"Poliziotti Violenti" aka. "Crimebusters" (1976) is a decent enough, though in no way outstanding example for the Italian Poliziottesco, which mainly profits from the great Henry Silva in one of the two leading roles. The ultimate bad-ass Silva, doubtlessly one of the greatest 70s cult-cinema actors, particularly in the Poliziotteschi-genre, starred in two of the all-time greatest Italian Crime flicks, Fernando Di Leo's "Il Boss" (1973) and Umberto Lenzi's "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" ("Almost Human", 1974); "Poliziotti Violenti" sadly cannot compete with the greatness of these aforementioned films, and yet it is an entertaining film that is well worth watching for my fellow fans of Italian cult-cinema. It must be said, of course, that director Michele Massimo Tarantini, who is probably most famous for the Cannibal-flick "Nudo e Selvaggio" ("Cannibal Ferox 2", 1985) isn't as accomplished a filmmaker as the brilliant genre-icons Di Leo and Lenzi; yet he made an action-packed, bad-ass and, which is most important, fast-paced and entertaining film here.
Silva plays the tough Army major Altieri, who teams up with the hard-boiled cop Tosi (played by regular leading man Antonio Sabato) in order to crush a gang of arms-dealers and corrupt officials... The storyline is pretty standard stuff, with little originality and few surprises. It is well-executed however. The action-scenes and cinematography are well done, and the score is cool (though, again, nothing special for the high Poliziotteschi standards). The stone-faced Henry Silva is fantastic and super-tough in his role as always. Antonio Sabato also fits very well in the other lead of the tough cop here. Sabato starred in numerous Poliziotteschi including Umberto Lenzi's "Milano Rovente", and he arguably had his finest hour in Lenzi's fantastic Giallo "Sette Orchidee Macchiate Di Rosso" ("Seven Blood-Stained Orchids", 1972); he once again delivers in this one, though it is, of course, Henry Silva who steals the show. Regular Italian genre-beauty Silvia Dionisio ("Nude Si Muore", "Blood For Dracula", "Paura In Citta", "Murder Obsession",...) makes a pretty and likable female lead. The film is full of violent action, though not particularly brutal for genre-standards. Overall, "Poliziotti Violenti" is gritty enough and well worth watching for my fellow Italo-Crime fans, though there is a lot in the field that is far more recommendable (such as all films by Fernando Di Leo, Umberto Lenzi, Damiano Damiani and Enzo Castellari, for starters). What I did find surprising about this film, though, is how often the good guys' negligence basically causes the bad guys to kill innocent bystanders. Overall, "Poliziotti Violenti" is certainly no genre-masterpiece, but it's still an entertaining film for Italian cult-cinema fans.
