The Movie:

Directed by Ruggero Deodato before he'd secure his place in Italian movie history with Cannibal Holocaust, 1976's Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man begins with a fantastic scene in which two cops, Tony (Ray Lovelock) and Fred (Marc Porel), chase a couple of would-be thieves through the streets of busy Rome in the middle of the afternoon. Eventually they get their men, but they sure do make a big mess doing it, something they seem to have a recurring problem with and a trait that consistently lands them in hot water with 'The Boss' (Adolfo Celi), a tough top cop who always comes close to reprimanding them for their reckless ways but inevitably looks past their indiscretions as he knows that their 'whatever it takes' attitude helps keep crooks off of the streets.

After a few minor busts here and there and after making time with the Boss' sexy secretary, our men head out to capture or take down a high ranking mobster named Pasquini (Renato Salvatori). They're going to have their work cut out for them and will have to use some morally questionable tactics to get the job done, but these guys are tough and will do what they have to, regardless of who gets in the way.

Deodato's film starts off with a bang. The opening chase scene is fantastic and sets the bar incredibly high for the rest of the film and while it may not always operate on that high adrenaline level it starts off with, it is a consistently engaging and exciting film with some pretty rock solid action set pieces. Lovelock and Porel make a great team together, playing off of one another (or are they trying to outdo each other?) for the attention of the camera and in turn the audience, each as suave, handsome and tough as the other. Some (unintentionally?) homoerotic scenes add some bizarre humor to the movie - our two cops live together and parade around in red Speedo-style briefs but their heterosexuality is confirmed, albeit with the most unusual of confirmations in a scene where they basically interrogate a horny female informant by screwing her one at a time. We're told she's insatiable but after our pair of Romeo's is finished with her, she's clearly exhausted - these are manly men, let there be no doubt!

Deodato's penchant and flair for filming scenes of strong violence is on display throughout the movie. We see it in the opening scene when a blind man and his dog are made a casualty of the motorcycle chase and we see it repeatedly throughout the film, be it in a home invasion scene where our pair crash through the window on their bike to shoot up the bad guys or be it a shoot out that takes place in a rural area where the two are practicing their shooting skills only to be taken on unexpectedly by a sniper. Violence is clearly not just part of the job for these two but a way of life, they show no remorse whatsoever, nor do they ever show a second of hesitation when the situation calls for it.

If the storyline here is little more than a standard cops and robbers story, the execution of that story does help to set it apart from the herd. The film has loads of style, some great comic relief (most of which is intentional) that will make you laugh without seeming out of place in the film as it often can, and it really does excel in the action department. It's well paced, very nicely shot, features some great locations and loads of slick camera work and is just really well made overall. If you don't have an affinity for the genre or the decade in which it was made it might seem overly campy but for those out there who appreciate a great seventies cop movie, they don't usually come a whole lot better than this one.

Video:

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man looks very good in this 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer (a very obvious improvement over Raro's previous PAL disc, which was simply letterboxed) which boasts very good color reproduction and strong black levels. Detail is pretty strong throughout and there are no problems with compression artifacts or heavy edge enhancement. Skin tones sometimes look just a tiny bit warm but other than that, this is a pretty strong effort that leaves little room for complain.