Section de choc

Colt 38 Special Squad does pretty much everything you would want an Italian crime flick to do - and it does it in style! Like many of the best Polizi flicks, this one takes most of it's influence from Don Siegel's masterpiece Dirty Harry, with the weapon used by Clint Eastwood's disgruntled copper obviously being the main point of interest. As is the case with many of these films, the rising crime in Italy takes centre stage, and the plot is based on the police's attempts to halt the crime through an innovative new means. Hard bitten police captain, Capitan Vanni, is fed up of the way that his city is being run by criminals - "The Black Angel" in particular, whom Vannia has an old feud with. So, he gets clearance from his superiors to set up a 'special squad' - a team made up of four of the police's best shooters, all armed with Colt .38's for maximum impact on organised crime! But the stakes are raised when The Black Angel steals some dynamite, and starts putting his time to good use by blowing up various things within the city...

The film is directed by Massimo Dallamano, who is of course, most famous for his 'Schoolgirls in Peril' trilogy. Dallamano does another excellent job here, as he manages to keep up the fast pace throughout and the film is never boring for a second. The characters are surprisingly easy to get on with, and for an Italian crime flick; it's all rather believable too, which is a bonus. French actor Marcel Bozzuffi takes the lead role and does an excellent job with it. While he is clearly meant to come off a bit like Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, Bozzuffi makes the role his own and gives himself sufficient distance from the classic Eastwood character to ensure that he's not just an imitation. The great Ivan Rassimov co-stars and gives another convincing bad guy performance. The Black Angel is surely one of his most interesting roles, and fans of Rassimov won't want to miss this! It all boils down to an invigorating and worthwhile conclusion that does the film justice. Overall, Colt .38 Special Squad is certainly at the top of the Polizi genre and comes highly recommended!

QUELLI DELLA CALIBRO 38, or COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD, provides a superior specimen of the Italian polizioto of the 1970's, with French actor Marcel Bozzuffi as Inspector Vanni, whose wife is shot dead in his early teens son's presence, and is out to wreak revenge come what may. Director Massimo Dallamano seems uninterested in character development: for instance, you do not get to see Vanni's tearful son again, you have no idea whether Vanni handed him over to relatives or to an institution while he chases the culprits, notably crime kingpin Marsigliese, to their deaths.

Basically everyone is cannon fodder, regardless of whether you serve the law or the criminal forces. In between, Vanni is ordered to stay off the hunt, and to go on leave, but he could not give a flip about the boss and his orders - Vanni is obsessive about payback!

Certainly, the viewer does get to watch action pretty much nonstop. Whatever dialogue you hear is quick, often under bated breaths, and the pace is frenetic, with chases in cars and on foot aplenty.

Typical washed out color and basic 1970s cinematography by to me unknown Gabor Pogani, effective editing by Antonio Siciliano, and fitting score by Stelvio Cipriani.

The script could have taken COLT 38 to greater heights with closer attention to character development, cause and effect logic... but it ain't no waste of time! 7/10.

Slightly above-average and pretty bleak poliziottesco; it came, more or less, halfway through the run of the genre and, while well enough made, it is also curiously undistinguished (though buoyed by a typically great pounding score by Stelvio Cipriani and expert cinematography by Gabor Pogany). The “Special Squad” of the title is a hand-picked team of fearless cops determined to fight the most nefarious criminal minds – their prowess and agility gives rise to plenty of exciting chase sequences (cue the remarkable stuntwork which often came in handy within this particular genre) but only one of them is really well-defined as a character.

However, there’s also the topical element of terrorism – exemplifying such heinous acts as plagued the country during this era – with a couple of spectacular but harrowing explosions in public places. The film is given a nice boost by having Marcel Bozzuffi, best-known for playing the criminal pursued by Gene Hackman in THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), essaying the role of the iconoclastic cop this time around! Carole Andre', a regular starlet in Italian films of the time, is somewhat wasted as the long-suffering moll (though leading an outwardly luxurious life) of one of the hoods; her one attempt to stand up to the gang, plus her innocent involvement with a member of the Squad, seals her fate and she’s eventually marked for death. Ivan Rassimov is the dour villain, typically given a fashionable name (Il Marsigliese) and who engages throughout in a cat-and-mouse game with Bozzuffi – the former had killed Rassimov’s brother in a run-in with the police, and the criminal reiterated by murdering Bozzuffi’s spouse. The final showdown (with Bozzuffi predictably turning up to execute Rassimov just when it seems he’s likely to get away) is swift but nonetheless effective; disappointingly, they share no real confrontation scene.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be director Dallamano’s last film; he died some time after the end of shooting in a car accident! Also, Grace Jones makes an unremarkable early appearance here as a nightclub singer. The No Shame Limited Edition DVD is quite splendid: not only because of the shining transfer of the film itself and some wonderful supplements – fascinating interviews with both editor Antonio Siciliano and composer Cipriani – but also the fact that it includes a bonus feature on a second disc, namely Luciano Ercoli’s own swan-song called THE RIP-OFF (1978), actually a poliziottesco spoof once thought lost and which I’ll get to in due time...

COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD is a typical example of the Italian polizia flick, so if you're wondering what a Dirty Harry-inspired police film from the '70s looks like, then look no further than this. It's a film which exemplifies the best of a genre that's still hidden from most film fans today, who are missing out on the delights of Maurizio Merli and his contemporaries beating the hell out of criminal scum.

Although this film doesn't boast any roles for big Hollywood names or familiar genre fans, it proves to be distinctly above average. That's because it tells a complex, action-packed story at speed, never slowing down for a second. There are robberies, kidnappings, assassinations, terrorism and even a bombing campaign, all delivered in a typically gutsy, as-it-is kind of way, free of sentimentality, the focus on the realism. Massimo Dallamano's camera never sits still for a second in depicting a kinetic struggle between criminals and the police.

The essential story involves Marcel Bozzuffi (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) playing a tough Inspector with a personal vendetta against a criminal gang. He sets up a special squad, all armed with powerful handguns and motorbikes, to track down and take out the criminals, but of course it doesn't go according to plan. Although the way, the haunted Carole Andre gets caught between cops and bad guys, and Ivan Rassimov once again tackles the role of criminal mastermind. It goes without saying that the various action bits – shoot-outs, car chases, you name it – are second to none and miles ahead of most of what Hollywood churns out today.

Quelli della calibro 38 (1976) turns out to be interesting and plenty of vivid action , suspense and thriller . Marcel Bozzuffi's nice performance as two-fisted Inspector Vanni, the brave and taciturn inspector who utilizing his long pistol kills baddies , acting as a judge , jury and executioner . It packs intrigue , violence, action-filled and being a really effective film. A nail-biting thriller in which Inspector Vanni (Marcel Bozzuffi) attempts to bring Turin's most powerful crime lord and psychotic murderer to justice. That's why the police commissioner forms a well-trained secret motorized brigade in order to fight a dangerous terrorist who is depositing bombs throughout the city of Turin. Vanni attepts to track down Marsigliese/Black Angel (Ivan Rassimov), his henchman Guido Pugliese (Antonio Marsina) and other hoodlums in an effort to catch them at whatever cost, as he'll stop at nothing to get it . Vanni pursues the revenge-obsessed series killer and encounters he has more problems with him than he expected and eventually taking the law into his own hands . Rule-breaking Vanni strides grimly throughout Turin in pursuit the murderous, including thrilling pursuits, motorcycles and car chases . Whatever your reservations about Vanni's expeditious methods we know he'll always vanquish, shooting in cold blood with his pistol: 'calibro 38'. Inspector Vanni makes Dirty Harry look like Mr. Clean! .He lives by the law - Vanni's Law .Vigilante enforcers - lurking in the dark... waiting to kill!

Effective installment in Poliziesco genre is still gripping and moving. 'Poliziesco' or Poliziottesco' was an Italian popular genre from Seventies , whose main representatives were: Maurizio Merli, Franco Nero, Fabio Testi or Tomas Milian, that include notorious films as Street Law (1973), High Crime (1974), 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), Poliziotto solitudine e rabbia (1979), Speed cross (1980), Speed driver (1980), they were the most successful and brutal of these kinds of thrillers. Quelli della calibro 38 (1976) stars Marcel Bozzuffi who plays adequately the two-fisted, rule-bending Inspector Vanni, while seeks vengeance, chases mobsters and a maniacal, trigger-happy assassin called Black Angel. Bozuffi already played a classic thriller: 'William Friedkin's French Connection', performing a nasty mobster. As iconoclast , tough cop Vanni/Bozuffi) tries to detain the vicious killer and other cronies who are kidnapping, exploding bombs in markets, bus station and other public places, he takes on criminals determined to bring them to justice, even if he has to break some rules. Co-starring as a ruthless villain is Ivan Rassimov. Italian of Croatian origin Ivan had a fruitful career until his early death, although he was often cast as villains, from Nazi soldiers and gunmen to tough guys suspected of murder. Rassimov also occasionally played the good guys and saw it as a novelty in his bad guy roles. From playing a police detective, a cowboy, an archaeologist and even a psychiatrist in Mario Bava's last theatrical film Shock or Beyond the Gate (1977). Ivan starred in Giallos: Perversa Señora Ward, Vicios Forbiddenes and some Spaghetti Westerns like Django If You Want to Live... Shoot, Cowards Don't Pray, Non Spettare Django, Spara and Cjamango. He was most often seen as a male hero of Italian cannibal films acting alongside Me Me Lai in three of them, the most notable being Man from Deep River, Jungle Holocaust and Eaten Alive. Fine main and support cast giving acceptable , tough some exaggerated interpretations . Good secondary cast -usual in B Italian genres- gives cool performance, such as: Carole André (of Kabir Bedi's Sandokan series), Riccardo Salvino, Antonio Marsina , Franco Garofalo and brief apperance from Grace Jones singing a a disco-song.

Quelli della calibro 38 (original title) or Colt 38 Special Squad(English) or Section de choc (France) (1976) is a formula thriller with plenty of action , crisply edition , tension, intrigue , suspenseful and lots of violence in exploitation style. There are images of strong violence, bone-chilling shootouts and impressive car and motorcycle chases, with spectacular races of vehicles bouncing through the air and a 'Sinca' car at full speed going through the fields and along a transport train. Special mention for the stinging , stabbing musical score by Stelvio Cipriani. As well as atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Gábor Pogány , shot completely in Turín, Italy and Monaco . The motion picture was competently written and directed by Massimo Dallamano or ¨Max Dillman¨ in his last one, after a long career both cameraman and director. Compellingly mafde by Massimo Dallamano , he turned to cameraman to director of Spaghetti Westerns and polizieschi , which rejuvenated his confidence and his popularity . He previously photographed ¨Fistful of dollars¨and ¨For a fistful dollars more. Dallamano managed to make a fluid , witty and agreeable Giallo titled La morte non ha sesso (A Black Veil for Lisa) . He also proved his experience in thriller and other Giallo movies , such as : "What Have You Done to Solange?" , "The Cursed Medallion" ,¨Portrait of Dorian Gray ¨ , "Mafia Junction" , "What Have They Done to Your Daughters?" or "The Coed Murders" , among others . "Colt 38 Special Squad" Rating 6/10. Well worth watching . The flick will appeal to Poliziesco enthusiasts.