Another feather in the cap for director Umberto Lenzi and star Tomas Milian, this ultra-slick crime flick is a fine example of the "polizia" genre at its paciest and most fun: what starts off looking like a silly comedy-action film like THE COP IN BLUE JEANS soon takes a darker turn and becomes more serious, ending up as a tough thriller with a high body count and lots of cheesy stunts. The hero role of Rambo is taken by Tomas Milian this time around (usually playing a crippled or sadistic villain in Lenzi films from the period) and it's a great part: Rambo (no relation to the Sly Stallone character - this one came first) is an unshaven, masked motorbike-riding outlaw who has a thing about justice prevailing and murdering bad guys. As he's not part of the law he instead works around it, taking on the criminal gangs himself and turning them against each other. What's funniest about this film is the almost total lack of police presence! Gangs tear up the city and kill each other and they're nowhere in sight. Rambo's motorbike is gazed at lovingly by Lenzi's camera and he takes every opportunity to show off the sleek chrome bodywork, especially in lots of cheesy bike-jumping stunts that punctuate the action.
Rambo also knows his own unique brand of karate, meaning we get lots of demonstrations as he effortlessly beats up thugs in a pool hall and takes on a room of practising karate students! The film begins as Rambo visits the home of an old pal, who has joined a police group and insists that Rambo does the same. Being a good-natured chap he helps to capture a few saboteurs and minor criminals. After the characters have been introduced, Rambo's buddy ends up getting violently murdered when he's close to cracking a kidnapping case - hardly surprising, seeing as he is set up for murder ever since his first appearance. Rambo decides to follow in his pal's footsteps and finds himself involved with two criminal gangs, led by ageing crime boss Paterno and slimy villain Conti. At first he successfully turns the two gangs against each other, causing much bloodshed, but then they wise up and turn against him. A tide of retribution and revenge follows with casualties on all sides.
Nearly every technical element of the film is perfect. Cinematography, stunts, pacing, action, chases and dialogue all slot in nicely to the story. The only thing lacking is the music, which is a little sub-par for a Lenzi flick and not snazzy enough. Once again Lenzi has assembled an accomplished team of actors (most of whom were working in films back-to-back for the director) for his cast. Supporting the ever-excellent Milian are the exquisitely slimy Luciano Catenacci as the villain Conti and good old Luciano Pigozzi as a thug. The experienced Ida Galli and Shirley Corrigan play minor female roles whilst the retired Mafia don Paterno is played by American import actor Joseph Cotten. All in all a nice mix who fit their roles perfectly.
As well as the many pacy car and bike chases that speed through the film, there are a couple of shoot-outs which deserve note. The first is the attack on Conti's warehouse operation by Paterno's guys dressed as police. Lots of bloody machine-gun shootings and spraying bullet action ensues. For the film's under siege set-piece finale, there's a shoot-out in the grounds of a deserted house played out in the middle of the night to the light of a flare - a clever and original touch. Although not as sadistic as previous or later Lenzi films the film does have a few gruesome asides, like an innocent woman being beaten to death and a guy (regular scumbag Bruno Corazzari) literally overdosing on cocaine! These factors and more combine to make RAMBO'S REVENGE yet another quality genre contribution from Lenzi and a film to track down.
Rambo also knows his own unique brand of karate, meaning we get lots of demonstrations as he effortlessly beats up thugs in a pool hall and takes on a room of practising karate students! The film begins as Rambo visits the home of an old pal, who has joined a police group and insists that Rambo does the same. Being a good-natured chap he helps to capture a few saboteurs and minor criminals. After the characters have been introduced, Rambo's buddy ends up getting violently murdered when he's close to cracking a kidnapping case - hardly surprising, seeing as he is set up for murder ever since his first appearance. Rambo decides to follow in his pal's footsteps and finds himself involved with two criminal gangs, led by ageing crime boss Paterno and slimy villain Conti. At first he successfully turns the two gangs against each other, causing much bloodshed, but then they wise up and turn against him. A tide of retribution and revenge follows with casualties on all sides.
Nearly every technical element of the film is perfect. Cinematography, stunts, pacing, action, chases and dialogue all slot in nicely to the story. The only thing lacking is the music, which is a little sub-par for a Lenzi flick and not snazzy enough. Once again Lenzi has assembled an accomplished team of actors (most of whom were working in films back-to-back for the director) for his cast. Supporting the ever-excellent Milian are the exquisitely slimy Luciano Catenacci as the villain Conti and good old Luciano Pigozzi as a thug. The experienced Ida Galli and Shirley Corrigan play minor female roles whilst the retired Mafia don Paterno is played by American import actor Joseph Cotten. All in all a nice mix who fit their roles perfectly.
As well as the many pacy car and bike chases that speed through the film, there are a couple of shoot-outs which deserve note. The first is the attack on Conti's warehouse operation by Paterno's guys dressed as police. Lots of bloody machine-gun shootings and spraying bullet action ensues. For the film's under siege set-piece finale, there's a shoot-out in the grounds of a deserted house played out in the middle of the night to the light of a flare - a clever and original touch. Although not as sadistic as previous or later Lenzi films the film does have a few gruesome asides, like an innocent woman being beaten to death and a guy (regular scumbag Bruno Corazzari) literally overdosing on cocaine! These factors and more combine to make RAMBO'S REVENGE yet another quality genre contribution from Lenzi and a film to track down.