Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 11, 2022

To anyone who may be understandably concerned about the state of affairs in the world today, what with disease, political division, rampant crime, out of control drug running and/or addiction and all sorts of other miseries seemingly an unavoidable part of an equally almost unavoidably pessimistic and maybe even near apocalyptic emotional response to things, take heart: the Italians have "been there, done that", at least in part, several times over the course of their long and often fractious history, and they are still around to tell the tale. For those wanting some potent examples of just how bad things can get from just a relatively few years ago, one need look no further than the genre which has become known as Poliziotteschi, "police related dramas" that proliferated throughout Italy particularly in the seventies. Now the two films Arrow has aggregated in this new collection may admittedly not have "disease" per se, at least if one doesn't count moral turpitude as an ailment, there are near epic amounts of just about everything else in that litany listed in the first sentence above. Both of the films in this set were the handiwork of Enzo G. Castellari, and they both traffic at least in part in what was one of Castellari's calling cards, graphic violence within a context of some of the breakdown in law and order in the Italy of the seventies. Both films (which share star Fabio Testi) in this set are making their high definition debuts and as usual Arrow has assembled an impressive slate of supplements along with some nice packaging.

For reviews of the two films in this set, please click on the following links:

The Big Racket Blu-ray review

The Heroin Busters Blu-ray review

Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Additionally, this is another handsomely packaged release from Arrow which offers limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch, twelve double sided postcard sized lobby card reproduction artcards, and an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Roberto Curti and Barry Forshaw. The two keepcases and booklet are housed in a sturdy chipboard slipbox.

Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers by Enzo G. Castellari Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rogue Cops and Racketeers is another really appealing release from Arrow, and while my hunch is most fans will probably think The Big Racket is the more consistently involving feature in this set, The Heroin Busters has its own seedy energy. As usual with Arrow releases, the supplements are very well done and the packaging and non disc swag like the insert booklet and art cards will offer added interest for some fans. Recommended.