Milano trema: la polizia vuole giustizia

Renowned genre maestro, Sergio Martino's aptly monikered, 'Violent Professionals' is another uproariously entertaining, ball-bustingly bellicose poliziotteschi classic that is frequently praised on a goodly number of Euro-crime threads, and its lofty position in rabid poliziotteschi fan's hearts is well deserved. 'Violent Professionals' undiminished ability to attract a multitude of Euro-cult fans is certainly due in no small part to the exciting 70s actioner's colourful celebration of gratuitous violence, and bravura ballistic carnage that adds so much pep to the exhilaratingly diverse exploitation oeuvre of gonzo director, Sergio Martino.

This appetizingly blunt, snub-nosed poliziotteschi comes replete with all the bloodthirsty thug-trashing bacchanalia to make it a resounding keeper!!! Granted, Luc 'smart hair of death' Merenda lacked the hypertensive, barbarian machismo of, Nero & Merli, he nonetheless cuts a beguilingly svelte figure amongst all the supercharged vehicular slaughter! Euro-crime's most debonair deadbeat-dropper, Luc Merenda, always manages to emerge from dutifully disseminating balaclava-clad thugs with his enviably coiffed thatch of lustrous hair immaculately intact! For me, dangerously dishy, Luc Merenda will ALWAYS remain the suavest-looking of the Poliziotteschi douchebag destroyers, a delectably dapper vendor of death, Euro-Crime's deadliest fashionista!!! Even as one of the most avid, Maurizio Merli freaks, Sergio Martino's muscular 70s Euro-crime thriller, 'Violent Professionals' ranks strongly against the very best by, Umberto Lenzi or, Stelvio Massi!

MILANO TREMA boasts some nice Milan location work and some very well-handled action sequences by Sergio Martino. The proceedings however get a little bogged down with a few too many subplots, unlikable characters, and lots and lots of talking about politics. Ernesto Gastaldi was one of the best of Italy's genre movie screenwriters, always able to inject some realism and dimensionality even into the small bit players. There's even some successful intentional humor, particularly during Luc Merenda's successful infiltration of a bank heist racket even though he's (a former?) chief of police.

The car chases in this film really take the cake though as some of the best of the genre, and quite early in the cycle too. Footage from the chases popped up in numerous other crime films, particularly Umberto Lenzi's. Also, a lot of the same henchmen would pop up in film to film from here on out. While at first I was irked that the two bumbling goons (Claudio Ruffini and Sergio Smacchi) who get tasked with tailing Merenda around just disappear without any resolution, I was delighted to see teamed again (possibly as the same characters?) in such films as THE CYNIC THE RAT AND THE FIST.

Granted, the success of this film, along with HIGH CRIME led to an explosion of Italian crime movies over the rest of the decade. The two films share much in common including featuring a fisticuffs- loving inspector using extreme methods to rid his city of crime to the tune of Guido and Maurizio De Angelis music. Oh yes, and Silvano Tranquilli appears in both, though his character here much less intimidating.

THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS (Sergio Martino - Italy 1973).

Not all too interesting Dirty Harry variation from Sergio Martino in this crime thriller, starring Luc Merenda as a tough smooth-guy cop who goes undercover as a wheels man to infiltrate a ring of cop-killin' bank robbers.

The main problem is main man Luc Merenda who has little charisma and is either permanently smiling or desperately trying to look tough. Either way, his repertoire is a bit limited. The unimaginative screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi is entirely short on logic. This is less urgent when writing horror or giallos, but the actions of police and crime bosses are supposed to contain some kind of logic, since they're driven by greed and money. In the world of organized crime, there's usually little room for vague motives, but here, most actions lack any kind of motivation. Even a bank robbery is carried out so incredibly clumsy, it was beyond me why the bank robbers were even surprised things went wrong.

Occasionally, it's a pretty lively affair with lots of action with some spectacular car chases (one of them probably took half the budget of the entire film), but some of these exciting set pieces can't save this from being a bore most of the time, with Merenda driving around in his car aimlessly or beating the living crap out of everyone he meets to get some answers about his chief's killing. In most cases, the answers don't add up to much or didn't make any sense to me. The English dubbing wasn't a big help in that department either.

Camera Obscura --- 5/10

The hunky Luc Merenda stars here as Giorgio Caneparo, one of your standard "Dirty Harry"-type police detectives who has his own way of doing things. Motivated to righteous fury by the brazen murder of his loyal boss DelBuono (Chris Avram), he infiltrates the Milan underworld to seek answers.

Giorgio is nicely set up right at the beginning when he decides to put down some child-murdering scum who escaped authorities. It's a hoot to watch this character as he goes about his business: robbing a hooker at gunpoint, beating the stuffing out of her pimp, torturing an informant, etc. Yet, Merenda has plenty of charisma to spare in portraying this offbeat hero.

The script by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi can get incoherent at times, but making up for that is the filmmaking savvy of Sergio Martino, who brings life to this cool example of Eurocrime cinema. There is gunfire, and sleaze, and a few chase scenes that are extremely well done. The chase scenes are the best part of the film.

The performances are right on the money, with Richard Conte co-starring as a mafioso who recruits Giorgio as a getaway driver, ignorant of his true identity. The very sexy Martine Brochard has a decent role as a potential love interest for Giorgio. Dubbed "Maria X" by him, she's witty and bright, yet not completely forthcoming about her lot in life.

Enlivened by a wonderful score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, "The Violent Professionals" is not among the very best of this genre, but it does show its audience a pretty good time. It wears its influence right on its sleeve, right up to the final sequence.

Seven out of 10.

A renegade Italian cop fears that the law is too restricted when trying to fight lawless criminals, especially after seeing a prisoner escape and kill more people. Why send him back to prison when he already had a life sentence? All future murders are free of charge. Then, a high-ranking cop is killed on the street and the renegade is given an audience -- he is free to fight crime in his own way, which is a bit reckless.

I've seen reviews compare this film to "Dirty Harry", which seems about right. If anything, the officer in this film goes beyond what Clint Eastwood's character would do. Working with prostitutes, infiltrating a crime syndicate -- even robbing a bank with them, resulting in the death of a pregnant woman. The title "violent professionals" really sums it up... though, whether this refers to the cop or the criminals is left ambiguous.

After seeing another film from the box set I retrieved this from ("Kung Fu Punch of Death") I had very low expectations. But, ignoring the low production value that runs rampant in Italian films, the story and action were pretty amazing. There's a car chase scene that can give "French Connection" a run for its money. If you can tolerate cheap films, this is a truly great crime film.

Would I watch this again? Sure I would. I'd love it if someone would clean up the picture, sound and give me subtitles instead of dubbing... but for what the film cost me I more than got my money's worth on it. Don't be afraid to watch "Violent Professionals".