La banda del trucido (1977)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Stelvio Massi

Writers:

Elisa Briganti (screenplay)
Elisa Briganti (story)

Release Date:

8 March 1985 (West Germany)

Genre:

Crime

Plot:

A shoot out after a robbery ends with the death of the Chief of Police. Police detective Ghini goes in search of a suspect...

Plot Keywords:

Poliziottesco

Cast

Luc Merenda	...	Commissario Ghini
Elio Zamuto	...	Belli
Katia Christine	...	Carla
Imma Piro	...	Agnese Rinaldi
Nicoletta Piersanti	...	Maria Ciacci
Alessandra Cardini	...	La matta
Corrado Solari	...	'Chica'
Aldo Barberito	...	Pieri - Journalist
Paolo Bonetti	...	Osvaldo Rinaldi - 'Ranocchia'
Franco Citti	...	Antonio Lanza
Tomas Milian	...	Sergio Marazzi - 'Monnezza'
Rosario Borelli	...	Carrier of Suitcase
Mario Brega	...	Questore Alberti
Massimo Vanni	...	Marchetti
Giuseppe Ruschini		(as Giuseppe Moschini)

Also Known As:

Destruction Force (USA)
Dirty Gang (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

West Germany:84 min (video release)

Country:

Italy

Color:

Color (Gevacolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

France:-16 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) (uncut) | West Germany:16 (nf) (original rating) (cut) | Norway:16 (video premiere)

Company:

Flora Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Il mostro (1977)

Fantastically entertaining Polizi flick!

It seems that 1977 was a busy year for director Stelvio Massi, as he delivered no less than three Polizi flicks, and three very decent ones to boot! Fearless would be my pick of them, but it just slightly edges out this little film; which pits two of the genre's biggest stars against one another. Destruction Force stars pretty boy French actor Luc Merenda as a high ranking police officer, and possibly the greatest Italian actor of all time; Tomas Milian on the other side of the law. This type of film is not famous for it's deep and complex plot lines - there certainly is a reason for that - and this film helps to back up that reputation greatly, as not only does this film have a thin plot; it could be said that it doesn't really have any sort of plot at all, but this is more than made up for courtesy of a constant stream of entertainment that includes both laughs and violence. The film starts off with a shootout that leaves the Chief of Police dead. Newly promoted Detective Ghini resolves to track down the killer, and his search leads him to a restaurant owned by a criminal who runs a class coaching other criminals how to steal without using violence.

As with all of his films, the main standout in this one is definitely Tomas Milian. The great actor cuts a memorable figure in the antagonist role, and most of the reason for that is down to the fact that he's a million miles away from the common Polizi bad guy. He actually seems like quite a decent person in spite of being a criminal and it works well; although the director obviously felt there wasn't enough antagonism in the character as we also get a much nastier villain for our hero detective to track down. Luc Merenda once again puts in a fitting performance in the lead role and he is both good to watch and believable in the action sequences. There is plenty of action too, and it's clear that the director's only intention with this film was to entertain the audience, and the film certainly does do that. There's also a good dose of humour which works very well and doesn't feel out place either. The film on the whole is not brilliant or particularly intelligent, but this genre is never really meant to be; and Destruction Force more than makes up for its lack of substance in entertainment value anyway, and I'm confident that anyone who bothers to track this flick down will enjoy it.