Emergency Squad: Limited Edition – Cauldron Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1974
Director: Stelvio Massi
Writers: Dardano Sacchetti, Gianfranco Barberi, Adriano Bolzoni, Stelvio Massi
Cast: Tomas Milian, Gastone Moschin, Ray Lovelock, Mario Carotenuto, Stefania Casini, Guido Leontini, Ilaria Guerrini, Giuseppe Castellano

Release Date: October 22nd, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 50 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $39.99

"Consumed with vengeance, Tomas Milian (The Big Gundown) sets out to take down the man who murdered his wife during a robbery. Meanwhile, the culprit, Il Marsigliese himself (Gastone Moschin – The Godfather Part II) has one last big heist up his sleeve if he can stay ahead of the law and keep his own gang from mutiny!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “Emergency Squad was restored in 2K from the original camera negative by Rewind Films.”

Emergency Squad comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.3 GB

Feature: 28.4 GB

This new transfer will be a revelation for those who have only seen this film via NoShame DVD release. The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 34.8 GB

Feature: 28.6 GB

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The English audio track has some moments where English audio was never recorded. Those parts are presented with Italian audio and subtitled in English. Both tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. That said, the Italian-language track sounds slightly fuller. Included are English subtitles for the Italian language track and English SDH subtitles for the English language track. It should be noted that subtitles can only be chosen via the audio setup menu, and they cannot be turned off while watching the main feature.

Extras:

Extras for Emergency Squad include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor Ray Lovelock (6 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor titled Tomas’ Squad (13 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with director Stelvio Massi titled The Last Round (8 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Sergio Rubini titled Cinematographers in Arms (22 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Danilo Massi titled Stelvio Shoots First! (17 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Nathaniel Thompson, and Troy Howarth.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a slip cover (limited to 1,500 units), and a 36-page booklet (limited to 1,500 units) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Contextualizing ‘Emergency Squad’ written by Eugenio Ercoliani, an essay titled From Hero to Villain: Tomas Millian and the Poliziesco written by Troy Howarth, My 2026 ‘State of the Eurocrime Union’ Address written by Mike Malloy, and information about the transfer.

Included on a second Blu-ray disc is the documentary Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s (126 minutes 54 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English and Italian with burnt-in English subtitles for Italian). Extras for Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s includes an interview with Tomas Milian from 2012 (14 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), deleted scenes and trims (6 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with burnt-in English subtitles for Italian), and Yankee Doodle Tanzi: Some Outtakes on Ethnicity and Nationality (4 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with burnt-in English subtitles for Italian).

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s: Italian cinema from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s was known for its cycles. These genre cycles often originated when there was a Hollywood file that was hugely successful at the box office and from there the Italians would make clones of these Hollywood files that they were liberally borrowing from.

After the decline of the spaghetti western genre, which is arguably the most successful genre when it comes to how well it performs here in the USA, the homegrown action scene looked like it had all but run its course in Italy. Outside, a few scattered action files involving crime and the police. The bulk of action cinema coming from this era was a more toned-down version of spaghetti western that exchanged humor for violence. Fortunately, there were better days just around the corner.

In the early part of the 1970s, a new kind of action file emerged in Italian cinema and these files are often referred to as Poliziotteschi files. And though the original inspiration for this genre can be linked back to such Hollywood films as Dirty Harry and The Godfather. These firms often drew from real-life events that were unfolding in Italy then. A few of the subjects that these firms explored include underworld crime, police corruption, terrorism, and kidnapping. And unlike their spaghetti western counterparts, there was an added level of realism when it came to the depiction of violence.

Content-wise, this documentary divides its content into several subsections, which cover the origins of Italian cinema being inspired by Hollywood films, the decline of the spaghetti western genre, how films were often shot on the cheap and quickly, car chases and how dedicated the stuntmen in Italian cinema were, dubbing, this genre’s unflinching depiction of violence, especially the brutality towards most women in these films, these genres' lasting legacy and so much more.

Ultimately, Euro crime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Files That Ruled the '70s is a first-rate documentary that tells the story of the Poliziotteschi file, and to guide us on this journey are a variety of contributors who helped shape this genre, which includes actors, directors, and stuntmen.

Summary: 

Stelvio Massi directed Emergency Squad. He’s most known for his work within the poliziotteschi genre. Notable films that he directed are Five Women for the Killer, Cross Shot, The Last Round, Highway Racer, and Convoy Busters.

A group of robbers led by a man named Marseilles pull off a daring heist in broad daylight. Assigned to the case is Interpol agent Ravelli, whose wife was murdered in cold blood by this man in Marseilles a few years before. Ravelli has a nasty habit of never bringing in suspects alive, and the tension builds between Marseilles and his gang as Ravelli closes in on them. Can Ravelli play it from the books this time, or will he become the judge, jury, and executioner as he serves up justice the only way he knows how?

Although Judas Kills on Fridays is technically Stelvio Massi’s directorial debut, his next film, Emergency Squad, is where he found his spot as a filmmaker. After Emergency Squad, all but one of Stelvio Massi’s films for the remainder of the 1970s would be in the Poliziotteschi genre. For Emergency Squad, Stelvio Massi would team up with Tomas Milan (Almost Human), one of Poliziotteschi's most recognizable faces, for the first of their two collaborations.

Poliziotteschi are known for their explosive opening sequences, and Emergency Squad features an elaborate heist in broad daylight. Four criminals masquerading as a film crew surround a car transporting a large sum of money. Things go sideways when one of them kills a cop, and they are forced to change their plans. Not only does this opening setup do an excellent job establishing the criminals and the lengths they will go to, it fully fleshes out Tomas Ravelli, an Interpol agent with a vendetta against one of them.

The cast is anchored by an exemplary performance from Tomas Milian (The Tough Ones), who portrays Tomas Ravelli. His character is solely focused on exacting justice against the man who murdered his wife. Another performance of note is Gastone Moschin (Milano Calibro 9) in the role of The Marseillaise, a ruthless criminal mastermind. Other cast members of note are Ray Lovelock (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) in the role of the criminals' getaway driver and Stefania Casini (Suspiria) in the role of The Marseillaise’s ditzy girlfriend.

The narrative is very effective at creating tense moments and building upon them. There are no issues with pacing as the narrative builds momentum to a justice-served finale where Tomas Ravelli gets his man. Another strength of the narrative is its use of flashbacks to flesh out Tomas Ravelli’s backstory. Not to be overlooked when discussing Emergency Squad is Stelvio Cipriani's (What Have They Done to Your Daughters?) outstanding score, which perfectly accentuates the mood. Ultimately, what sets Emergency Squad apart from most Poliziotteschi is how Stelvio Massi and Tomas Milian approach the material.

Emergency Squad receives an outstanding release from Cauldron Films, featuring a robust audio and video presentation, along with a plethora of informative extras. Noteworthy among these is the documentary Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s. Highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer