Nick the Sting - Raro Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1976
Director: Fernando Di Leo
Writer: Alberto Silvestri
Cast: Luc Merenda, Lee J. Cobb, Gabriele Ferzetti, Luciana Paluzzi, Dagmar Lassander, Isabella Biagini, Fred Williams, Mario Pisu, Riccardo Salvino, William Berger, Valentina Cortese

Release Date: October 25th, 2022
Approximate running time: 97 minutes 13 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Luc Merenda stars as small time conman Nick Hezard who gets caught up in the bigger scams of crime boss Robert Clark (Lee J. Cobb) in Geneva, Switzerland. Nick gets involved in jewel-related insurance scams, but soon realizes that Clark is about to execute a double cross. So Nick gets a team together and concocts an elaborate scam of his own involving false arrests, fake murders, and prop police stations. This high stakes game of double and triple cross will either put Nick on easy street or straight into the grave." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.25/5

Nick the Sting comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.8 GB

Feature: 20.3 GB

No information is provided about this transfer’s source. And though the source looks clean, it is not without its shortcomings. Colors and flesh tones look correct, black levels are adequate, and the image generally looks crisp. Also, there are some mild compression-related issues, and there also appears to be some digital noise reduction.

Audio: 3.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian, and included with this release are removable English subtitles. Though the audio sounds clean and clear, there are a few moments where it sounds distorted. That said, dialog comes through clearly, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras are limited to a featurette titled A Video History of '60s & '70s Split-screen Cinema with Mike Malloy, Eurocrime: the Italian Cop & Gangster Films that ruled the 70s (23 minutes 31 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles).

Summary:

Fernando Di Leo directed Nick the Sting. He is a filmmaker who is most remembered for his contributions to Poliziotteschi cinema. His most notable films include Naked Violence, Milano calibro 9, and To Be Twenty.

Although Nick the Sting has many elements that are familiar to fans of 1970’s Italian crime cinema. The result is a light-hearted affair that is in direct contrast to the gritty rips from the headlines that are the backbone of Poliziotteschi cinema.

When it comes to Italian genre cinema, making clones of successful films is one thing that it is most known for. And in the case of Nick the Sting, it does not even try to hide its main influence, The Sting. That said, outside of superficial similarities, Nick the Sting bears little resemblance to The Sting.

One thing you can always count on when it comes to Italian genre cinema is that the cast is going to be made up of recognizable faces. Some notable cast members are Lee J. Cobb (The Exorcist) in the role of a crime boss named Robert Clark, Gabriele Ferzetti (Once Upon a Time in the West), and Valentina Cortese (Day for Night) in the roles of Nick’s parents. As good as the performances are, it is Luc Merenda (The Violent Professionals) in the role of the protagonist, Nick Hezard, that carries the film. He does a great job of portraying an anti-hero who's sympathetic in a film of unsavory characters.

Though Nick the Sting has all the elements that one expects from a Fernando Di Leo film, the result is a film that never lives up to the high bar that Fernando Di Leo set with his most celebrated films. Two of its most glaring shortcomings are its overuse of split screen and humor that often misses the mark. Ultimately, Nick the Sting is not one of Fernando Di Leo’s better films, making it a hard film to recommend for anyone but Fernando Di Leo’s diehard fans.

Raro Video gives Nick the Sting a serviceable audio/video presentation.

Written by Michael Den Boer