Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Big Racket Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 11, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers from Enzo G. Castellari.

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.

The Big Racket is often cited as one of the "go to" films for those curious about what a poliziottesco film might have to offer, and in a manner of speaking, all the film really needed to offer was the visceral presence of Fabio Testi. While he's an, um, unorthodox cop in both this film and its companion piece in the Arrow set, here he's arguably a bit more of a straight arrow, though kind of hilariously if you watch this film without also watching The Heroin Busters, you might be forgiven for asking, "This is a straight arrow?" Testi portrays Nico Palmieri, an Italian inspector who's doing his level best to bring a ruthless gang of youthful extortionists to justice, though as is often the case in these overheated crime films, higher ups may not want to pursue chasing these dangerous criminals.

And they are indeed dangerous criminals, as some kind of disturbing (if occasionally just slightly comic, as commentators Adrian J. Smith and David Flint mention) vignettes which see these thugs either threaten to assault or actually assault several small business owners, demanding protection money. One of these vignettes introduces a restaurant owner named Luigi (Renzo Palmer), and both he and his daughter (played by Castellari's own child, which may raise a few eyebrows considering what happens to her) figure prominently and tragically later in the story. Also later in the story a kind of scoundrel named Pepe (Vincent Gardenia) attempts to help Palmieri when traditional police methods fail.

Pepe's relationship with a young (male) kid with some petty criminal history who basically becomes his acolyte also adds a kind of desperate and again ultimately tragic set of developments, and in fact the film has an almost fatalistic wrap up, which seems to suggest that if Nico is the "last man standing", he's not without scars, both physical and (perhaps especially) emotional. That undeniably dour, pessimistic outlook may be one of The Big Racket's most memorable aspects.

The Big Racket Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Big Racket is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet aggregates the two releases offered in this package together in their page devoted to the restorations, with the following information:

The Big Racket / Il grande racket and The Heroin Busters / La via della droga are presented in their original aspect ratio of 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 negatives were scanned in 2K resolution.

The mono Italian and English language tracks were remastered from the optical sound negatives. The audio synch will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue was recorded entirely in post production, as per the production standards of the period. Additional sound mastering was completed by leroy Moore, The Engine House Media Services.

All original materials used in this restoration were made available from Intramovies.

This is a generally very satisfying presentation of The Big Racket, with some really nice fine detail levels that elevate things like patterns on clothing or even the textures of things like wallpapers or the insides of vehicles. There are definitely some variations in densities and brightness, and some of the grading struck me as just slightly on the pink and/or ruddy side (as can perhaps be gleaned in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, especially with regard to some flesh tones). There are some passingly rough moments in darker scenes in particular where grain can spike and crush comes close to intruding, but the good news is a lot of this film plays out in more brightly lit environments, where the palette can pop agreeably, grain resolves naturally, and detail levels remain generally consistent.

The Big Racket Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Big Racket features both the Italian and English language versions, with both soundtracks delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. Kind of interestingly (and I always wonder about these licensing and/or authoring decisions), it is not possible to toggle between the tracks as you watch, and using the Pop Up Menu to "Select Version" to change the language actually starts the movie over in whatever language is chosen. That prevented me from my "side by side" comparison of toggling between tracks to assess things like amplitude and mix, but I'll say that my general impression is that the Italian track is arguably a bit hotter and more full bodied. I'm not quite sure whether or not that's actually Vincent Gardenia's voice in the English language version; at times, it struck me as sounding like it, at others, not, but one way or the other synch is indeed almost hilariously "loose" on both of these tracks. Dialogue and the cool score are both delivered without any real issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Big Racket Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Italian Version and English Version are accessible via the Play Menu.


• Audio Commentary by Adrian J. Smith and David Flint


• The Years of Racketeering (HD; 30:15) is a new interview with co-writer and director Enzo G. Castellari. Subtitled in English.


• Violent Times (HD; 18:59) is a new interview with star Fabio Testi. Subtitled in English.


• Angel Face for a Tough Guy (HD; 43:20) is a new interview with actor Massimo Vanni. Subtitled in English.


• King of Movieola (HD; 27:53) is a new interview with editor Gianfranco Amicucci. Subtitled in English.


• The Great Racket (HD; 44:41) is another outing with Lovely Jon, this time exploring the careers of Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, who composed the soundtrack music for The Great Racket.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:55)


• Image Galleries

  Posters (HD)

  
  

  Italian Fotobusta (HD)

  
  

  German Lobby Cards (HD)

  
  

  German Pressbook (HD)

The Big Racket Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Big Racket has a couple of justifiably celebrated set pieces, including an impressive sequence relatively early in the film where the assembled goons attack Nico in his car and send it hurtling down a hillside, with Castellari filming it mostly from the inside, with Fabio Testi seemingly going for a tilt-a-whirl ride he'll never forget. The film evidently raised quite a few hackles in its day since it kind of seems to be supporting a pretty hardcore (some claimed "Fascist") reaction to dealing with rampant crime. Arrow's release provides generally secure technical merits and the label's usual allotment of outstanding supplements. Recommended.