''Syndicate Sadists'' ( it, Il giustiziere sfida la città, or ''"The Executioner Challenges the City"''), also released under the titles ''Rambo's Revenge'' and ''Final Payment'', is a 1975 '' poliziotteschi'' film directed by

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went u ...

. It stars

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and ''Sab ...

and

Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity an ...

Plot

Milián plays Rambo, an ex-cop who seeks revenge against two powerful crime families who were responsible for the murder of his friend.

Cast

as Rambo *

as Paternò *Adolfo Lastretti as Ciccio Paternò *Mario Piave as Pino Scalia * Maria Fiore as Maria Scalia *Duilio Cruciani as Luigino Scalia *

Silvano Tranquilli Silvano Tranquilli (23 August 1925 – 10 May 1997) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Silvano Tranquilli attended theatre lessons at the Sharoff Academy, and started his stage activity with the th ...

as Eng. Marco Marsili * Evelyn Stewart as wife of Eng. Marsili *Alessandro Cocco as Giampiero Marsili

Production

The film predates

Ted Kotcheff William Theodore Kotcheff (born April 7, 1931) is a Bulgarian-Canadian film and television director, writer and producer, known primarily for his work on British and American television productions such as '' Armchair Theatre'' and '' Law & Ord ...

's ''

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mento ...

'', the film which introduced audiences to the John Rambo of

David Morrell David Morrell (born April 24, 1943) is a Canadian-American novelist whose debut 1972 novel '' First Blood'', later adapted as the 1982 film of the same name, went on to spawn the successful ''Rambo'' franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. He ...

by seven years. Tomas Milian happened to read David Morrell's novel while flying from the U.S. to Rome. Loving the story he tried to talk some Italian producers into making a film out of it, with him starring as

John Rambo John James Rambo (born July 6, 1947) is a fictional character in the ''Rambo'' franchise. He first appeared in the 1972 novel ''First Blood'' by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was ...

. Nothing came of this, but he was allowed to use the Rambo moniker in the next

poliziottesco Poliziotteschi (; singular ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ' ...

he starred in. The film does not borrow elements from the novel, with Lenzi stating he was more influenced by

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

's crime films.

Release

''Syndicate Sadists'' was released in Italy on August 16, 1975 where it was distributed by Medusa. It grossed 1,451,703,190

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

. Film historian Roberto Curti described it as a "huge hit in Italy". ''Syndicate Sadists'' was released in the United States by Sam Sherman's Independent International. It was released in the United States titles ''Rambo's Revenge'' and on home video as ''Final Payment''. It has been released as ''One Just Man'' in the United Kingdom. The unrated American DVD of the film is missing two minutes of footage: a scene where the mother of the kidnapped boy comes home and Paterno's henchmen searching for Rambo in a pub, and two reaction shots.

Footnotes

References

External links

* 1975 films 1970s Italian-language films 1970s crime thriller films 1970s action thriller films Poliziotteschi films Films directed by Umberto Lenzi Films set in Milan Films scored by Franco Micalizzi 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub