Rogue Cops And Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers By Enzo G. Castellari: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Italy, 1976 (The Big Racket), Italy, 1977 (The Heroin Busters)
Director: Enzo G. Castellari (Both Films)
Cast: Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia, Renzo Palmer, Orso Maria Guerrini, Glauco Onorato, Marcella Michelangeli, Romano Puppo, Antonio Marsina, Sal Borgese (The Big Racket), Fabio Testi, David Hemmings, Sherry Buchanan, Wolfango Soldati, Massimo Vanni, Angelo Ragusa, Romano Puppo (The Heroin Busters)

Release Date: April 18th, 2022 (UK), April 19th, 2022 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 104 Minutes 9 Seconds (The Big Racket),93 Minutes 36 Seconds (The Heroin Busters)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: English, English SDH (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £44.99 (UK), $69.95 (USA)

"Over a long and wide-ranging career, director Enzo G. Castellari (Keoma, The Inglorious Bastards) helmed some of the most infamous of all the poliziotteschi - the gritty, action-packed crime films that proliferated in Italy throughout the 70s. Buckle up for a heart-stopping thrill ride through the seedy underbelly of Italian society in two of his most celebrated thrillers! In 1976's The Big Racket, Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi, What Have You Done to Solange?) is hot on the heels of a gang of ruthless racketeers. Realizing he's not going to get anywhere within the confines of the law, Nico recruits a crack squad of civilians to dole out their own brand of justice. Then, in 1977's The Heroin Busters, rule-flouting cop Fabio (Testi) goes deep undercover, chasing a globe-trotting ring of drug-smugglers suspected to be operating out of Rome. But can he and Mike Hamilton (David Hemmings, Deep Red), an Interpol agent with a hair-trigger temper, stay one step ahead of the criminals long enough to bring them down from the inside? Featuring death-defying stunts, explosive shoot-outs and a pair of addictive, toe-tapping soundtracks courtesy of the De Angelis brothers (Torso) and legendary prog rock group Goblin (Suspiria), these two films represent the crème de la crème of the Italian crime thriller, both making their high definition debuts with stunning new restorations in this feature-packed box set from Arrow!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (The Big Racket), 4.25/5 (The Heroin Busters)

Here’s the information provided about the transfers, “The Big Racket / Il grande racket and The Heroin Busters / La via della droga are presented in their original aspect ratio 1.85:1 with Italian and English mono audio. Scanning and restoration work was completed at L’Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna and color grading was completed at R3Store Studios, London. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution.” 

The Big Racket comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.2 GB

Feature: 25.3 GB

The Heroin Busters comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.8 GB

Feature: 23.8 GB

Both films are given brand new transfers that are notable improvements over their Blue Underground DVD release. Color saturation is consistently strong throughout, image clarity and black levels are solid, there are no issues with compression, and the grain looks organic.

Audio: 4/5

Each film comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. All the audio mixes sound clean, clear, and balanced, and the action sequences sound robust. Both films come with removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH subtitles for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for The Big Racket include image galleries: posters (3 images), Italian fotobusta (7 images), German lobby cards (21 images), and German pressbook (8 images), theatrical trailer (3 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an appreciation and career retrospective of composers Guido and Maurizio De Angelis by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon titled The Great Racket (44 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with editor Gianfranco Amicucci titled King of Movieola (27 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Massimo Vanni titled Angel Face for a Tough Guy (43 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Fabio Testi titled Violent Times (18 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with co-writer/director Enzo G. Castellari titled The Years of Racketeering (30 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film critic’s Adrian J. Smith and David Flint.

Extras for The Heroin Busters include image galleries: posters (3 images), Italian pressbook (6 images), German pressbook (4 images), German lobby cards (17 images), and Spanish lobby cards (12 images), theatrical trailer (3 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an appreciation and career retrospective of composers Goblin by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon titled The Eardrum Busters (38 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with retired poliziotto and criminologist Nicola Longo titled A Cop on the Set (23 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with editor Gianfranco Amicucci titled How They Killed Italian Cinema (20 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Massimo Vanni titled The Drug Dealer (21 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Fabio Testi titled Drug Squad (16 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with co-writer/director Enzo G. Castellari titled Endless Pursuit (24 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film critic’s Adrian J. Smith and David Flint.

Other extras include six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction art cards for each film, reversible cover art for each film, and a sixty-page booklet with cast & crew information for each film, an essay titled Viva La Muerte!: Enzo G. Castellari’s The Big Racket written by Roberto Curti, an essay titled Cop of Two Nations: The Heroin Busters written by Barry Forshaw and information about the restorations.

Summary:

The Big Racket: From its opening moments, The Big Racket starts off with a bang as thugs destroy various local businesses that have refused to pay protection money. This opening montage is shot in slow motion, which heightens the destruction unfolding.

Though The Big Racket has elements that are synonymous with Poliziotteschi cinema, What sets The Big Racket apart from other Poliziotteschi is how everything is bigger and better than most of its contemporaries.

When it comes to action, The Big Racket delivers and then some. There are two mind-blowing action set pieces. The first of these two set pieces is a scene where Nico Palmieri, a police officer, has his car trashed by thugs who then roll the car down a hill. This is a fantastic moment in which the camera takes you inside the rolling car. And the second of these two set pieces is the finale, which takes place in a warehouse where the bodies start to pile up as bullets fly.

Though action is The Big Racket’s bread and butter, Its most disturbing moment is when thugs invade a skeet shooter's home because he interfered in an ambush that saved Nico Palmieri’s life. In this sequence, they severely beat the skeet shooter while they rape his wife. From there, they then set the home on fire, killing the wife. Another disturbing moment is a scene in which the daughter of a man who’s agreed to help the police is kidnapped and raped, which leads to her suicide.

The performances are very good, especially those of the actors who portray the vicious thugs who are wreaking havoc. The standout performance was by Renzo Palmer (How to Kill a Judge) in the role of the father whose daughter kills herself. Fabio Testi (Revolver) is cast in the role of the protagonist, Nico Palmieri, and he delivers a performance that's best described as adequate.

From a production standpoint, there’s not an area where The Big Racket does not excel. The well-executed narrative moves along briskly, and Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis’ score perfectly sets the mood. Ultimately, The Big Racket is an unflinching crime film that’s arguably Poliziotteschi cinema’s bleakest film.

The Heroin Busters: Enzo G. Castellari takes a very basic story with The Heroin Busters and opens things up by shooting a montage at various locations like Hong Kong, Rome, Amsterdam, and New York. This sequence is another exemplary example of Enzo G. Castellari’s ability to create visually arresting moments.

Once again, action set pieces play a significant role in an Enzo G. Castellari film. And what The Heroin Busters lacks when it comes to plot, it more than makes up for with memorable action set pieces where each one somehow tops the previous one. The most memorable action set piece is a lengthy chase sequence that starts on foot, then there’s a motorcycle chase in an underground subway, and the sequence culminates with an airplane crash.

One area where The Heroin Busters does not gel is in a few odd moments where humor is injected. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. Also, Enzo G. Castellari approaches the subject of drugs without ever sugar-coating them. His realistic and often harsh depiction of drugs and the addicts who use them are the most disturbing moments.

The performances range from good to adequate. David Hemmings (Deep Red) plays a rough-around-the-edges cop who is willing to do just about anything to catch his man. Unfortunately, his role feels more like a cameo. His character just seems to pop up from time to time. Then there’s Fabio Testi (What Have You Done to Solange?) in the role of an undercover cop. Though he more than holds his own in the action sequences, his acting is once again pedestrian.

From a production standpoint, The Heroin Busters take full advantage of their resources. The narrative does a good job of building tension, and the finale provides a satisfying conclusion. Without a doubt, The Heroin Busters’ strongest asset is its score, which was composed by frequent Dario Argento collaborators, Goblin. Ultimately, The Heroin Busters is a solid action film that fans of Poliziotteschi cinema are sure to enjoy.

Rogue Cops And Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers By Enzo G. Castellari is another exemplary release from Arrow Video that comes with solid audio/video presentations and a wealth of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer