Maniac cop 3 - Il distintivo del silenzio

Out of all the "Maniac Cop" series, this one was a letdown. However, out of due respect, I've always liked the character no matter what. This time, he tends to a policewoman who was gunned down during a stand-off. And Matt Cordell(Robert D'Zar) is enforced to "protect and serve". Since none of the other officers would help her, Det. Sean Kenny(Robert Davi) and Cordell are on the same page. Cordell takes on the usual trash crooked cops to be exact. I liked the part where he puts on guy under several exposures of X-rays. Then there's the scene where Kenny tells Cordell that she's been cleared of all wrongdoing. Somehow, underneath his hulking and ravaged exterior belies a interior that's anything but supernatural, it's human. Both went with the explosion, and covered in white. To me, it goes to show that love never dies, especially when Cordell touches the dead woman's hand from the sheets. I mean good grief, let her be. This version got a little sappy, yet will he continue the fight against crime, or will he settle down? This one got me baffled! 2 out of 5 stars!

In a word, wow! Maniac Cop one was awesome: great subject matter, assured direction, true excitement and Bruce Campbell. I thought I'd watch the sequel for a laugh and ... it too was awesome. Enter Robert Davi and some more great action and laughs. What's that I hear you say? A cheap eighties action/horror with an equal sequel? Well you won't believe this, but I watched number three last night and I was blown away. Once again this film is equal to the original, and also enjoys a new cynical humour which was great fun. In this movie the cops and reporters and doctors all have a really crass way of talking about death when Robert Davi ask's how his partner is doing he gets the reply "Put her in a rock garden", with her parents well in earshot! This kind of sick humour punctuates the impressive action and actually adds to the realism of the movie. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes to enjoy themself(which has to be everyone). Go watch!

The plot apparently was not the main consideration of the people who decided to make this, the second sequel to the 1988 surprise hit; that's the only way to explain why there are so many gaps in it (like "Who is that voodoo master?", "Why did he choose to resurrect the Maniac Cop" and "Why does the Maniac Cop kill / help good AND bad guys so arbitrarily?"). Since justice had been set straight at the end of the previous installment, there is no really compelling reason for the title character to return from his grave, so the whole movie seems pointless and unmotivated. But the lengthy chase sequence near the end is so fast-paced and well-done that made me raise the film's rating by half a star. (**)

"Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence" is yet another solid sequel that is just as good as the previous two movies in the series. As weird as it may seem, the maniac cop (played again by Robert Z'Dar) seems to have a heart in this one when he starts protecting a female cop who was wounded in a shootout and was said to be too hard on criminals. Now the crazed cop goes on another killing spree and it is up to Robert Davi (repraising his role from "Maniac Cop 2" to stop him. If you're a fan of the first two, be sure not to miss this entry with the exciting climax with the crazed cop a flame behind the wheel of a car. *** out of ***** Stars.

With Maniac Cop 2, director William Lustig and screenwriter Larry Cohen imagined a mixture of bloody slasher and crime thriller The French Connection, and delivered just about the most satisfying sequel imaginable to an original that was hardly great. It delivered on car chases, action set-pieces and slasher mayhem, backed with a witty, sharp script and an impressive cast. It also delivered a full-body- burn climax that was as exciting as it was technically impressive. While part two looked at William Friedkin's classic thriller for inspiration, just where Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence found inspiration is anyone's guess, other than perhaps the sort of drivel you used to find buried on the bottom shelf of the video store. Lustig and Cohen have both disowned the movie since its release, and it isn't difficult to see why.

Citing studio interference, Lustig walked from the set half-way through filming for the movie to be picked up by inexperienced producer Joel Soisson, who is uncredited. The resulting film is less than a half-baked idea: a lumbering mess of a film, primarily made up of filler that is, at times, downright unwatchable. Having clear Matt Cordell's name and buried him with honours in tact, Detective Sean McKinney (Robert Davi) had hoped to have seen the last of the 'Maniac Cop'. His close father-daughter-like relationship with young police officer Katie Sullivan (Gretchen Becker) is ground to a halt when she is gunned down and placed into a coma by junkie Frank (Jackie Earle Haley), only for two 'nightcrawler' cameramen to smear her name with some edited footage. After being resurrected by a Voodoo priest, Cordell sees Sullivan as an equally tortured and unfairly disgraced soul, and sets about claiming her for his own.

It's hard to know where to start with Maniac Cop 3, as the film is so lacking in ideas and structure that it barely has a beginning, middle and end. When it hits a wall, it looks to its predecessor for ideas. So we are treated to another convenience store shootout, another high speed chase, and another finale involving a full body burn. In its defence, the climax mixes both a high speed chase and a full body burn, and while it goes on for a little too long, you have to appreciate the complexity of such an intricate set-piece. Cordell, again played by Robert Z'Dar, is relegated to little more than a glorified cameo in his own movie, appearing ever now and then to carry out a bloody deed seemingly for Voodoo priest Houngan (Julius Harris), whose motives are still unclear when the credits roll. As a fan of the first two Maniac Cop movies, it's easy to feel as cheated as Lustig did as he stormed off set.