Verdict
Summary
From genre chameleon Ruggero Deodato, Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man is a ruthless thriller with shockingly blunt violence and sexuality. The two protagonists are basically cold-blooded thugs, and they share everything including women, which gives the film an off-kilter quality that might turn you off to the guys you’re supposed to be rooting for. In a way, it’s a bit of a template for the 80’s film To Live and Die in L.A. with its amoral heroes, and it has a loose structure that isn’t always easy to predict. The film has its ardent followers and fans, and it still packs a punch today.
Plot:
Two undercover cops don’t play by the rules.
Review:
Alfredo (Marc Porel) and Antonio (Ray Lovelock) are quite a pair of cops: They are two sides of the same coin, living, breathing, training, working together 24/7 for the Italian police force. Their methods are completely unorthodox and their chief basically gives them free reign as if they all live in a wasteland full of marauders, and the only directive he gives them is a blanket “don’t get caught” type of mandate. When we first see them, they are on the street when they witness a pair of motorcycle bandits kill a woman for her purse. Alfredo and Antonio take pursuit in a pair of motorcycles and eventually (after a breathless chase that was apparently filmed on the fly with no permits) catch up to the bandits, ending in a bloody mess. It basically goes like this for the pair of cops: They don’t give up if they catch the scent, and they become street assassins, tracking down bank robbers and thieves and killing them in cold blood before they can commit their crimes. When the mob figures out who these guys are, they send squads of killers and hit men to kill them, Alfredo and Antonio turn up the heat by always being one step ahead and turning the tables to survive and keep on doing what they do, rules be damned!
From genre chameleon Ruggero Deodato, Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man is a ruthless thriller with shockingly blunt violence and sexuality. The two protagonists are basically cold-blooded thugs, and they share everything including women, which gives the film an off-kilter quality that might turn you off to the guys you’re supposed to be rooting for. In a way, it’s a bit of a template for the 80’s film To Live and Die in L.A. with its amoral heroes, and it has a loose structure that isn’t always easy to predict. The film has its ardent followers and fans, and it still packs a punch today.
Raro Video has just released a new 4K restoration of Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man, and this is likely the best the film has ever looked or sounded. The disc comes with an audio commentary by a film historian, plus an archival documentary, TV spots, an English audio track, and trailers.
