Ted Danson’s review published on Letterboxd:
Oh yes. Oh YES! WHAT. A. FILM! BRAVO!
I do love a good 1970's Italian crime film. The incessant chain smoking, the Alfa Romeo's, the bars and restaurants, magnificent flares whose bell bottoms span the width of several city canals, flamboyant disco scenes. I could go on but I needn't, suffice that this film has it all and more!
The story is essentially a revenge tale of a city fed up with being pushed around by crime and racketeering. The mobsters push and push to get their way until finally the citizens snap and take back their livelihoods!
The simplicity of the story is only enhanced further by some tremendous direction and photography. You get it all here, the guerilla style shots so beloved by directors like Paul Greengrass mix it up with superb vehicle-mounted angles and great pans and zooms typical of the era. The finale is captured exceptionally well, giving a sense of panic, claustrophobia and high energy urgency.
You get a typical, dramatic and forceful score to accompany the action (as well as some absolutely mega disco music) which never really veers toward being anywhere over the top, taking nothing away from the rest of the film.
The cast turn in some good performances. There's a couple of so-so moments but nothing you'd find yourself cringing or facepalming at. Mario Merola turns in an especially outstanding performance as the no-nonsense shipyard owner who will absolutely and under no circumstances take any BS!
As the film progresses the tension builds and builds until the final climax unfolds in a blaze of what can only be described as total and utter, full fat, full beans, no holds barred ultraviolence that only Italian films of the 1970's could deliver. The final fight is quite literally pure, unadulterated violence on a biblical scale!
I went in to this film completely blind and I am so glad I did. It's tremendous. A huge success all around. I understand a blu ray release is due imminently. I'll be first in line to snap up a copy.
What. A. Film.
Epic.
9000/10