The Big Racket (1976)

Considered a masterpiece of the "Poliziotteschi" (Italian cop) genre THE BIG RACKET follows Officer Nico Palmieri as he investigates an extortion racket in a small Italian village where drug lords and thugs have terrified the villagers into silence. Finally one man has the courage to identify the criminals and in retaliation they brutally rape his daughter. When Palmieri's corrupt superiors order him to abandon the case he rounds up a vigilante band and they take on the crooks in a final bloody showdown.System Requirements:Running Time 106 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 827058105095 Manufacturer No: BU1050 Product Description

Dirty Harry a la Roma!

Enzo G. Castellari's The Big Racket one-ups it's rivals by shooting its obligatory car somersaulting down a hill sequence from the inside of the car, with a visibly uncomfortable Fabio Testi obviously thanking God he remembered to fasten his seatbelt with every turn. Despite his protestations that "I'm a different kind of cop," Testi's hero is a predictably close Italian relative of Harry Callahan in a plot that ends up like a cross between The Magnificent Seven and Death Wish as he recruits the victims and criminal rivals of a ruthless protection racket carving up Rome to take the law into their own hands in an engagingly OTT factory floor shootout finale. Thankfully Testi seems to have loosened up a bit from his ramrod straight block of wood earlier performances, though the dubbing may have something to do with that. It's not exactly demanding stuff, and there's laziness to spare, not least with a jailbreak that happens offscreen and is never explained presumably for no better reason than no-one being able to think of a convincing one, but within its limited ambitions it gets the job done, and there's a likeable turn from this films contractually obligatory American co-star Vincent Gardenia

However, there are some real double standards in the American dubbing script: murder, rape and bloody mayhem, no problem, but no naughty words whatever you do. Thus our "dumb basket" hero is warned that if he doesn't cool it, he'll be "in deep diddly." In fact, whoever wrote the dubbing script is obviously having the time of his life, inserting the word "diddly" into as many scenes as many times as possible ("If I'm gonna be in deep diddly, I'd like to know what I'm in deep diddly for!"). Maybe it was a drunken dare after drinking too much Crodino - and boy, did the Crodino boys get their product placement money's worth in this one, with their posters and logos appearing in so many of the exterior and the restaurant scenes that you're just amazed they didn't slap a banner on the side of the Coliseum as well just to cover all the bases!
June 19, 2007

Corruption, protection rackets, gun violence taboo of vigilantism

THE BIG RACKET, written and directed by Enzo G. Castellari, and
starting Fabio Testi, is a movie that deals with an important theme
- corruption, protection rackets, gun violence, murders, thug
behavior, chaos running loose in the streets. It also deals with an
aspect that is often taboo in society, which is the frustration that
often is felt by merchant, when they feel they're getting the short
end of the stick as taxpayers, or when they are robbed, etc. Those
are very ugly aspects that people prefer to forget, and not deal
with.

In this picture, released 1977/78, the recurring soundtrack too,
underlines the ugliness of those aspects. A crude, metal guitar riff
is looped over and over, reminiscent of Black Sabbath or Tony Iommi,
to get the audience to feel the "on the edge of insanity" mental
landscape of the police officer, played by Testi, who is pulled from
the case, first, and then removed from his job, secondly, as a
consequence of the existing laws on the books of justice not fitting
the needs of the real world, that people rely on, to live their
lives in peace, and prosperity, and that he feels compelled to
solve.

Many will be turned off, by this "taboo" of retaliation against
gangsterism in the form of vigilantism, that the police officer
carries out, as socially unacceptable conduct, morally reprehensible
violence, even when carried out with the most honest, pure of
intentions, such as retaliating against a rape, murder, looting,
etc.

Others, will be disappointed by the lack of belief in the principles
of Christianity or their own religion, that underline forgiveness,
comprehension, patience, and allowing time for anarchists to "see
the light" and redeem themselves in the eyes of a Supreme Being.

Some, will not see anything beyond the 2 dimensional, video-game
aspect of the movie, such as in your favorite shoot 'em up XBOX or
Playstation release.

Whichever perspective of the viewer, it cannot be denied that the
images are crystal clear on the DVD, (very sharp transfer), the
audio and dialog in English (dubbed over Italian) is professional,
and well spoken, the thrill and suspense is maintained over 90
minutes. The acting, is also not shabby at all.

The weakness of this movie, obviously, is the only average
sophistication of the plot, that some may label that of a "B Movie"
coupled with the disbelief that viewers surely will feel, in
witnessing so many gun battles between the gangs and the Italian
police, in such a limited period of time, taking many dozens of
casualties on each side, over 90 mins.

Clearly, if the problem was of such an extent, a one-man-show would
be out of the picture, and even in the late 70's, a SWAT team,
armored tank, and perhaps even the military would have been called
in to deal with the chaos. March 11, 2007

Superior Euro Crime Film

When it comes to Euro Crime films The Big Racket comes at top of the game. Of course what can you expect from the great Euro Crime director Enzo G. Castellari and the ever likeable Fabio Testi.

Testi plays a rough police officer that is getting sick and tired of the gang protection racket going on in a small Italian town. Gangs are using violence and destruction to get small business owners to pay. When Testi goes beyond the law to put the Racketeers away, he gets fired and then turns vigilante.

This is a violent, gritty film full of fantastic camera work and colorful anti-hero like characters. Testi here comes off looking like a true bad***. The uncut version provided here by Blue-Underground Entertainment does contain some harsh scences such as two brutal rape sequences so be forwarned.

Coming from a seasoned Euro Crime fan.....you can't get much better than this. There's enough tough guy posturing, cool camera shots and action to make any fan of Italian cinema happy. November 7, 2006

Stop That Racket!

From the cover you'd think this flick was about Fabio Testi getting fed up with some noisy neighbors, but that's not it. The "big racket" is one of those protection racket schemes where a bunch of weasley turds threaten store owners to pay dues or have their business trashed. Fabio's a cop(of course) who's been after these guys for awhile, but anybody that watches action flicks knows that trying to bring criminals to justice through legal means never works. Whenever Fabio thinks he's got these guys, they manage to get off on some technicality or some other b.s. Once he starts using tactics that go outside the law, he's fired of course. Once fired, he decides to go Bronson and assembles an A-Team-like group that consists of some of the racket's past victims. One poor guy is a shop owner who was driven nearly insane by the rape and suicide of his daughter(A very good performance from this guy! His daughter looks 12!! Aren't there laws about sex scenes involving minors?). Another unfortunate dude witnesses the rape and murder(by fire) of his wife coz he had killed a few of the racket members and they decide to retaliate. The last act of the film is the best where this group gets together and plans a big assault on the racket. For those familiar with these kinds of films(especially Castellari's work), this one should be a treat. Not as good as Street Law, but much better than the Heroin Busters. Those used to Hollywood's version of an action film will just think it's dumb and cheesy. Fabio Testi is always a strong looking leading man, and able to carry a film even if he isn't the best actor in the world. The film definitely has it's corniness due to the year and country it was made in. One particularly funny scene is the last shot in the film that reminds me of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. After Fabio emerges victorious(and that's not a spoiler. Like you didn't know he would), for no particular reason he starts yelling and beating a car(at least I think it's a car, you can't quite tell coz of the camera angle) with the butt of his shotgun, and the film freezes on Fabio's manic and comical facial expression as the credits begin to role. This is the stuff good flix are made of. Mindless crimefighting fun-Italian style!! July 10, 2006

Bad release

Oh dear, what are Blue Underground playing at. Why oh why bother to release such a poor movie, nothing memorable to see hear. Cheap and ugly Italian crime movie which bored me silly. Enzo G Castellari takes the money and spends none of it on-screen. I'm now very wary of these Italian crime movies, none of which so far released on dvd are much cop with me. Please B.U start releasing some decent lost movies. BLOOD AND LACE or NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN would be my choice. Another superb quality dvd of an unmemorable nothing movie. June 14, 2006

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