A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.

"Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare" aka. "Almost Human" of 1973 is a brutal and brilliant Poliziottesco, one of the most uncompromising films of its genre, coming along with an ingenious score by none other than Ennio Morricone. Apart from the brilliant score, the brutal, uncompromising violence, the raw atmosphere and gripping story it is furthermore two of the greatest stars in Italian 70s cinema that make "Milano Odia" an absolute must-see for lovers of cult cinema. imbd comment

This is Corbuchi's third entry in a series of cop-thrillers featuring Thomas Millian as inspector Nico Giraldi. This series features more humor than other Italian cop-thrillers. They also contain less violence and less of a political statement. And worst of all there is hardly a story-line. Instead the movie focuses on Millian as a fun-loving member of a anti-theft squad. This particular movie is even a step down from it's earlier entry's. If you're looking for comedy go for it, but if you're looking for a good example of an Italian cop-thriller with lots of action, violence, corruption, and a revenge-theme you'll have to look elsewhere.

While keeping an eye on his small time crook brother in law, Inspector Nico Giraldi gets involved in a murder case set in the world of Formula One racing. Giraldi is suspended for trying to cover up for his brother in law and becomes afraid his wife and son may be targeted next. Therefore he calls in the help of his childhood friend and chief informant, Venticello.

I didn't much like this film when I first saw it ten or twelve years ago, but I was probably expecting a serious, fast-paced, violent Italian crime film as many of Tomas Milian's mid-70s films were. However this one emphasizes the comedy at least as much as the action, although it is still a successful package and the comedy/crime mixture works well. I haven't see all the later films (which ran well into the 1980's) with Milian as unconventional police inspector Nico Giraldi, but the one after this THE GANG THAT SOLD America, which also features a lot of US location shooting, does not work that well in my opinion and is full of dated pop culture references and unfunny humor. The first scene of LITTLE ITALY--as a dirty old man is looking through binoculars at a lady undressing...while his apartment is completely stripped clean by robbers only a few feet away from him!--sets the tone for the film. The plot, such as it is, takes Milian to New York and eventually to Las Vegas (and eventually to the gas chamber in Nevada in an outrageous climax!), and there's lots of great location footage of him walking along the old Vegas strip circa 1978. Eli Wallach appears (though his voice doesn't!) as a mafia don, in a role that didn't require much of this fine actor, but he plays comedy well and is good in the scenes involving his underlings, his red-haired wallflower oversexed daughter, and Milian (the scene in the Italian restaurant where Milian throws a pizza in the face of one of Wallach's underlings is classic!). Bombolo, who appears in a number of these later Nico Giraldi films, is a fine comic foil for Milian, and they have a good chemistry. I've yet to see the 1980's entries in this series (any kind soul out there with extra copies?), but in LITTLE ITALY the series still has some life in it, and Bruno Corbucci makes the mix of lowbrow Italian comedy and Italian police action work well. Not a classic, and action-oriented fans will be let down, but Milian fans will enjoy it.

Emergency Squad/Squadra Volante (the latter actually translating as 'Flying Squad') is an okayish no-budget poliziotteschi that there's absolutely no reason to watch but which fills the time slightly better than expected if you do. The usual cop out to find his wife's killer plot suffers from having a lead who is barely present (the usually reliable Tomas Milian is a surprisingly dull turn in an almost non-existent role), but there are a few minor flourishes (such as Milian imagining crooks standing in front of the targets in a pistol range) and it fulfils every exploitation film's remit: always include an explosion for the trailer and book a helicopter for one day's shooting. The best moment comes not in the film itself but on the DVD extras in a brief but rambling interview with the film's dying director, Stelvio Massi, when he tries to remember the name of some American director who wrote him a fan letter until his wife suddenly remembers: "Tarantino?" "Yes, I think that's it."

In Italy this is considered a B-movie. Anyway it is a sort of thriller, very rich in strange and funny characters, sometimes a little exaggerated. Dialogues are often based on Roman dialect which could be difficult to understand (sometimes it is even for Italians). Among conversations, there's a lot of gags, especially between two main characters, Nico Giraldi and Venticello, representing people coming from the same poor, post-war background. One of them is a policeman (Nico), the other one (Venticello) is a definitely unlucky, ignorant, little thief. Once were friends. In a way, they still are. The main soundtrack theme is obsessive and distressing, creating a suspense that's difficult to imagine. I saw this movie several times, but from time to time I like to watch it again, just for fun. A movie rich of rude dialogs and scenes that make you laugh even before any of the characters has the chance to speak. It could be considered a B-movie but I think that soon it will be re-evaluated.

Maurizio Merli and Tomas Milian star in probably the most typical, yet completely enjoyable Italian crime movie by Umberto Lenzi. With a blazing soundtrack by Franco Micalizzi and some exciting camerawork by Federico Zanni, this film is fast-paced and furious although the narrative makes relatively little sense. This reminds me of THE RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS, a film Dardano Sacchetti also penned, which was completely fun and enjoyable although it didn't make any sense whatsoever. The best scenes in this movie have to be the extended car chases. Milian hijacks an ambulence and kills all the people on board for no reason. When it crashes in a crowded flea market, Milian jumps out of the ambulence and just starts randomly firing his sub-machine gun into the crowd to create enough confusion to get away. Another great scene has a gang of upper-class teenagers led by the baby-faced Stefano Patrizi who get bored of nightclubbing and proceed to rape a girl and beat up her boyfriend in a vacant lot. Patrizi is wholely unsympathetic as he punches the boyfriend in the gut repeatedly and knees him in the face, then making weird gestures with a nearby piece of wood. Merli later pops by their nightclub and smashes Patrizi's face right through a pinball machine and then simultaneously beats the tar out of the six or so members of the gang! This film comes fast and furious. Good performances all around by a veteran cast (with Arthur Kennedy, Ivan Rassimov, and Luciano Pigozzi along for the ride). It's not the most coherent of Lenzi's works, but it's definitely a genre classic. imdb comment

Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another. The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!

A young Italian noblewoman plots with her lover and her family to murder her abusive father leading to an uproar in the community and the Roman Catholic church set in 16th Century Italy.

Third-rate GODFATHER clone is so clearly patterned after the Francis Coppola blockbuster that the end result, despite the occasional felicities, is doubly disappointing: Tomas Milian, the consigliori of the title, naturally has the Robert Duvall role; Martin Balsam steps in for Brando as the Don and also suffers an attempt on his life (while visiting his wife's grave); there is also a death scene featuring a bullet-ridden car a' la James Caan's demise in GODFATHER and another one in a restaurant (with the owner unceremoniously dumped into the furnace while still alive); a violent retribution (this time against rebellious mafioso Francisco Rabal and his renegade gang) juxtaposed with a religious ceremony (here a village procession); Balsam and Milian fleeing to their Sicilian homeland with Rabal in pursuit, etc. The film also features Euro-Cult favorites Dagmar Lassander (wasted as Milian's girl) and Edoardo Fajardo (in a small role towards the end, as a Sicilian Mafioso whose "godfather" had been Milian's father!) but, unfortunately, they contribute next to nothing to the mix. Although the version of the film I watched was in Italian, the gangsters (particularly Balsam) have a habit of slipping into English ("Yu-unna-stan", "Well", "Busy-ness", etc.) perhaps to show that they've been living for far too long in America but, frankly, I couldn't help laughing when at the end the mortally-wounded Milian (riding away in a car after the final showdown with Rabal) has to listen to Balsam rattling away one "Damn Bastard" after another without letting the old man know that he was done for; it practically reminded me of those scenes in AIRPLANE! (1980) showing the various passengers sitting next to Robert Hays who end up doing the craziest things to themselves so long as they're spared from listening to his life story! As usual with this kind of film, the music is an asset and Riz Ortolani's lush score here is no exception.

Mlle de Maupin escapes from her uncle's castle, invaded by Hungarian troops, under the guise of a clergyman named Theodore. An army recruiter forces Theodore to enlist in the King's army, and not even the religious robe is an insurance against it. Theodore is assigned to be aide-de-camp to Alcibiade, a man as virile in combat, as he seems troubled for the figure of his aid... D'Albert, an aristocrat, will expose Theodore's true sex, and after a number of confusing, comedy situations, Alcibiade will appease his troubled feelings.

Urania Cabral returns to Santo Domingo, after several years, and remembers her and her family's relationship to Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican dictator, as well as the events surrounding his assassination.

History Professor Brad Fletcher heads west for his health, but falls in with Solomon Bennett's outlaw gang. Fascinated by their way of life, Fletcher finally takes over the gang, leading with a new 'efficient' ruthlessness.

A black-out occurs during the meeting of a gang of criminals. When the light is back one of them is found killed with a stab on his back and all the clues point to a penniless man who had an argument with the victim a short time before the murder.