THE BIG RACKET

Directed by Enzo G. Castellari
Written by Arduino Maiuri, Massimo De Rita & Enzo G. Castellari
Music by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis
Cast: Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia, Renzo Palmer, Orso Maria Guerrini, Joshua Sinclair, Glauco Onorato, Sal Borgese, Romano Puppo & Antonio Marsina

1976/106 mins/Color/Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
1.85:1 anamorphic/English/Italy/NTSC Region 0

Review from the Blue Underground DVD

For sometime now, Inspector Nico Palmieri (the ever great Fabio Testi) has been trying to find a way to bust a ruthless group of low life "protection" racket. The town people are fearing these violent thugs who will destroy or burn down their business if they don't pay the monthly fee. Inspector Palmieri will use any means necessary so that justice prevail... and at any cost.

If you are familiar with the work of director Enzo G. Castellari and poliziotteschi (Italian crime thrillers) then you know that the two rightfully belong together. Amazing stunts, gruesome violence, ruthless murder, brutal rape, necessary revenge and an amazing explosive finale make THE BIG RACKET another must see. As always Castellari's direction is pretty solid. The story gets more interesting and violent as we get into it. I especially loved the idea of Palmieri assembling his own gang of people to hunt down the racket. The movie also features a very good cast with some familiar faces for knowledgeable genre fans. But unlike most of Castellari's movies, this one was shot in Italian rather then English due to the fact that Fabio Testi talked little to no English.

Blue Underground released THE BIG RACKET on DVD in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image looks good but its nothing spectacular. There is some grain and the image could have been a little sharper. Still its a huge improvement over the Vipco disc released in the UK which was not anamorphic and was missing some seconds during the rape scene. The Blue Underground edition is uncut and uncensored, the first time in North America. The English dubbed Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio track sounds good. It is loud and clear but the original Italian track would have been much welcomed. There is no subtitles.

We get an interesting commentary track with director Enzo G. Castellari, his son Andrea Girolami and it is moderated by Blue Underground producer David Gregory. Even though there's some rather unnecessary gasps of silence, they go into all the details behind the making of the movie. There's also a trailer for the movie, in Italian with subs to make things more fustrating. The disc features animated menus with music, 24 chapters stop, the usual Blue Underground catalogue and comes in a transparent keep case. A good edition for yet another amazing flick from director Enzo G. Castellari.

(Original title: Il Grande Racket)

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2007. ©

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