ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Leofwine_draca This Italian crime drama from director Damiano Damiani is a very well directed film; throughout his long career, Damiani has succeeded in making classy films (with the exception of AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION) and this one is no exception. However, it isn't an action film at all, so those looking for gun and fist-fights should look elsewhere. Things kick off with a criminal being released from an asylum; his immediate action is to go gunning for a crime boss who duped him. There's a brief, expertly directed shoot-out, and then the police procedural story of corruption and racketeering really begins.Instead of action, Damiani delivers us a character-focused drama that's presided over by the larger-than-life Martin Balsam as a corrupt police captain. Balsam makes this film work; rather than being presented as a villain, he's a sympathetic character and his minimalist performance really works here. Playing a totally unflappable captain – he doesn't even blanch when presented with evidence of his crimes – he really makes the viewer identify with his aims and methods and Balsam is superb throughout.The film is rather lengthy and slow-paced, and it's more about acting and plot than anything else. Damiani's photography is excellent and the film has a polished veneer to it. Unusually, Franco Nero is present, but as a supporting role rather than a leading character; he's okay, but in comparison to Balsam, he seems wooden, overdoing it. The rest of the cast is filled by hard-faced actors playing various lowlifes, and they're all very effective. The beautiful Marilu Tolo puts in a notable performance as a woman caught up in the mess.Full of some very memorable scenes – the shoot-out, the striking builder lying in his own blood, the ending in the prison – this is a genuinely good film; a little slow and lacking in action for my liking, but with good technical qualities and a nice score from Riz Ortolani, the guy who did the music in the infamous CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. In the end, though, it's Martin Balsam who makes this film so good.

dbborroughs This would have played the grindhouse circuit mostly because its a dubbed Italian crime drama.Story of a police captain/commissioner who is trying to fight mafia infiltration into government using unorthodox methods (he springs one mafia leaders enemy from an insane asylum in the hope he'll tray to kill his foe) who gets hooked up with a prosecutor trying to do the same thing. The plot is much more complicated than that but that should be enough to get you started.This is an excellent little thriller that unjustly has been made to seem as if its pure trash film instead of the griping crime drama it is. I really liked this film a great deal and really want to make an effort to see it again simply because I was watching it much too late to properly enjoy the film and give it its due.Definitely worth a shot-more so since its floating around in the discount bins for as little as a buck.

lazarillo It's ironic that director Damiano Damiani is most famous today for "The Amityville Horror 2", which is somewhat underrated, but no one's idea of a great movie. He has actually made any number of films in many different genres, including at least four superlative ones I've seen in just the last year: "A Bullet for the General", "The Most Beautiful Wife", "How to Kill a Judge" and this one. This is a typical Italian police thriller in some ways, but rather than focusing solely on shoot-outs and high-speed car chases, it is more of a character study of two law enforcement agents, trying to do the right thing while fighting massive high-level corruption, but in very different ways. Martin Balsam is a the titular police captain who is willing to bend the law to go after a corrupt industrial cartel leader. For instance, he gets a sworn enemy of the man and the brother of the man's mistress released from a mental institution to allow him make an assassination attempt on the crooked industrialist. Franco Nero, on the other hand, plays the by-the-book district attorney who's torn between fighting the "corruption" of the police captain and the far more pervasive high-level corruption all around him. The two eventually form an uneasy alliance.An American film would definitely come down in favor of one man or the other (most likely the vigilante police captain), but this film is not afraid to leave the whole matter morally ambiguous. It is also pretty pessimistic in tone, as things don't work out too well for either of them. Balsam and Nero are both great (the latter was also in Damiano's "How to Kill a Judge"). Marilu Tolo (who plays the mistress) is the only other real name actor. She was kind of an enigmatic actress, probably the most Sicilian-looking actress of her era (it's hard to believe she and the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Nero are from the same country). She has a much smaller role than the two men, but still manages to transcend the usual "nice piece" mold women were usually cast in in these types of films.Unfortunately, this is currently available only as a VERY crappy-looking public domain flick on "The Grindhouse Collection Volume 1" DVD set. (The most low-rent bootlegger would be ashamed to sell a customer a DVD-R of a video in as bad of shape and as badly ported as this one). Still if you think the price is right on the whole set or you find it from another source, this is definitely a movie I would recommend to poliziani fans or anybody else.

mag62us This uncompromising look at power and corruption is fascinating. Although I had never heard of the film, the combination of cast, director, and subject matter piqued my curiosity, so I purchased a copy. I am glad I did. While this film is certainly not the most pleasant thing to watch, it does provide a daring insight into the corrupt world of crooked cops on the take and a mafia-controlled system which is frank and disturbing, and must have really been a shock to audiences in 1971. Fine performances and unflinching direction make this movie one which fans of the crime/cop-movie genre will not want to miss.