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This 1976 Italian movie, which casts a great Maurizio Merli and the veteran John Saxon, is the third(and the last one)film of Commissario Betti's series, after Roma Violenta(also directed by Girolami) and Napoli Violenta(directed by Umberto Lenzi). It's really a terrific movie! The story is great, the soundtrack and the acting are outstanding and the action scenes are probably among the best shot ever, with a style very similar to Enzo G. Castellari's one(who is always synonym of quality). If you're big fans of Italian 70's poliziottesco, you have to watch this movie, which is one of the most representative and amazing ever shot! I suggest it to anybody!

Maurizio Merli may have come to fame as a Franco Nero impersonator; but after that he really came into his own and if his name is on the cast list (particularly if it's at the top of the cast list), you're pretty much guaranteed a good film. This one was the final outing for Merli's Commissario Betti character, and he ensures the ace crime fighter goes out with a bang as Marino Girolami's film is packed to breaking point with car chases, shootouts and fist fights and certainly delivers on the promise of being an action packed thriller! The plot focuses on Commissario Betti. Once again, he's aggravated at the amount of crime going on in the city and his attention is focused mainly on two big crimes; a bank robbery and a kidnap plot. The Commissioner battles bravely to ensure the crooks are brought to justice but soon realises that there's no point in merely sorting out the henchmen and decides to go after the man he believes is heading the criminal operations; slimy businessman Albertelli, although bringing justice on the head criminal may not be so easy...

This film is very easy to watch and getting lost in the numerous action scenes is a lot of fun. The plot flows very smoothly and there really is very little time when something isn't happening, which is really exactly what you want from a film like this. The action scenes do take over the plot at times; but it's not really important because entertainment is the main thing. The plot itself is certainly interesting, however; with the main focus being on the police matching wits with a very sly and intelligent criminal. You can always count on Maurizio Merli for a great performance and he doesn't disappoint here. He does look just a little bit silly at times admittedly, but he actually does convince us that he is a man who would give everything to stop crime in the city (although by this point, he had a lot of practise!). The film is not exactly heavy and although certain scenes are quite nasty; the atmosphere is usually quite light. Franco Micalizzi's score is very good too, and Merli receives very good support from cult supremo John Saxon. The ending is a bit of downer, but I can't complain given how entertaining the rest of the film is. Highly recommended!

Maurizio Merli returns as Inspector Maurizio Merli in full ass-kicking mode, hell bent on capturing mob boss John Saxon, a crime boss so slippery people rub bread on him in an attempt to make some sort 'man oil' bruschetta. This time, Saxon's organised a mass-child kidnapping and a band robbery but can Merli link these jerks to the main, head jerk? Not without heaps of trouble.

First off, the kidnappers hide the kids in an empty grain silo and are supposed to be keeping a low profile, so of course one of the kids gets ill and dies, and one of the kidnappers attempts to rape a local girl and brings the cops right to the door of the place they're hiding in. This results in Merli himself being thrown from a moving car as he bravely substitutes himself for the kids that didn't die, and the kidnappers bravely killing and burning the jerk that messed up the kidnapping.

Luckily, Merli's got a man on the inside in the form of kick-ass stuntman/actor Massimo Vanni, who leads him to the kidnappers, but not before Vanni himself gets tied to the back of a car and dragged around a quarry until dead. Vanni also does a bit of disco dancing and wears a neat white disco suit for all you out there obsessed with diminutive Italian actor Massimo Vanni.

Not too give too much of the plot away (and there is a plot) this is a top notch Euro-crime film with all the usual car chases, gun fights, moustache action, police brutality, prison scenes, children being slapped about, women being threatened, fighting on roofs, whiskey drinking, and Massim Vanni that you need. What can you say about John Saxon other than 'his hair hasn't changed shape or length for three decades'? The man is Italian movie gold.

Mirella D'Angelo turns up as a grieving sister to the dead kid which blossoms into a romantic sub-plot with Merli. I was totally confused that Massimo Vanni got killed because I'm certain he turns up in later Euro Crime films as Maurizio Merli's sidekick.

The Italians were second to none in virtually inventing new sub-genres by subverting to their own terms the conventions of classic Hollywood cinema; thus, after the Peplum (Epics), Gothic (Horror), Spaghetti (Westerns) and Giallo (Thriller), the 1970s ushered in the era of the Poliziotteschi which was basically an Italian version of DIRTY HARRY (1971) - although, to be fair to them, the seeds of the genre had been sown a few years earlier. Astonishingly there were practically innumerable similar movies made between 1966-80, a phenomenon which can easily be attributable to Italy's tumultuous political climate rife with corruption and kidnappings which marked the 1970s. Admittedly, I used to be very skeptical about the worthiness of these films (something which held true for the mainstream Italian film industry itself at the time) but having now gotten a fair share of them under my belt, I have to say that I've changed my stance somewhat.

This is the final entry - following VIOLENT ROME (1975) and VIOLENT NAPLES (1976) - in the "Commissario Betti" trilogy, with Maurizio Merli (the poor man's Franco Nero) gnashing his teeth throughout the film at untouchable "honest" businessman John Saxon; here, the hero even shares an unconvincing romance with the sister of a kidnapped child. While it certainly features plenty of action, ensuring an unrelenting pace and occasional excitement (though I would say that, ultimately, it provides one chase too many!), the film is nothing really special - the English title notwithstanding - and, worse, virtually interchangeable with any other of its ilk...apart from the unexpected downbeat ending which, apparently, was a deliberate act on the part of director Girolami (who here actually uses the pseudonym Franco Martinelli!) because he had been bypassed for the second installment; not having watched the first entry in the series, I can't comment on its quality but VIOLENT NAPLES - directed by the more highly-profiled Umberto Lenzi - is certainly superior to the third!!

Call me sick or call me sadist, but nothing makes me merrier than watching a raw and excessively violent Italian cop thriller from the 1970's! These so-called "Poliziotteschi" flicks simply have everything that avid cult fanatics could possibly be seeking for, and more! And also this "Italia A Mano Armato" (a.k.a. "A Special Cop in Action") features incredibly massive doses of hard-boiled action, nail-biting suspense, dazzling car chases (and rooftop chases), badass characters, nasty plot twists, controversial political/social themes, gritty atmospheres and a sizzling soundtrack. Director Franco Martinelli is perhaps not the most prolific name in this genre, but he is clearly playing in the same league as the genuine experts (Umberto Lenzi, Stelvio Massi, Fernando Di Leo…) in terms of quality and sheer entertainment. In good old Poliziotteschi tradition, there isn't much of a stable plot, but the pacing moves forward like a derailed train and something new & exciting happens approximately every one and a half minutes. Maurizio "Mustache" Merli returns for the third and final time as commissioner Betti, the unorthodox and relentless copper with fists of steel and an allergy for political injustice. Betti is up to his neck in crime scenes again, including violent bank robberies, heroin smuggling and – most repugnant of all – the cowardly kidnapping of six defenseless school children in exchange for a giant ransom. Betti is convinced that all the separate crimes lead back to one major gangster kingpin, namely the sly Albertelli. But Albertelli is a widely respected businessman and uses all his political power and influence to keep Betti out of his way. You needn't look for style or visual elegance in this type of cinema, as this certainly isn't similar to the works of contemporary Italian A-list directors like Fredrico Fellini or Michelangelo Antonioni. The Poliziotteschi films were initially inspired by Hollywood blockbusters like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection", but they gradually evolved into a fully unique genre that also perfectly illustrated the depressing social and economic climate in Italy at that time. You'll notice here in this film as well that the tone and atmosphere are continuously grim, the good guys embittered and even a happy ending is out of the question. The performances are terrific, with Merli as the unstoppably fit copper. You can even throw him out of a speeding car or lock him up in a prison amidst hundreds of personal enemies, and still he never gives up! Cult deity John Saxon is fabulous as the slimy and sardonic villain Albertelli. He only appears on screen after half an hour, but he plays an essential part in the outrageous climax. Sadly enough there's always a shortage of strong women in these movies. The only noteworthy females here are Merli's insignificant love interest and a squealing rape victim. The extended car chase forms the highlight of sheer adrenaline (look out for the little black car that gets rammed into the river) and the shootout in the harbor is unforgettable as well. My hat off to the stuntmen and camera operators that literally risked their lives in order to provide this cult gem with genuine action sequences, shot from imaginative angles and viewpoints.