Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Stunt Squad Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 26, 2014

I know the idea of yet another remake in the cinema landscape is enough to trigger a wave of eye-rolls, but if there’s any picture that deserves a second pass at perfection, it’s the 1977 Italian production, “Stunt Squad.” An origin story for a supercop series, the effort has all the ingredients to delight as escapism and chill as a procedural, making it ideal fodder for an excitable helmer to transform the material into a roughhouse actioner that leaves audiences breathless. This could be one of those rare times when a do-over might actually improve on the original.

In the hands of director Domenico Paolella, “Stunt Squad” only achieves moderate momentum. The helmer appears excited to execute a script he co-wrote, and the feature’s early scenes do an amazing job setting up the bomb-happy villain of the piece, creating a direct shot of antagonism the police of the picture are determined to stamp out. There are engaging training sequences for the titular band of motorcycle supercops, and chases periodically pop up, with foot and bike pursuits spiking the movie’s pulse rate. However, “Stunt Squad” is more talk than show, striving to ground the whole endeavor in a pained bureaucratic slog, working overtime to create realism while it’s angling to be a fantasy.

Stunt Squad Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The VC-1 encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation emerges with the usual RaroVideo troubles, finding filtering and source material issues pulling out fine detail, creating smoothness where real texture should be. Colors are amplified, with deep blues and reds dominating the palette. Skintones are as approachable as the transfer allows. Grain is more noisy than organic, while print damage is detected, along with mild judder. Blacks tend to solidify, blocking up darker costumes and low-lit encounters, whites display faint bloom.

Stunt Squad Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Italian 2.0 LPCM mix sounds thick but adequate, with a comfortable push of scoring cues, which carry the energy of the picture quite nicely. Violence enjoys emphasis, with snapping guns and crunchy collisions. Dialogue exchanges are dubbed and distanced, but the emotional intention of scenes remains available. Group dynamic hits a few shrills highs, necessitating some volume riding to manage.

Stunt Squad Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet (six pages) containing an essay by Mike Malloy is offered.

• Introduction (6:18, HD) with Malloy finds the genre expert sitting on a motorcycle in his basement, sharing his thoughts on the misleading aspects of the "Stunt Squad" title and the Eurocrime movement's capacity to recycle elements over multiple movies.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

Stunt Squad Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Performances are sharp and successfully fuming mad on occasion, and the climax turns out to be the only real note of brutality that lingers after the movie is over, exploring a moment of mob mentality that both terrifies and thrills, conjuring the voyeuristic complexity Paolella has been hunting for all along. "Stunt Squad" certainly isn't dull, but it doesn't reach its potential, getting lost as it searches for a way to justify the rip-roaring entertainment it's trying to deliver.