The Italian Connection (Aka La Mala Ordina) Limited Edition Blu-Ray

In the 1970s, crime films flourished in Italy as the country underwent several years of political and social unrest, known as the "Years of Lead." Italian film producers took advantage of these times by producing cheap, violent films about national organized crime and corruption, establishing the poliziotteschi genre. One of the most famous poliziottesco directors was Fernando Di Leo, a director who was as keen to tell entertaining stories as he was to create socially relevant backdrops. In Di Leo's The Italian Connection, the New York mafia sends two hitmen (Henry Silva, The Boss, and Woody Strode, Once Upon a Time in the West) to arrest pimp Luca Canali (Mario Adorf, Milano Calibro 9), whom they believe has stolen a shipment of heroin. The local mafia also joins the hunt, but despite being outnumbered, Luca refuses to give up and fights back against his pursuers, leading to a thrilling series of chases and shootouts and a trail of bloody destruction. The film has had a major influence on Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and is a poliziottesco at its most entertaining and action-packed. EXTRAS: BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES IN LIMITED EDITION: 2020 4K restoration of the original negative, presented with Italian and English audio, on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, uncompressed mono PCM audio, ...And a Tiny Bullet for a Tiny Kitten: A new visual essay by Howard S. Berger on Di Leo's use of farce and absurdism in his social critique of postwar Italy in his milieu trilogy, The Roots of the Mafia (26 min) archival documentary, Reversible slipcase with artwork based on original posters, New and improved English translation of subtitles, Limited edition booklet with new text by Italian crime expert Austin Fisher and excerpts from an archival interview with Di Leo. Language: Italian. Subtitles: English.