Popular reviews

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  Review by Sean Baker 1

  Another fun Lenzi.

  "Life is just one hole. You start from a hole, you feed yourself through a hole, you shit from a hole, you finish up in a hole."

  Watched the 88 Films Blu-ray.

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  Review by Mandrakegray ★★★½ 7

  R.I.P. Tomás Milián
  (1933 - 2017)

  "Life is just one hole
  You start from a hole
  You feed yourself through a hole
  You shit from a hole
  You finish up in a hole...
  ...and the one in this barrel can put you into that last hole."

  Ah, the philosophical musings of Rambo...the lead character played by Tomás Milián in Umberto Lenzi's solid 1975 poliziotteschi outing (one of two he made that year, the other being "Manhunt in the City"). Rambo is a motorcycle riding badass who decides to return to Milan to visit his good friend, who now works for a security company offering protection from the mafia. His pal investigates the kidnapping of a young boy...and ends up brutally…

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  Review by Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti" ★★★★★

  "Syndicate Sadists" is a 1975 Poliziotteschi film directed by Umberto Lenzi. Continuing along this trail of Violent Streets, a connective box set put together by the good folks of Severin on the collaborative blending of Tomas Milian under the directorial eye of Lenzi, we next come across the "Syndicate Sadists". This film excellently pushes Milian, who was completely excellent as the nihilistic villain in "Almost Human" (1974), to the role of a fly-by-the-breeze ex-cop hero type. Ironically, it's a bit of the same loose framed molding of things as Milian cruises in and out of the fluctuations of life, but this time in the vein of good as a character named Rambo. Go figure Milian is cool enough to pull…

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  Review by Karl ★★★½ 4

  Before Sylvester Stallone carried the Rambo name, Thomas Milian did! The wild classically trained Cuban actor, who mainly did Italian films, should be credited for this bit of obscure film trivia. To be fair he just took the name from the novel "First Blood". Still he's a loner with a good heart who's not going to take any shit from scum who kidnap children. Rambo is a cool cat donned in a leather jacket riding a motorcycle.

  Milian worked with director Umberto Lenzi many times. While this isn't quite up to the level of the likes of "Almost Human", it's still an enjoyable watch. It has a more sentimental streak compared to their other collaborations (at least from what I've…

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  Review by Slig001 ★★★½

  Syndicate Sadists may not be the best Italian crime film but it certainly has a lot going for it. This is the genre that Umberto Lenzi really excelled at, and this film sees him pairing up with regular colaborator Tomas Milan, who plays one of his coolest characters in the form of Rambo; a sharp shooting, motorcycle riding, beanie hat wearing vigilante who is out to cause the destruction of two warring families in the middle of a kidnapping. The film falls down a bit because the plot (a spin on Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars) really is all over the place and lacks tension at times. But there's generally plenty going on; all the scenes that see Rambo riding his…

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  Review by Jordan James Brooks 🤠 ★★★★

  “Life is just one hole. You start from a hole, you feed yourself through a hole, you shit from a hole, you finish up in a hole. And the one in this barrel can put you into that last hole.”

  The unstoppable force of Umberto Lenzi and Tomas Milian is never lost on me. Syndicate Sadists follows the typical formula, but it’s way above your average Eurocrime flick and makes for some top tier late night viewing. A tightly written script filled with emotion and grit, with a helluva lot of action and yet another unforgettable performance from genre god, Milian. What starts as a wholesome, tongue-in-cheek excursion between two brothers reunited, soon takes dramatically twisted turn involving murder and…

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  Review by Richie_Rott ★★★½ 2

  "Listen, Conti; life is just one hole. You start from a hole, you feed yourself through a hole, you shit from a hole, you finish up in a hole. And the one in this barrel can put you into that last hole."

  When I heard Umberto Lenzi had made a Rambo movie that predated 'First Blood' I was sold instantly. OK this is just your standard Italian Poliziotteschi. That's not even that violent compared to others. Tomas Milan plays a badass for hire named Rambo who takes down bad guys for the cops. Entertaining enough with some cool bursts of action. Sadly the blowtorch on the cover never comes into play and Telly Savalas isn't in it.

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  Review by Bob McQueen ★★★

  Been awhile since I had a coffee and eurocrime day so I threw on this jam starring Tomas Milian playing a cool AF Rambo, the cop who gets caught up in kidnapping and mob shenanigans! Rambo doesn't play by the book, he skims a little off the top and uses dum-dum bullets to splatter the walls with mobster brains!! I mean, I kinda wish that was the case, it's not as violent as I coulda been, he did threaten to splatter brains, there are shootouts, all the while he stays calm and cool.

  The version on Prime (through Fandor) is atrocious, definitely in dire need of a restore and it's also dubbed.......

  You can make a fun drinking game outta this by taking a shot every time someone says his name, Rambo. Actually, you might be too drunk to continue past the halfway mark they say it so often.

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  Review by Gregor Kreyca ★★★½ 2

  Syndicate Sadists is a much more entertaining and enjoyable movie than the title and poster would suggest. Tomas Milian seems to be in a more relaxed and playful mood here. He is always fun to watch and here he definitely plays a much more sympathetic character than usual. The whole thing is a mix of kidnapping thriller and revenge movie. It’s well shot, has some good action and director Umberto Lenzi keeps the plot focused and the foot on the gas pedal. A fun time, even on a rewatch! Part of the Severin Films Violent Streets Blu-ray box set.

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  Review by Gary K ★★★½

  Another fun Lenzi Poliziotteschi starring Tomas Millian.

  This time Millian is a drifter named Rambo who gets into action with this friend is taken down by a Milan gang. Millian steps in and starts playing one gang against the other. Apparently Millian wanted to do an adaptation of the First Blood book, but calling his character Rambo was about as far as he got with that.

  This is also one of the few times I've seen Millian play a decent, relatively sane character and it was definitely refreshing, but I sort of missed his unhinged energy. Still, he was great and a compelling presence throughout even if they used a motorcross champion for all the motorcycle scenes.

  I also loved how they shoehorned in a cool little karate sequence. The pool hall fight was terrific and the final showdown worked super well.

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  Review by jc1973 ★★★½ 4

  Did you ever see the movie where John Rambo pits two crime families against each other in order to avenge a friend and save a kidnapped child. Well that is the plot of this flick directed by Umberto Lenzi that came out several years before 1982's First Blood. Now in all truthfulness Thomas Milan's character here sports none of the iconography that has become associated with the character. For one he's a biker from italy, not a Vietnam veteran from Arizona. Instead of running around shirtless with a bandana his wardrobe is more reminiscent of Al Pacino, (who coincidentally was once considered for the role of Rambo) as Serpico. Also, the largest gun he wields is a hunting rifle and…

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  Review by Will Sloan ★★★

  Tomas Milian plays a man named Rambo.

  To the list of great filmmakers for whom he acted, Joseph Cotten must have been thrilled to add Umberto Lenzi.