Il giustiziere sfida la città

With films such as "Almost Human" (1974) and "Rome Armed to the Teeth" (1976) there is no doubt that Umberto Lenzi is (along with Fernando Di Leo) the absolute master of Italian crime cinema. And Tomas Milian, one of my personal favorite actors, is doubtlessly one of the greatest actors in Italian Cult-cinema in general. While "Il Giustiziere Sfida La Città" aka. "Syndicate Sadists" of 1975 is not nearly as memorable as their earlier collaboration, the nasty, brutal and downright brilliant "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" aka. "Almost Human" of 1974, this is yet another bad-ass, action packed and incredibly entertaining Poliziottesco from the director/star team Lenzi/Milian.

Funnily enough Milian plays a supremely bad-ass biker named 'Rambo', seven years before Vietnam vet Sylvester Stallone drew first blood in 1982. This Rambo is a super-cool full-bearded drifter with remarkable shooting- and fighting-skills, who comes back to his hometown Milan where a buddy wants to talk him into joining a security firm. When his buddy gets killed by gangsters, things get personal...

Before becoming a major Poliziotteschi-star, Tomas Milian was already a star of Italian Westerns. The storyline of this film, in which the (anti-)hero plays two criminal gangs against each other, is derived from that of Sergio Leone's milestone "Per Un Pugno Di Dollari" ("A Fistful of Dollars", 1964), which itself was inspired by Akiro Kurosawa's masterpiece "Yojimbo" (1961). A similar storyline was used in several other Spaghetti Westerns, most notably Sergio Corbucci's "Django" (1966); With this film, Umberto Lenzi takes it to modern-day Milan. Even the film's score occasionally reminded me of (a funky 70s version of) Morricone's score to Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West". "Il Giustiziere Sfida La Città" is neither quite as ultra-brutal and uncompromising, nor as essential a genre-entry as some of Lenzi's most memorable Poliziotteschi, "Almost Human", "Rome Armed to the Teeth" and also "Violent Naples", but it is definitely a highly entertaining film that lovers of Itlian Cult-cinema should not miss out on. The film is very well-shot, and full of violent shootouts, car chases, fights and the usual dose of enjoyable bad-assery. Tomas Milian is beyond cool, and the 70-year-old Joseph Cotten makes an excellent elderly crime boss. The rest of the cast includes many regulars, such as Luciano Catenacci, Guido Alberti, Luciano Pigozzi and Giuseppe Castellano. Rambo's girlfriend is played by sexy Femi Benussi, who sadly keeps her clothes on in this one. Overall, "Il Giustiziere Sfida La Città" is not one of Lenzi's masterpieces, but it is definitely a highly entertaining Poliziottesco that is especially recommendable for a supremely bad-ass Tomas Milian, and that shouldn't be missed by genre-fans.

Syndicate Sadists is yet another film based on Dashiel Hammett's novel Red Harvest which was adapted more famously by Akira Kurosawa in Yojimbo and Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, amongst many others, but it also has some other intriguing origins. Its star Tomas Milian while filming in the US, picked up a cheap novel at the airport by David Morrell entitled First Blood a tale of a special forces soldier by the name of John Rambo, Milian was intrigued by the character but wanted to stay away from violent sadistic roles he had become famous for in films like Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare (1974). So together with Lenzi and Luciano Martino they agreed to blend both stories together in a modern crime drama. While the film has some resemblances to both films its different enough to stand alone as an interesting film. Milian is excellent as the odd, scruffy biker with a heart, that turns to violence to avenge the murder of his brother by one of a group of rival crime gangs, he was investigating. Milian decides to play both sides against each other, his unkempt image, floppy red hat and large goggles, perhaps luring the criminals into a false sense of security that costs them dearly in some increasingly violent confrontations. Not Milian or Lenzi's best but still very watchable. Joseph Cotten also puts in a turn as one of the crime bosses, in what surely must be THE most wooden performance by the man ever, at one point he actually looked like a Gerry Anderson puppet…no really! For once the Italian didn't steal an idea, they had Rambo first. Oh and watch out for an homage to Steve McQueen.[

Infamously tempestuous and fruitfully incestuous filmmaking bedfellows, the reigning cannibal king, Umberto Lenzi, and his audaciously wig-sporting partner in-Euro-crime, Tomas Milian team up again for the roustabout, boorishly boy's own, Cops an' Robbers actioner, 'Il Giustiziziere sfida La citta' aka ' Syndicate Sadists', and while this isn't on par with the luridly iconic, mercilessly machine-gunning home-invasion sleaze-fest, 'Almost Human', it still manages to dutifully deliver the requisite amount of breathless thrills an' bellicose blood-spills to effectively embellish the tired plot machinations; with red-beanie-wearing, gleefully anti-social anti-hero, Milian playing volatile ex-biker cop, Rambo!!!, whose singular penchant for righteous revenge is entirely apropos, and 'Rambo' is given ample opportunity for slow-motion, blood-squibbing, jaw-cracking, justice-seeking spectacle, once he disturbingly discovers to his escalating chagrin that his beloved brother has been slain by foes nefarious!

Rambo's relentless retribution is fuelled by the ecstatic crime funk of maestro, Franco Micalizzi, his deliciously infectious grooves galvanizing all the the numerous health and safety-taunting bike chases, nimble numb-skull battery, and ubiquitous ballistic overkill one expects from the murderously entertaining, delightfully dizzying milieu of 70s Euro-crime! Even with its discernible dearth of excruciatingly elaborate ultra-violence, 'Syndicate Sadists' makes for a highly entertaining, exploitative riff on Dashiell Hammett's classic 'Red Harvest', and ardent, Lenzi/Milian/poliziotteschi aficionados shouldn't be too disappointed, although, to be fair, it falls somewhat short of living up to its blood an' thunder moniker! So, perhaps, not ideal for Euro-crime newbie's, but if you keep your expectations low, 'Syndicate Sadists' is not without amiable grubby charm, and, I, for one, could happily watch, Milian merely open an envelope, caring not one measly jot if he refused to push it into pastures new!

Fantastic picture on the recent Blu-ray release, certainly a great improvement of the old copy of a copy, I once had but a little surprisingly lacking in over the top violence. Moves along as one would expect a Lenzi film to and Tomas Milian holds the attention throughout, just a little short on that certain something. Violent enough here and there and Milian motorcycles around in a wooly hat always out to save the day with an eye for the ladies and a helping hand for their young sons. Joseph Cotten looks to be on his last legs but would in fact live another 20 years and make another 15 films plus TV, so maybe he was just drinking heavily - too much of the J&B maybe.

Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.

The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!