Scorpio Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Scorpio Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 31, 2025

Michael Winner's "Scorpio" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sandpiper Pictures. The only supplemental feature on the release is a vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Frenchman

Scorpio was the culmination of the massive effort to transform French heartthrob Alain Delon into a Hollywood star. The entire project was very carefully put together. Delon was paired with a legitimate Hollywood star, Burt Lancaster, who had agreed to do Scorpio after working with Michael Winner on Lawman, a well-received western, just a couple of years earlier. Winner was again set to work with cinematographer Robert Paynter, who had already done several films with him, including Lawman.

But of all the films in which Delon had to deliver his lines in English, which came at different points throughout his career, it was Scorpio, unquestionably the most ambitious among them, that made it painfully obvious that the road to stardom in Hollywood was closed for him. The Concorde... Airport '79, which was Delon’s final collaboration with Hollywood, is not the film that did the serious damage. It was only a cadaveric spasm, whose reception would not have reset Delon’s career.

During the peak of the Cold War era, Jean Laurier (Delon) a.k.a. Scropio, a French assassin taking out targets on demand, and Cross (Lancaster), his American mentor and a high-ranking CIA operative with decades of experience, complete a risky operation in Europe. Shortly after landing in Washington, D.C., they part ways, and Scorpio is summoned by CIA boss McLeod (John Colicos), who is enraged that Cross is still alive. The risky operation should have had a different outcome. Scropio should have followed McLeod’s secret instructions and neutralized Cross, too, because the veteran operative has chosen to retire, and the CIA cannot allow someone with intimate knowledge of its greatest secrets to reenter civilian life. Cross is too big a liability, exactly the type of target that the Soviets would immediately begin pursuing. Much to McLeod’s surprise, Scorpio demands a new arrangement -- he would take out Cross in exchange for his post in the CIA. A deal is struck, but not before Cross realizes that he is a target and becomes invisible to his former colleagues.

As Scorpio begins hunting for his latest target, Cross, while relying on a trusted contact, safely exits America and lands in Vienna, Austria, where he seeks help from Sergei Zharkov (Paul Scofield), his counterpart at the KGB. In the days ahead, Cross turns down Zharkov’s inevitable offer to organize his defection to the Soviet Union and instead begins working on a plan to bring his wife (Joanne Linville) to Vienna. But it is not long before Scorpio arrives in Vienna and, while receiving help from local CIA agents and their partners, discovers where Cross is hiding.

Winner worked with a screenplay by David Rintels and Gerald Wilson, which incorporated material from a short story penned by Rintels. However, it is pretty easy to guess that Winner’s interpretation of this material was the most important one. (Winner and Wilson had an excellent relationship, and in all the films the two collaborated on, the former always made crucial changes).

As shot, Scorpio tells a believable story that is also quite entertaining. However, it has two significant, unmissable flaws. The first is Delon’s inability to sell Scorpio as an authentic character who could have dealt with the most important people in the CIA. Delon’s vocabulary is problematic, and while he looks good with a gun, his presence in the multi-layered drama is even more problematic. Second, Lancaster spends too much time lecturing the audience, messaging the obvious, rather than behaving as a highly valuable professional on the run. Despite his experience as an acrobat, Lancaster also looks a bit too old for the action material Winner shoots with his camera.

Nevertheless, Scorpio is worth seeing because it visits Vienna at the time when it rightfully earned its reputation as the Spy Capital of the World, preserving much of its Cold War era appearance and atmosphere. It also quickly explores the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. As is typically the case in Winner’s films, the action material is sleek, too.

Scorpio Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Scorpio arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sandpiper Pictures.

The release is sourced from an older master, supplied by MGM. Even though this master has a few nicks and blemishes, I like it. It produces attractive visuals with good organic qualities, which look quite nice on a large screen. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Grain exposure could be a little better, but there are no troubling anomalies to report. A dual-layer disc with some careful optimizations would have effectively eliminated some of the tiny inconsistencies that are visible on the current presentation. Color reproduction and balance are very good. Obviously, a new 2K or 4K master, if properly graded, will introduce fresher primaries and some supporting nuances. However, there are no issues with the current color scheme. Image stability is very good. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Scorpio Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Jerry Fielding's score has a major part in Scorpio. In many places, it is the catalyst for the seemingly ever-expanding tense atmosphere, which is arguably the greatest attraction in Scorpio. On my system, the music sounded good, but I felt that in a few places, small rebalancing adjustments could be beneficial. The dialogue is clear and easy to follow, but it can also benefit from some strategic tweaks.

Scorpio Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Scorpio. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Scorpio Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Any film that unleashes spies and killers to improvise on the streets of the most atmospheric city from the Cold War era, especially when shot by a very good director, is worth seeing. Michael Winner's Scorpio has some undeniable flaws, the most consequential of which have something to do with Alain Delon's performance. However, it is still vastly more entertaining than any of the latest Hollywood films your local theater has been screening. Sandpiper Pictures' release of Scorpio is sourced from an old but solid organic master supplied by MGM. RECOMMENDED.