Emergency Squad features Tomas Milian as a grubby, independent detective who goes after the gangster who killed his wife five years earlier. The gang has just committed a payroll heist, and one of the bullets is identified as being from the same gun as was used on Milian's wife. The gangster, known as Marseilles, obviously feels more attached to his firearms than to the rest of his gang who he kills off as part of his plan. An even less believable plot point has Milian shooting at the gang from a helicopter chasing their car at high speed. The DVD features an interview with Massi that was conducted just prior to his death. His wife is heard off-screen sometimes filling in where Massi's memory fails him. The interview with Milian, who began his career studying under Lee Strasberg, reveals an actor who often felt superior to the films he starred in, and often was.

Even the liner notes with The Last Round DVD fully admit that the basic story is a variation of Red Harvest/Yojimbo/Fistful of Dollars. What I didn't know was that the skinny guy who's the hero of the film, Carlos Monzon, was a World Middleweight boxing champion in the 70s. The other casting twist is to have Luc Merenda, usually cast as the hero, play the charismatic crime boss of one of the two rival families. Monzon's real life mistress, actress Susana Gimenez plays a stipper with an unusual, interactive performance. The film is enhanced by Luis Bacalov's score which uses pan flutes and harps. The DVD features Luc Merenda showing off some of the items in his antique store. Retired from acting since 1992, the 63 year old Merenda seems both pleased and bewildered by the renewed interest in films he made thirty years ago. The DVD also includes a CD titled The Eclectic Ultimate Cinedelic Experience (Funky Cops and Hard Boiled Girls) performed by a group called Entropia. With snippets of dialogue from the films, this is something for the hard core fans to enjoy.

Merenda is seen to better effect in A Man Called Magnum. According to the DVD notes, director Michele Tarantini had an uneven career. Be that as it may, Tarantini certainly put his creative energies to full use in this film. Visually, Tarantini alternates between low angle shots, extreme close ups, and shots from the level of a child, kind of like a mash up of Ozu, Leone and Truffaut. Merenda plays the no-nonsense Milanese cop sent to Naples to bust the mob. The short, balding Enzo Cannavale provides comic relief as Merenda's Neopolitan partner. The gorgeous Sonia Viviano is also featured. While Merenda and Cannavale are after the mob, the mob boss wants to know who stole the latest shipment of dope. The action is punctuated with several chase scenes including one in a greenhouse, as well as a couple of well done car chase scenes with stunts one never thought one would see performed with humble Fiat sedans. The DVD looks great, and with an Italian language track in 5.1 Dolby probably sounds better than the film did in its initial release. Also worth mentioning is a subtitled commentary track by Tarantini. While Tarantini doesn't have much to say about A Man Called Magnum, he is interesting to listen to in discussing the history of his own career as well as discussing other little-known or forgotten Italian directors. One interesting bit of news is that he mentions being the cousin of Sergio and Luciano Martino. As the old joke goes, sometimes the family that plays together, slays together.