just watch it!

Deeper than the descriptions

Awesome Movie

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A really good, uncompromising, violent and sexy police thriller with a fabulous lead performance from Gastone Moschin. Just out of jail, he is presented as being stuck between a rock and a hard place as he tries to manoeuvre himself so as not to get re-arrested by the police or killed by his mafia inspired ex-employers. He gives such a solid and believable performance which helps(or hinders) the viewer as we seek the truth in this exciting and twisting tale. Barbara Bouchet is ushered in as an exotic dancer in a wonderful beaded two piece. She gives a great performance, both as a dancer and key figure in this beautifully written piece. The action slows somewhat whenever we return to the police station but the double act of Frank Wolff and Luigi Pistilli and bad cop and good cop, help to keep things moving and Pistilli's dialogue seems to be very much the personal and political thoughts of writer/director Fernando Di Leo. A marvellous rock soundtrack and so, so, 70s decor help to ensure a very watchable, if very violent and thrilling ride.

Director Fernando Di Leo comes up trumps once more with this excellent Italian gangster movie, blessed with an unusual and tricksy plot which is always unfolding and totally unpredictable from start to finish. Whilst the plot is different to the rest of the Italian 'polizia' type crime films, I'm pleased to say that all the genre elements that fans know and love - the music, the characters, the action - are present and correct. Snappy dialogue is mixed in with some fine action set-pieces, including an incredible extended shoot-out in a garden which has to be seen to be believed and probably inspired John Woo's action movies.Strumming guitars make up the lively score which nicely complements the on screen activities. The opening five minutes of this film are simply spectacular, breathtaking, with stylish camera-work and Di Leo's trademark explicit violence involving a woman being savagely beaten and a victim having an unfortunate close shave in a barber's shop. The film that follows is utterly involving and has great casting in form of the leading character, Hugo Piazza, as played by Gastone Moschin. Lacking the youthful good looks that Luc Merenda and Franco Nero brought to their own particular crime films, Moschin is a revelation here and miles away from his mannered bumbling policeman character in the comedy/giallo THE WEEKEND MURDERS. Playing his role understated and subdued, Moschin scores a hit with his realistic and sympathetic character, a kind of mysterious anti-hero you never learn too much about. A great and unusual leading role and one that pays off.The film involves Moschin's fortunes as he finds himself being harassed by some greasy Italian Mafia types. After his tough friend Kino beats them off, Moschin rests easy but it's not long before he has to go and face up to the godfather, played by the ancient Lionel Stander. Stander decides to re-employ Moschin to keep an eye on him, despite the fact that he suspects him of stealing 300,000 dollars in loot. This part is never explained fully but it doesn't matter. From then on, Moschin must go about setting up dangerous drug deals and cold-blooded murders until it all predictably falls apart. The last twenty minutes of this movie are tremendously exciting and end with a couple of unforeseeable twist endings that knocked my socks off.The cast is full of Italian faces familiar to any genre fans. The love interest is played by the welcome Barbara Bouchet, whose finest moment is when she gyrates in a bikini in a sleazy nightclub - the camera is there to follow every trace and curve of her body for the viewer's appreciation. Genre regulars Frank Wolff and Luigi Pistilli lend solid support as policeman and hit-man respectively and scumbag Bruno Corazzari is great as an unfortunate Mafia aide. Best of all, however, is Mario Adorf in a supporting role as psychotic gangster Rocco. Adorf would go on to star in Di Leo's MANHUNT(incidentally a movie that's just as good as this one) but he's just as good here playing the total opposite of his later character, a stressed-out, Joe Pesci type who enjoys torturing people and keeps breaking down. A great role and a nice character twist at the end there for him too.Genre fans looking for a nice bit of GODFATHER-inspired action will find much to love about this movie. Di Leo's trademark explicit violence is present in some cold-blooded murder scenes including a guy getting bumped in the bog and even the ruthless drive-by shooting of a blind man! The ending is classic stuff and as a whole the film is totally successful with only minor flaws that are easy to ignore. Another Italian classic and a film to be tracked down.

Fernando Di Leo was a well-respected director who near-perfected the poliziotteschi genre during the 1970's, taking a genre spear-headed by the likes of Italian film-makers Umberto Lenzi and Carlo Lizzani and delivering tough-as-nails stories about brutish men in a brutish world. Milano Calibro 9, or simply Caliber 9, is one of Di Leo's most highly-regarded works, kicking off his Milieu trilogy (followed by Manhunt and concluded by The Boss) for which he is now best remembered for. And the film is terrific - inspiring future directors such as John Woo and Quentin Tarantino, Milano Calibro 9 begins with an explosion of violence that serves as a warning of what is to come.After a heist that saw a wad of money go missing and the criminals behind it either dead or behind bars, shadowy mafia boss The Americano (Lionel Stander) is left fuming, turning his city upside down in search for his cash. Career criminal Ugo (Gastone Moschin), one of the participants in the robbery, is released from prison and is immediately reprimanded by his psychotic former boss Rocco (Mario Adorf), who fingers Ugo as the culprit. Denying any involvement and trying to go straight, Ugo finds himself pulled back into the criminal world he thought he had left behind by the mafia and the police, the latter trying to pressure him into turning informer. Hooking up with his friend Chino (Philippe Leroy) and girlfriend Nelly (the gorgeous Barbara Bouchet), Ugo plans to turn the tables on his former gang while he still has a fraction of leverage.The film is not without it's problems - occasionally the narrative sags when the action is away from the city's violent underworld, and the sporadic political discussions between the veteran Commissioner (Frank Wolff) and his left-wing underling seem relevant but out of place - but Milano Caliber 9's quality lies within its tone and exhilarating brutality. The opening sees the manic Rocco beat up suspects, tie them together in a cave and blow them up with dynamite. Although the film doesn't maintain the excitement of this early scene, it truly comes alive when the characters - an ensemble of odd-looking barbarians - threaten each other with words, fists, knives or guns. Moschin proves to be a stoic anti-hero, but Adorf steals the show as the arrogant loud-mouth Rocco, resembling Super Mario in a tailored suit and a neater moustache. The twists and turns keep coming right until the end, and left me wanting to see more from a film-maker who has, up to now, completely evaded me.

Crime novels can be rather dull sometimes, but everyone will agree that some are simply excellent - suspenseful, totally unpredictable and with numerous plot twists. This film is apparently based upon one of the excellent ones. Both silly and intelligent viewers will be kept on the edge of their seat until the very ending, which by the way has an unforgettable quote. When a plot like this is coupled with terrific acting and world-class visuals and music -- the result has to be good.Those sympathetic to early seventies fashion and music are in for a real treat. Osanna/Bacalov's music is totally uncompromising and - in my honest opinion - worth a hundred times the entrance money in its own right. This may be the best soundtrack ever! The visuals are also astonishing - timeless in their beauty, but still with a strong flavour of early 70s. And you'll also catch some glimpses of what must be the world's most beautiful woman.In sum, all this simply makes up a classic. NOT TO BE MISSED! (Those who already own the soundtrack, which actually seems easier to find than the movie, should be advised that the movie has alternate versions, all brilliant).