Squadra antiscippo

THE COP IN BLUE JEANS, the US title of this film, was quite widely available in the video budget bins of the 80s and early 90s, so this may be the best known in the US of Tomas Milian's series of films as longhaired, unconventional cop Nico Giraldi. The films starts with a bang as a mini-crimewave is depicted in rapid-fire succession (the scene with the guy mooning the tourists to divert their attention as their possessions are stolen is a classic!), until after seven or eight minutes Milian jumps into action. Like most films of Bruno Corbucci, there is a serious political element in the film too, while it completely satisfies fans who just want an exciting violent action film. And of course, Tomas Milian is brilliant, creating an anti-hero (as he does so well!) who is unlike ANYONE in US cinema. I'm sure there are copies of this sitting in the 99-cent rack of video stores, so check it out if you want to see what is so good about the 1970s Italian police film genre or why Tomas Milian is one of the great icons of world film. My favorite film of this period w/ Milian is SWINDLE, where he is paired with David Hemmings. If you EVER see that offered or shown on TV, don't miss it!

A criminal fiction with suspense , intrigue , frantic action , turns , a lot of twisted incidents , at the same time charged with tension and level staging enough which the viewer could really enjoy . Nico Giraldi (Tomas Milian) is a two-fisted undercover cop acting in the violent and rude manners of the Roman periphery and confronting the heaviest situations . Here Tomas Milian performs the likable and sui-generis role of commissary Nico Giraldi , formerly a robber who decided to join on the other side of the law by enlisting in the police , without loosing his slutty and dirty appearance ; however , when he's working proceeds with seriousness and effectivity enough , regarding crime and offenders . Along the way , the unkempt , wisecrack undercover cop pursues and detains a series of purse snatchers until he discovers an American at the top of an evil ring of robbers . As a ring of pickpockets and thieves plagues Geraldi's city , he attempts to find the hoodlums and the criminal mastermind behind the thieves . Eventually , he arrests Baronetto (Guido Mannari) ; later on , and from now on , Gerardi finds out the nasty Richard Russo (Jack Palance) is the true crime boss . The latter successfully dodges the police , while he leads his criminal empire with cunning and ruthlessness . Only a cop in blue jeans can bring justice to a city gone mad. He's clever . Sadistic. Ruthless . Jack Palance is the master criminal too twisted for even the toughest cops on the force . But he's about to meet a cop who's even crazier... The Cop in Blue Jeans...is dressed to kill.

Nice first entry in cop Nico Gerardi series with noisy action , thrills , shooutous , motorcycle chases , car pursuits and brief doses of humor in charge of the main character . Formula thriller with plenty of action , crisply edition , tension , intrigue , suspenseful , skin bared and lots of violence in exploitation style . It belongs to Italian Poliziesco sub-genre , essentially developed in the Seventies and including ordinary trappings .The film is interesting enough , though it has some flaws , gaps and failures . This film results to be one of the best among the whole saga of the Tomas Milian/Nico , adding usual seasonings about the particular role Girardi. In the end , Nico must deal with Russo in a thrilling chase , causing a real pandemonium and including a surprising confrontation at an Embassy . Stars Tomas Milian , a sympathetic actor , well known for his several Spaghetti Westerns . After the tremendous success of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of dollars (1964) starring Clint Eastwood, Milian grubbed up his own image and propelled himself to stardom in similar fashion in such classic "spaghetti westerns" as The Bounty Killer (1966) , A fistful of Dollars (1966) with Lee Van Cleef , Face to Face (1967) , Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967) and ¡Corre, Cuchillo... corre ! (1968). He later turned to comedy , playing the recurrent characters of petty thief Monnezza and Serpico-like police officer Nico Giraldi a peculiar top undercover cop who often uses unofficial means to track down delinquents without avoiding his attitude of rude man, this is an attractive role who he performed in a variety of crime-comedy pictures playing in the manner of Serpico . He's well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Jack Palance during his Italian period and overacting in his regular style , Guido Mannari , Roberto Messina , Benito Stefanelli and the gorgeous Maria Rosario Omaggio as his girlfriend .

The motion picture Squadra antiscippo or Cop in Blue Jeans or Brigada Todo Terreno (1976) was professionally directed by Bruno Corbucci, Sergio Corbucci's brother . Bruno wrote and directed various Hill-Spencer films as ¨Banana Joe¨ , ¨Miami Supercops¨ , ¨Par-Impar¨ , ¨Cat and Dog¨ and ¨Aladdin¨ . He was a prolific writer and director , writing the famous cult Spaghetti : ¨Django¨ and many others . If you love the Tomas Milian's other movies, go for it , and if you've never seen one this is an acceptable start ; but being especially appointed for Milian fans .This is an acceptable entertaining juvenile that will appeal to Italian thrillers buffs .

Surprisingly engaging poliziottesco spoof which actually led to a series, all featuring star Tomas Milian as maverick cop Nico Giraldi; in fact, a total of 11 films were made between 1976 and 1984! I know a few of them turned up on Italian TV as a kid but I had always considered them - and Milian's other contemporaneous series revolving around a character nicknamed "Monnezza" (Italian slang for "garbage"), but which lasted for only 3 'episodes' - low-brow, indeed bottom-of-the-barrel, stuff; considering that their titles - and I'm sure plot lines - were basically interchangeable certainly makes their longevity astounding!

Well, action-packed though it is - with the star (playing a street-wise ex-delinquent dressed as a bum with a mouse, Serpico, for a pet!) going through many a stunt on a motor-bike - the film's most prominent trait is its vulgarity which doesn't merely extend to a proliferation of colorful swearwords; indeed, the very first scene shows a chubby young man mooning a group of Japanese tourists from across the street, in order to distract them while his accomplices make off with their luggage in a van! As such, the film is enjoyable in an unassuming way - though the muddy soundtrack and the characters' frequent resort to the use of dialect made the dialogue a bit of a chore to understand, even for one who's fluent in the language like myself! - and it's certainly made even more tolerable by the presence of a predictably ruthless Jack Palance (whose real identity proves quite a revelation!).

The finale, then, is at once amusing and clever in that Milian - assigned to a special squad dealing with "snatch & grab" cases, hence the original title SQUADRA ANTISCIPPO - resorts to just such a crime in order to help his lovely girlfriend, whose job it is to smuggle provocative literature into the country!; they had met when Milian saved the girl from being raped: keeping her watch and other valuables in her bra, he wonders what she'd say if someone asked her the time, perhaps "a quarter to tits"?!

P.S. at one point, Milian says "La Polizia Ringrazia" (The Police Is Thankful) - which happens to be the title of the 1972 film (released in the U.S. as EXECUTION SQUAD) credited with kick-starting the whole poliziottesco subgenre!

Released in 1976, "The Cop in Blue Jeans" is a loner-cop thriller in the mold of "Dirty Harry" (1971) and "Serpico" (1973). The titular protagonist even looks like Serpico. The difference is that this is an Italian production directed & co-written by Bruno Corbucci. The plot revolves around an undercover cop named Nico Giraldi (Tomas Milian) who arrests several thugs of the purse snatching variety and zeroes-in on the mastermind of the ring (Jack Palance).

The Italian title is "Squadra Antiscippo," which means "Swindle Squad" and I assume refers to the theft ring. Anyway, the movie's an interesting way to observe the more obscure parts of Rome in the mid-70s. The story's relatively compelling and there's a lot of undercover cop type of action (naturally). Maria Rosaria Omaggio is easy on the eyes, but not enough is done with her. Nico's pet mouse, named Serpico, is a nice addition.

While this is a decent Euro flick and worth catching for the highlights noted, don't expect the greatness of any of the Dirty Harry installments.

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes and was shot in Rome.

GRADE: B-/C+

Ah, Record Explosion in NYC has granted me the privilege of watching this incredible piece of cinematic forte. OK, maybe not, but it was only $4.

This entertaining yarn mostly lets Nico show what he does best: catching baddies with street finesse. Tomas Milian (credited on the box as Tunas Milian) portrays a hardcore street tough turned on the good side of the law pretty well. Laughs a plenty with his pimping scene in the disco club. I believe there are 9 total motorcycle jumps and most are unnecessary and where where the ramps?? See Nico mistreat a gal who ends up coming back for more; despite his insisting on not changing his socks. And his jeans are clearly black, not blue!!

On the cover of the box is Jack Palance visage surrounded by dollar bills and is credited as starring in this. I think it should have said "Showing up on camera when the booze ran out". Jack mostly scowls and doesn't do any of the dirty work (he didn't get paid enough for it). Like in his other classic Outlaw of Gor, Jack shows up early on, then goes from bar to bar then reappears one hour and 12 minutes into it to pick up his paycheck. He really deserves a quick knee to the nether region.