Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Year: 1976
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Il grande racket
Genre: Action (Politziotteschi)
Plot:
Tired of their intimidation tactics, a police officer tries to take down a low-level gang of thugs running a protection and extortion racket in a small-town part of the city. When his efforts are blockaded by the gangs’ threat of violence against the citizens, he discovers that a potential break in the case rests on a shop owner who’s tired of the thugs but even that is stymied by their barbaric tactics. More determined than ever to stop them, he sets out with a group of locals to finally stop the gang once and for all.
Review:
There’s quite a lot to like with this one. Among the brightest aspects to be had with this one surrounds the high-energy and frantic storyline that has a lot to really like about it. The action scenes here are centered on the setup in the first half involving the terror that’s being committed by the gang that takes place here with their operation to torment and intimidate the local shop-owners. This means the film is set up around the idea of the cops being completely tied up in the red tape of the legal system that manages to interfere with their attempts to keep order despite their threatening the citizens or outright committing crimes in front of the police.
That set up all goes a long way towards making the action throughout so much fun. Realizing that there’s nothing they can do to stop the thugs, their early rampage against the citizens and shop owners sets the stage for the series of thrilling and over-the-top action setpieces that emerge in the final half. Offering a slew of big gun battles and shootouts that take place at everything from a train yard to a robbery attempt at a bank to the glorious finale where the recruited arms come into play in a series of frenetic confrontations that have a cathartic resolution to everything. Some of it comes off as oddly overly too sympathetic towards the villains who are in control of the situation in a comically over-the-top manner, but there’s not much that really holds this down.
Overview: ****.5/5
A thrilling and highly enjoyable genre effort, there’s not much that holds this one down as the fun setup and over-the-top action is perfectly in keeping with what the genre is about. Those who are curious about the genre or fans of the creative crew should look into this one immediately while only those who don’t like the style won’t like this one.
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