Rent The Parallax View (1974)

A rather good conspiracy movie - The Parallax View review by RP

A rather good conspiracy movie. It was made in 1974 so it's a bit dated in parts (haircuts, cars, typewriters, TV sets, the video game 'Pong' etc) but these don't detract too much. It has all the essentials components that make a good conspiracy: a mysterious corporation is manipulating events, in this case The Parallax Corporation which carries out political assassinations. It has the brave, lone, investigative reporter (played by Warren Beatty) who finds out that witnesses to the killing of a US Senator in Seattle are being killed off one-by-one. He investigates, is recruited by Parallax, but finds out the hard way that such recruits are just patsies. I enjoyed it and rate it 4/5 stars. Aside: If you like a good conspiracy movie there's quite a good list on Wikipedia: search for "List of conspiracy-thriller films and television series".

Warren Beatty confronts the deep state in a typically 1970s political thriller - The Parallax View review by Philip in Paradiso

The starting point, in the film, is the assassination of a US senator – a presidential hopeful called Charles Carroll. In the wake of the murder, several individuals who were present when the assassination took place die one after the other. Every time, there is a plausible explanation, and the police will not pursue any lines of enquiry. Joe Frady (Warren Beatty), a journalist based in Oregon working on a regional newspaper, decides to investigate the case. The movie develops from this point.

This is a political thriller that is very much of its time, in terms of the atmosphere and the setting (1974). This was, at the time, a new genre, up to a point. The movie is every conspiracy theorist's dream: it is a deep dive into what is often referred to as the deep state. The film is well-made and features a strong ending. However, I must admit I was a bit disappointed: I expected more. Although there is a lot of suspense, it feels a bit flat and predictable at times, not to mention the many, inevitable implausibilities. And we have had so many films following similar storylines since that The Parallax View does not seem particularly 'fresh'. In fact, The Conversation (also, 1974) is far, far superior to The Parallax View. So, a reasonably good film, but no more than that, in my opinion, despite what many film critics may have claimed over the years.

Paranoia, Inc. - The Parallax View review by griggs

Being British, it's easy to forget just how much Watergate shook the American psyche—and still does. Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View made just before All the President's Men, is soaked in paranoia, political assassinations, and shadowy organisations pulling the strings. Released the same year as Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, it's part of that '70s wave of films obsessed with surveillance and conspiracy. Some of its political speeches feel like they could've been written today and, therefore, feel eerily fresh. However, it drags in places, and not everything lands, but as a paranoid thriller, it keeps you hooked just enough.