IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Nico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums terrorising a sleepy Italian village, extorting cash from the locals.Nico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums terrorising a sleepy Italian village, extorting cash from the locals.Nico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums terrorising a sleepy Italian village, extorting cash from the locals.
Sal Borgese
- Salvatore
- (as Salvatore Borgese)
Joshua Sinclair
- Rudy 'The Marsiglian'
- (as Gianluigi Loffredo)
Anna Zinnemann
- Anna Rossetti
- (as Anna Bellini)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe character of the restaurateur's daughter is played by Stefania Castellari, the director's own daughter.
- GoofsLuigi loads a fresh clip into his MP-40 but does not chamber a round before he shoots himself.
- Alternate versionsThe film was rejected for a UK cinema certificate in 1977 by the BBFC. It was finally released on DVD in 2002 after 14 secs of cuts for 'violent rape focusing on forcible breast exposure and female nudity'.
- ConnectionsFeatured in First Action Hero (2006)
Featured review
I have now seen quite a few of the Italian crime films made in the 70s. The Big Racket is easily among the better Poliziotteschi I've so far run across. The violent action is non-stop. The film rarely takes a break for the viewer to catch a breath. Fabio Testi stars as Inspector Nico Palmieri, a cop determined to put an end to the protection racket run by a group of local thugs. But the seemingly small time thugs are actually part of a larger group with the goal of spreading their reign of terror to a much larger scale. Nico enlists the aid of a handful of men who have been directly affected by the gang's activities to help him wipe out the entire group of gangsters. But does this small seemingly rag-tag band of misfits stand a chance against a much larger band of killers?
The Big Racket is gritty, violent, sadistic, and nothing is held back. Director Enzo Castellari has crafted some amazing action sequences. The shootouts at the train station and the final battle at the warehouse are some of the better scenes of this type I've seen. And the scene featuring Testi rolling down a hill inside a car is so well done and so realistic that I actually worried about Testi's health. The Big Racket also features a couple of rape scenes that can be difficult to watch, yet they add immensely to the overall feel of the film and supply realistic motivation for the vigilante actions to follow. These scenes are brutal and sadistic and show the depravity these thugs are capable of and why they must be eliminated.
Fabio Testi gives one of his better performances that I've seen in The Big Racket. Unlike The Heroin Busters, where I never bought into Testi's character, he is completely believable in this film. The rest of the main supporting cast is just as good. My favorite supporting performance comes from Orso Maria Guerrini, the marksman who goes mad for vengeance after watching his wife get raped and burned alive. Much of the cast is made up of stunt people who do an adequate job given their limited experiences in front of the camera.
Overall, if you're a Poliziotteschi fan or just a fan of American cop films from the 70s and have never seen an Italian crime film, The Big Racket is a definite must.
The Big Racket is gritty, violent, sadistic, and nothing is held back. Director Enzo Castellari has crafted some amazing action sequences. The shootouts at the train station and the final battle at the warehouse are some of the better scenes of this type I've seen. And the scene featuring Testi rolling down a hill inside a car is so well done and so realistic that I actually worried about Testi's health. The Big Racket also features a couple of rape scenes that can be difficult to watch, yet they add immensely to the overall feel of the film and supply realistic motivation for the vigilante actions to follow. These scenes are brutal and sadistic and show the depravity these thugs are capable of and why they must be eliminated.
Fabio Testi gives one of his better performances that I've seen in The Big Racket. Unlike The Heroin Busters, where I never bought into Testi's character, he is completely believable in this film. The rest of the main supporting cast is just as good. My favorite supporting performance comes from Orso Maria Guerrini, the marksman who goes mad for vengeance after watching his wife get raped and burned alive. Much of the cast is made up of stunt people who do an adequate job given their limited experiences in front of the camera.
Overall, if you're a Poliziotteschi fan or just a fan of American cop films from the 70s and have never seen an Italian crime film, The Big Racket is a definite must.
- bensonmum2
- May 11, 2006
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- How long is The Big Racket?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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