Verdict
Summary
Kino Lorber brings these three films to 4K Ultra HD in a three disc package, and the presentations are superb. They’ve also included the alternate version for Blazing Magnum, and all three movies have bonus features, including commentaries, video essays, and more. This is a fantastic collection for the fans of the Italian crime genre.
Weapons of Death (1977) Plot:
A renegade cop goes after an unhinged crime syndicate mercenary.
Review:
In Naples, crime runs rampant; bank robberies, wanton theft, and petty crimes keep the police running around all day, every day, and when a brazen bank robbery kick starts the morning for a renegade, ballsy cop named Belli (Leonard Mann), what follows over the next day or so is one near-death chase after another for him. There’s a cutthroat syndicate mercenary on the loose: Santoro (dead-eyed Henry Silva) is hired out by multiple levels of a crime syndicate for his bravado and willingness to kill anyone who stands in his way, but when he leads a bunch of thugs to rob a train using explosives and heavy machine guns, they leave a bunch of bodies in their wake, which rankles the ire of Belli and the police department … but also upsets the syndicates because it puts them in the crosshairs. When Belli gets close enough to almost take Santoro out, he spares him in a moment of mercy, which will be repaid later on when Belli is Santoro’s mercy, and he’s spared in return. Meanwhile, Belli tries to correct and be a “good” cop to a wayward street urchin boy who constantly gets himself into trouble by robbing tires and hustling locals, which will come into play later on when the poor kid gets himself in the crosshairs of Santoro’s wanton violence.
A fairly typical cop thriller from Italy at the height of the polizi genre, Weapons of Death from director Mario Caiano offers the usual car chases, fisticuffs (Mann smacks a couple guys around in a pool hall in one scene almost just to flex his authority), moralizing, and even some random nudity and sexiness that raises some eyebrows for no good reason, but it’s also exactly what the fan of the genre is looking for, so it’s a solid one.
The Counselor (1973) Plot:
A consigliere to a mafia Don tries to leave the life, but is drawn back in out of loyalty.
Review:
The Don of the San Francisco mafia is Antonio (Martin Balsam), and nothing happens without his say so. His consigliere (counselor) is his godson Thomas (Tomas Milian), and he’s loyal to a fault, but with a young family, Thomas has too much to lose to keep working for the Don. When he asks the Don if he can leave the mafia, he’s denied, but given a leave of absence because “no one leaves the life” behind … ever. When Antonio becomes a target and almost loses his life, Thomas finds that he too has become a target even in suburbia when a bomb takes the life of one of his neighbor’s kids, which was intended for him. Bucking up his loyalty and courage, Thomas pledges to Antonio to become his consigliere again, but with that decision comes grave consequences.
A mob action movie filmed in New Mexico and Sicily from director Alberto De Martino, The Counselor is a serviceable Italian thriller with plenty of action to keep it lively. The usually heroic and swarthy Milian played it straight here, scaling back his heroics for an everyman type of guy who happens to be good with a shotgun when he needs to be. The film has some memorable moments and should sit right with fans of the Italian crime genre.
Blazing Magnum (a.k.a. Shadows in an Empty Room) (1976) Plot:
A cop goes on the warpath after he suspects that his sister was murdered.
Review:
An attractive young woman named Louise (Carole Laure) collapses at a society function in front of dozens of witnesses, and her secret lover – a married doctor (Martin Landau) – administers a drug to her as she lays dying … and she dies. At the funeral, her older brother, a tough cop named Tony (Stuart Whitman) shows up and immediately demands that the body be exhumed and given an autopsy. A fellow cop named Ned (John Saxon) assists in the investigation when it is discovered that Louise was poisoned. Her older lover is immediately a suspect, but there are plenty of others in the mix too. She was mixed up with some drug dealers and scuzzy people, and her roommate at college is a blind girl who may have heard exactly how one of Louise’s friends was killed, because now there’s a series of murders all surrounding Louise’s untimely demise. With Tony and Ned on the street, smacking suspects around and getting into shootouts and car chases, the culprit – or culprits – behind Tony’s sister’s death is most certainly going to be discovered … but what they find may shock them both, as it comes to light that Louise may have been a murderer herself.
A rock solid cop / revenge thriller with a doozy of a car chase through the city that rivals the best car chases in movie history, Blazing Magnum goes for broke with the action, and the murder mystery is actually kind of twisty too, with a hint of giallo suspense and gore, and some bonus nudity in the last act as well. Director Albert De Martino loads this one up like a baked potato, giving fans extra helpings of all the good stuff that makes films such as this the genre we all enjoy returning to. Whitman and Saxon are excellent heroic leads with chips on their shoulders, and the movie never has a dull moment.
Kino Lorber brings these three films to 4K Ultra HD in a three disc package, and the presentations are superb. They’ve also included the alternate version for Blazing Magnum, and all three movies have bonus features, including commentaries, video essays, and more. This is a fantastic collection for the fans of the Italian crime genre.