The film begins with Duke Anderson (Sean Connery) getting out of prison after a ten-year stint. Apparently, he took the rap in order to protect mobsters...and now he's expecting them to show their gratitude by backing his next heist. What is the heist? It's robbing a bunch of luxury apartments in New York...a job that bring him and his mob a fortune.

The first part of the film is about the planning of the heist as well as the IRS accidentally catching wind of this. The second part is the heist itself...the serious parts and the oddly comical. I really laughed at Judith Lowery's role as the very feisty old woman...a role she also played marvelously on the TV show "Phyllis". Other funny parts were the disabled kid as well as the hellishly horrid police operator! Now this is not to say it's a comedy...for the most part it isn't. Overall, a very interesting heist film....which isn't too surprising as most heist films seem to be quite enjoyable.

THE ANDERSON TAPES is an odd and somewhat laconic heist drama from 1971, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery sans wig. Bizarrely, the setting is a building filled to the brim with CCTV cameras designed to capture every move of the lead characters. Once this no doubt had a sci-fi feel to it, but nowadays it's the norm. The heist itself plays out in the usual manner, with a great deal of build-up and some pay-off at the climax in terms of excitement, and the film generally gets by thanks to Connery's easy manner and some well-judged supporting turns from a flamboyant Martin Balsam and a youthful Christopher Walken. It's of interest for fans of the era, although not exactly a classic.

In 1971 I was in first grade. So the first time I saw this film was about 5 years later when a censored version was broadcast on TV. So when it was recently broadcast, unedited, all I remembered was the imagery and soundtrack was unique. The synthesizer sound track, the big Mayflower moving truck and leather masks. So I decided to watch it again.

Actors and story line aside, I was amazed at how perfectly this film totally captured that brief era in technology and culture between Woodstock and Watergate, both visually and audibly. Overall, it's a surreal painting of the year 1971. Quincy Jones' soundtrack, and his use of the early synth combined with the visuals of reel to reel tape recorders, bugging devices, microphones and radio equipment all ooze 1971.

And seeing it now, post 9/11, it's a rare, almost prophetic commentary on how government surveillance can fail when it's isolated between departments. The country had just landed a man on the moon, all the technology from NASA was just beginning to saturate the society. But regardless, when the intelligence wasn't shared, it was useless.

The casting and acting are impeccable. Each character plays their role to perfection and it's an all-star cast. Quincy Jones score for this film is in a class of it's own, a one of a kind audible mile marker of 1971. And the camera angles, direction and visuals paint in vivid detail the brief moment in history between the lunar landing and digital LED watches.

On the surface, and at the time of release, it was just another big heist film. But years later, it has become a film that not only defines the genre, but is a genre in and of itself.

If your young and want experience that transitional time in history, or if you're older and want to go back in time, this movie is well worth watching.