Brigade spéciale

Sometimes I think that what really takes you into this movies is... the tune. At the beginning you see an "Alfetta" driven by a guy wearing a red and black scarf, some creepy skyscrapers in the background while the credits appear on the bottom right of the screen. You feel just surrounded by a massive soundtrack and you smile. I wonder if it used to feel the same in the seventies. I've seen only another Lenzi's movie. "Milano odia. La polizia non puo' sparare" has got a similar plot (Same subject, to be honest) but the director chose to put the criminal as the protagonist. In "Roma a mano armata" the policeman is violent and aggressive, in "Milano odia" the outlaw is a sort of victim of the system. It looks like the fight against criminality gets tougher day after day. The cinematographic relevance of these movies is their success in celebrating the action. But I found in Lenzi's a strong attention in the sociological issues related to his stories. His characters have got a good inner nature, they seem like gotten worse because bred in a hard environment. Finally, it is just amazing how a 31 years old film is still perfectly enjoyable and that is probably due to a neat and careful direction.

Effective installment in ¨Inspector Tanzi¨ series and followed by various sequels still gripping and moving . A twofisted , rule-bending Inspector called Tanzi (Maurizio Merli) chases mobsters (Luciano Pigozzi as Moretto , Luciano Catenacci as Gerace) and a maniacal , trigger-happy hunchback (Tomas Milian) , an one-handed bank robber and other hoodlums in an effort to catch them at whatever cost , as he'll stop at nothing to get it . As iconoclast , tough cop Tanzi tries to detain the vicious killer and other cronies who are robbing a bank , he takes on criminals determined to bring them to justice , even if he has to break some rules . Tanzi pursues the revenge-obsessed series killer and encounters he has more problems with him than he expected . The psychotic murderer is detained but is freed on legal technicalities and Tanzi takes the law into his own hands . Rule-breaking Tanzi strides grimly throughout Rome in pursuit the murderous , including an exciting final on an ambulance . Whatever your reservations about Tanzi's expeditious methods we know he'll always vanquish , shooting in cold blood with his pistol . Inspector Tanzi makes Dirty Harry look like Mr. Clean! .He lives by the law - Tanzi's Law .Vigilante enforcers - lurking in the dark... waiting to kill!

Formula thriller with plenty of action , crisply edition , tension, intrigue , suspenseful and lots of violence in exploitation style . Compellingly directed by Umberto Lenzi , after directing his Cannibal movies , in the late 1970s , Lenzi turned to the police thrillers or polizieschi , which rejuvenated his confidence and his popularity . Titles like Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare (1974), Free Hand For a Tough Cop (1976) , Brothers Till We Die (1978) , From Corleone to Brooklyn (1979) were the most popular and brutal of his thrillers . Fine main and support cast giving acceptable , tough exaggerated interpretations . Maurizio Merli's nice performance as two-fisted Inspector Tenzi , the tall and taciturn inspector who utilizing his Magnum 44 pistol kills baddies , acting as a judge , jury and executioner , and , along the way , he tells some original phrases . It packs intrigue , violence, action-filled and being a really effective film . It turns out to be interesting and plenty of vivid action , suspense and thriller . Good secondary cast gives cool performance as the American Arthur Kennedy playing Vice-Commissioner Ruini , Giampiero Albertini as Inspector Francesco Caputo and the gorgeous Maria Rosaria Omaggio as Tenzi's girlfriend . And others secondaries usual in B Italian genres as Ivan Rassimov , Luciano Catenacci , Stefano Patrizi , Tom Felleghy , Carlo Gaddi and Luciano Pigozzi nicknamed the Italian Peter Lorre .

Special mention for the stinging , stabbing musical score by Franco Micalizzi . As well as atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Federico Zanni , shot completely in Rome , Italy . The motion picture was competently directed by Umberto Lenzi , adding an interesting script by Dardano Sacchetti , Lenzi's regular. Umberto was an Italian craftsman who directed all kind of genres , such as Wartime: Bridge to hell, The biggest battle , Tempi di guerra , Wild team , The damned brigade , From hell to victory , Desert commando , The damned brigade . Poliziesco : Roma a mano armade , Napoli Violenta , Manhunt in the city , From Corleone to Brooklyn , The executioner , Brothers till we die . Eurospy : Superseven chiama Cairo, 008 operation exterminate, Kriminal. Terror and Cannibal fims : Sacrifice! Cannibal Feroz, Comidos vivos, House of witchcraft, Hell's gate , Invasion of Atomic Zombies . Giallo : Wide-eyed on the dark, Orgasmo, Spasmo, Paranoia. Spaguetti Westerns : Tutto per tutto, Pistol for a hundred coffins . Adventures : Invincible masked rider, Catalina of Russia, Triumph of Robin Hood, Temple of the white elephant , Adventures Mary Read , Sandokan, Pirates of Malasya , Zorro versus Maciste , among others . Rating : 6.5/10 . This formula thriller will appeal to Inspector Tenzi/Mauricio Merli series enthusiasts , because of the unstopped action , tension , exciting edition , chills abound in this original entry . Well worth seeing for Maurizio Merli fans and it's an enjoyable companion for the action genre followers . An entertaining and amusing film , mounted for its maximum impact and with several scenes that'll have you on the edge of your seat .

I don't know how the uncut Italian version runs, but the American version released by Aquarius under the ASSAULT W/A DEADLY WEAPON title is probably one of the most fastmoving, violently over-the-top Euro crime movies you'll ever see. The closest thing I could compare it to would be Kinji Fukasaku's early 1970s yakuza movies like BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR & HUMANITY series(aka THE YAKUZA PAPERS) with Bunta Sugawara or Kosaku Yamashita's TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE YAMAGUCHI GANG (released here in fastmoving but severely edited form as THE TATTOOED HITMAN). Although not as well written as its Japanese counterparts, Dardanco Sacchetti's screenplay is suitably deranged with Maurizio Merli portraying an apoplectic, hot tempered cop who makes Dirty Harry seem like a flower child. Super charismatic Tomas Milian is stupendous as the wisecracking hunchback psycho villain who occasionally likes to gratuitously machine gun innocent bystanders. My only problem with the English voice dubbing is that they didn't have Milian, who speaks English and dubbed many of his films himself, do his own voice. The guy who does it isn't terrible but it would have definitely added another aura of dementia with Milian's own vocal performance. Also unfortunately whomever the fast buck artists were who released the film here to USA grindhouses back in the 1970s created a completely fictitious credit list for the titles where Merli, Milian and even American movie veteran Arthur Kennedy receive no screen billing whatsoever. A crime! Likewise the adrenaline pumping, nerve pounding score by Franco Micalizzi and Umberto Lenzi's expert direction (this is the best film I've seen by Lenzi by the way) are credited to imaginary persons. Although it has a completely predictable cliche-ridden story, the treatment is fresh, the dialogue memorable (and often hilarious) and the ultra violence and degenerate depravity continous. Strangely satisfying and watchable as only the best of grindhouse cinema can be. As one of the other reviewers asked, where's the DVD release!?

First film in the pentalogy from the Tanzi/Moretto/Monnezza universe (first shown: February 25, 1976)

With this film, Umberto LENZI started a series of five films in which three characters appeared again and again. The focus was on Tomas MILIAN, who played two criminal twin brothers who were very well received by the audience. In the film ROMA A MANO ARMATA, the Italian actor MILIAN plays the hunchbacked gangster Vincenzo Moretto, who is characterized by excessive cruelty. His twin brother will not make his first appearance until the second film in the pentalogy (IL TRUCIDO E LO SBIRRO).

In Rome, crimes are happening all the time. A hotheaded inspector like Leonardo Tanzi (Maurizio MERLI) cannot like that at all. The powerful inspector is always on hand when the criminals strike. But it's stupid that there are sensitive juvenile judges like the attractive Anna (Maria Rosaria OMAGGIO), the grumpy police chief (five-time ACADEMY AWARD nominee Arthur KENNEDY) and the somewhat sleepy colleague (Giampiero ALBERTINI) who put obstacles in the way of the hyperactive inspector. Whether dealer (Ivan RASSIMOV), rapist (Stefano PATRIZI) or unscrupulous gangster (Tomas MILIAN): crime in Rome never sleeps.

With this thriller, Umberto LENZI has created a film that has essentially become the blueprint for a hard-boiled Maurizio Merli poliziottesco. It was very well received by audiences, with more than 1.6 billion ITL being made at the Italian box office.

In German-speaking countries, the connections between the five films were hardly noticed. MERLI is dubbed here as Inspector Ferro. His next appearance will not be until the third film (IL CINICO, lL INFAME, IL VIOLENTO) of the pentalogy.

Director Umberto Lenzi is widely known for his raw and uncompromising films of a variety of genres, his doubtlessly most famous films being his gory and gruesome Cannibal flicks "Cannibal Ferox" (1981) and "Mangiati Vivi" (1980). These are flicks one is not likely to forget, of course, but, as far as I am concerned, Lenzi's most memorable and brilliant achievements are his tough-minded and ultra-violent Poliziotteschi, such as "Milano Odia, la polizia non pùo sparare" (aka. "Almost Human", 1974) or this "Roma A Mano Armata" (aka. "Rome Armed To The Teeth"/"Brutal Justice") of 1976. "Rome Armed To The Teeth" is an action-packed fast-paced, brutal and breathtaking crime flick like it could only be made in Bella Italia, and a perfect proof for what gifted a director Lenzi was.

Even more than the foregoing "Milano Odia...", this delivers the absolute opposite of political correctness. Commissario Leonardo Tanzi (Maurizio Merli) is a super-tough and relentless cop with a mustache, whose unorthodox methods make Dirty Harry look like a peace-loving social worker. Respectless towards his (hypocritical) superiors and without any form of sympathy for offenders, Tanzi hates criminals as much as he hates crime, and he has no scruples to beat information out of suspects and bend the law whenever it is necessary to do the right thing. Tanzi is super-tough and the role seems as if it was written for Maurizio Merli. The great Tomas Milian (one of my personal all-time favorite actors) plays 'Il Gobbo', a hunchbacked and psychotic gangster. Milian is excellent in any role I see him play, and this particular role of the malicious and sadistic criminal fits him like a glove. Apart from Merli and Milian, who are both excellent in their roles, the cast includes a bunch of other regulars of Italian genre-cinema, such as Giampiero Albertini, who plays a cop, Luciano Catenacci, and, most prominently, Ivan Rassimov as a sleazy drug dealer. The film contains a vast amount of sleaze and brutality, and is definitely not for those who are very sensitive when it comes to violence. For my fellow lovers of Italian genre-cinema from the 70s, however, this is an absolute priority. The score by Franco Micalizzi is absolutely brilliant, the cinematography is excellent, and the film is tantalizing from the beginning to the end. Tough-minded and gripping throughout, "Roma A Mano Armata" is an ultra-violent and wonderfully politically incorrect Poliziottesco that no lover of Italian-genre cinema can afford to miss. In short: Brutal, brilliant, and an absolute must-see for all fans of Italian Crime cinema!