Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Another blazing mafia movie from Fernando di Leo, the ace who brought us CALIBRE 9 and MANHUNT, THE BOSS is a cold and violent film that purports to "show it how it is", ie. depict the everyday life of members of a small-town mafia without glossing over any of the hard facts or making it a sentimental family movie. Indeed the characters are unapproachable and unlikable, the film doesn't offer us one sympathetic person in the whole film. Instead we are asked to identify with Henry Silva's stone-faced leading character, a ruthless killer who doesn't think twice of bumping off the father figure who adopted him fifteen years previously for "the family" and who spends his time massacring people or beating women.Silva is great in the lead, by the way. You definitely would not mess with this guy if you saw him in the street. He's one of the hardest characters I've yet to see in a movie. What can you say when the opening set-up shows him offing a bunch of rivals at a porn cinema by using a grenade launcher to literally blow them into bloody ribbons? Di Leo's knack of blending engaging edge-of-your-seat action with gripping plot twists and plentiful betrayals keeps the film full of energy and the body count keeps rising and rising after the opening massacre. I'd say at least three dozen guys get killed during the course of this movie. The film itself is very drab-looking, with lots of dark greys and browns making up the sets and there isn't a lot of happiness in the movie. Instead THE BOSS focuses on themes of loyalty, friendship, loss, and the human determination to survive.Richard Conte takes the role of the aged Don Corasco and is great in the significant role, as you would expect from a pro. There are also standouts from the supporting cast – Gianni Garko's slimy cop is really loathsome for instance, and Antonia Santilli makes an impact as the daughter of the Don, typically getting abused and used by the bad guys (Di Leo must really hate women judging by his movies). There are lots of great turns from stalwart supports like Howard Ross and Andrea Aureli who keep their scenes lively, and maximum amounts of suspense and tension are thrown in at keys points to give the movie a knife-edge atmosphere. The action scenes are dynamic and extremely violent. Cars and buildings explode, there are shoot-outs, flick knives in mouths, loads more hard-hitting footage. These elements make the film great addition to the Italo crime genre.

Rugged and vindictive gang leader Cocchi (surperbly played with live-wire brio by Pier Paolo Caprioli) survives a bombing at a movie theater and vows revenge on both cold, ruthless hit-man Nick Lanzetta (a deliciously vicious and remote portrayal by Henry Silva) and steely, formidable Don Carrasco (a fine performance by Richard Conte). This sets off a chain of violence which threatens to destroy everyone involved in this fierce dispute between two warring rival Mafia factions. Writer/director Fernando Di Leo once again proves that he was one of the most capable and underrated filmmakers to ever work in the Italian crime thriller genre: the hard, gritty and uncompromising tone never gets remotely silly or sappy, the outbursts of raw brutality are truly jarring, the action set pieces are staged with considerable skill and flair (the bombing which opens the picture is especially exciting), the surprise ending is quite powerful, and there's a pleasing amount of tasty sex and yummy female nudity to further spice up the already engrossing proceedings. Moreover, we even get some pointed social criticism about prejudice against non-Sicilians in the Italian mob and how the lack of order and discipline creates chaos within the Mafia. The super acting from the top-rate cast also warrants praise: veteran supporting bad guy thespian Silva excels in a rare substantial lead, Gianni Garko marvelously snivels it up as wormy corrupt cop Commisario Torri, Claudio Nicastro does well as the excitable Don Giuseppe D'Aniello, and the lovely Antonia Santilli steams up the screen with her sizzling turn as D'Aniello's jaded, yet alluring junkie whore daughter Rina. Franco Villa's crisp cinematography gives the film an attractive glossy look. Luis Enriquez Bacalov's groovy, moody, syncopated score totally hits the funky pulsating spot. A bit too talky and a tad sluggish in spots, but overall a most worthy item.

The other reviewers are right. It may be an incredibly statement to make, especially since there are so many classic and legendary milestone titles in the genre, but "The Boss" may very well be one of the greatest mafia films ever made! This movie is strictly 100% hardcore-to-the-bone excitement, with ultra-sadistic characters, nasty double-crossings, merciless executions and explosive vendettas that require urgent and bloody settlements. There are no good or loyal characters in Fernando Di Leo's depiction of Palermo's mafia… There are only vicious and emotionless gangsters that would butcher their own parents in order to climb one small step up the Sicilian ladder of power & influence. Even the main character, flawlessly portrayed by Italian cult icon Henry Silva, is a totally relentless bastard that violates women and betrays his closest relatives in exchange for more money and power. Watching this film in all its gritty and violent glory, it's almost depressing to realize that large parts of the script were based on factual events as they occurred in crime-infested Italy during the early 70's. The DVD's commentary track even states that some of the situations were so damn realistic that director Di Leo and other members of the crew had to live with fear for acts of retribution by the local mafia. "The Boss" easily surpasses the status of entertainment and it's even more than just a cult film; this is essential revolutionary cinema! The movie opens insanely brilliant, with Sicilian mafia pawn Nick Lanzetta (Silva) executing most members of a rivaling clan inside a pornography theater. But he doesn't use normal artillery, oh no… He uses a genuine grenade-launcher which turns his targets into steaming little piles of humanoid waste! The pace naturally slows down a bit after this terrific intro, but the dialogs and the story remain utterly compelling and the cast of vile characters that gets introduced is nearly endless, including a sleazy attorney, a nymphomaniac crime lord's daughter and – my personal favorite - a sarcastically venting chief of police. Following the bloody massacre at the cinema, the last remaining leader of the other mafia family wants revenge and he kidnaps the only daughter of Don Giuseppe Daniello. Lanzetta is sent to free her, but treacherous deals are closed everywhere, even within the eminent Daniello family and with the local commissioner of police. The plot is – as usually the case in Italian cult cinema – very convoluted and occasionally difficult to follow, but the action sequences are delicious and several of the plot twists are unpredictable and downright shocking. Henry Silva is phenomenal in his role of relentless killer. His facial expressions never change (he never even smiles) and he's ultimately cruel and professional when it comes to doing his "job". Gianni Garko, playing the commissioner, is splendid as well, particularly when he aggressively shouts at the relatives of dead gangsters because their crying and mourning upsets him! How tactful! The music adds an even grimmer atmosphere to the story and the roughly edited cinematography makes the wholesome appear even more realistic. "The Boss" is the final entry in Fernando Di Leo's trilogy revolving on Italy's circle of organized crime, and the other two "Milano Calibre .9" and "Man Hunt" are supposed to be even better than this one. Personally I haven't seen them yet, but if the rumors are true then Di Leo deserves a statue for his accomplishments in cult cinema.

This movie shows it like it is. In this movie Ferdinando di Leo was brave enough to use real unofficial incidents that were happening at the time,he even used some real names, or changed some by changing only a letter from the name, After this movie came, Ferdinando became paraniod that someone was going to "take care of him" for the content of this movie but nothing happend. This movie is great because, Di Leo doesn't make out the characters to be charismatic role models, but the cold blood assassins they really are. I give this movie 2 thumbs up. Plus and the end of the movie it sais to be continued, but not because theirs going to be a sequel, but becuase he just did a piece of mafia history, and the mafia continues, no good endings or bad endings, just a piece of history.