gun-blazing mayhem of that particularly violent strain of 
Italian cop movie known as the poliziottesco is filled with hard-hitting gems, but there's something really special about the alchemy generated by director Umberto Lenzi, star Maurizio Merli, and composer Franco Micalizzi in a quartet of blistering favorites including Violent Naples, From Corleone to Brooklyn, and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist. Then we have The Tough Ones, originally released in Europe as Rome Armed to the Teeth and also known in its edited U.S. form as Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Brutal Justice. A favorite from its VHS release as part of Sybil Danning's Adventure Video, it has never had a complete, widescreen release in the U.S. until its eye-popping three-disc edition in 2019 from Grindhouse Releasing, the most insanely elaborate treatment of any Italian crime film to date. 
loaded with hooks that will lodge in your brain for hours, and the scenery of mid-'70s Rome is worth the price of admission all by itself. 
any past release and looking very satisfying throughout. Colors are vivid and often beautiful, too, including those lime green cars and the bright red band on Milian's cap. Both the English dub and the Italian version (with optional translated English subtitles) are presented in DTS-HD MA mono mixes and sound great; the Italian track is far superior since that's the language nearly all the actors were speaking, but the dub has its wacko charms as well with a fair share of quotable dialogue ("Crap like you oughta be taken home and castrated!"). The film can also be played with a new audio commentary by Eurocrime! director Mike Malloy, who's chock full on info about the differences in the American version (which featured radically different credits with Anglicized names and omitted most of the entire opening 10 minutes), the joys of the score by Micalizzi ("one funky Italian"), the appeal of Merli's frequently interchangeable cop characters, the weirdness of Milian and Merli playing the same characters in multiple other films, the importance of the English-language voice actors, and tons more. Also on the first disc is All Eyes on Lenzi: The Life and Times of the Exploitation Titan (94m4s), a feature-length documentary by Calum Waddell featuring interviews with and about the venerable filmmaker with contributors including Giovanni Lombardo Radice, John Martin, Mikel Koven, Rachel Nisbet, and Danilo Mattei chatting about his genre-hopping abilities and impact on the thirst for sexy, violent entertainment from the '60s onward. Then "Music for Mayhem" (33m12s) features a reunion between Lenzi and Micalizzi in Rome in 2010 strolling down memory lane about their first meeting, working with Milian, a funny aside about Rambo, and the role the scores played in some of the strongest action scenes as well as the influences of everything from Neapolitan to Chinese music. "Citta Frontale: Roma on Location" (22m1s) is an archival piece by NoShame for Italian DVD covering the evolution of Rome on film from neorealism to the bullet-riddled heights of the 1970s, including considerable coverage of the locales seen in this film. Finally you get an international trailer (as The Tough Ones), the Sybil Danning VHS intro, a VHS trailer (as Assault with a Deadly Weapon), and bonus trailers for Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, Massacre Mafia Style, Gone with the Pope, Pieces, Scum of the Earth, The 
Beyond, Cat in the Brain, An American Hippie in Israel, 
Corruption, The Swimmer, The Big Gundown, I Drink Your Blood, Captive Female (a.k.a. Scream Bloody Murder) Death Game, and Ice House. 
Beasts" (29m31s) to discuss her "precious experiences" with Lenzi and the lessons she learned about acting 
on camera including the use of those huge glasses she occasionally wears in the film. "Corrado Armed to the Teeth" (45m17s) spotlights actor Corrado Solari for a lengthy reminiscence about Lenzi, Italian crime character acting, co-stars like Henry Silva, and of course his own impressions of Merli. Up next is actress Maria Roasioa Riuzzi in "Brutal City" (14m12s) to discuss his start in the classic Profuma di Donna and her notable film and commercial appearances including a variety of comedy and action films; it's definitely more casual than the one she did a little earlier for Emanuelle and Francoise. "The Rebel and the Bourgeois" (19m5s) features actor and costume designer Sandra Cardini going into her entry into acting via Milian and her reliance on the "joy of youth" and her natural Roman accent, while omnipresent screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti appears in what seems like his 20th interview this year in "Vodka, Cigarettes and Burroughs" (39m31s) focusing on his collaborations with Lenzi both professionally and socially from the film Manhunt in the City onwards. Last and most definitely not least comes MIcalizzi for "The Godfather of Rhythm" (36m14s), a welcome look at his journey to becoming a composer from his singer mother to his musical training, his rock 'n' roll evening gigs, and his big breakthrough with the score for They Call Me Trinity before launching into jazz and funk-fueled crime films and his popular tearjerker scores. Image galleries are also included divided into promotional materials (Italy, Spain, Germany, U.S.) and miscellaneous (mostly soundtracks). As usual 
with Grindhouse, be sure to play around with the menus to find some hidden goodies including the Italian featurette "Vita a Mano Aramta: The Legend of the Hunchback of Quarticciolo" 
(16m45s), an ode to the late Sage Stallone (4m13s), and a quick little Murawskian Milian outtake (57s). The substantial slipcover packaging also comes with in-depth liner notes by Roberto Curti, a soundtrack CD for Micalizzi's essential score, and in a limited bonus touch, a custom 30-caliber metal bullet pen limited to 2,500 units.
Omaggio, "A Family Affair" (25m9s) with Maurizio Matteo Merli, "Fast and Furious" (11m52s) with stuntman Ottaviano Dell’Acqua, "Budy’s Story" (10m9s) with Cannibal Ferox composer Roberto 
Donati about his song written for the film and his background in the Italian music biz, and "Armed to the Teeth" (30m55s) with the late Lenzi in fine form chatting about noir, crime films, and his own approach to cop action. Disc features a nice bonus as well: the American Brutal Justice version by Aquarius Releasing, which clocks in at 82m57s and features some bizarre Pink Panther-style cartoon main titles. Taken from an archival print in pretty good shape, it obviously looks inferior to the main version but is great to have here for posterity as an example of how this first hit U.S. shores. Also on the disc is "Aquarius Releasing: An Appreciation" (29m1s) with Malloy offering an appraisal of the exploitation outfit's tactics of repurposing their acquisitions in sometimes outrageous methods well into the 1980s, with plenty of mileage gotten out of this one along with countless kung fu and horror movies. It also goes into their more progressive aspects, such as giving black filmmakers a bigger platform than the majors would have afforded at the time. Great stuff, and another reason to have both releases sitting proudly on your shelf.
88 Films (Blu-ray)
Grindhouse Releasing (Blu-ray)
