Blu-ray Review – Shoot First, Die Later

My education in the work of director Fernando Di Leo has primarily
consisted of watching stoic men go about the daily business of murder,
punctuated with the occasional feminine distraction and staring contests
between antagonists. The ominously titled "Shoot First, Die Later"
contains many of the same elements as before, happily showing off the
hardness of character Di Leo built a reputation on. Heck, this movie opens
with one of the villains ordering a mass murder of local dim-wits, with
the camera enjoying the view of a gunman blasting away at the
vulnerable legs of his victims. However, this 1974 feature is perhaps
the strongest, most penetrative effort from the maestro I've seen to
date, revealing an unexpectedly potent emotional core and richly defined
moral struggle, giving the harsh violence and chest-puffing genuine
meaning. It's a marvelous picture, spotlighting roughhouse action and a
leather-jacket score, while reinforcing Di Leo's iconic status as a
crime film craftsman tackling a challenging study of duality and honor.
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