the Palisades Parkway, the ending of the chase in a crash with an 18 wheeler on a roadway for passenger vehicles only, and the miraculous timing that allows all pedestrians to escape harm. That's beside the point. Let's face it: movie car chases are "unreal" by nature. In Bullitt, The French Connection, and The Seven Ups, however, Bill Hickman and Phillip D'Antoni crafted chases far more realistic, and therefore more exciting, than the flying, rolling, exploding vehicle fantasy chases so common in recent films.
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