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Such a frustrating disappointment

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Blistering performances.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A decidedly lighter tone lingers in Tomas Milian and Umberto Lenzi's next pairing after the dark and demented MILANO ODIA. This time around, Milian plays Rambo, a drifter who rides on a motorcycle from town to town teaching things to kids and reluctantly getting involved in anti-gang activities. Once his goofball security guard friend gets killed after snooping around a little too close to a kidnapping scheme, Rambo decides to hatch his own Yojibo-like plan to get all the local gangs to kill each other. However, they unexpectedly prove slightly smarter than you'd expect and end up teaming up to fight together against our hero, albeit with no better results than they'd have otherwise.Right from the get-go, I knew it was going to be good just judging by the opening credits and how many of the usual "Euro-Henchmen" receive top billing. Riccardo Petrazzi, Adolfo Lastretti, Bruno Di Luia, Mario Novelli, Benito Pacifico, Claudio Ruffini, Giuseppe Castellano, and Luciano Pigozzi would go on to make type-cast careers as henchmen and goons throughout the rest of the 70's owing largely to how well this movie worked out. Even Antonio Casale, the "Brion James" of Italian 70's crime movies, pops by to lend us another sweaty, ugly face for our hero to beat to a pulp and put a bullet in. Sadly we're missing only Nello Pazzafini, Biagio Pelligra, Bruno Corazzari, any Dell'Acqua's, Peverello's, or Sal's Borghese and Billa. Toss in a Sergio Smacchi and our henchman reunion would be complete.With all the potential and solid cast of villains for Rambo to beat up and shoot, the film doesn't quite hit the high notes that later films like VIOLENT NAPLES or ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH would the next year. There's a distractingly silly Micalizzi score and the plot contains enough holes and slow spots to take this down a notch. Best for genre completists or those interested in seeing the true genesis of Milian's later "Nico Giraldi" character. Notable mostly for a demented scene in which a female character gets unintentionally beaten to death by a gang of clueless hit-men.

Incestuous bedfellows, Umbeto Lenzi and Tomas Milian team up again for the bellicose Cops an' Robbers mash up ' Sydicate Sadists', while this isn't on par with the legendary sleaze-fest 'Almost Human' it still manages to deliver the requisite amount of gonzoid thrills an' spills that fills chat rooms far an wide with gibbering fan boy praise. Plot adheres rigidly to formula; with Milian playing ex-cop biker, Rambo! whose penchant for revenge is most apropos since he is given ample opportunity for bullet spattered, jaw-cracking retribution after he discovers his brother has been killed; which engenders some relentlessly gritty crime funk grooves by veteran Franco Micalizzi, nutbag bike chases, and all manner of ubiquitous Italian crime overkill. All in all 'Syndicate Sadists' is an entertaining, exploitative riff on, Dashiel Hammet's Red Harvest, and Lenzi/Milian heads are unlikely to be disappointed, although it doesn't quite live up to its blood an' thunder moniker.

Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!

Tomas Milian is Rambo - a biker who arrives in Milan right in the middle of a war between two crime families. When his brother, a member of a kidnap investigation team, is killed, Rambo seeks revenge. He pits the two families against each other in hopes that they will destroy themselves so he can free the young boy being held for ransom.Syndicate Sadists was a blind purchase for me and I couldn't be more thrilled. This marks one of my first forays into the Italian sub-genre known as Polizia (or whatever the correct word is). And, I must say that I'm thrilled to have discovered these movies. If some of the others that I have on order (Contraband and Revolver) are half as good, I'll be delighted.I always have a good time watching Tomas Milian. He may come across as a conceited jerk in some of his interviews, but he has good reason. He never fails to entertain. His character, Rambo (please note that this movie was made long before First Blood), is one of my favorites. He's tough, compassionate, and mysterious.The action and gunplay are great. Between the gun fights and chase scenes, there is plenty of action to go around. One of my favorite scenes in the movie was the relatively calm showdown at the end between Rambo and the head of one of the families. Any movie that puts Milian and the scene-chewing Joseph Cotton together is a Euro-film lover's wet dream.If the brief description of the plot sounds familiar, don't be surprised. Once the movie got rolling, I said to myself on a number of occasions that it reminded me of A Fistful of Dollars. Imagine my surprise when my notion was confirmed while watching the interview with Lenzi on the DVD. He freely admitted that the story was inspired by Leone's film.