When inspector Vanni's wife is murdered by a criminal organization he swears revenge and sets up a special squad, all members armed with superior handguns and using motorcycles, to fight this crime ring - but he has only a vague idea of what he's up to.

 

This film was no doubt inspired by Dirty Harry and The French Connection (the criminal mastermind is called Il marsigliese, the man from Marseille), but it’s by no means a clone. The movie is set during the so-called 'years of lead' (Italian: gli anni di piombo) in which far-right and far-left paramilitary groups were involved in a merciless street war, resulting in several assassinations, kidnappings and terrorist attacks. According to experts, some of the city guerillas involved in the conflict, were ordinary crime organizations, not worried by political implications at all, but using the social oppositions to obscure their real motives. 

 

The narrative is a little episodic and the film is not as fast-paced as some other Italian crime thrillers, but the interesting premise and some crisply edited action sequences (shootouts, chase scenes with cars, motorcycles, etc.) more than make up for these shortcomings. The film also has a great cast, Ivan Rassimov being a standout as the criminal mastermind who turns the city of Turin into a battlefield. The film was obviously made on a very decent budget and Fiat must have been one of the sponsors: parts of the film’s finale (involving a Fiat 127) also turned up in a publicity spot, causing some hilarity among moviegoers who had seen the spot on TV (*1)

 

Dallamano was Sergio Leone's cinematographer on the first two Dollar movies and the director of cult favorite 'Bandidos'. It was his last film: he died shortly after its completion in a car accident.