Luca il contrabbandiere (The Smuggler) (Contraband) (The Naples Connection) (1980)
Release Date: Aug 8, 1980 Wide
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 477
Movie Info
Produced in Italy, this film concerns the crimelord in a smuggling ring whose brother is killed in an ambush by a rival gang. While he seeks a suitable hide-out, his inferiors track down the perpetrators. The film appears in Italian with English subtitles. ~ John Bush, Rovi
Aug 8, 1980 Wide
Mar 11, 2003
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All Critics (1) | Fresh (0) | Rotten (1)
It's not saying much to say that it might be Fulci's best-directed picture.
Audience Reviews for Luca il contrabbandiere (The Smuggler) (Contraband) (The Naples Connection)
Super Reviewer
Contraband is Lucio Fulci trying his hand at the Italian Crime genre, adding his very own touch to the proceedings, and producing what results in a very gory thriller with all his eccentricities intact.
Set in Naples, it involves small time crooks Luca and his brother Mickey, who are heavily involved in the smuggling of cigarettes. After a raid on their operations, they both seek to find the grass who's been trying to mess things up for them. But who is it? After much accusation and conspiring, it turns out there's a new boss on the street, wanting to flood Naples with drugs and willing to wipe out the competition at any cost.
Contraband is a very slow moving film at first, but in a good way. Luca doesn't even start getting payback until the half hour mark, and there's a definite lack of car chases and gun battles that we've enjoyed before in films like The Big Racket and Violent Professionals. Fulci approaches the story from a different angle, showing us the various levels of the criminal hierarchy in Naples, introducing us to a myriad of characters, and then, basically, killing them all off in a very gory fashion. It's not action packed, but when the violence happens on screen it's extremely gory. This film ain't for the kids!
There's gore here to rival The Beyond and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Throats and stomachs are blown out, someone has their face burned off, and a man is very graphically shown having the back of his head blown off. Add to that the very cool scene in the disco (You can see it on YouTube), Fabio Testi's presence, and the overall laid back atmosphere, and you've got a great film right here.
There's a good few cameos from Italian Movie land - Romano Puppo, Venantini Venantino and Fulci himself. The Region 0 Blue Underground version is the one to have.
Super Reviewer
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Movie: ID: 770671665 Title: Luca il contrabbandiere (The Smuggler) (Contraband) (The Naples Connection) Release Date: 1980-08-08 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 6 Status: 1
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