A decidedly lighter tone lingers in Tomas Milian and Umberto Lenzi's next pairing after the dark and demented MILANO ODIA. This time around, Milian plays Rambo, a drifter who rides on a motorcycle from town to town teaching things to kids and reluctantly getting involved in anti-gang activities. Once his goofball security guard friend gets killed after snooping around a little too close to a kidnapping scheme, Rambo decides to hatch his own Yojibo-like plan to get all the local gangs to kill each other. However, they unexpectedly prove slightly smarter than you'd expect and end up teaming up to fight together against our hero, albeit with no better results than they'd have otherwise.
Right from the get-go, I knew it was going to be good just judging by the opening credits and how many of the usual "Euro-Henchmen" receive top billing. Riccardo Petrazzi, Adolfo Lastretti, Bruno Di Luia, Mario Novelli, Benito Pacifico, Claudio Ruffini, Giuseppe Castellano, and Luciano Pigozzi would go on to make type-cast careers as henchmen and goons throughout the rest of the 70's owing largely to how well this movie worked out. Even Antonio Casale, the "Brion James" of Italian 70's crime movies, pops by to lend us another sweaty, ugly face for our hero to beat to a pulp and put a bullet in. Sadly we're missing only Nello Pazzafini, Biagio Pelligra, Bruno Corazzari, any Dell'Acqua's, Peverello's, or Sal's Borghese and Billa. Toss in a Sergio Smacchi and our henchman reunion would be complete.
With all the potential and solid cast of villains for Rambo to beat up and shoot, the film doesn't quite hit the high notes that later films like VIOLENT NAPLES or ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH would the next year. There's a distractingly silly Micalizzi score and the plot contains enough holes and slow spots to take this down a notch. Best for genre completists or those interested in seeing the true genesis of Milian's later "Nico Giraldi" character. Notable mostly for a demented scene in which a female character gets unintentionally beaten to death by a gang of clueless hit-men.
Right from the get-go, I knew it was going to be good just judging by the opening credits and how many of the usual "Euro-Henchmen" receive top billing. Riccardo Petrazzi, Adolfo Lastretti, Bruno Di Luia, Mario Novelli, Benito Pacifico, Claudio Ruffini, Giuseppe Castellano, and Luciano Pigozzi would go on to make type-cast careers as henchmen and goons throughout the rest of the 70's owing largely to how well this movie worked out. Even Antonio Casale, the "Brion James" of Italian 70's crime movies, pops by to lend us another sweaty, ugly face for our hero to beat to a pulp and put a bullet in. Sadly we're missing only Nello Pazzafini, Biagio Pelligra, Bruno Corazzari, any Dell'Acqua's, Peverello's, or Sal's Borghese and Billa. Toss in a Sergio Smacchi and our henchman reunion would be complete.
With all the potential and solid cast of villains for Rambo to beat up and shoot, the film doesn't quite hit the high notes that later films like VIOLENT NAPLES or ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH would the next year. There's a distractingly silly Micalizzi score and the plot contains enough holes and slow spots to take this down a notch. Best for genre completists or those interested in seeing the true genesis of Milian's later "Nico Giraldi" character. Notable mostly for a demented scene in which a female character gets unintentionally beaten to death by a gang of clueless hit-men.