Young, Violent, Dangerous (1976)

- Liberi armati pericolosi
Unexpected surprises throughout, 29 April 2006

It took a while to grow on me, but by the time I had finished with Young, Violent, Dangerous, I realized how much I enjoyed the film. I found myself caring about the characters and what would become of them. Young, Violent, Dangerous is the story of three young punks out getting some kicks by knocking over a gas station. Their crimes soon escalate (bank robbery, murder, kidnapping, etc.) to the point where they get the attention of the entire Milan police force. The film is filled with some unexpected violence as the young thugs show just how tough they are and how little they care about human life. Throw in a few decent car chases and you've got a nice little Poliziotteschi. The ending is another unexpected moment with a nice twist.

While Tomas Milian gets top billing, he really does very little other than smoke cigarettes, talk on a police radio, lecture people, and stay about three steps behind the young criminals. Eleonora Giorgi and Stefano Patrizi are the real stars as the kidnap victim and head of the gang respectively in a couple of very nice performances. The low point of the film is the character played by Benjamin Lev, Joe. He's supposed to be the clown of the group (Why do all gangs have one of these guys?) but he comes off as an utterly ridiculous, hyena-laughing moron who I grew to detest more and more as Young, Violent, Dangerous wore on.

7/10