I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Brilliant and touching

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Beatings, car chases, shoot-outs, tarts with hearts - yep, it's another Italian crime movie.This one stars Maurizio Merli, a kind of brawnier Franco Nero, who, like most guys in these films, plays a cop with a brutal approach to criminals. After our usual ultra violent beginning Merli is recalled back into duty to track down a gang of criminals who have escaped from jail, taking with them an old convict who only had 40 days of his sentence to serve - but why? Merli and his two companions hone in on the gang through the old man's niece (who also provides the love interest). On the way, they foil bank robberies, waste criminals, and do a little investigation around high class brothels (dig that prozzy catalogue!).On the other hand - the gang get fed up with Merli's interference and try to have him killed. This leads to a particularly good shoot out in a graveyard, and eventually on to a showdown in a roma railyard.There's not much of a story here but things are pretty streamlined and it's great to watch this guy in action. Check out the scene where a girl strips for him as he sits non-chalantly smoking a fag and drinking whisky, fully clothed.Fear in the City, as usual for these movies, is a good yarn. Plenty of action, nudity, daftness (Nick Alexander's dubbing is almost nonsensical), plus the most blatant product placement ever in a movie. If you can't figure out that Fernet Branca sponsor this film from all the posters, bottles, ashtrays and stickers, then you're crazy or maybe even don't really care about such things.23rd Century's DVD is pretty clean for a change, although it is not widescreen. Love those liner notes where they repeat the same sentence twice. Get it for a pound.

If you are a fan of the Euro-crime type films then this a typical violent outing that delivers a lot in 90ish minutes running time. Merli plays the usual tough cop Dirty Harry type role, and gets a decent motorbike chase that is a highlight. I certainly disagree with comments that the film is dull as there's plenty of great action sequences. There is less plot than say 'The Marseille Connection' (High Crimes) or other similar films though. Merli is good in this film, though naturally dubbed. He's great in the action scenes especially the fights! It's more than can be said for an clearly ill at ease James Mason, who acts like he'd rather be somewhere else.Its a shame this genre of films is difficult to come by (certainly in the UK) and the copy i've watched is the grainy '23rd Century' release which i gather is missing footage at the start. Even so it's definitely worth a watch if you can track it down.Recommended.

I'm a big fan of the Italian Polizi flicks, and for me; having made some of the most entertaining films in the genre, Maurizio Merli is much more than just a Franco Nero clone...but despite the title similarity to the great French-Italian co-production Fear Over the City, Fear in the City is unfortunately a lesser example of the genre. The entire genre owes itself to Don Siegel's masterpiece Dirty Harry; although some of the films in it have taken some creative licence and made something a bit different out of it; that is not the case with this film. The film focuses on Murri; the token maverick cop. He is called in (reluctantly) after a bunch of criminals pull off a successful prison break and spend the night picking off various informers and people they don't like. Murri investigates; hooking up with one of the criminal's nieces along the way. He uses his own methods; which mostly involve breaking all the rules, and thus comes under a lot of scrutiny from his superiors who don't take too kindly to the cop's way of working.The main problem with this film is undoubtedly the pacing; as we skip from one action scene to the next without much substance in between. Of course, it's the action scenes that make this genre what it is; but the more successful films in it generally have something else to like, and this one doesn't. Maurizio Merli makes a likable lead as ever and it's not hard to see why he so often gets cast in these films as the roles suit him like a glove; but even he doesn't have enough to make Fear in the City a success. Anyone who has seen more than a handful of these films will have seen everything in this one before and not even the action scenes are anything to write home about; although there is an amusing motorcycle chase midway through the film which is well done. This is one the lesser known Polizi flicks outside of Italy and I'm not really surprised about that because there are so many better ones. Overall, I could perhaps recommend this film to hardcore fans of this sort of stuff; but everyone else would do well to not bother with this film.

Maurizio Merli turns in his standard hard-nosed/violent cop routine in this one. The score is solid, story is easy to follow and there's a fantastic motorcycle chase toward the end. It's not quite as good as Convoy Busters or High Crimes but you're better off watching this than something like Cannibal Holocaust.Merli is no Franco Nero but his not-so-subtle acting is more than made up with his charm and delightful mustache. Not sure if this is part of the 'A Mano Armata' series but it certainly could be.If you're a fan of the Polizio genre this one should sate your appetite.