La legge violenta della squadra anticrimine (1976) User Reviews

Sax is On!

[Bezenby · 6/10 · 5 September 2018]

1976 was a busy year for John Saxon, who notched up five Poliziotesschi films as well as appearing in a half a dozen television shows like the Rockford Files and...other stuff. I think he may have also been a temporary member of Tangerine Dream and was the Pope's double a few times during public appearances, as well as being the manager of Montrose Football Club and a mobile Disc Jockey in East Lancashire for a spell.

Here we find Saxon as a very angry cop in the city of Bari, angry because someone has gunned down a key witness to the mob being jerks and he can't get the guy convicted, not least because the guy is the brother of grizzled, blind mafia boss Lee Cobb and Lee knows how to pull all the strings in town. It also doesn't help that newspaper editor Renzo Palmer has it in for Saxon as he hates the use of police brutality, so his newspaper is always critical of Saxon and his methods.

In fact, the newspaper has just published a story about how Saxon put the beatdown on a young kid when a botched robbery takes place, resulting in the gunning down of a police officer. The three robbers get away, with the killer in particular carjacking someone to get away. Bad move, as the car owner is Lee Cobb's brother, and the car contains a briefcase containing evidence that could put a lot of mobsters away for a long time! Now the killer, who is just a young guy who panicked, has the police, the mob, and the gutter press trying to track him down.

What this film doesn't have is a great deal of action sequences, so if you watch the botched robbery and subsequent car chase and think 'nice' please be aware that not much else happens in that respect. Mostly you have either our guy the killer and his girlfriend talking, or John Saxon and his cops arguing with the Renzo Palmer and his journalists, or Lee Cobb acting blind and putting down his brother for most of the film. There are one or two gunfights here and there, but this is one of them acting films with people acting and not a lot of stuff being blown up. That said, Saxon and Palmer are very watchable as both believe they are doing their best to protect the public, even though they detest each other's methods.

This isn't a bad film at all, but it might be best not too have this too high up on the list of priority films. This is the first Italian film I've watched set in Bari mind you. It looks nice.

Sloppily scripted slow-going actioner runs low on Saxon screen time.

[Aylmer · 5/10 · 16 July 2017]

John Saxon's top cop in an Italian city overflowing with violent crime. This get personal when his top witness gets shot right in front of him while strolling a little too close to the ocean. While personally I thought the idea of hard-headed cop Saxon vengefully tearing the city apart after an assassin would be a great idea for a film, the writer thought it'd be a much better idea to focus everything on another story of a low level bank robber Lino Capolicchio (who becomes the protagonist of the story) and his dealings with obese newspaper editor Palmer.

Much of this film feels extremely mishandled, resulting in some severe plot holes. The key bank robbery sequence near the start suffers from poor editing and writing when the robbers' plan completely falls apart once their driver gets killed. Why no one bothered to just push his body out of the car or into another seat so they can still drive away can't just be chalked up to the characters' nerves. To me it felt like a total contrivance to get them all running around the streets in some tense foot-chases and endless hide-and-seek thrills for the remainder of the film.

The hero-robber Capolicchio's devoted girlfriend's motivation makes no sense at all either. He's wimpy, stupid, and wanted by the police, yet she's loyal to a fault and glued to his hip throughout his ordeal even after he gets her beaten up and nearly killed several times. A blind and bumbling Lee J. Cobb and his total schlub of a lead henchman Alfredo Zammi (who reminds me of an even more grandfatherly version of Roger Corman) have to be the two least threatening villains ever in a Eurocrime movie. If ever a film screamed for Romano Puppo to show up and start bumping people off in random silent hit-man vignettes (a la CONTRABAND), this would be the film. As it is, the drama relies too heavily on contrived tension running in short supply due to some really awkward writing. For Eurocrime completists only.

Italian Crime Film with GOLDEN GLOBE winner John SAXON and ACADEMY AWARD nominee Lee J. COBB

[ZeddaZogenau · 7/10 · 22 October 2023]

Tangible Poliziottesco with GOLDEN GLOBE winner John Saxon and ACADEMY AWARD nominee Lee J. Cobb

This very watchable police and gangster film from Italy was only released on VHS in the old Federal Republic in 1983. The film was directed by Stelvio Massi (1929-2004), who primarily made Poliziottesci with Franco Gasparri and Maurizio Merli. The film was produced by P. A. C. (Produzioni Atlas Consorziate). Filming took place in the beautiful cities of Bari and Trani in beautiful Puglia.

The brother of top gangster Dante Ragusa (Lee J. Cobb in his last role) is released due to the assassination attempt on a prosecution witness. The exemplary motivated Inspector Jacovella (John Saxon) is anything but happy about this. In addition, he is also given hell by the journalist Maselli (Renzo Palmer), who does not appreciate the brutal methods of the daring inspector at all. So you can see the brawny Jacovella giving half a dozen strong whistles to a young bully who is about to pry open a cigarette machine and then - cheekily like Oskar - threaten the inspector with a knife, until it just bangs. A truly magical moment that reveals a lot about the tough character of the assertive law enforcement officer.

In a subplot, young Antonio Biasi (Lino Capolicchio) finally wants to move in with his pretty girlfriend Nadia (Rosanna Fratello). Since there is no money, Antonio is persuaded to take part in a robbery. This goes terribly wrong and after a few complications, the overwhelmed Antonio finds himself being attacked from three sides: the police, the sensationalist press and Don Dante Regusa's mafia henchmen.

This film offers somewhat more reserved acting than one is usually used to from Italian poliziottesci. But there are definitely car chases and shootouts. Spectacular killings are also part of it. However, the plot focuses more on the characters and the connections between the police, the press and the mafia in a small Italian town.

John Saxon (1936-2020) is convincing as an energetic police officer who pursues his goal using all means possible. The Golden Globe winner (1958 as Young Star of the Year) and later FalconCrest star (in the series he played Tony Cumson, the father of Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) / he had a continuous appearance in season 6 (1986/87). ) could be seen in some Poliziottesci in those years. He also had striking supporting roles in films such as "Enter The Dragon" (1973) with Bruce Lee, "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) with George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino and as Rashid Ahmed in the series "Dynasty / The Denver Clan".

Lee J. Cobb (1911-1976) shines as a blind mafia boss who everyone avoids. The actor is known from "The Exorcist" (1973) and as one of the "Brothers Karamazov" (1958).

As Anna Jacovella, the inspector's wife, Antonella Lualdi (born 1931), who appeared alongside Gerard Barray in "Thunder over the Indian Ocean" and alongside Giancarlo Prete in "Don't Shoot on Children", is there.

By the way, at the beginning of the film you see John Saxon's actual son playing with a car racing track. John Saxon also comes up with this scene in the documentary "Eurocrime!", which is well worth seeing. To talk about the worldwide success of the Italian Poliziottesci films in the 1970s.

A Poliziottesco worth seeing that tells a lot about the 1970s and has an unusual setting in the beautiful port city of Bari!

Slow Moving Action Drama.

[Serpent-5 · 26 March 1999]

Paramount Pictures shelved this Italian action film (which is heavy on the drama) that features John Saxon in a suporting role as a cop bend on arresting a blind mafia boss Lee J. Cobb. The film too busy focus on the bank robbers and a newspaper guy Renzo Palmer instead of Saxon's plot which is a misfire to all Saxon fans. The photography and the location is wonderful, but the plot is very extremely slow. Not recommended for someone looking for action films.

Low level Italian crime

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 20 November 2018]

CROSS SHOT is a low level Italian crime film from the usually reliably Stelvio Massi, who must have been having an off day when he made this. A potentially interesting storyline is wasted in a sluggish narrative that fits together various sub-plots that never really gel all that well. On the one hand we have Lee J. Cobb (in his final role) playing a blind crime boss and his entanglements with an assassin; on the other we have John Saxon as a tough cop, appearing for name value only, and off-screen for around an hour of the running time. Elsewhere, way too much screen time is spent on a bank robber who ends up running through the streets after his latest heist ends badly. The film has barely any action and succeeds in wasting all of the familiar actors who appear.

Far more talk than action

[jrd_73 · 3/10 · 26 May 2011]

Flatly directed Italian crime film with John Saxon doing the Dirty Harry routine. The film serves up only a handful of brief, dull action scenes. Instead, the film focuses on a two-way manhunt. A low level hood on the run steals a mobster's car. Inside the car is incriminating evidence which will send a don to prison. The hunt is on with both the police and the mob dogging the young hood. The drama falls flat and the lack of shootouts makes this one a slog. There is some posturing about liberal newsmen and how they get in the way of justice as well as the usual strongarm scenes. That's it for subtext. An infirm looking J. Lee Cobb plays the blind don who stands to go to prison if the car thief isn't found. Director Stelvio Massi also made Convoy Busters, which was an enjoyable Italian actioner. Watch it instead.

Amai! Amai! Amai!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 3 August 2019]

Perhaps I should clarify the odd user-comment's title first. Where I'm from, which is Flanders in Belgium, the curious word "amai" can have several meanings, but it's most frequently used as a term to express astonishment. In the beautiful song playing throughout the opening credits, it really sounds as if the girl is singing "Amai! Amai! Amai!". It's obviously not the case, as she sings "Amare, Amare, Amare" and the song itself is called "Amare Senza Mai Pensare".

Yours truly thinks "Cross Shot" is another amazing entry in fabulous euro-crime genre! It's an exhilarating thriller with an intelligently engaging script, adrenalin-rushing action footage, solid performances from a great cast and a tense atmosphere. The other reviewers around here, however, seem to describe "Cross Shot" as an overly talkative and poorly paced effort in the genre, with a muddled script and a severe shortage of action. Am I a biased fan-boy or are the others exaggeratedly skeptical critics (no offense guys)? The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. It's certainly not the greatest of the Italian "Poliziotesschi" movies of the 70s, but Stelvio Massi adds an original new angle, namely that the typically tough & unorthodox copper receives opposition from a profoundly liberal newspaper editor.

Following a heist gone wrong, young thug Antonio Blasi shoots a police officer and unknowingly carjacks a ride that belongs to a mafia boss. The ill-tempered commissioner Jacovella (the almighty Saxon) doesn't have a clue why the mafia also pursues Blasi, but apparently the car contained a briefcase with enough evidence to put the blind Don Ragusa (J. Lee Cob in his final role) behind bars for a long time. Due to Maselli's left-wing newspaper influencing the public opinion, Jacovella cannot simply hunt down and punish Blasi like he would prefer. Saxon is stellar in the role of embittered cop, usually depicted by Maurizio Merli. "Cross Shot" definitely isn't the wildest and most violent Poliziotesschi out there, but several moments are still extremely brutal and unforgettably violent, most notably the horrendous fate of a poor woman who's taken hostage and eventually thrown out of a car.