Rogue Cops and Racketeers

[DarkImbecile]

Over a long and wide-ranging career, director Enzo G. Castellari (Keoma, The Inglorious Bastards) helmed some of the most infamous of all the poliziotteschi – the gritty, action-packed crime films that proliferated in Italy throughout the 70s. Buckle up for a heart-stopping thrill ride through the seedy underbelly of Italian society in two of his most celebrated thrillers!

In 1976’s The Big Racket, Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi, What Have You Done to Solange?) is hot on the heels of a gang of ruthless racketeers. Realizing he’s not going to get anywhere within the confines of the law, Nico recruits a crack squad of civilians to dole out their own brand of justice. Then, in 1977’s The Heroin Busters, rule-flouting cop Fabio (Testi) goes deep undercover, chasing a globe-trotting ring of drug-smugglers suspected to be operating out of Rome. But can he and Mike Hamilton (David Hemmings, Deep Red), an Interpol agent with a hair-trigger temper, stay one step ahead of the criminals long enough to bring them down from the inside?

Featuring death-defying stunts, explosive shoot-outs and a pair of addictive, toe-tapping soundtracks courtesy of the De Angelis brothers (Torso) and legendary prog rock group Goblin (Suspiria), these two films represent the crème de la crème of the Italian crime thriller, both making their high definition debuts with stunning new restorations in this feature-packed box set from Arrow!

2-Disc Limited Edition Contents:

• Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original 35mm camera negatives by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentations
• Original Italian and English front and end titles
• Restored original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• New audio commentaries on both films by critics Adrian J. Smith and David Flint
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Roberto Curti and Barry Forshaw
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
• Twelve double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards

Disc One - The Big Racket:

• The Years of Racketeering, a new video interview with co-writer/director Enzo G. Castellari
• Violent Times, a new video interview with actor Fabio Testi
• Angel Face for a Tough Guy, a new video interview with actor Massimo Vanni
• King of Movieola, a new video interview with editor Gianfranco Amicucci
• The Great Racket, a new appreciation and career retrospective of composers Guido and Maurizio De Angelis by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery

Disc Two - The Heroin Busters:

• Endless Pursuit, a new video interview with co-writer/director Enzo G. Castellari
• Drug Squad, a new video interview with actor Fabio Testi
• The Drug Dealer, a new video interview with actor Massimo Vanni
• How They Killed Italian Cinema, a new video interview with editor Gianfranco Amicucci
• A Cop on the Set, a new video interview with retired poliziotto and criminologist Nicola Longo
• The Eardrum Busters, a new appreciation and career retrospective of composers Goblin by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery

[What A Disgrace]

A pity its not a four film boxed set. High Crime and Street Law are supposed to be quite good.

Arrow is supposed to be releasing Inglorious Basterds, right? I'm hoping they pair it with Castellari's The Inglorious Bastards when they do.

[Banasa]

I've been waiting for The Big Racket for basically forever. I even bought Street Law (my only Code Red purchase ever!) to get my fix. Glad to see these on their own outside some overt poliziotteschi set with five films I wasn't as interested in.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

A pity its not a four film boxed set. High Crime and Street Law are supposed to be quite good.

Throw in Day of the Cobra as well with its truly bizarre theme song that’s part-blues, part-Italo disco replete with disco whistles and all.

Enzo G. Castellari’s cop films are among the best of the poliziotteschi genre and are far superior to anything on Arrow’s Years of Lead set from last year. I haven’t seen The Big Racket, but The Heroin Busters is a total blast. Plus I’m always happy to have more Fabio Testi on HD.