Overview: John Dannahay (Tony Musante, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), a CIA agent stationed in Rome, is planning to overthrow an African government. But his plan goes wrong when a corrupt colleague starts shooting people from the roof of a hotel, taking an innocent couple hostage.

Director Damiano Damiani (How to Kill a Judge) wields expert tension in this gripping espionage thriller, twisting and turning its tight plot to its sensational finale.

Featuring a fantastic supporting cast including Claudia Cardinale (The Day of the Owl), John Steiner (The Case is Closed: Forget It) and Wolfango Soldati (The Heroin Busters), Goodbye & Amen is one of the great 1970s Italian action thrill rides, set to a haunting score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis (Torso, Keoma)

Blu-ray Verdict: A mad sniper shoots two civilians from the roof of the Hilton Intercontinental in Rome, and then locks himself up in a hotel room, holding a couple of illicit lovers hostage. He appears to be a high-ranking official of the US Embassy in Italy, and a personal friend of a CIA agent, who is called in to co-operate with the head of the Italian counter-terrorist unit. But what is really hiding behind this massacre?

A gritty 70’s hostage drama, when Cardinale is taken hostage by a wacky sniper hit man in a hotel room you immediately feel for her, but wonderfully good surprises and some clever moments soon abound, trust me!

In truth, Forsythe does not much of a presence in the film, Cardinale is good (if not noticeably aging), but Musante shines over everybody, in my humble opinion.

The cinematography is really quite good and highlights the contrast between the characters. Some weird shots every now and then appear a bit too symbolic, almost nonsensical in nature, and the same applies to the dialogues, if I were really knuckling down here.

Regardless, this late seventies film is as good as you could ever hope it to be and now out on veritably crystalline Blu-ray, and with en mass of special features to enjoy, now is most definitely the time to buy it and settle in for the night.

Special Features:
New 2023 restoration of the film from the original camera negative presented with Italian and, for the first time on home video, English audio options
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio commentary by Eurocrime experts Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth (2023)
Interview with editor Antonio Siciliano
Archival interview with Wolfango Soldati (2013)
New and improved English subtitles for Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for English audio
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Italian crime cinema expert Lucia Rinaldi
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

www.radiancefilms.co.uk