Crime Boss Collection

Five Italian crime dramas from the 1970s, most little seen in the United States, are brought together in The Crime Boss Collection, a budget-priced two-DVD set from Pop Flix. Three features appear on disc one: CRIME BOSS, STREET LAW and REVOLVER. CRIME BOSS (aka I FAMILIARI DELLE VITTIME NON SARANNO AVVERTITI) has been given an anamorphic transfer, letterboxed at 2:35:1 on conventional televisions and enhanced for anamorphic play on 16:9 monitors. The print is scratchy, the colors are a bit faded and most of the opening credits are missing, while the audio is fuzzy and often hard to understand. STREET LAW (aka IL CITTADINO SI RIBELLA) and REVOLVER (aka BLOOD IN THE STREETS) look significantly better, though the latter appears a bit soft and may have been sourced from video elements. Both films were given widescreen transfers, letterboxed at 1.85:1 and enhanced for anamorphic play, and the sound quality for each title is OK but nothing unusual. Disc two features two other movies, CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN (aka CONFESSIONE DI UN COMMISSARIO DI POLIZIA AL PROCURATORE DELLA REPUBBLICA) and DEATH RAGE (aka CON LA RABBIA AGLI OCCHI). These two features have been given full-screen pan-and-scan transfers at the 1.33:1 aspect ratio. CONFESSIONS appears to have been transferred from a video source and the original film print had clearly seen plenty of use; DEATH RAGE also shows some wear, though the image is sharper and more realistically colored than the other film on the disc. Like on disc one, the audio for these movies has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo while retaining the monophonic sound tracks, and the fidelity can be described as serviceable. All five features in this set have been dubbed into English with no multiple language options or subtitles included. The set includes no extras, and each picture has been given only four chapter stops. The packaging looks good and fans of Seventies crime pictures might find some entertaining items here, but quantity is clearly the emphasis over quality in this set, and videophiles should approach this with caution.