A Man Called Magnum (1977)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Please don't spend money on this.

Best movie ever!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Okay, I've seen my fair share of 70's Italian crime movies... about half that exist I'd imagine, maybe a little less. The only ones worse than this are the ones from Mario Bianchi and Alfonso Brescia just because those are so campy. What really sinks this one is a very low budget. Everything seems awfully third-world, from the flatly shot dialog scenes, boring chases, and toned-down shootouts.Not to mention the dubbing - by God, this has to be the worst dub-job I've ever seen on an Italian film! Borderline unwatchable had it not been so unintentionally funny. Take the scene where Sonia Viviani gets raped by Salvatore Billa for instance... the actress dubbing her voice is far less than convincing and just keeps calmly saying "no please let me go" about 16x in a row. I don't even think the dubbers actually watched the movie, as the plot points don't even make sense, and the comic relief provided by the lieutenant just confusing.That said, this has a very good cast (Lastretti, Merenda, Murolo, Billa, and the genre regulars) and moves along fairly quickly with its fair share of violence. There's just a lot of better ones out there such as anything by Castellari, Lenzi, or even Stelvio Massi. This one looks more like a better-funded-than-usual student film.

Brutish, bold and fast moving Italian police thriller set in a decayed Naples. Characterful faces abound, as does the gang rivalry and bloody violence. Luc Merenda is so cool throughout you begin to wonder if he has noticed just what is going on, but then he is there ready around the corner. Probably about five car chases but there are not overlong and in fact work well amid the terrible street traffic. The chase against the city train is very well done, as are all the set pieces and elements of sleaze are provided for by the presence of a luscious Sonia Viviani. Always looking sensational and half the time nude she suffers a beating, a rape, forced drug injection and being shackled naked, all for our viewing pleasure and to underline the brutish element within Naples gangland. Tough, gritty and well worth a watch.

A drug deal goes bad and the heroin is stolen. One mob boss doesn't have his drugs and the other doesn't get his money. People are going to die until they discover who double-crossed them. Into this backdrop, Inspector Dario Mauri (Luc Merenda) arrives from Milan to help clean-up Naples. His mission – find the drugs and stop the killing.Even though I knew this was a first time viewing, throughout A Man Called Magnum, I had an odd feeling that I had seen the movie before. Then, it dawned on me – change the locations, take out the nudity and blood, and put in a few American actors and, voilà, what you've got is essentially the same as any number of American cop television shows from the 1970s. It's not that A Man Called Magnum is bad, there's just nothing spectacular about it. We've all seen it before. The gun battles, car chases, and fistfights are strictly by the numbers and lack originality. I also had problems relating to the main character, Inspector Dario Mauri. The movie gives less detail about him than even the most minor of characters. Not to mention that what we do know makes Dario seem pretty dull. And it's difficult for me to invest any real emotion in such a lifeless character.There are a few highlights such as the camera work, the score, the locations, and the idea of the little girl drawing pictures to send to the police as clues. The movie presents a lot of images from unique angles. The camera work rises above the rest of this ordinary film. The score is full of those funky 70s sounds that I always enjoy. The locations are fascinating. You can't find places like that in America. It's distinctly Italian. Finally, the girl and her crayon are an interesting twist. It's too bad that A Man Called Magnum never takes full advantage of this plot point the way it could have.

This is the first film I've seen by Tarantini and hope to see other work by him. The story is about a Milanese cop (Luc Merenda) assigned to bust the mob in Naples. What makes the film worth watching is that the film has bits of unexpected originality sparking what would have been in lesser hands, a routine film. Tarantini also uses very dynamic framing in the cinematography, with lots of low angle shots as well as using extreme close ups for contrast. The action includes several shoot outs, car chases and a fistful of dynamite. While some of the humor is culture specific with the rivalry between northern and southern Italy, other bits are handled lightly eliciting some earned chuckles courtesy of co-star Enzo Cannavele. The DVD probably looks better than when the film first hit theaters, with 5.1 Dolby I am sure it sounds better.