Between the mid-1950s and mid-80s, Italian cinema was replete with imitations of big Hollywood box-office successes and this one here is not just a surprisingly decent DEATH WISH (1974; released a mere three months earlier!) clone but one of the better poliziotteschi I've watched so far. Besides, it is the second of ten collaborations between star Franco Nero and director Castellari - of which I've caught up with 3 and will soon also get to THE SHARK HUNTER (1979) and KEOMA (1976)! Aren't you all envious?
After an overly intense opening 15 minutes (which occasionally gives rise to some unintentional hilarity) in which we witness everyman Nero being repeatedly victimized by a band of vicious criminals, he decides to take the matter into his own hands, defying the careless (and quite possibly complicit) police force and tracking down his oppressors for one final showdown. Through the course of the film, Nero forms an uneasy alliance with a professional thief (Giancarlo Prete) who pays for his treason with his life, alienates his girlfriend (a pre-Mrs. Ringo Starr Barbara Bach - incredibly, she kept starring in Italian potboilers even after becoming a Bond Girl in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME [1977]) and coerces the Italian underworld into a manhunt within its own ranks a' la Fritz Lang's M (1931)!
The score by frequent Castellari collaborators, Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, is an effective one, except when relying on an almost unintelligible song warbled in broken English...which is all the more ironic when one knows that Hollywood musicals often suffered the ignominy of having their classic songs dubbed into Italian when screened on TV! On the other hand, I cannot imagine that a film like this (with its frequent use of Italian swear words and dialect) would be as enjoyable in English which, unfortunately, is how it is presented on the Blue Underground DVD. Luckily, I watched it on my VHS copy recorded recently off Italian TV but, of course, I'm missing the Enzo G. Castellari Audio Commentary...
After an overly intense opening 15 minutes (which occasionally gives rise to some unintentional hilarity) in which we witness everyman Nero being repeatedly victimized by a band of vicious criminals, he decides to take the matter into his own hands, defying the careless (and quite possibly complicit) police force and tracking down his oppressors for one final showdown. Through the course of the film, Nero forms an uneasy alliance with a professional thief (Giancarlo Prete) who pays for his treason with his life, alienates his girlfriend (a pre-Mrs. Ringo Starr Barbara Bach - incredibly, she kept starring in Italian potboilers even after becoming a Bond Girl in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME [1977]) and coerces the Italian underworld into a manhunt within its own ranks a' la Fritz Lang's M (1931)!
The score by frequent Castellari collaborators, Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, is an effective one, except when relying on an almost unintelligible song warbled in broken English...which is all the more ironic when one knows that Hollywood musicals often suffered the ignominy of having their classic songs dubbed into Italian when screened on TV! On the other hand, I cannot imagine that a film like this (with its frequent use of Italian swear words and dialect) would be as enjoyable in English which, unfortunately, is how it is presented on the Blue Underground DVD. Luckily, I watched it on my VHS copy recorded recently off Italian TV but, of course, I'm missing the Enzo G. Castellari Audio Commentary...