Rome Armed to the Teeth
Rome Armed to the Teeth is a 1976 film from Italy, directed by Umberto Lenzi, running 90 minutes. reelscum files it under poliziotteschi.
- Year
- 1976 · 1970s films
- Country
- Italy
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Director
- Umberto Lenzi
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (47/100)
- Also known as
- Assault with a Deadly Weapon · The Tough Ones · Brutal Justice
Defined in the glossary: Poliziotteschi
Maurizio Merli punches Rome for 100 minutes. Politics: incoherent.
Maurizio Merli punches Rome for a hundred minutes. A violent cop with a moustache and no patience for procedure goes after a sadistic hunchbacked gangster, and Umberto Lenzi shoots the whole thing at a sprint.
The politics are incoherent in the way the cycle specialised in: furious at criminals, contemptuous of the courts, nostalgic for a brutality the film both condemns and clearly enjoys. Tomas Milian is frightening as the villain.
Fast, ugly and representative. This is the poliziottesco at its most id-driven.
Trailer
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Written about
- Poliziotteschi: the Italian cop film, 1973 to 1980
A moustache, a Magnum, and total contempt for the courts.
Filed alongside
Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man
Two cops who are clearly the villains. Ruggero Deodato, before the jungle.
Shoot First, Die Later
Di Leo's dirty-cop picture, and the rot goes all the way home.
The Big Racket
Castellari's best. The car-rolling-down-the-hill shot is famous for a reason.
High Crime
Castellari's breakout in the genre, and Franco Nero furious for ninety minutes.
Almost Human
Tomas Milian as a repellent psychopath. Deeply unpleasant, very good.
Street Law
Castellari's Death Wish. An ordinary engineer, brutalised and ignored, arms himself.
The Boss
Di Leo's most cynical crime film. A mob enforcer navigates a Mafia war where everyone is corrupt.
The Italian Connection
Mario Adorf on foot versus a car. Best chase in Italian cinema.
Violent Naples
Merli takes his no-mercy cop routine to Naples. Fast, brutal, and politically incoherent as ever.
The Violent Professionals
Martino sends Luc Merenda undercover and off the leash. Prime cop-on-a-rampage stuff.
Revolver
Di Leo's saddest. Oliver Reed, and a Morricone theme that hurts.
Cops vs. Thugs
Fukasaku again, arguing the two categories in the title are the same.