Massimo Vanni Movies
- 1994
- PG13
The sweet sentimental gauze of director Giuseppe Tornatore's international hit Cinema Paradiso (1988) is nowhere to be found in this dark, Kafkaesque crime thriller that takes place, stage play-style, mostly in the confines of one room. Gerard Depardieu stars as Onoff, a famed author who has become a recluse in recent years, publishing nothing. Late one night he is picked up by police officers, who find him running across the French countryside in the rain, breathless and apparently suffering from short-term memory loss. A murder has been committed in the nearby woods, and suspecting Onoff's involvement, the authorities detain him at a leaky, dark command post to await the arrival of an inspector (Roman Polanski), ironically a fan of Onoff's work, who will interrogate his subject and try to arrive at the truth. Una Pura Formalita (1994) was produced simultaneously with Polanski's Death and the Maiden (1994), another film with a stage-bound quality featuring a long, stormy night's interrogation in a single room. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Roman Polanski, (more)
- 1985
- R
A San Francisco scientist attempts to hold the city hostage with a powerful laser, prompting fearless cop Ronn Warren (Eric Estrada) and his wily partner Swann (Michael Pritchard) to try and save the Bay Area from becoming a bubbling cauldron of death in director Enzo G. Castellari's outrageous sci fi action thriller. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Erik Estrada, Michael Pritchard, (more)
- 1985
- R
In this routine sci-fi sequel, Trash (Mark Gregory) is back in action again after his introduction in 1990: The Bronx Warriors, to defend that much-maligned New York burrough from total extinction at the hands of a vicious corporate giant. The General Construction Corporation plans on building luxury high-rises in the Bronx, but since the current Bronxonians are in the way, they have to be exterminated, obviously. Meanwhile, the media are to be spoon-fed the story that the good Bronx citizens have been relocated to New Mexico, apparently quite willingly. The only obstacle to the evil corporation's designs is a brave journalist, Moon (Valeria D'Obici) who is inspired to suggest that if the corporation's CEO could be kidnapped and held for ransom, they just might save the Bronx from all those luxury apartments. The man the fate offers to carry out this project is Strike (Timothy Brent), a king among thieves. The remainder of the story lurches from one gunfight to the next. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, (more)
- 1983
One of many post-apocalyptic science-fiction films which poured out of Europe in the wake of George Miller's Mad Max, this film stars Stefania Girolami as Anna, who runs away from her wealthy but obnoxious family into the surrealistic biker gangland of the Bronx. There, she meets Trash (Marco de Gregorio), part of a gang called The Riders, and soon falls in love with him. Problems arise when Anna's father (Enio Girolami), president of the evil Manhattan Corporation, sends in a psychopath named Hammer (Vic Morrow) to stir up trouble among the rival gangs, including a black club led by Ogre (Fred Williamson) and a rollerskating group led by Golem (Luigi Montefiori). Castellari's direction is surprisingly stylish and exciting, but all of the hyper-macho posturing eventually grows tiresome for anyone over fifteen. Still, undemanding viewers will have a good time, as the action keeps coming fast and furious, laced with suitably hardbitten dialogue by director Enzo G. Castellari, Elisa Livia Briganti and Dardano Sacchetti. A minor classic of testosterone cinema, followed by several sequels starting with Fuga dal Bronx (1983). ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vic Morrow, Christopher Connelly, (more)
In this run-of-the-mill, derivative film about vulgar road warriors in the year 2019 -- after a nuclear holocaust -- the two macho heroes (Giancarlo Prete and Fred Williamson) have to single-handedly save a band of religious nomads plagued by the evil Templars. Between scenes and characters lifted from several preceding successes, flat acting, and a general lack of originality, I Nuovi Barbari has nothing new about it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fred Williamson, Anna Kanakis, (more)
In this well-paced crime thriller, Larry Stanciani (Franco Nero) is a hard-boiled private investigator in San Francisco, an ex-cop kicked off the police force and thrown in prison for a time because of a frame-up by a Mafioso named Kandinsky. One day, he is called to the office of Goldsmith (William Berger), a narcotics agent out to nail Kandinsky on drug charges. Goldsmith asks Stanciani to go to Genoa, Stanciani's home town, track down Kandinsky, and haul him back to the U.S. for due process. Stanciani's motivation is multiple: Goldsmith offers him his old job back if he succeeds. Soon the private eye is on his way and encountering obstacles that include Brenda (Sybil Danning) a gorgeous disc jockey, and a motley group of underworld denizens. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Sybil Danning, (more)
In this derivative war-action film by Antonio Margheriti, both the Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now have been raided for scenes and events that were rearranged to tell the story of an American officer who treks far into North Vietnamese territory to retrieve a radio transmitter that is broadcasting propaganda messages to U.S. soldiers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Warbeck, Tisa Farrow, (more)
- 1976
- PG
In this comedy, Scaramouche (Michael Sarrazin) and his friend Whistle (Giancarlo Prete) are members of Napoleon's army, and through a series of adventures, become embroiled in the intrigues surrounding Napoleon (Aldo Maccione) and his Empress, Josephine (Ursula Andress). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Sarrazin, Ursula Andress, (more)
