Poliziotto sprint (1977)

Director:

Stelvio Massi

Writers:

Gino Capone (screenplay), Gino Capone (story)

Stars:

Maurizio Merli, Giancarlo Sbragia, Angelo Infanti

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maurizio Merli	...	Marco Palma
Giancarlo Sbragia	...	Maresciallo Tagliaferri
Angelo Infanti	...	Jean-Paul Dossena / il Nizzardo
Lilli Carati	...	Francesca
Glauco Onorato	...	Pistone
Orazio Orlando	...	Silicato
Gaetano Balestrieri	...	(as Gaetano Balistreri)
Rosario Borelli	...	Maresciallo Bresciani - the car repairer
Tullio Casarino
Paolo Casella
Gabriele Domenichini	...	(as Vito Gabriele Domenighini)
Vittorio Fanfoni	...	Dossena's Man
Tom Felleghy	...	The Customer in the Car Showroom
Manfred Freyberger	...	Questore
Claudio Giorgi

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

poliziottesco | car chase

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Taglines:

Truckloads of explosive action!

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Genres:

Action | Crime

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Details

Country:

Italy

Release Date:

19 October 1977 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Highway Racer

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cleminternazionale Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Breathtaking action film and one of the best Italian crime offerings of the 1970s

HIGHWAY RACER is far better than I could have expected. It's sharply written, impressively shot and exceedingly well acted by all. In short, it's one of the best action films I've ever had the pleasure of viewing.

Maurizio Merli, star of numerous poliziotteschi films (e.g. VIOLENT ROME, VIOLENT NAPLES, THE TOUGH ONES, etc.) stars as a hot-shot police driver (sans moustache, for a change) who has more guts than brains, often landing him in hot water with his middle-aged mentor, who was once a legendary police interceptor responsible for numerous large scale arrests. Merli's character is finally taken under his mentor's wing and emerges as a brilliant driver, complete with a restored Ferrari that his mentor used to drive. The young cop goes undercover in a bank robbery outfit and eventually has to square off against its leader, who is one of the greatest high speed drivers in the history of Italian street crime.

The car scenes are breathtaking, and the story surrounding them is equally impressive. Merli gives what may be his finest performance here (it was his favorite movie that he was involved in) and his co-stars are every bit as astonishing, including the bad guys. This is also Stelvio Massi's finest film, surpassing even the undeniably great EMERGENCY SQUAD.

Try to see a nice print of HIGHWAY RACER. The car sounds have to be heard in the best audio quality possible. If you're a fan of high octane action films, you won't want to pass this one up.