Recently, we mentioned what The Other Side of the Wind‘s producers, Filip Jan Rymsza and Frank Marshall, have been working on since completing the Orson Welles’ film for Netflix last fall.
We thought it was time to find out how Bob Murawski, who was lauded for his masterful editing on the movie, has been keeping busy.
Murawski (The Hurt Locker, Sam Rami’s Spider-Man trilogy) has been laboring on a deluxe edition of the gritty Italian crime cult classic The Tough Ones for Grindhouse Releasing — the distribution company he founded with the late Sage Stallone in 1996. Grindhouse is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of classic exploitation movies, like Gone With the Pope, I Drink Your Blood and Cannibal Holocaust to name just a few.
The late Umberto Lenzi’s The Tough Ones (also known as Roma a Mano Armata) was aptly described as “one of the most gonzo, over-the-top Euro crime films you’ll ever see” by American Cinematheque. Maurizio Meril stars as Italy’s answer to Dirty Harry, punching and shooting his way through the sleazy drug, sex and crime infested cesspool of mid 1970s Rome, on the trail of a sadistic, machine gun-toting hunchback, played by the late Tomas Milian.
“The Tough Ones was a very favorite of my late partner Sage Stallone,” Murawski said. “Sage absolutely loved this movie and wanted everyone to see it. Our friend Umberto Lenzi was extremely proud of this film and was overjoyed when he heard that we had acquired it. As was Tomas Milian. I’m sorry they are not here to see this deluxe edition release.”
The film — which will be screened theatrically in select cities later this year — arrives July 9 as a deluxe three-disc Blu-ray and CD set, which includes a state-of-the-art 4K transfer of Lenzi‘s uncensored director’s cut. There is a wealth of bonus material, including:
- Audio commentary by Mike Malloy, director of Eurocrime
- Brand new, in-depth interviews with Lenzi, 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
- Original soundtrack album by Franco Micalizzi
The first 2,500 orders will include a limited edition .30 caliber bullet-pen emblazoned with The Tough Ones logo.
For more information on The Tough Ones and other Grindhouse offerings, visit grindhousereleasing.com
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