First Action Hero (1994)

First Action Hero (1994)- * * *

Directed by: Nini Grassia

Starring: Fabio Testi, Marina Giulia Cavalli, Ron Nummi, and Orso Maria Guerrini

Mark Fierro (Testi) is a pretty top-notch COTE (or Cop On The Edge, as we call them), who is transferred from his normal district of Tampa, Florida to Miami to where all the action is. It seems there is a gang war going on, with drug-related murders galore, and Fierro takes it upon himself, personally, to stop it. Of course, his partner Hoagy O’Toole (Nummi) - who is not an overweight Bond girl - is along for the ride as well. 

Of course, Fierro finds time for romance with an attorney named Lori (Cavalli) while he fights his way to the main mob boss, Tony Romeo (Guerrini), but he also has to try to repair his relationship with his daughter Paloma (Bellini). In the midst of all the warring factions, will Mark Fierro emerge as the...FIRST ACTION HERO?

Of all the contemporary titles to cash in on, it seems sort of odd for someone to pick the classic (?) Arnie vehicle Last Action Hero (1993), especially since this is a sort of latter-day Poliziotteschi and Austin O’Brien is nowhere in sight. We’re huge fans of Fabio Testi - his The Heroin Busters (1977) alone puts him in the action movie firmament forever - but, let’s face it, he’s not the first action hero. That’s clearly Jesus. Or maybe Imhotep. We’re not sure how far back “first” really entails. The original title, Il Burattinaio, translates from the Italian as something like “The Puppetmaster”. Why couldn’t they have left it at that? But, quibbling about the title aside, if you love those great Italian crime films of the 70’s but always wished you could see one set in Florida and everyone wears 90’s-style high-waisted pants, your dream has come true. 

We get some funny dubbing, some great, breezy music on the soundtrack (by director Grassia with Aldo Tamborelli), and classic characters like Spuds and Hoagy. Hoagy, of course, not to be confused with Hogie from Detention (2003) and the classic, anguished cry of “HOOOAaaaaggyyyyyy!!!!” The TV show Miami Vice went off the air in 1990, and Miami Beach Cops came out in 1992, so the world was prepared for the Miami-set action of First Action Hero in 1994. It was pretty common for Italian filmmakers to come to the U.S. and shoot their films there, however.

There are some baddies that show up at funerals and hospitals and shoot people with machine guns. That’s considerate of them, at least their respective victims are in the right place. Sometimes these masked shooters even wear “X” baseball caps, further reinforcing the 90’s vibe. But overall it was great to see a then-53-year-old Testi blowing away the bad guys like nobody’s business, mouthing off to his superiors, speeding around Miami, and even letting sticks of dynamite show his enemies his own brand of justice. Even into the 90’s, he was an awesome dude with an attitude.

Speaking of which, it all comes to a bang-up climax which is very, very enjoyable to watch. Sure, there are some slow moments throughout the 100-minute-plus running time as Testi puts on his detective hat and tries getting answers from people the old-fashioned way - not to mention the drama entailed by his relationship with his daughter, his partner, and his girlfriend - but all that’s to be expected and we really had no problem with it. Especially when that jaunty song comes on, followed quickly by a scene of mindless shooting. 

If you’ve seen every Poliziotteschi movie out there and are still craving for more, First Action Hero, while certainly not perfect, probably shouldn’t be last on your list. 

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

The Big Racket (1976)

 The Big Racket (1976)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari

Starring: Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia, Glauco Onorato, Orso Guerrini, Renzo Palmer, and Romano Puppo











Nico Palmieri (Testi) is an Italian cop investigating an especially brutal gang whose specialty is extortion. If local shop owners don’t pay their protection money, the gang of toughs stop at absolutely nothing when it comes to ruining their lives. As Nico delves further into their world of amorality and violence, he realizes it doesn’t stop at extortion - it goes way higher up into international drug trafficking and funneling the money into larger and larger projects. Fearing the evildoers will soon be taking over all of Italy, Nico turns to Pepe (Gardenia), a criminal himself, albeit a charming one, for help. 

As the stakes rise, and realizing that the only way to handle the situation is by doing it themselves, Nico organizes what might be called a Revenge Team - getting together victims personally hurt by the baddies - and exacting their own brand of vigilante justice. The team consists of Nico, Pepe, Mazzarelli (Onorato), a man permanently crippled by the gang, Rossetti (Guerrini), an Olympic marksman whose wife was raped and murdered by them, Giulti (Palmer), whose daughter was raped by the gang and who then committed suicide, and Doringo (Puppo), a mercenary who wants a favor from Nico. Will they succeed?

The Big Racket is another highly entertaining masterpiece by the amazing Enzo G. Castellari. We’re huge fans of his, and as we’ve discussed in other reviews of his work, he seems to succeed in every genre he turns his hand to. 

This is a top-notch Poliziotteschi, and has a darker and more serious tone than his other collaboration with the great Fabio Testi, The Heroin Busters (1977). Testi’s crime film with Lucio Fulci, Contraband (1980) is yet another classic of the genre and well worth seeing if you haven’t already. As always for the Italians, and for Enzo specifically, the film is very well-shot, and is interestingly edited. It’s certainly colorful, as the time-honored disco scene proves. The music by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis is also typically excellent and fits the tone of the movie perfectly. The whole package is irresistible and you really can’t lose.

Out of the three Poliziotteschi directed by Enzo that were released on DVD by Blue Underground - Street Law (1974), The Big Racket and The Heroin Busters - The Big Racket is probably the most intense. Not to mention angry and perhaps nihilistic. Additionally, Fabio Testi (who is the original Fabio) has never looked cooler. 

These movies are fascinating records of the time, and the frustrations felt by the audience, who were living through real-life crime waves in Italy at that time, are perfectly expressed by Enzo and his team. Showing how solidly made they are, these movies more than stand the test of time today. They are perfectly suited for today’s audiences as well. That’s surely the sign of quality. It’s doubtful Blue Underground would have released them if, hypothetically, they were unwatchable, incoherent crud by today’s standards. 

The only real crime here is that BU is probably not going to release any more Poliziotteschi - by any director - anytime soon. We believe, sadly, that the ship has sailed on a wide enough audience buying these films on DVD, enough so that the company can make a profit. We certainly hope that isn’t the case, but we fear it is. The DVD boom of the early-to-mid 2000’s is over (seemingly it just got started...) but at least we have some of Enzo’s fine work which made it to disc at the right time.

The Big Racket is a classic of the genre and we recommend it highly.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out write-ups from our buddies, A Hero Never Dies and 10k Bullets! 

The Heroin Busters (1977)

The Heroin Busters (1977)- * * * *

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari

Starring: Fabio Testi and David Hemmings













International heroin smugglers are traveling between Colombia, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, New York and Rome plying their sinister trade. Mike Hamilton (Hemmings) is an Interpol agent obsessed with stemming the tide of drugs from these professional narcotics-smuggling gangs. But he’s in his office. On the actual streets is Fabio (Testi), an undercover cop who makes plenty of enemies in the underworld. It all comes to a head when said baddies all come after Fabio, and he has to use all his wits to get away with his life. Can he do it?

There seems to be no end to the amazing contributions of Enzo G. Castellari to the world of filmed entertainment. From Light Blast (1985) to his post-apocalyptic Video Store Classics 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982) and The New Barbarians (1983), to his Westerns like Any Gun Can Play (1967), to his trilogy of top-notch Poliziotteschi, Street Law (1974), The Big Racket (1976) and, this, The Heroin Busters, the list goes on and on. Is there anything he can’t do? When you’re adept at so many genres, that level of talent opens you up to new audiences, and many different types of film fans have a special place in their hearts for Enzo. We certainly do.

Everything is top-notch here, from the way it’s shot and edited, to the acting, clothing, set design, etc., it’s firing on all cylinders. Enzo seemed to really want to show the grossness and evil of drugs, showing the subculture not as glamorous and exciting, but as disgusting and dingy. David Hemmings puts in an energetic performance, and the icing on the cake is the typically-stellar Goblin soundtrack.

But truly the man of the hour is Fabio Testi. He seems so effortlessly cool in everything he does, and pretty much the last half-hour of this movie is him doing a lot of super-awesome things. Enzo just stacks ingenious on top of ingenious until the audience is overwhelmed. If you’ve seen it , you know what we mean, and if you haven’t, the excellent Blue Underground DVD is available, now at an all-new low price. You can’t afford to NOT see it.

The Heroin Busters is yet another jewel in the crown of Enzo, as well as everyone else involved with this fine production.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddies at 10k Bullets!

Contraband (1980)

Contraband (1980)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Lucio Fulci

Starring: Fabio Testi, Ivana Monti, Guido Alberti, and Marcel Bozzuffi












Luca Di Angelo (Testi) is a Naples-based cigarette smuggler. He and his smuggling buddies ride their speedboats up and down the Italian waterways to deliver the goods, but it’s never anything really harmful like drugs. Luca has a wife and young son, and doesn’t want to jeopardize their lives.  

Things turn deadly serious when a French drug kingpin, known as The Marsigliese (Bozzuffi) decides he wants to move into the Italian territory, with hard drugs and all. Being a sadistic torturer, he murders, tortures, disfigures or mutilates anyone who gets in his way. When his wife Adele (Monti) is kidnapped, the normally mild-mannered Luca goes on a rampage of revenge the likes of which Naples has never seen.  Will Luca get out alive?

While not, strictly speaking, a Poliziotteschi (because the role of the police is pretty limited and it’s not a procedural), director Fulci has crafted some kind of cross between the crime films prevalent at the time, and the gore films he is most known for these days. It’s all beautifully shot by cinematographer/master Sergio Salvati, and the make-up effects brilliantly done by artist/master Franco Di Girolamo and his team, and the music is stellar as well, done by the great Fabio Frizzi. These men and others help make Contraband a very well-made and entertaining movie. But it’s not for everyone. Anyone who reads this site will surely love it, but the level of violence is definitely over the top - in an awesome way, of course.

You have to transport yourself back to 1980 - while characters are playing Pong and going to the discotheque (while wearing some amazing clothing), they also are being subjected to what had to have been new heights (or depths, depending on your outlook) of blood, guts, and gore. 

Even today with our jaded and experienced eyes, it’s powerful - imagine what they thought back then? There’s other things that presage the oncoming 80’s as well, such as the sax on the soundtrack, a couple of blow-ups and fights, and a kid with the time-honored bowl haircut.

Fabio Testi is charismatic and likable, and he has a truly amazing fur coat at one point. Thankfully, Contraband was made long before political correctness. But besides all that, it’s just a good, solid movie, well-made on all fronts. Fulci was truly a maestro and this is one of the feathers in his cap. He was undoubtedly a man ahead of his time, yet firmly rooted in the traditions of the past. The way he marries the two is an example of his no-rules genius. Look for him in a tiny cameo at the very end of the movie as one of the shooters. 

The Blue Underground DVD is excellent, although it would have been nice to have an Italian track with subtitles, instead of a no-options dubbed version. But that’s a minor quibble, as this fine film is well worth owning.

Contraband is just great. If you haven’t already, we definitely recommend purchasing the DVD.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, A Hero Never Dies!