January 17, 2006

Wow. No disasters this past week, plenty of productive time at the keyboard, and an awesome batch of DVDs in the mail. Can it truly be?

Well, instead of jinxing it by questioning it further, let me get right to the reviews. This week, I've got looks at some classic Roger Corman cult cinema recently re-issued on DVD, the final(?) Godzilla movie and my long-promised review of the Weng Weng star vehicle, FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY.

From the Fifties to today, Roger Corman has been the driving force behind some of the most entertaining – and the most profitable – B-movies ever made. As a director, he has a strong visual sense and impeccable storytelling skills. As a producer, he's given professional breaks to half of the directors and stars of the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties. It's for this that he gets the most praise and recognition, but it shouldn't be forgotten that he also has a genuine talent for recognizing commercial concepts and trends, and quickly and efficiently exploiting them.

Up until recently, he'd been releasing select films from his vast exploitation library on his own New Horizons video label, but late last year he signed a deal with Buena Vista Entertainment (you may know them as "Disney") which gave them exclusive video rights to around 400 titles. Now, Buena Vista has released their first batch of Corman classics, which includes some of the most popular drive-in movies ever.

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Let's begin with the 1974 drive-in classic BIG BAD MAMA, starring the amazing Angie Dickinson, Tom Skerritt… and the one and only William Shatner.

Directed by Steve Carver (director of two of my favorite Chuck Norris movies, LONE WOLF MCQUADE and EYE FOR AN EYE), this Depression-era gangster romp chronicles the four-state crime spree of a fortysomething (but hot blooded and sexy as hell) Texas widow (Dickinson, of course) and her two lusty teenaged daughters (Susan Sennett of THE CANDY SNATCHERS and Robbie Lee, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS). Along the way, they add to their "gang" a Dillinger-like bank robber and a Kentucky con man (Skerritt and Shatner, a year or so before their co-starring roles in THE DEVIL'S RAIN).

For sheer entertainment, BIG BAD MAMA can't be beat. There's a simple but interesting story, plenty of action, sexual melodrama, and great character acting by the entire cast. Despite the low budget, director Carver successfully creates and maintains a convincing Thirties' atmosphere. Dickinson, who was also on the boob tube at the time in her hit television series POLICE WOMAN, smolders with mature sexuality and appears nude in several scenes. Skerritt, a then-rising star in films like MASH, seems to be having a great time surrounded by beautiful – and frequently naked – women. And the Shatner delivers a delightful, hammy performance as the Southern grifter and gets to have a passionate sex scene with Dickinson. Simply put, B-movies don't get much better than this.

Buena Vista's disc presents the film in an un-matted, full-frame 1.33:1 transfer. Why it wasn't properly cropped and anamorphically enhanced, I don't know. But it looks fine, no picture information is lost (although there's too much on the top and bottom), with solid colors, a sharp image, and only minimal specks and dirt. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio track is adequate.

The disc includes a brief documentary on the making of the film, which includes on-screen interviews with Corman, Carver, Dickinson, Shatner and the screenwriters. While the doc is too short, the participants relate some great anecdotes and seem to all have genuine affection for the film. There's also a fun, if lightweight, audio commentary by Corman and Dickinson, and the original theatrical trailer. All the Buena Vista releases also have a few unrelated studio trailers at the beginning of the disc, a promo trailer for the Corman Collection, and that annoying anti-piracy spot that all the major labels are putting on their discs lately. Hey, the pirates are downloading from the 'net, you morons. All this spot is doing is pissing off the legit consumers who bought or rented their discs. Sigh. Oh yeah, the cover art sucks, too.

If you couldn't guess, despite the full-frame transfer, annoying trailers and crappy box design (why they didn't use the original, stylish poster art is another mystery), BIG BAD MAMA is still highly recommended.

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DEATH RACE 2000 (1975) is one of Roger Corman's most legendary movies, a sci-fi satire packed with thrilling, high speed automotive action, crazy-cool custom cars, black humor and a great B-movie cast.

Directed by Paul Bartel (EATING RAOUL) and based on a short story by Ib Melchior (ANGRY RED PLANET), DEATH RACE portrays a futuristic year 2000 (ironic that I'm writing this in 2006!) where a totalitarian American government keeps the masses pacified with an annual transcontinental Death Race, an event where flamboyant WWE-like drivers score points by running down pedestrians. David Carradine (KILL BILL, CIRCLE OF IRON) is Frankenstein, the world champion racer. Other participants in the automotive bloodsport include a young Sylvester Stallone, Martin Kove (STEELE JUSTICE) and cult actress Mary Woronov.

The new disc from Buena Vista uses the same source print as the previous New Horizons disc, but is now properly matted and presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. And while the print appears to be identical, with the same scattered scratches and minor debris, the transfer is much improved: sharper with richer colors. Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. The disc includes an audio commentary with Corman and Woronov, the original theatrical trailer, and another short documentary. As Paul Bartel has sadly passed away, Corman dominates the doc, accompanied by interviews with Woronov and Martin Kove. Too bad Carradine and Stallone didn't show up, but maybe they were busy.

A marked improvement over the previous DVD release, DEATH RACE 2000 should be in every cult movie fan's library, and this is the edition to buy.

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Not part of the current Buena Vista collection, but I feel it should be included here (and I've been meaning to review it since I started writing this column), is CANNONBALL (1976), Corman's non-sci-fi follow up to DEATH RACE, also starring Carradine and Woronov and directed by Paul Bartel.

The movie follows a number of colorful characters as they participate in an illegal transcontinental road race from California to New York City. Carradine is "Cannonball" Buckman, an ex-con and ex-stock car racer who needs to win the race to get back into professional racing. Pretty Veronica Hamel (HILL STREET BLUES) is his parole officer, who gets dragged along against her will, while Mary Woronov shows up as the driver of a van full of hot women. David's little brother, Robert Carradine (REVENGE OF THE NERDS) is also one of the racers.

If you're thinking it sounds familiar, well, Burt Reynolds and company ripped this film off wholesale – including the title! – with their CANNONBALL RUN comedies in the Eighties – but this is better and much more fun, with some great racing stunts, explosive car crashes, good performances, and cameos by Bartel, Sly Stallone, Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante, and Corman himself.

Blue Underground released this on DVD just over a year ago, with a gorgeous 1.66:1 anamorphic transfer, and a great new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack – along with a 2.0 surround track and the original mono. (Why couldn't Disney go to the same effort?) There's a short but informative documentary with Corman and Carradine and Woronov all sharing their memories of the production, the original theatrical trailer, a few TV spots, and a poster and still gallery.

Recommended.

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Universal's upcoming re-issue of REPO MAN (1984), which was previously released on DVD in several versions by Anchor Bay Entertainment, is a fine presentation of one of the Eighties' seminal cult films.

Emilo Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton are repo men in Edge City, looking for a green Chevy Malibu that's worth twenty grand. Of course, they're not the only ones searching for it. There are UFO conspiracists, blond-haired Men in Black, Latino car thieves, government scientists and punk rockers roving the mean streets, all with their fates oddly intertwined. And what's that glowing stuff in the trunk?

With REPO MAN, Alex Cox (SID & NANCY) crafts a twisted shaggy dog story, a fever dream "lattice of coincidence" that cannot be rationally explained. Yet, the film is compelling, driven in large part by Stanton's character of Bud, the archetypical repo man that defines the profession. He lives by his code and unfailing worship of the capitalist system, and is Estevez' guide through the surreal world of Edge City.

Universal's new disc presents the movie in a pristine new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with both Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 mono tracks. The picture quality is amazing; one would almost believe the film was shot today, if not for the dated costume and production design. Universal has seen fit to accompany the feature with a few unique extras, including an audio commentary by director Cox, producer (and ex-Monkee) Michael Nesmith, and actors Sy Richardson, Zander Schloss and Del Zamora, and the original theatrical trailer.

There's also a bizarre-but-fascinating one-on-one video interview with Harry Dean Stanton, an anecdotal kitchen table bull session between Cox and producers Jonathan Wacks and Peter McCarthy, and a selection of deleted scenes, "hosted" by Cox and Sam Cohen, the real-life inventor of the neutron bomb(!).

Weird cover art though. Anyone have any idea who that girl on the left is supposed to be? She ain't in the movie...

Anyway, the new Collector's Edition of REPO MAN streets on January 24th. Universal's disc provides a great transfer, remixed sound, and interesting and appropriately odd extra material.

Recommended.

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Mondo Macabro continues to fulfill its promise to bring film buffs "the wild side of world cinema," with another entry in their "Dick Randall Collection," featuring the delightful double feature of FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY/CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER (1980). In case you're curious, the late Dick Randall was an American film entrepreneur who specialized in co-financing international exploitation productions in exchange for certain distribution rights. Among the many films he had a financial hand in are these two action-packed jaw-droppers.

FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY stars diminutive (officially he is 2' 9" tall) Filipino superstar Weng Weng as Agent 00 of the Philippine Secret Service. When a mysterious megalomaniac known as Mr. Giant and his gang of sleazy gunrunners and drug dealers kidnap an important scientist, Agent 00 is on the case, decked out in an all-white Polyester leisure suit and equipped with cutting edge Filipino covert technology including X-ray sunglasses and a rocket pack.

Weng Weng is, simply, a marvel. A master of unarmed combat (specializing in headbutts to the groin and ass-biting) and an insatiable love machine, the incredible Weng manages to do battle, make love, and save the world, all without ever changing expression. Women adore him, men fear him, and you'll wonder just what the hell you're watching.

The second feature of this wonderful double-feature disc is CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER, starring exploitation legends Bruce Le and Richard Harrison (TERMINAL FORCE, NINJA SQUAD). Le was among the most ambitious of the Bruce Lee-alikes that sprang into action upon the Master's demise, not only starring in copious kung fu capers (such as Randall's THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE), but dabbling behind the camera as well. In fact, he's the director of CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER, a globetrotting spy adventure that must be seen, if not believed.

Le and Harrison are partners – Le does the fighting, Harrison the loving – on the trail of a missing infertility formula and another madman aspiring to world domination. The plot is nearly incomprehensible, but does offer the following attractions, among many others: Le fighting a maddened bull to the death, Harrison playing tennis with some amazingly naked young ladies, and Le throwing down with screen muscleman and ex-Hercules, Brad Harris (GOLIATH AGAINST THE GIANTS). What more could you want?

FOR YOUR HEIGHT ONLY's transfer is culled from a videotape source, as the original negatives seem to be lost. While lacking in definition, Mondo Macabro has put some real effort into it, and it looks far better than I expected. CHALLENGE OF THE TIGER is presented in a remarkable 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Both films are presented with clear Dolby Digital stereo audio, and they sound just fine.

The disc is a bit light on extras, but does offer up extensive and informative on-screen liner notes for both features, poster and still galleries, and the always welcome Mondo Macabro promo reel.Do I have to say it? Buy it, love it, show it to your friends, family and enemies.

Highly recommended, of course.

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With a budget three times greater than any previous film in the series and directed by Japanese cinema wunderkind Ryuhei Kitamura (VERSUS), GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (GOJIRA: FAINARU UÔZU, 2004) is a very different kaiju movie, one that plays out more as a high-octane live action anime than a traditional Toho Godzilla flick. The scale of the action and apocalyptic devastation, the MATRIX-styled wire fu, the broad humor, rock score, WWE-styled monster battles, and even the look of the alien villain all make the flick feel more like an edgy cartoon than anything we've seen in the series before.

The plot owes a lot to MONSTER ZERO (1965) and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1965) with aliens from Planet X using Earth's monsters – and a few of their own – to attack and destroy all of Earth's major cities. Defending Earth (and not very well, actually) are a team of mutant superheroes led by Keanu Reeves lookalike Masahiro Matsuoka and Ultimate Fighting Champion Don Frye (whose performance as "Captain Gordon" is so bad it's great!). The aliens pretty much succeed in destroying civilization before our previously ineffectual heroes finally unleash the Big G on the marauding monsters... and that's what we've been waiting for.

Godzilla battles a dozen other monsters – most of them classic Toho kaiju like Gigan, Ebirah, Anguirus, Hedorah, King Ceasar, and Rodan – and the battles are the obvious high point of the flick. Mothra and Minilla (aka Minya, the baby Godzilla) also show up. Most of the monsters have been redesigned and look (again) more like anime characters; in some cases it works, in others it doesn't. I was really disappointed that Megalon, Barugon and Jet Jaguar weren't included, but what the hell.

Overall, it's a fun and fast-paced movie, and if it really is the last of the series, it's a high note to go out on. I liked it a lot. Sony's DVD is a pretty bare-bones affair, but it does feature an astounding 2.40:1 Tohoscope widescreen transfer with anamorphic enhancement. Sony has also included stunning Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mixes in both English and Japanese. Finally, there's a "B-Roll to Film" featurette, which consists of some un-narrated behind the scenes effects footage.

For Godzilla and kaiju fans, GODZILLA: FINAL WARS is a must-have.

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