Welcome, one and all, to another exciting post of Recent Blu-Ray Hauls. Strap yourselves in, grab yourselves a Monster(the energy drink, not an actual monster), and prepare yourselves, we’ve got a doozy for this one. As always, when I buy four or more Blu-Rays/DVDs, I do one of these posts. There are a couple of things that are going to be a little different, though. First of all, I started back on Horror Pack, so I will be bring that up towards the end. Secondly, when it comes to boxed sets of multiple movies, I will only count it as one purchase, because that’s what it is. I picked up quite a bit, so let’s get right into it.
Missing In Action Trilogy – Kino Lorber Classics
The 80s was an amazing decade for action movies, both the big-budget blockbusters and lower-budget knock-offs. One of the biggest stars of the 80s was Chuck Norris, who at the time of Missing In Action, already had a decent stable of action movies, including A Force of One, The Octagon, and Lone Wolf McQuade. Mr. Norris took on Cannon Film’s Missing In Action because his oldest brother was killed in Vietnam, so this was kind of a personal project for Chuck. The problem was, was that the second film in the series, The Beginning, was actually the first movie shot, but Cannon made them release the first movie as the second. It’s…complicated. The movie also had an issue with being remarkably similar to another Vietnam-set action movie, Rambo First Blood: Part II. So, in many ways, Missing In Action is a bit of a Rambo knock-off. That said, these movies are a ton of fun. Chuck Norris is in his element as a one-man army. The trilogy comes in a boxed set. The special features aren’t much, but they do include audio commentaries and trailers for more of Chuck Norris’ movies.
Baskin – Scream Factory
As a huge fan of the horror genre, I like to look to other countries to see what they have to offer. For the longest time, the West has not really pushed the genre as far as it has in the last two years. But one of the most bizarre horror movies that I’ve ever seen came from Turkey. Yeah, Turkey. Baskin is about 5 cops who are alerted to a situation in a out-of-the-way village, when they stumble on a mansion of sorts that holds some very nightmarish situations right out of Hell itself. One could call Baskin the Turkish Hellraiser. It’s not as gory as I remember it when I first saw it 2016, but it’s still one of the most twisted movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but if you find yourself brave enough, what you have here is a horrifically beautiful movie that takes no prisoners.
Dragons Forever – 88 Films
What can I say about Jackie Chan that hasn’t been said a million times before? The man is one of the greatest martial arts actors alive, a living legend. The movies that he made during the 80s are what made him as great as he is. But there were some movies that he did, where he teamed up with folks like Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. These three went to the Peking Opera School together, so there was definite chemistry among the three in this movie, but it’s the last one they did together. Still, it’s a goofy movie in the way only Sammo Hung could direct. The action sequences are second-to-none, and the final 14 minutes of the film are just flat-out insane, including a fight between Jackie Chan and former kickboxing champion Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. The set from 88 films is incredible. It includes three different cuts of the film, multiple audio commentaries, and a host of new and old interviews with the cast and crew. It also comes with a poster and lobby cards. This could be my favorite Blu-Ray purchase of the year so far. It’s one of the most extensive sets I’ve seen. But 88 films has got other movies coming, so I can’t wait to see what THEY have to offer.
Sworn To Justice – Vinegar Syndrome
I discovered Cynthia Rothrock in the mid-90s when I was on a martial arts movie kick(see what I did there). The first movie I saw her in was Rage and Honor, which she did with Australian martial arts actor Richard Norton. She was gorgeous, but she was also bad-ass. Cynthia Rothrock was 5-time world champion in forms and weapons as a martial artist. She’s got black belts in 7 different styles of martial arts. While a lot of the movies that she’s been in portrayed her as a total bad-ass, Sworn to Justice allows the actress to show a different side. There’s definitely plenty of action to be had in this movie, but she’s allowed to show her more romantic side, as cheesy as it appears to be, but it’s fine. Still, Sworn to Justice is still a decent action flick and the disc from Vinegar Syndrome has some pretty good stuff on it, including commentaries, new and old interviews with Cynthia Rothrock and the film’s director. Not bad.
Western Triple Feature: The Searchers, The Wild Bunch, How The West Was Won – Warner Bros.
Of the genres that defined movies was the Western. When you pop in a Western, you’re transported to a period in American history that a lot of films have romanticized. Can you blame them? The idea of exploring a new frontier, even though it’s fraught with danger, is irresistible. The movies that came in this Triple Pack are classics in every way. The Searchers sees John Wayne on the hunt for two young women who have been kidnapped by Comanche raiders. The Wild Bunch follows a group of aging outlaws out for one last heist before their kind is lost to history. How The West Was Won is an epic Western that sees the exploration and subsequent taming of the Wild West by a westward expansion. The film also deals with the American Civil War and the advancement of the rail-road. Each film is excellent in their own way, but I found The Wild Bunch to be the best of the three. Each disc comes with a helping of special features including commentaries and various documentaries. For 13 bucks, this is an excellent triple-header.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – Arrow Video
Mary Shelley’s infamous novel about Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his creation is one of the greatest stories about man’s hubris in trying to control things that he was not meant to control. The original black and white film from the 30s is one of the greatest monster movies ever made, but like Mary’s story, the monster isn’t the creature: It’s Dr. Frankenstein. It’s not the creature’s fault that he was put together from pieces of different people, nor was it his fault in not being able to deal with being brought to life the way he was. Kenneth Branagh’s version of the story is spectacular. Branagh not only directs, but stars as Dr. Frankenstein, with Robert De Niro playing the creature. This is definitely De Niro’s movie and he was fantastic. This is more of a character study of someone brought back to life and not knowing how to deal with it. Would you? There is a sequence in the film in which De Niro’s character hangs around a farm, and learns how to read and speak, but also helps the family to survive by pulling vegetables from the frozen ground, until he’s seen. It’s a fantastic movie and the special features are plentiful, although I would’ve loved to have seen interviews with Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro, and Helena Bonham Carter. Still, it’s worth taking a look it.
Nemesis – MVD Rewind
I had the opportunity to interview the late Albert Pyun a couple of years ago, you can read it here. This was a guy that never got a proper shake in the industry. He always played it safe when it came to budgets, which usually meant that visual effects were not all that great. One could also argue that his writing wasn’t that great, either. But what he did have was a passion for movie-making and you can see that in every movie that he made, from The Sword and the Sorceress to Nemesis. He also had a pretty good eye for action. Nemesis was one of his best action movies. While you could say that the acting in the film was…not great, it was balanced out by outstanding action and stunt-work, with some really interesting science fiction ideas, even if the film ended up being a sort of cross between Robocop and Terminator. While the film had issues during production, the final product was not that bad. The final battle was absolutely bonkers, though. This disc comes with different cuts of the movie, which Mr. Pyun provided commentary on, but also archived interviews with Olivier Gruner and various behind-the-scenes featurettes. It’s a pretty solid effort from MVD Rewind.
I mentioned in my introduction that I got back on the Horror Pack bandwagon, but I’m going to do a separate post for this last pack that I got, because I haven’t watch them all yet. What I should’ve done when I started doing this series is say that I only do them when I buy at least 4 discs and WATCH them. So, in a way, these act as mini-reviews. When I did the one with the 2019 version of Black Christmas, I stated that I probably wouldn’t keep that one because it was so bad. Still, if you like what you’ve seen, and want to check out some of these movies, you can find some of them on Amazon, but you would probably be better served by going directly to some of these boutique companies like MVD, Arrow Video, Synapse, and Shout! Factory. It’s pricier when you get them straight from the source, but it’s usually worth it. Anyway, that’s going to do it for this installment of Recent Blu-Ray Hauls, so until next time!