“It’s a fascist film. It’s a vile film. It’s an idiot film”.
A strong reaction, certainly, but then The Big Racket is the kind of movie that will elicit such a response.
There are scenes that hit you like a ton of bricks, moments so disturbing they will stay with you for days. And the criminals in The Big Racket are detestable. Think of the worst gang of thugs and lowlifes in any movie you’ve seen, and chances are they won’t hold a candle to the villains in this film.
And yet, despite its harsh and gritty approach, Castellari directs The Big Racket with gusto, and even some panache, making it a whole lot more than your run-of-the-mill violent crime flick.
Gangs roam the streets of a small neighborhood in Rome, extorting “protection” money from shop owners and businessmen, often demanding sizable payments they cannot afford. If these merchants don’t cough up the cash, they are beaten and their businesses are destroyed. Detective Palmieri (Fabio Testi) has been trying to rid the area of this vermin for years, only to find that the victims are scared, and never willing to press charges.
Then, restaurant owner Luigi (Renzo Palmer) decides he’s had enough, and agrees to cooperate with Palmieri. The criminals respond by kidnapping Luigi’s daughter and raping her.
When his superiors, who fear he’s become too emotionally attached to the case, prevent Palmieri from getting involved any further, the disgruntled cop rounds up a few equally pissed cohorts, including Luigi; small-time crook Pepe (Vincent Gardenia); and champion sharpshooter Gianni Rossetti (Orso Maria Guerrini), whose own wife, Anna (Anna Zinnemann), also suffered the cruel abuse of the gangs. Employing their own brand of vigilante justice, they take the fight to the crooks, hoping to end this reign of terror once and for all.
The Big Racket is a violent film. It is unflinching. The rape of Luigi’s daughter is tough to watch, but there is another scene later in the film (with Gianni and his wife) that is tougher.
Castellari also borrows heavily from earlier films such as Dirty Harry and Death Wish, which favored vigilantism over law and order. Yet by the time Detective Palmieri puts his team together (making the final act of The Big Racket a kind of Dirty Harry meets Castellari’s own 1978 film The Inglorious Bastards), we the audience are one with their cause, and happily put our own morality on the backburner. We are cheering the vigilantes on because the criminals in this film are loathsome (a tribute to the actors and actress who play them). We hate this scum, and cannot wait to see each and every one get their just desserts.
We know we shouldn’t feel that way, but we do. Castellari has pulled the strings perfectly, and we go where he leads us, accepting that, yes, the final showdown happens exactly how it needs to happen.
Part of the reason Castellari pulls this off is that he infuses The Big Racket with tons of style. Amidst all the carnage and ugliness are some impressively staged sequences, chief among them an early encounter between Palmieri and the crooks, in which the thugs destroy Palmieri’s car while he’s still inside it, then roll it down a hill. Shooting half of this sequence from the car’s interior, we watch as Fabio Testi (doing his own stunt work) tumbles over and over again in a rolling vehicle. It is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying. There are even a few moments of beauty, like a brief scene in which Palmieri, recovering from the wounds, strolls along a beach as the setting sun illuminates the sky.
Employing these as well as slow-motion, and combining it all with convincing violence (I couldn’t count the number of squibs used during the shootouts); impressive locations (one scene is set in the Roman Forum); and an over-the-top, often comedic performance by Vincent Gardenia, whose Pepe is the sole likable crook in the entire movie, Castellari manages to make the terrible and grotesque more palpable.
And when you watch The Big Racket, you will realize this was no small accomplishment.
Rating: 9 out of 10
As Carlo Antonelli (Nero) is in the middle of making a large cash deposit, a trio of armed robbers (Romano Puppo, Nazzareno Zamperla, and Massimo Vanni) storm the bank and make off with his money. With the police dragging their feet, getting nowhere with their investigation, a frustrated Carlo decides to take the law into his own hands and track down the bandits himself.
Ignoring the warnings of his wife Barbara (Barbara Bach), Carlo quickly gets in over his head, but with the help of a low-level crook named Tommy (Giancarlo Prete) he may just have a fighting chance of bringing the thieves to justice.
Franco reportedly did most of his own stunts for Street Law, and by the looks of it Castellari put the actor through hell. At one point, after locating the crooks, the bad guys get the jump on Carlo, beating him to a pulp before tying a rope around him and dragging him through the mud. Later, the poor guy is nearly run over by a car (several times, actually)!
Fortunately, the role's physical demands did nothing to diminish Nero’s performance. He is in top form as the incredibly determined private citizen willing to risk everything to see that justice is done. Giancarlo Prete is also solid as Tommy, the thief who helps Carlo, unwittingly at first (Carlo attempts to blackmail Tommy, insisting he tell him everything he knows about the bank robbers) then eventually of his own accord. Watching the initial mistrust between Carlo and Tommy blossom into a genuine friendship is yet another of the film’s strengths.
What you’ll remember about Street Law, though, are its intense action scenes, some of which are quite violent. The opening credits sequence, which features reenactments of crimes and murders inspired by real-life events, gets the movie off to a bloody start, and the final shoot-out (set in an empty warehouse) is as harrowing as they come.
Street Law is one of the more notable entries in the Poliziotteschi subgenre, also known as Italo-crime or Spaghetti Crime films (Poliziotteschi movies centered on organized crime, vigilantism, and police corruption, and often featured brutal violence and heavy doses of action). It is tense, exhilarating, and – ultimately - a very satisfying motion picture.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
While on their way to the stockade, Yeager and several other military prisoners, including Pvt. Canfield (Fred Williamson), Tony (Peter Hooten), Nick (Michael Pergolani), and Berle (Jackie Basehart), manage to escape when their convoy is attacked by the Germans. Now on their own, Yeager assumes command of this ragtag group of misfits, promising to get them safely to Switzerland.
But when they inadvertently disrupt a crucial mission organized by Col. Charles Buckner (Ian Bannen), Yeager and the others have no alternative but to “rejoin” the army and volunteer for an assignment that, if successful, could spell the end of Nazi Germany once and for all!
Much like Castellari’s Eagles Over London, The Inglorious Bastards features plenty of action; along with the many battle scenes, there’s a thrilling sequence in which Yeager, Buckner, and the others escape from the Gestapo, and the final third of the movie, set on a moving train, will have you on the edge of your seat.
Svenson, Williamson, and Hooten are in fine form as the criminals-turned-heroes, and Castellari also manages to slip in a rushed but nonetheless effective romantic subplot, with Tony falling head over heels for French resistance fighter Nicole, played by Debra Berger.
Quentin Tarantino himself is a big fan of The Inglorious Bastards, and “borrowed” its title (though not its story) for his 2009 war film starring Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz. Watching the original again, it’s easy to see why Tarantino and so many others continue to sing this movie’s praises. An action-packed “guys on a mission” film in the same vein as The Dirty Dozen, The Inglorious Bastards is flat-out fun!
Rating: 9 out of 10
Directed By: Enzo G. Castellari
Starring: Frederick Stafford, Van Johnson, Francisco Rabal
Tag line: "A true story written in flame and fury"
Trivia: When getting the directing job, Enzo and a writing partner took a week to rewrite the overlong script to make it more action orientated and less of a "soap opera"
As I was perusing my DVD collection, trying to decide which movie to watch, I came across Eagles Over London, a 1969 World War II film, and two things about it caught my attention.
First, it was directed by Enzo Castellari, the man behind The Heroin Busters, 1990:The Bronx Warriors and the original Inglorious Bastards, all of which I enjoy (he also helmed the excellent Keoma, my 2nd favorite Franco Nero spaghetti western after Django).
The second tidbit that piqued my interest was this quote on the back cover of the DVD:
“A terrific film with one of my favorite storylines ever. You’re in for a real treat! – Quentin Tarantino”
I know Tarantino is a fan of Castellari’s work (his own 2009 war movie is also titled Inglourious Basterds), but to see a quote like that from a cinephile of his caliber was enough for me.
I immediately popped it into the player.
Eagles Over London begins with the mass evacuation at Dunkirk, which the British High Command ordered soon after the Nazis gained control of France. Capt. Stevens (Frederick Stafford) and Sgt. Mulligan (Renzo Palmer) are among the thousands of troops waiting at Dunkirk for the ships that will carry them home.
But what they and the rest of the army don’t know is a team of German spies, disguised as English soldiers, has infiltrated their ranks. Led by a man named Martin (Francisco Rabel), these spies have orders to destroy the British military’s new radar system, clearing the way for Germany to launch a surprise attack from the air (history will call it the Battle of Britain).
Once in London, Capt. Stevens uncovers a series of clues that suggest there are Nazi agents operating in England, and he meets with Air Marshall George Taylor (Van Johnson) to warn him of the danger. Unfortunately, Stevens has no idea who the spies are, or what their ultimate target might be. Realizing that time is of the essence, he and his team work quickly to identify and capture the enemy agents, knowing full well that failure to do so could affect the outcome of the war.
Eagles Over London is a non-stop thrill show, with plenty of gunfights, explosions, and even some fisticuffs to keep you entertained. Hands-down, the best sequence is the evacuation of Dunkirk, which Castellari recreates on a grand scale, but there’s also a battle scene late in the film, when the German agents attack a radar outpost, that impressed the hell out of me. As for the movie’s depiction of the Battle of Britain, Castellari got a bit creative, relying more on studio-bound shots (of pilots in the cockpits of their planes) and stock footage to bring this famous skirmish to life (despite this economically-minded approach, it’s still damned exciting).
Castellari does manage to throw a romantic entanglement into the mix (both Stevens and Air Marshall Taylor have the hots for Meg, played by Ida Galli, herself a soldier stationed at command headquarters), and there’s even a little comedy relief courtesy of Renzo Palmer’s hard-drinking, no-nonsense Sgt. Mulligan. But these elements are never more than a brief distraction, a momentary diversion to allow the audience to catch its breath. If you’re a fan of action-packed war films, then Eagles Over London should be the very next movie you watch.
Directed By: Enzo G. Castellari
Starring: Mark Gregory, Vic Morrow, Fred Williamson
Tag line: "A Heavy Metal Journey Into An Urban Hell Where Everything Was Done Wrong!
Trivia: Vic Morrow's last completed performance before his unfortunate on-set death while filming 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie
Directed by Enzo Castellari, 1990: The Bronx Warriors combines aspects of Escape from New York (a dystopian future in which a portion of New York has been turned over to criminals) with Walter Hill’s The Warriors (by way of its flamboyant gangs, vying for control of the borough). And in spite of a few rough spots, 1990: The Bronx Warriors does a fine enough job blending the two.
The year is 1990, and the Bronx, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City, has become a breeding ground for criminals and lowlifes. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that the authorities have given up on restoring law and order, essentially turning the entire area over to the gangs roaming its streets. Things get a bit complicated, however, when Anne (Stefania Giorlami Goodwin), a young girl in line to become the next President of the world’s largest arms manufacturer, decides to abandon her life of privilege and seeks refuge in the Bronx. Shortly after her arrival, Anne is attacked by a gang calling themselves The Zombies, then saved at the last minute by a biker named Trash (Mark Gregory), the leader of a rival gang known as The Riders. Trash takes it upon himself to watch over Anne, but when the Corporation hires Hammer (Vic Morrow), a vicious bounty hunter, to go in and retrieve her, it could spell the end for both Trash and The Riders.
1990: The Bronx Warriors has a few things going for it. First off, it was shot on-location in New York, which added to the film's overall grittiness, and even though the production lacked the funds to shut down an entire city block while they were shooting (meaning we sometimes see traffic flowing normally in the background), it doesn't really matter… New York is New York, and brings with it a flavor all its own. The supporting cast is also a plus, and features a couple of legendary performers. Fred Williamson is smooth as Ogre, a gang leader with a whole lot of flash, and when it came to playing bad-ass pricks, few were better than Vic Morrow, who’s menacing enough as Hammer to raise the tension several notches whenever he’s on-screen.
And it’s a good thing 1990: The Bronx Warriors had Williamson and Morrow, too, because Gregory is downright awful as Trash. Actually, I’d go so far as to say he’s the single worst cinematic gang leader I’ve ever seen, from his stone-faced delivery of each and every line to the awkward way he struts around, looking as if he’s suffering from a perpetually stiff back. Along with its terrible lead performance, 1990: The Bronx Warriors also has a handful of lackluster fight scenes; the opening confrontation between the Riders and the Zombies feels more like a practice exercise than a battle.
Still, even with its flaws, 1990: The Bronx Warriors is a lot of fun, and when it comes to low-budget post-apocalyptic fare such as this, that’s really all you can ask for!
