Grindhouse Releasing Revives THE TOUGH ONES This Summer
Grindhouse Releasing, the exploitation-centered distribution company founded in 1996 by Academy Award-winning editor Bob Murawski and genre enthusiast Sage Stallone, has been responsible for keeping the flame burning for some of the greatest underground cinematic masterpieces via revival screenings in 35mm and digital and extras-packed home video releases. The Beyond, I Drink Your Blood, An American Hippie in Israel, Evil Dead and Gone with the Pope. Now you can add The Tough Ones to that list as Grindhouse Releasing is currently touring the film around the country in advance of a home video release this July.
Directed by the legendary Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Nightmare City and Eaten Alive!) and inspired by American crime pictures such as Dirty Harry, this Italian action thriller stars Maurizio Meril as Inspector Leonardo Tanzi, a tough-as-nails cop who has no problem stepping outside the boundaries of the law to take down those that would break it. Filled with shootouts, drug epidemics, sex and the crime infested streets of mid-’70s Rome, The Tough Ones has it all and then some. The “and them some” is Vincenzo Moretto, a deranged hunchback with a machine gun played by the amazing Tomas Milian (The Big Gundown).
The Tough Ones is legendary among Italian cinema and genre enthusiasts for its over-the-top action. Full of the in-you-face spectacle we go to the movies for, The Tough Ones takes the idea of a movie like Dirty Harry and cranks up the irresponsible stunts and questionable morality to create a movie that is unlike anything you would ever see come out of the Hollywood system. To put it frankly, this is the type of movie that creates a “save point” in the life of movie fans - once you see the kind of shit in store for you within The Tough Ones, there’s just no going back.
The film is being released theatrically and on home video via a state-of-the-art 4K transfer of Lenzi’s original and uncensored director’s cut. The film will be playing at a handful of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations this summer, including Houston, Yonkers and San Francisco. You can check out showtimes for the Drafthouse here. Don’t live near an Alamo Drafthouse? Click here for a list of other upcoming screenings, potentially in a theater near you.
If you won’t have a chance to see The Tough Ones in a theater, don’t fret - Grindhouse Releasing is putting out a completely stacked Blu-ray release. Check out the special features below:
– Original UNRATED, UNCENSORED director’s cut
– Mastered in eye-popping 4K resolution for maximum detail and impact
– Optional Italian language soundtrack with optional English subtitles
– Audio commentary by Mike Malloy, director of EUROCRIME!
– Brand new, in-depth interviews with director Umberto Lenzi, actors Tomas Milian, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Sandra Cardini, Maria Rosaria Riuzzi and Corrado Solari, screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti, and composer Franco Micalizzi
– Special tribute to Marizo Merli with appearances by Enzo Castellari and Ruggero Deodato
– Vintage VHS intro by cult movie superstar Sybil Danning!
– Original international theatrical trailer
– Liner notes by Italian crime film expert Roberto Curti
– Deluxe embossed slip cover
– BONUS CD – original soundtrack album by Franco Micalizzi – newly remastered in stunning 24 bit/192khz sound from the original master tapes
-AND OTHER SURPRISES!
In addition, they are also selling a limited edition of the Blu-ray that features a custom 30-caliber metal bullet pen. This version is limited to 2500 units.
If you’re a fan of sleaze-filled European cesspools of days gone by (and really, who isn’t?), you owe it to yourself to visit or revisit The Tough Ones - a movie that features more violence and WTF moments per minute than any other action film you’re going to see on the big screen this summer. This is the movie that kicked off the Italian police craze - isn’t it high time we bring that particular craze back?
