"Bomber" is an Italian movie from 1982 that is also almost exclusively in the Italian language and this one runs for 100 minutes approximately although there are also several versions out there I believe. Some shorter ones too I think. As you can see from the poster, this is another Bud Spencer film and this one will have its 40th anniversary next year. I can say that now because 2021 has officially started. Happy new year, readers! We also get another great Oliver Onions tune here, surprisingly also a slow instrumental version of the originally positive catchy song for the more serious moments. Okay, this film here does not star Terence Hill or another lead who is equal with Spencer, so we have several character kinda step in and share the screen with the beloved big bearded brute. Sorry, I just had to. I will not elaborate in detail about the names of the actors with one exception. First there is of course the one who tries to convince Spencer to join him and help his boxers. That one reminded me a bit of Benigni. I am sure he could have played that part too. And honestly, he would not even have been too young I think. Or only slightly. This film is from two years before I was born. The second is of course the young troubled boxing prospect, felt a bit like an Italian James Dean. Okay, in terms of the approach I should probably say. Or the character he played. I doubt the actor had Dean's talent and screen presence. And then there is of course the main antagonist and that one was once again played by actor Raimund Harmstorf from Hamburg. Kinda fitting with the huge success Spencer's movies had in Germany that you also find German actors on several occasions. Ha! Did I fool you too? Actually, that is not Harmsdorf, but I really though while watching that it was him. The actor is Kallie Knoetze and he was a pretty successful boxer during his prime. Not unusual at all that he gets cast as the main antagonist here because Spencer fought Joe Bugner (a really big star in the world of boxing back then) in several movies, so seeing another boxer being cast here does not feel a big surprise. So no Harmstorf this time, sorry. But on enough other occasions. As for female characters, there is almost nothing here. Spencer flirting a little bit with one early on when he meets his new buddy and later on a bit of romance involving the young boxer and that is it. Female character almost never play key roles in Bud Spencer movies, but they are just there for somewhat romantic relationships to the males at the center of the story and even these relationships are not really key whatsoever. This one here is a perfect example as there are several men infatuated by women, even in the absence of heartthrob Terence Hill. And I also have not yet talked about the people who made this. Well, for director Michele Lupo, this was his final movie, even if he lived for a few more years afterwards before his nonetheless untimely death. Writers Fondato and the much younger Scardamaglia (also died too early) have collaborated on other Spencer films too and even worked with Lupo on those, for example on the one with the little alien boy. But let's not drift too far away from this one we have here. Of course, as boxing is at the center of the story, it makes sense that there is a lot of fighting and brawling in here, even more than you usually see in Spencer films and also a great deal of ring action, especially in the second half. I mean sports are something featured frequently in Spencer's films, but rarely to an extent it is here. The man was of course an Olympic swimmer himself. Check out his biography if you want to know more. Such a multi-talented man.
Okay, in the end of course Spencer also gets his own chance at glory when he realizes that his enemy had been using unfair tricks and the two are up against each other in the ring one last time and of course our hero wins and is also really delighted and enthusiastic afterwards. You don't see the gruffy big bear this often showing so many positive emotions because he almost always plays characters that do not show a great deal of their emotion. But he is always a good guy. He also early on defends the one I compared to Benigni earlier during that scene at the construction site early on and also immediately afterwards inside the gym. So yeah, the key story is alright here, probably more of a feast for people who like boxing more than I do, but what is always also nice in Spencer's movies are these small fun moments in-between. They may not be as frequent here as in other Spencer films as it almost feels like a serious sports drama here and there, but they are there and I enjoyed them. You just have to watch carefully and you will see them. There was one moment especially that made me laugh, but I don't remember exactly which one. Maybe on rewatch. The earthquake reference early on was funny though. Also you don't really see Spencer dance this often in his movies. Here he does it. Admittedly, the scene when the title character really destroys everything I was not too big on, but I guess it kinda makes sense because he wanted to see the young man again and knew they would send him. By the way, speaking of the title, there has rarely been a better nickname for a character played by Spencer than Bomber. Maybe not even a better nickname for anybody in film history because it fits his size and strength oh so well. No surprise he is the deciding factor in this tug-of-war battle sequence. I think that was really way more popular back then compared to today. I still remember we did this at school as well, but is anybody doing this nowadays anymore? Anyway, boxing films were of course a big thing back then, so no surprise this is a key factor here too. Rocky happened five years before that already I think. Or even more. Okay, I think this is it then. I like this film and I give it a positive recommendation, but it is not on a level where I would say that maybe on rewatch I will add another two stars. Highly unlikely. But I have said so for several other Spencer movies that I also gave 6 out of 10. Still, no hesitation here for me in giving this one another thumbs-up and a positive recommendation. I think that it was maybe not the best decision to focus this much on other characters. Some scenes are even completely without Spencer and I think maybe ten minutes less and losing these scenes would have been a better choice. The benigni fella for example had too much screen time for my taste because if we are honest, he wasn't that funny really and a bit overexposed. Also I felt the movie took itself too seriously at times. So there are flaws here. Nonetheless, Spencer was a delight as always and carried the film pretty much on his own on his broad shoulders and made it easy to ignore most of the mediocrity. Go see this film. Fun enough that I have no hesitation at all in saying this needs to be checked out. The rating here on imdb seems really accurate overall at 6.4 right now. Oh and the title guy's last name is Graziano? Typical boxer name haha. And what was up with that bavarian music on one occasion haha. More references for the German fans. Okay I will really stop now. What are you waiting for anyway still reading this? Go see the film instead. Bud really is the god of pep talk in here!
Okay, in the end of course Spencer also gets his own chance at glory when he realizes that his enemy had been using unfair tricks and the two are up against each other in the ring one last time and of course our hero wins and is also really delighted and enthusiastic afterwards. You don't see the gruffy big bear this often showing so many positive emotions because he almost always plays characters that do not show a great deal of their emotion. But he is always a good guy. He also early on defends the one I compared to Benigni earlier during that scene at the construction site early on and also immediately afterwards inside the gym. So yeah, the key story is alright here, probably more of a feast for people who like boxing more than I do, but what is always also nice in Spencer's movies are these small fun moments in-between. They may not be as frequent here as in other Spencer films as it almost feels like a serious sports drama here and there, but they are there and I enjoyed them. You just have to watch carefully and you will see them. There was one moment especially that made me laugh, but I don't remember exactly which one. Maybe on rewatch. The earthquake reference early on was funny though. Also you don't really see Spencer dance this often in his movies. Here he does it. Admittedly, the scene when the title character really destroys everything I was not too big on, but I guess it kinda makes sense because he wanted to see the young man again and knew they would send him. By the way, speaking of the title, there has rarely been a better nickname for a character played by Spencer than Bomber. Maybe not even a better nickname for anybody in film history because it fits his size and strength oh so well. No surprise he is the deciding factor in this tug-of-war battle sequence. I think that was really way more popular back then compared to today. I still remember we did this at school as well, but is anybody doing this nowadays anymore? Anyway, boxing films were of course a big thing back then, so no surprise this is a key factor here too. Rocky happened five years before that already I think. Or even more. Okay, I think this is it then. I like this film and I give it a positive recommendation, but it is not on a level where I would say that maybe on rewatch I will add another two stars. Highly unlikely. But I have said so for several other Spencer movies that I also gave 6 out of 10. Still, no hesitation here for me in giving this one another thumbs-up and a positive recommendation. I think that it was maybe not the best decision to focus this much on other characters. Some scenes are even completely without Spencer and I think maybe ten minutes less and losing these scenes would have been a better choice. The benigni fella for example had too much screen time for my taste because if we are honest, he wasn't that funny really and a bit overexposed. Also I felt the movie took itself too seriously at times. So there are flaws here. Nonetheless, Spencer was a delight as always and carried the film pretty much on his own on his broad shoulders and made it easy to ignore most of the mediocrity. Go see this film. Fun enough that I have no hesitation at all in saying this needs to be checked out. The rating here on imdb seems really accurate overall at 6.4 right now. Oh and the title guy's last name is Graziano? Typical boxer name haha. And what was up with that bavarian music on one occasion haha. More references for the German fans. Okay I will really stop now. What are you waiting for anyway still reading this? Go see the film instead. Bud really is the god of pep talk in here!