Film #210: CALIBER 9 aka MILANO CALIBRO 9

Caliber 9 (aka Milano Calibro 9)
3.5 out of 5 stars
Another great Italian crime thriller from director Fernando Di Leo (ASYLUM EROTICA, THE ITALIAN CONNECTION, MR. SCARFACE). This time we get Gastone Moschin (EMERGENCY SQUAD) who looks like an older, more grizzled version of Jason Statham, the beautiful Barbara Bouchet (DON”T TORTURE A DUCKLINE, CASINO ROYALE), and, as a wild-eyed mobster Mario Adorf (THE ITALIAN CONNECTION). In CALIBER 9, Ugo Piazza (Moschin) is just out of prison and the mob (run by HART TO HART’s Lionel Stander) wants some money they think he stole. What follows is a convoluted game of cat & mouse featuring intricately designed sequences (just check out the first five minutes of this film!) and fantastic dialog. The initial offering of Di Leo's excellent 'Milieu' trilogy (CALIBER 9, THE ITALIAN CONNECTION, and THE BOSS), CALIBER 9 is an oftentimes overlooked gem in the poliziotteschi sub-genre. Solid Italo-action goodness from 1972 and a film I wholeheartedly recommend.