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Released by: Raro Video
Released on: 6/28/2011
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Cast: Marc Porel, Ray Lovelock, Adolfo Celi, Franco Citti
Year: 1976
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The Movie:
A few years before his infamous Cannibal Holocaust, Ruggero Deodato was pumping out commercial for Italian television. He'd taken a break from making films and took the plunge back into the scene with this buddy-cop action movie. Two members of a special forces team, Antonio/Tony (Ray Lovelock, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) and Alfredo/Fred (Marc Porel, Don't Torture a Ducking), take the shoot-first-ask-questions-later credo of “Dirty†Harry Callahan a step further on their quest for justice in the streets of Rome. Their boss, named “The Boss†(Adolfo Celi, who played ol' one-eye Emilio Largo in Thunderball) doesn't approve of their techniques, but always covers for them when the Minister asks for a report.
Aside from busting the heads of a couple of would-be briefcase snatchers, their main case involves the stopping of a big time illegal crime outfit, run by Pasquini (Renato Salvatori). Through bribery, torture, and outright murder, the two cops work their way up the food chain to the get to the big fish at the end. They don't care what they have to do; they do it in the name of the law and with no apparent problems with the consequences or their consciences.
Ruggero's movie starts out with a kick-ass motorcycle chase (look out for the blind man and his dog!) through crowded streets at high speed. Well, actually it starts out with a homo erotic motorcycle ride featuring the two leading men, but then gets into a pursuit that rivals some of the best chase sequences made famous in the 1970s. Not really on the same caliber as Bill Hickman's work on The French Connection or The Seven-Ups, but certainly up near that level in it's chaotic insanity. From there the film just keeps on pumping out the action. Peppered with small bits of interaction with some female eye candy and minor thugs, the somewhat simple story holds your attention throughout. There's some good bits of violence, full frontal female nudity, and two charismatic leading men who play off each other pretty well (and have a few more scenes where you gotta wonder…).
The characters in this are great. Lovelock and Porel play a couple of narcissistic, nihilistic cops who just don't give a shit about anyone other then themselves. They shoot people in the back, they sexually harass women (“which one of us would you fuck?†Alfredo asks The Boss' secretary), they litter, and they practically rape a woman. Their chosen mode of transportation is to ride tandem on a motorcycle and they live together and walk around the apartment in half T-shirts and bikini briefs. How can you not get a kick out of these two?
Don't come to the table looking for a deep-meaning and philosophical police drama. This one is a simple wild ride and a total “guy†movie, minus the longing looks the two leads sometimes give each other.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Raro Video gives the fans Live Like A Cop Die Like A Man an glorious new transfer. Unlike the Region 2 release the same company put out before, this one is anamorphic with a ratio of 1.85:1 and it looks really nice. The colors pop, the image is clear, plenty of film grain to behold, and minimal dirt to get in the way. Very pleasing to watch and Raro deserves the praise. Take a look at the documentary in the extras for a good look at the way it has looked in the past. The clips shown from the film are not from this transfer.
There are two mono audio tracks, one the original Italian language track and the other an English dub. Both sound clean and void of any issues, print-wise or transfer-wise. The aforementioned R2 release only used one speaker on the English track and that has been remedied for this release. The audio is interesting. The Italian track is different from the English track, and more than for just the obvious reason. On the Italian track music plays at a louder level and sounds fuller than on the English track. But an even bigger difference is some missing audio cues on the English one. For example, during the opening motorcycle chase the entire race only has sound effects on the English track, but on the Italian track there is music playing as well as the sound effects. It happens in a number of places including the final scene. Also, with the subtitles on, the Italian version has tons of swears, where as the English dub doesn't. And watch it in English language with the subtitles on and you'll get two different scripts.
Included on this release is a 42-minute documentary, “Violent Copsâ€, ported over from the R2 release. Deodato and star Ray Lovelock share their experiences with making the movie. Others join in, but the main attraction is those two. They both talk about the Marc Porel, who died very young due to drug abuse, and Lovelock dispels the rumors that the two actors clashed (the opening sequence leads some to believe Porel was trying to block Lovelock's face from the camera). Also on this release is a 20-minute reel of some of Deodato's television commercial work, from the black-and-white days. He provides commentary, which has English subtitles, and he discusses his work and why he left film to work in TV before making his triumphant return. Two great supplements for a great movie. One final nugget for this release is the inclusion of a four-page insert that provides a write-up on the movie and a biography of Deodato, as well as a filmography. Nice touch.
The Final Word:
A really enjoyable piece of Euro-crime, Live Like A Cop Die Like A Man delivers on so many levels. Raro's new presentation is miles above the R2 disc and the extra features help make this disc a home run. It comes highly recommended. GET IT.
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