This Robert De Niro movie is just a big scam

Discover the movie with Robert De Niro that was released in 1979… for which he did not shoot a single frame!

The Swap was released in 1979 when Robert De Niro was at the height of his popularity, after Journey to Hell’s End and before Raging Bull. Then the sulphurous firm Cannon owns the rights to the actor’s debut film, made a decade earlier, then edits it with new footage, without De Niro, of course, and intends to tell a completely different story.

Sam (De Niro), a porn film editor, is killed by a stranger. Ten years later, Sam’s brother, Vito, is released from prison and tries to find out who committed the crime. It will gradually go up the track.

The flashbacks to Sam’s last days are taken from the 1969 film, all presented by John Broderick (Cane for Hire) specially shot for the occasion, and references to pornographic media are added for commercial purposes only. goals.

And then the original movie?

The Swap uses images from a drama called Sam’s Song, directed in 1969 by Jordan Leondopoulos, one of the editors of The Exorcist. Robert De Niro plays the main role in this story, which tells how an editor finds himself invited to the house of rich friends. Being among these privileged people introduces him to a young woman, Carol.

Sam’s song is a testament to its time: offering a portrait of two couples in the late 60s, when the myth of the American dream began to be criticized and the new Hollywood was living its first moments. The movie can be summed up a bit caricaturally in that one of these couples represents America’s past, the other represents America’s future.

The film is shot by thread, with no attempt to follow a narrative evolution, and seems to have no other ambition than to be a snapshot of its time.

The Swap, on the other hand, is just a bad detective movie spliced ​​together with bits and pieces from another movie and intended to make you believe that De Niro just made this thriller in 1979, when it’s a pure and simple remake of a movie that was left without his approval.

This very common practice in the 70’s and 80’s led to many scams for the video market. We have already told you about one of them, the price of which Sylvester Stallone paid.

So don’t be fooled/again: prefer Sam’s song to The Swap!