Roma Armada

Terry Levine done it again! He picked up a 1975 italian cop film, edited it down to 79 min, and open it wide in New York in 1982 (or was it 1981). People Magazine even reviewed this film!! Levine failed to mention the stars Arthur Kennedy, Tomas Milian, and little known (in the U.S.) the late action star Maurizio Merli doing the franco Nero role of a cop hellbend on going after the hunchback psycho (Milian). Levine tacked in the movie poster as the begining credit (!) (similar to what he did in MEAN FRANK AND CRAZY TONY, which he failed to mention Tony LoBianco) Kennedy is the only actor not dubbed, and the film just look standard with A to Z script. Milian, who use to get lead good guy roles in Italian film slowly became supporting player playing bad guys. Kennedy looks like he shot this film back to back with KILLER COP. Not recommended, unless the un-cut print runs better.

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!?

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.

Roma a mano armata" barrels through the streets of 1970s Rome with a relentless energy that is impossible to ignore. The film's atmosphere is thick with tension and urban decay, painting a city teetering on the edge of lawlessness. Lenzi and cinematographer Federico Zanni craft a visual landscape that is both raw and kinetic; the camera rarely sits still, instead plunging viewers into the heart of car chases, shootouts, and back-alley confrontations. The film's grainy texture and on-location shooting lend it a documentary-like authenticity, though at times the frenetic editing can make the action feel chaotic rather than exhilarating. Still, the city itself becomes a character, its grimy streets and shadowy corners amplifying the sense of danger.

Maurizio Merli, as Commissioner Tanzi, delivers a performance that is all clenched jaw and steely resolve. He embodies the archetypal hard-nosed cop, bending rules and bristling against bureaucratic red tape. While Merli's presence is commanding, it is Tomas Milian who truly steals the show as the unpredictable and menacing "Il Gobbo." Milian infuses his villain with a manic energy and dark charisma, making every scene he appears in crackle with menace and unpredictability. The supporting cast, including Arthur Kennedy and Ivan Rassimov, provide solid backup, but the film is at its most compelling when Merli and Milian are at odds, their mutual animosity palpable even through the screen.

Despite its strengths, "Roma a mano armata" is not without flaws. The narrative is fragmented, jumping between subplots that showcase various criminal elements in Rome, from petty thieves to privileged delinquents. This mosaic structure adds variety but also muddles the pacing and dilutes the impact of the central storyline. At times, the film feels more like a collection of set pieces than a cohesive whole, and the script's attempts at social commentary are overshadowed by the barrage of violence and action. Still, for fans of the poliziotteschi genre, Lenzi's film delivers the goods: gritty action, memorable villains, and a pulsating score by Franco Micalizzi that keeps the adrenaline pumping.

Maurizio Merli and Tomas Milian star in probably the most typical, yet completely enjoyable Italian crime movie by Umberto Lenzi. With a blazing soundtrack by Franco Micalizzi and some exciting camerawork by Federico Zanni, this film is fast-paced and furious although the narrative makes relatively little sense. This reminds me of THE RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS, a film Dardano Sacchetti also penned, which was completely fun and enjoyable although it didn't make any sense whatsoever.

The best scenes in this movie have to be the extended car chases. Milian hijacks an ambulence and kills all the people on board for no reason. When it crashes in a crowded flea market, Milian jumps out of the ambulence and just starts randomly firing his sub-machine gun into the crowd to create enough confusion to get away. Another great scene has a gang of upper-class teenagers led by the baby-faced Stefano Patrizi who get bored of nightclubbing and proceed to rape a girl and beat up her boyfriend in a vacant lot. Patrizi is wholely unsympathetic as he punches the boyfriend in the gut repeatedly and knees him in the face, then making weird gestures with a nearby piece of wood. Merli later pops by their nightclub and smashes Patrizi's face right through a pinball machine and then simultaneously beats the tar out of the six or so members of the gang!

This film comes fast and furious. Good performances all around by a veteran cast (with Arthur Kennedy, Ivan Rassimov, and Luciano Pigozzi along for the ride). It's not the most coherent of Lenzi's works, but it's definitely a genre classic. Where's the DVD?