Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Woodyanders Tough, two-fisted Italian Catholic priest Father Charlie (well played with steely conviction by Lino Ventura) and rugged ex-cop Lee Stevens (a solid and charismatic performance by Isaac Hayes) join forces to find out who's responsible for a recent bank robbery in which one million dollars got stolen. Naturally, these guys find themselves neck deep in all kinds of trouble. Director Duccio Tessari relates the fun story at a constant snappy pace, makes fine use out of the gritty urban Chicago locations, adds a few amusingly quirky touches (for example, Father Charlie performs last rites on recently killed criminals!), and sprinkles plenty of rousing shoot-outs and rough'n'ready fisticuffs throughout. Fred Williamson has a welcome change-of-pace bad guy role as the nasty Joe Snake, plus there are sound supporting turns by Paula Kelly as scared hooker Fay, Vittorio Sanipoli as smooth businessman Mike Petralia, William Berger as the hard-nosed Captain Ryan, and Luciano Salce as a disapproving bishop. Hayes' funky, throbbing, soul-deep score hits the groovy spot. Aldo Tonti's slick cinematography likewise does the trick. While this movie is pretty tame and inoffensive compared to most 70's blaxploitation grindhouse fare (there's no nudity, only mild profanity, and the violence isn't that graphic), the breezy tone and engaging chemistry between the well-matched leads make this picture an enjoyable enough diversion.

Coventry It's probably due to the cheap and clumsy transfer to the Grindhouse Collection DVD, but the picture quality and lighting of this film are absolutely awful! I know this is supposed to be some type of "Blaxploitation" movie, but if I'm not mistaken, this term doesn't mean staring at a black screen the whole time! Several sequences, especially during the first half hour, you have completely no idea what to make of because you only see darkness and vague shadows moving around. And now that we're pointing out the abnormalities anyway, there's something seriously wrong with the title of "THREE Tough Guys". Three? Somebody bring on an abacus, because the correct title ought to be TWO tough guys. At least the soulful theme song got it right. It's not hard to guess why the producers opted to put the number three in the title, though. Fred Williamson receives top billing even though he barely has any screen time and he's also referred to as another one of the tough guys in spite of the fact he's not so tough (he beats women and shoots people in the back) and operating on the wrong side of the law. Williamson's name obviously just served to attract more viewers, as he just scored big Blaxploitation hits with "Black Caesar" and "Hammer", whereas the real tough black dude - Isaac Hayes - would only become a huge star shortly after the release of "Three Tough Guys", namely with his very own testosterone-packed blockbuster "Truck Turner". Say what you want about these Italian filmmakers, but they are great marketers! Anyway, onwards with the story, this opens with the cowardly murder of an insurance agent outside a nightclub. Apparently he was single-handedly investigating a million dollar bank heist and came a little too close to the truth. His closest friend – a tough ex-veteran turned priest – swears to catch whoever killed him and starts a nightly private investigation via sleazy bars and dark alleys filled with heavily armed thugs… on his bike, nonetheless! Father Charlie soon receives back-up from a former cop who has a score of his own to settle. It's no real secret that all traces eventually lead to Williamson, the über-villain for a change! "Three Tough Guys" is a neat hybrid between Italian exploitation and Baadassssssss Cinema, although not highly memorable and badly suffering from the lamentable production values. There are slightly too many tedious sequences to struggle through, but the on screen chemistry between Isaac Hayes and Lino Ventura feels surprisingly authentic and the script contains several funny parts. The amount of brutal violence and sleaze is quite a letdown, but Hayes' own soundtrack is very catchy and Duccio Tessari's ("The Bloodstained Butterfly", "Death Occurred Last Night") direction is fairly solid. So far, the Grindhouse Collection box-set is the only way to get your dirty little hands on this film, but I do hope a fully restored version will appear on DVD in the near future, as it deserves to be slightly more known.

William I was kind of baffled what Lino Venutra was doing in an Issac Hayes/Fred Williamson film, only to find out this was a Italian film! Lino toplines as a priest who doesn't want to carry a guy, but he is very two fisted, teams up with Isaac Hayes to solve a mystery that all leads to Williamson. Wiliamson doesn't play the good guy, so this is not really three guys fighting for good, it's more like two. Seeing familar character actor Romano Puppo as a thug makes me wonder if all the interior was shot in Rome? Good music by Hayes as numerous Kung-fu films stole it after this film. It's not a bad film, but it's no SHAFT. Check it out if you want to see a standard action film.

PIMannix Ten-speed-pedaling tough-guy priest (Ventura) and taciturn ex-cop (Hayes) team up to solve a million-dollar bank heist and capture Chicago mobster Joe Snake (Williamson) in Windy City-lensed but Italian-produced action flick. There isn't much here that you haven't seen before, but the production values are appropriately gritty, the action is fast-paced and bloody, and it's nice to see the image-conscious Hammer cast against type as a bad guy. Hayes wrote the musical score as well, and released the soundtrack on Enterprise Records.