Double Game (1977)

- Torino violenta
Lifeless, 4 April 2006

To say that I was disappointed with Torino violenta (I prefer that name to the American title – Double Game) would be an extreme understatement. To begin with, the movie is dull. It lacks the good action sequences, gunfights, and car chases that make so many of the other Italian cop/crime films entertaining. What action scenes the film does have pale in comparison with those from films like Almost Human, Revolver, or Syndicate Sadists. On top of that, the actors appear to be as bored with the film as I was. You can generally count on George Hilton to give an interesting performance regardless of the material. Here, he appears to be sleepwalking through the whole movie. He looks as if he expended as little energy as possible while making Torino violenta.

Next, Torino violenta has no real plot. The first half of the film consists of a series of seemingly unrelated small-time crime scenes. It's not until the second half of the film that the plot finally reveals itself. But by then, it's too little, too late. Too little because the plot lacks any real substance and only serves to provide a stage for more of the same. Too late because by this point, I don't think I could have cared less. There's a whole subplot about George Hilton's character acting as a vigilante, working outside of the law. The problem is that this subplot goes nowhere and is only brought up when convenient.

Finally, both the dubbing and subtitles are horrendous. I normally don't complain about this kind of thing, but this is the worst I've seen. The dubbing and subtitles match neither each other nor the action on screen. I had to watch the film with both so I could try to decipher what was going on.

Looking over what I've written, I may need to revisit that 3/10 I gave Torino violenta. A 2/10 would seem to be more appropriate.

NoShame's DVD is another example of a technically sound presentation and transfer. The problems I mentioned with the dubbing and subtitles have nothing to do with NoShame. These issues, no doubt, can be traced back to the source material that NoShame was give to work with. Even though I'm disappointed with the film, as usual, I'm impressed with NoShame.

3/10