Continuing a quest to actually watch the movie of an Ennio Morricone soundtrack that I really like listening to, Revolver (1973; aka Blood In The Streets) is an example of the Eurocrime/Poliziotteschi genre as well as an Italian-German-French co-production. The main musical theme – a mournful, orchestral folk-pop number – was used by Tarantino in a key scene for Inglourious Basterds. It also provides a melancholic edge to this potboiler about a tough warden (a burly Oliver Reed; I watched the English version and his dubbing sounds more like Clint Eastwood) whose wife is kidnaped and he is blackmailed to break out of his own prison, a cocky thief (Fabio Testi) who has no idea why the kidnappers are doing this. In time, they become begrudging pals while on the run from the cops and fighting the crooks who did this, which involves a border crossing, car chases, fisticuffs and even a hippie rock star (Daniel Berreta who resembles a young, bearded Kurt Russell). The third act is where the movie pivots towards issues of power, corruption and ‘the system’, resulting in a surprisingly downbeat denouement. That and the Morricone score – along with mismatched buddy narrative – are why I liked it. Streaming on Tubi (but you might be able to find a copy on YouTube).
VHS Tracking 