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''Super Fuzz'' ( it, Poliziotto superpiù), also known as ''Super Snooper'', is a 1980
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
. The film stars
Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
and
Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
. It is about Dave Speed, a bumbling Miami police officer who gains superpowers through an accidental nuclear exposure.


Plot

Coming fresh from the
police academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...
, Dave Speed is sent to deliver a parking ticket to a member of a tiny Native American village in the Florida
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...
. Unbeknownst to him, the U.S. government and
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
are preparing to conduct a secret radiation experiment by firing a nuclear missile loaded with red
plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
into the village, which has been evacuated. After Dave arrives at the village, he is hit by the radiation, but survives and returns to civilization. His tale of having been close to the explosion is marveled at by most, but dismissed by Sergeant Willy Dunlop, his partner and friend. Dave soon discovers that he has picked up a wide range of superpowers, including super reflexes and speed, endurance,
telekinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
,
precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...
, hypnotism, and invulnerability. He is puzzled, however, by the fact that at seemingly random times, his powers suddenly fail to work without any apparent reason. Despite this, his powers enable him to discover a counterfeit money operation taking place in the city, which he learns is the work of a local businessman named Torpedo and his mistress Rosy Labouche, a former actress on whom Dunlop has a serious crush. Dave is less a danger to them, however, than an old retired magician named Silvius, who, after having inadvertently discovered Torpedo's counterfeit scheme, now finds himself chased by Torpedo's henchmen. When Dave sees them in pursuit of Silvius, he dispatches them and then asks Silvius. From Silvius' revelation, Dave realizes that his powers are neutralized whenever he sees the same color - namely red - that he saw during the explosion. Dave reveals his secret to Dunlop and Evelyn, Dunlop's niece and his girlfriend, who are less than ecstatic about it. While Dunlop points out that Dave's precognitive abilities are unlikely to be admitted as evidence in court, Evelyn is not overjoyed at having a too-perfect man in the house. One night, Dave and Dunlop go to Torpedo's clubhouse, where Dave has Dunlop dance with Rosie (with some hypnotic encouragement) while he poses as a corrupt cop who wants a share of the winnings. By using his hypnotic powers on Torpedo, he gets the gangster to blab out the location of his printing facility: the
fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing ...
''Barracuda''. But in the meantime, Dunlop inadvertently tells Rosie about Dave's powers and weaknesses in order to impress her. Once the information is obtained, Dave and Dunlop proceed out to sea to find the ''Barracuda''. Going aboard alone, Dunlop finds the printing press and the latest stash of dud money, but is knocked out by Torpedo's men, who lock him into a freezer and then sink the trawler to destroy the evidence. Upon his return to police headquarters, Dave is arrested following a trumped-up accusation by Rosie, who also makes sure that he keeps seeing something red to prevent his escape from prison. Dave is put on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
for murder, but his powers thwart the first three attempts to execute him. Despite Rosie's last-ditch attempt to ensure Dave's demise by having a bouquet of red roses left in the execution chamber, Dave finally manages to escape prison and jumps into the sea, where he swims to the ''Barracuda''. Once he finds Dunlop aboard, alive but frozen stiff, he uses a borrowed piece of
bubblegum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...
to create a balloon, and both men rise out of the ocean and float back to the city. Having heard of Dave's escape, Torpedo and Rosie prepare to flee with Evelyn as their hostage. Dave manages to intercept them by jumping onto their amphibian aircraft and redirecting it to an airfield where the police are waiting. Finally convinced of the validity of Dave's powers, Dunlop confidently jumps off the balloon while Dave races to save him. At the last instant, he manages to catch Dunlop (though in the process they wind up plunging through the earth and straight up to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
), and both return safe and sound to prepare for Dave's and Evelyn's wedding. However, Evelyn, still reluctant to have a super-powered husband, has decided to have the last word in the matter by having her hair dyed red.


Cast

*
Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...
as Policeman Dave Speed *
Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
as Sgt. William Dunlop *
Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...
as Rosy Labouche * Marc Lawrence as Torpedo * Julie Gordon as Evelyn * Lee Sandman as McEnroy *
Sal Borghese Sal Borgese (born 5 March 1937, in Rome) is an Italian film actor. He is sometimes credited as Salvatore Borghese or Mark Trevor. He is noted for extensive work in the Italian film industry from the 1960s to present day, and for his work as a s ...
as Paradise Alley *
Woody Woodbury Robert Dennis Woodbury (born February 9, 1924) is an American comedian, actor, television personality and talk show host. He is known for his best-selling comedy albums of risqué stories, most of which were released in the early 1960s. He was am ...
as NASA Major


Production

Director
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
was previously known for directing Spaghetti Western films in the 1960s. Since the mid-1970s, Corbucci was known as one of Italy's most successful filmmakers within the field of comedy. The film was designed for an American audience and shot on location in Miami.


Release

''Super Fuzz'' was released in Italy in 1980. The film was shown in heavy rotation on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
in the early 1980s.


Reception

In contemporary reviews, ''Super Fuzz'' received a negative review in ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' who called the film "miscast to the hilt" and "all sheer shab both artistically and technically. Within a minute of the opening title, somebody belches and the tone is set for the remainder." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' stated that the film had Corbucci and his crew "have joined forces to provide employment for several oldtime performers. That is the film's major accomplishment." and that there was only one funny gag within the film. From retrospective reviews,
AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
found that ''Super Fuzz'' "still holds up as a fun, lightweight, and immensely entertaining way to spend a Saturday night with few friends." The review concluded that ''Super Fuzz'' "can be enjoyed by equally by both adults who appreciate a mindless retro comedy, or children who enjoy such simple pleasures as the ightof Borgnine dancing atop a giant, floating bubble-gum balloon."


See also

*
List of Italian films of 1980 This is a list of Italian films that premiered or were originally released in 1980 (see 1980 in film). Footnotes References * * * Shipka, Danny. ''Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980''. ...


Footnotes


References

* *


External links

* * * {{Sergio Corbucci 1980 films 1980 comedy films 1980s buddy cop films 1980s crime comedy films 1980s police comedy films 1980s science fiction comedy films 1980s superhero films Italian comedy films Italian crime comedy films Italian superhero films English-language Italian films Fictional portrayals of the Miami-Dade Police Department Film superheroes Films directed by Sergio Corbucci Films set in Miami Films shot in Miami Superhero comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s Italian films