
SergioMartino's1973poliziotteschiTheViolentProfessionalsakaMilanoTrema–LaPoliziaVuoleGiustiziadoesn'texactlyreinventthewheel,butit'soneofthebetterexamplesofanoverpopulatedgenre,withLucMerendaplayingthetypicalshoot-first-so-you-don't-have-to-ask-questions-latermaverickcopafterthegangthatkilledhisbossandseveralinnocentbystanders.LikeIsaid,itdoesn'texactlyreinventthewheel,butitdoesmakesureitkeepsturningfairlyefficientlyfor104minutes.It'snotasgoodasitsenthusiasticcultreputationimplies,notleastbecausethebigtwistaboutthemotivebehindaseriesofgratuitouslyviolentbankrobberiesisn'texactlysurprising(liketheRedBrigadesoftheday,therobbersaremoreinterestedinspreadingchaosthangettingrich),butitdoesgetextrapointsforbeingoneofthefewfilmswhere,whenacarcrashesoverahill,itdoesn'texplodeinaballoffireonthewaydown.There'salsoagreatspinontheomnipresentcar-driving-through-stacks-of-empty-cratesshotinonechasescenebyhavingMerenda'scardrivethroughstacksofburningcratesthatwassopopularthefootagewasreusedinatleasttwoothermovies(MilanoOdia:LaPoliziaNonPuòSparareandRomaaManoArmata).RichardConteisthecontractuallyobligatoryAmericanco-star,acquittinghimselfwelldespitesomehilariouslyobviousdoublinginafightscene,TintoBrassregularMartineBrochardmakesanattractivejunkieandthere'sacatchyDeAngelisbrothersscore.







