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Young, Violent And Dangerous

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    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Young, Violent And Dangerous



    Released by: Raro Video
    Released on: March 13, 2012.
    Director: Romolo Guerrieri
    Cast: Tomas Milian, Stefano Patrizi ,Mario Farra, Eleonora Giorgi
    Year: 1976
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Directed by Romolo Guerrieri and based on a script by the late, great Fernando Di Leo, 1976's Young, Violent And Dangerous is a strange mix of your typical seventies Italian cop movie (the likes of which were inspired by American films like Death Wish, The French Connection and Dirty Harry) and the youth gone wild paranoid fear of teenagers seen in a lot of fifties juvenile delinquent movies.

    The film follows a bunch of kids lead by Paul (Stefano Patrizi), a rich kid who leads Louie (Max Delys) and Joe (Benjamin Lev) on a job to knock over a gas station. Before this can go off as planned, Louie's squeeze, Lea (Eleonora Giorgi), goes to the cops and rats them out. The cop who sniffs out the case (Tomas Milian) tries to find the kids to bring them in but they've gone out on a crime spree of sorts, robbing banks and stores and shooting dead anybody who dares to get in their way. When they wind up snatching Lea and taking her on the run with them, the cops ramp up their efforts to bring them in before they go even further with their exploits than they already have.

    Based on a book by popular Italian crime novelist Giorgio Scerbanenco, Young, Violent And Dangerous mixes up elements seen in some of Di Leo's directorial efforts by melding the hard assed crime film elements of movies like The Italian Connection with the more somber youth-oriented meanderings of To Be Twenty. The results are interesting and definitely worth a watch if you have an interest in Di Leo's films, and while obviously Guerrieri directed it and deserves plenty of credit for its success, it's Di Leo's script that makes this as interesting as it is.

    As far as the performances are concerned, top billed Milian is his typically reliable self here. He'd played tough cops countless times before taking on the role in this film and so this was more or less old hat to him by this point. He's good, but he's not doing anything we haven't seen him do in other genre efforts. The three kids who make up the gang, however, play their respective roles with a lot more enthusiasm, obviously relishing the chance to make a name for themselves with these parts and putting a lot more effort and energy into their work. It's all put together well, with some great editing and some very slick camerawork, not just in the action sequences but in the film's frequent quieter moments as well. Wrap it all up with an interesting score and you wind up with a well written and nicely put together mix up of drama and action that offers enough of both sides of the equation to work really well. It's not a typical cop film, but it certainly fits into that genre well, and it's not a typical drama, but you could make the case that it fits that genre just as well. Regardless, what matters is that it's good, and it is.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    Raro presents the film in its proper widescreen aspect ratio but the fact that the transfer is letterboxed and non-anamorphic will understandably upset some potential buyers - this is 2012, after all. With that said, the image is clean, fairly colorful and only shows minor print damage. It's perfectly watchable, if rather unremarkable.

    Dolby Digital Mono options are provided in English and Italian with optional subtitles available in English only. Both tracks sound fine for what they are, older tracks limited in range. Generally though things are clean and clear and free of all but the most minor instances of hiss. The score in particular sounds quite good here and the subtitles are generally pretty easy to read. It's also worth noting that there are some pretty big differences between the two tracks - characters have different names and there are different jokes inserted and removed. It makes for a fairly big difference in terms of tone, with the Italian version being a bit more consistent.

    Raro has ported over the extras from their Italian DVD, so look for an interview with Romolo Guerrieri that runs for just under seventeen minutes in which the director talks about collaborating with Fernando Di Leo on this movie, reception to the film, the use of violence in the movie and the locations. There are also text biographies and filmographies for Guerrieri provided. There's no trailer for the film but there are menus and chapter stops. The packaging mentions a PDF including an essay on the film but it's not on the DVD for some reason. Oops.

    The Final Word:

    As much a coming of age drama as it is the hardboiled seventies cop movie that the cover art portrays it as, Young, Violent And Dangerous is an interesting hybrid of a film definitely worth a watch for fans. Milian is great in his role and the film does contain some decent action and a few interesting twists. Raro's DVD should have been better, however, as the non-anamorphic transfer is a drag. At least the solid interview with the director helps to make up for that.




























    • Dave Starry
      #1
      Dave Starry
      Senior Member
      Dave Starry commented
      Editing a comment
      Non-anamorphic?...WTF? That would be understandable in a budget box-set, but for a full priced DVD it doesn't fly.
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