Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Wizard-8
I must confess that when it comes to Italian genre cinema, my tastes usually go to spaghetti westerns. But I do try on a regular basis to sample other kinds of Italian movies, including crime/gangster movies. What attracted me to watch "The Italian Connection" was the presence of Henry Silva and Woody Strode. Well, they are in fine form, though I wish the movie gave them a little more to do, since they spend a lot of the movie just waiting around. A bigger problem was that the first thirty or so minutes of the movie are pretty slow and drab, so much so that I thought about giving up on the movie. But I'm glad I didn't, because after that first half hour, the movie really jumps into gear. Lead actor Mario Adorf does a great job, not coming across as a stereotypical tough action star, but instead someone driving by desperation and vengeance. Seeing this unlikely character get into gunplay and other action is really exciting, because you'll keep wondering if he'll prevail. And the action scenes are great, most notably a fantastic long chase sequence alternately on foot and with vehicles that beats many action sequences coming out of Hollywood at the time. The very ending feels kind of unfinished and will have you asking, "Well, what now?" - which the movie does not answer. But that's a minor quibble. I've got four more crime movies by director Fernando di Lio on DVD waiting to be watched, and I can't wait to sample them.
lost-in-limbo
Two professional hit men from the States are hired to track down a small-time pimp Luca Canali in Milan, as this man was accused of the disappearance of a shipment of heroin between Milan and New York. Well that's what they are to believe by local crime boss Don Tressoldi. Their job is to brutally kill Luca and make a message of it. However Luca doesn't know why they want him and he won't go down too easy, as he tries to get to the bottom of it.This confidently gritty 70s Italian crime thriller might start off slowly, but when it hits its strides. Boy it doesn't let up. What starts off talky where you are waiting for things to happen gets better as it moves along, where plot threads unfold and it suddenly becomes impulsively hazardous. There's one sensational car / foot chase sequence that packs brute force and never gives you a chance to catch a breath. It's very well done. Most of the action follows the same dynamic pattern. Thrilling, tough and intense with constant roughness. Fist fighting, scuffles and shootouts… as the sweat pours and the bruises are inflicted. Hear and see it! Not escaping is the seedy hook, brassily loud instrumental score, compact camera-work and authentic European locations.Some well known players feature in the cast. Woody Strode and Henry Silva are the American assassins. Strode plays the quiet, steady head and Silva's a live-wire, womanizer. Complete opposites, but the same rather deadly and downright bad-asses. This shows in the lethal cat and mouse climax in a car scrap-yard with Mario Adorf's character. Adorf holds his own with a respectable turn, constantly making a slip when the manhunt begins, but after a tragedy hits. Now he's fuelled by revenge… going in head first. The script is just as jagged, as like the editing but there's a sardonic edge to it and the excessive melodramatics ups the emotions and motivations.Hard-boiled, if bittersweet Italian crime entertainment.
Coventry
"Manhunt" is a fantastic title for a fantastic Italian action/thriller with even more fantastic testosterone-laden characters and a fantastically dazzling level of excitement. Admittedly I'm slightly biased, as I'm a sucker for Italian cult cinema in general, but hey, apparently so are all my fellow reviewers around here! The second installment in Fernando Di Leo's Italian mafia trilogy is definitely on par with the other two, "Milano Calibro .9" and "The Boss", and I rated those respectively 10/10 and 9/10. The three films take place in similar locations and often even star the same cast members, but nonetheless they're entirely divergent and distinctly unique achievements. "Manhunt" mainly excels through a vastly simplistic yet hugely fascinating plot, but also through a handful of jaw-dropping shock sequences and perplexing performances. Two relentless American hit men arrive in Milan with the assignment to eliminate the guy who was supposedly responsible for a shipment of heroin gone missing. Basically a routine job, but the boss wants to set an example out of this case and instructs for the kill to be mighty and spectacular. One problem, however, the target Luca Canali is only a small time pimp wrongfully appointed as the culprit by the competition and he unexpectedly safeguards himself tremendously from the massive manhunt held against him. Mega-gifted director Di Leo masterfully illustrates the titular manhunt, as we gradually witness how Luca Canali transforms from a casual & presumptuous little thug into an almost likable and forcedly infuriated anti-hero. Mario Adorf gives away a stunning performance as Luca; a literally unstoppable man of steel – the dude crushes telephones and windshields with his bare head - who honestly has no idea what overcomes him but continues to battle for his survival nevertheless. His opponents, played by "Poliziottesco" veteran Henry Silva and Woody Strode, are convincingly menacing as well. The film is also stuffed with bestial showdowns and adrenalin-rushing chase sequences. The violence in "Manhunt" is uncompromising as hell and literally nothing or no one escapes the extreme brutality, not even children, women or adorable young kittens. Some of the settings are overly clichéd (like the topless dancing) and the nudity footage is a bit too gratuitous (random hippie orgies), but those are just insignificant little defaults in an overall first-rate 70's thriller. "Manhunt", as well as the aforementioned other two installments of Fernando Di Leo's mafia trilogy, is a definite must for action fanatics with nerves of steel.
dottorepaulo
I spent much time in studying Italian police films of this era - and this one sticks out as one of the best. Unlike other Di Leo flicks - this one has a decent story, features B+ actors like Mario Adorf and Adolfo Celli (Mr. Largo in OO7's Thunderball), the editing is fast and rhythmic and it contains only one car chase but this one has it. The films owes its quality largely to the German-Italian actor Mario Adorf (already playing in one other Di Leo Film "Milano Calibro 9") - Adorf is witty, has a face with a thousand expressions and perfectly impersonates the change of small-town-pimp into a revenge-driven killing machine - without overdoing it. Unlike other films of this genre this one is tightly bound by a reasonable script, logical development of the characters and a rough, greasy camera-style. Editing is superb in timing, no frame is wasted for stupid dialogues or the typical 70ies mood shots (you see a scenery with someone walking and nothing happens). This film is perfect for exploring this genre.
