Roma violenta (1975)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Marino Girolami

Writers:

Vincenzo Mannino (screenplay)
Vincenzo Mannino (story)

Release Date:

28 May 1976 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Plot:

A detective sick and tired of the rampant crime and violence in his city, and constantly at odds with his superiors...

Plot Keywords:

Criminal | Violence | Milan Italy | Robbery | Revenge

Cast

Maurizio Merli	...	Commissario Betti
Richard Conte	...	Avv. Sartori
Silvano Tranquilli	...	Capo della Squadra mobile
Ray Lovelock	...	Biondi
John Steiner	...	Franco 'English' Spadoni
Daniela Giordano	...	Erika
Attilio Duse
Giuliano Esperanti		(as Giuliano Esperati)
Marcello Monti	...	The Chink
Consalvo Dell'Arti
Luciano Rossi	...	Delivery Man
Pippo Pollaci
Marco Stefanelli	...	Grocery Store Robber
Brunello Chiodetti
Ruggero Diella	...	Boy Killed on Bus

Also Known As:

Forced Impact (UK) (video title)
Violent City (USA)
Violent Rome (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

Brazil:89 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 (video version) | Denmark:15 (video premiere) | Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Mincio Square, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Flaminia Produzioni Cinematografiche

Trivia:

Final film of Richard Conte.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: While Biondi is given physical therapy for his paralysis, he wiggles his toes slightly on his supposedly paralyzed leg.

Movie Connections:

Spin off Italia a mano armata (1976)

By no means a polizioto classic, but completists will enjoy it

I think my fellow reviewers are overstating things a bit. Roma Violenta is by no means a bad movie, but it does nothing any number of poliziotteschi films can't do better and it doesn't impress with what it does either.

Maurizio Merli plays another inspector, this time Commisarrio Betti. There's a healthy number of car chases, fistfights, gundowns and just about anything you would expect from a film of this kind, but it's all done with such a workmanlike air from Marino Girolami (Castellari's father) that I couldn't help but glance at my watch every now and then. Girolami does Roma Violenta with the get-it-over-with attitude of a professional instead of the enthusiasm of a fan. Get in, take the master shot, take the close-ups, get it over with cos there's a paycheck in the end. No imagination whatsoever. I can imagine him on set crossing things off a list: "Car chase? Check. Fistfight? Check".

Polizioto fans that need their fix will be satisfied by Roma Violenta, but if you haven't seen true genre classics like The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist, Almost Human or La Mala Ordina, then Roma Violenta can wait.