Hayden Kane
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
tony_le_stephanois
Il giustiziere sfida la città seems a bit uninspired compared with the other poliziotteschi, for example: Milano Calibre 9, Roma Violenta, Napoli Violenta, Almost human. Though this one is made by poliziotto master Umberto Lenzi (who made around three films a year in that period), it is certainly not one of them.The story about one very cool cop who wants revenge on two criminal families, lacks the real energy and the dramatic intensity of the others. Thomas Milan is too cool as a cop, when you compare him with Maurizio Merli (serious mustache), or Franco Nero (intense eyes). We don't really believe that he is pain because he lost his best friend.It's not a Thomas Milan one-man-show like in other films, in which he went all out with his acting abilities (like Milano odia…). He plays his larger than life hero straight in this film. But I think it is ALWAYS a show when he plays a role, last and not least for his sense of what is cool. No actor I know of smokes a cigarette as aesthetically as Milan, and this biker outfit looks terrible on most men, but he could wear it to a fashion show without a problem. Also fashionable are the FABULOUS sunglasses worn by Joseph Cotton, but that was also the most interesting bit about his role, which is as uninspiring as uninspiring can get. Citizen Kane was far, far away.But then there is the music. You'll have to play this film loud, to fully enjoy the marvelous tunes from Franco Micalizzi, who had a lot of work to do in the 70's.A seemingly real life poliziotto story is hidden in the story of actor Duilio Cruciani, who plays the part of Luigino, the son of Milan's brother. He died from an overdose heroin in 1984 when he was only 26 years old. Newspapers from that day mentioned there were already six death of heroin overdose in Rome in that year already (it was only 17 January). Unfortunately there weren't any poliziotteschi anymore to make films about the subject.
Darkling_Zeist
Incestuous bedfellows, Umbeto Lenzi and Tomas Milian team up again for the bellicose Cops an' Robbers mash up ' Sydicate Sadists', while this isn't on par with the legendary sleaze-fest 'Almost Human' it still manages to deliver the requisite amount of gonzoid thrills an' spills that fills chat rooms far an wide with gibbering fan boy praise. Plot adheres rigidly to formula; with Milian playing ex-cop biker, Rambo! whose penchant for revenge is most apropos since he is given ample opportunity for bullet spattered, jaw-cracking retribution after he discovers his brother has been killed; which engenders some relentlessly gritty crime funk grooves by veteran Franco Micalizzi, nutbag bike chases, and all manner of ubiquitous Italian crime overkill. All in all 'Syndicate Sadists' is an entertaining, exploitative riff on, Dashiel Hammet's Red Harvest, and Lenzi/Milian heads are unlikely to be disappointed, although it doesn't quite live up to its blood an' thunder moniker.
Prof-Hieronymos-Grost
Syndicate Sadists is yet another film based on Dashiel Hammett's novel Red Harvest which was adapted more famously by Akira Kurosawa inYojimbo and Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, amongst many others, but it also has some other intriguing origins. Its star Tomas Milian while filming in the US, picked up a cheap novel at the airport by David Morrell entitled First Blood a tale of a special forces soldier by the name of John Rambo, Milian was intrigued by the character but wanted to stay away from violent sadistic roles he had become famous for in films like Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare (1974). So together with Lenzi and Luciano Martino they agreed to blend both stories together in a modern crime drama. While the film has some resemblances to both films its different enough to stand alone as an interesting film. Milian is excellent as the odd, scruffy biker with a heart, that turns to violence to avenge the murder of his brother by one of a group of rival crime gangs, he was investigating. Milian decides to play both sides against each other, his unkempt image, floppy red hat and large goggles, perhaps luring the criminals into a false sense of security that costs them dearly in some increasingly violent confrontations. Not Milian or Lenzi's best but still very watchable. Joseph Cotten also puts in a turn as one of the crime bosses, in what surely must be THE most wooden performance by the man ever, at one point he actually looked like a Gerry Anderson puppet…no really! For once the Italian didn't steal an idea, they had Rambo first. Oh and watch out for an homage to Steve McQueen.[
bensonmum2
Tomas Milian is Rambo - a biker who arrives in Milan right in the middle of a war between two crime families. When his brother, a member of a kidnap investigation team, is killed, Rambo seeks revenge. He pits the two families against each other in hopes that they will destroy themselves so he can free the young boy being held for ransom.Syndicate Sadists was a blind purchase for me and I couldn't be more thrilled. This marks one of my first forays into the Italian sub-genre known as Polizia (or whatever the correct word is). And, I must say that I'm thrilled to have discovered these movies. If some of the others that I have on order (Contraband and Revolver) are half as good, I'll be delighted.I always have a good time watching Tomas Milian. He may come across as a conceited jerk in some of his interviews, but he has good reason. He never fails to entertain. His character, Rambo (please note that this movie was made long before First Blood), is one of my favorites. He's tough, compassionate, and mysterious.The action and gunplay are great. Between the gun fights and chase scenes, there is plenty of action to go around. One of my favorite scenes in the movie was the relatively calm showdown at the end between Rambo and the head of one of the families. Any movie that puts Milian and the scene-chewing Joseph Cotton together is a Euro-film lover's wet dream.If the brief description of the plot sounds familiar, don't be surprised. Once the movie got rolling, I said to myself on a number of occasions that it reminded me of A Fistful of Dollars. Imagine my surprise when my notion was confirmed while watching the interview with Lenzi on the DVD. He freely admitted that the story was inspired by Leone's film.
