United States - 1992
Director - Terence H. Winkless
Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1992, VHS
Run Time - 1 hour, 33 minutes
Showing posts with label Columbia Tristar Home Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Columbia Tristar Home Video. Show all posts
22 October 2012
05 October 2012
The Crawlers
A.K.A. The Creepers
United States - 1992
Director - Martin Newlin (Joe D'Amato)
Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1993, VHS
Run Time - 1 hour, 34 minutes
Nice airbrushed cover guys. The Crawlers is ostensibly a "sequel" or spiritual continuation of the Troll II ethos, but it's missing something. The supernatural lunacy that it's predecessor possessed is gone, and in it's place a tale of toxic waste. No matter how topical you get, there is no substitute for sheer nonsense.
30 July 2012
Velocity Trap
United States - 1999
Director - Phillip J Roth
Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1999, VHS
Run Time - 1 hour, 29 minutes
Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1999, VHS
Run Time - 1 hour, 29 minutes
11 April 2012
Cyber Bandits
United States - 1994
Director - Erik Fleming
Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1995, VHS
Run Time - 1 hour, 26 minutes
Cyber Bandits is a low-budget middle-90's action/drama that relies on barely-there technological concepts like CD's and virtual reality to lend itself a thin veneer of edginess. While it is probably most notable for starring Grace Jones as the daughter of James Hong, Cyber Bandits also goes down in my ledger for starring a guy who looks like my uncle and for being generally boring and poorly-acted and laughable.
James Hong manages, despite his roughly 2 and a half minutes of screen time, to be the most interesting character in the film
Thanks to all the Week of Hong Contributors
Cyber Bandits is a low-budget middle-90's action/drama that relies on barely-there technological concepts like CD's and virtual reality to lend itself a thin veneer of edginess. While it is probably most notable for starring Grace Jones as the daughter of James Hong, Cyber Bandits also goes down in my ledger for starring a guy who looks like my uncle and for being generally boring and poorly-acted and laughable.
James Hong manages, despite his roughly 2 and a half minutes of screen time, to be the most interesting character in the film
Thanks to all the Week of Hong Contributors
Illogical Contraption - Bloodsport II and Bloodsport III
Fist of B-List - The Dynamite Brothers
From the Depths of DVD Hell - Big Trouble In Little China and Balls of Fury
Fist of B-List - The Dynamite Brothers
From the Depths of DVD Hell - Big Trouble In Little China and Balls of Fury
15 February 2012
Double Team
United States - 1997
Director - Hark Tsui
Columbia Pictures Home Video, 1997, VHS
Run Time - 1 hour, 33 minutes
Followers of Hong Kong cinema (of which I am only peripherally) will recognize the name Hark Tsui as that behind a number of epic and popular Chinese films. As a director, producer and actor he has been prolific and successful at re-envisioning the Chinese cinema. Although not his first United Statesian release, Double Team was definitely his worst. Well to tell the truth, I haven't seen his other Van Damme picture, Knock Off, co-starring Rob Schneider, but it sounds better already. Amazingly they both had theatrical releases.
Followers of Hong Kong cinema (of which I am only peripherally) will recognize the name Hark Tsui as that behind a number of epic and popular Chinese films. As a director, producer and actor he has been prolific and successful at re-envisioning the Chinese cinema. Although not his first United Statesian release, Double Team was definitely his worst. Well to tell the truth, I haven't seen his other Van Damme picture, Knock Off, co-starring Rob Schneider, but it sounds better already. Amazingly they both had theatrical releases.
26 October 2011
Anzio
United States - 1968
Director - Edward Dmytryk
Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment, VHS, 2000
Run Time - 1 hour, 57 minutes
In the midst of the United States' darkest hour in Vietnam came black-listed director Edward Dmytryk's Anzio, based on the very real Operation Shingle in January of 1944.
29 August 2011
Ninja Vengeance
United States – 1988
Director/Writer/Producer – Karl Armstrong
Columbia Tristar Home Video – 1993
Run Time – 1 hour, 27 minutes
A young man passing through a small Southern town accidentally finds himself at the wrong end of the law. He was just looking for the worldly knowledge and experience that his ninja master (Stephen K. Hayes) babbles incoherently about in numerous homoerotic flashbacks, but cest la vie.
Instead, what he finds is a wealth of white guilt from which he must absolve both himself, and white audience members. A Black kid is killed by racist cops/Klan members who realize that a drifter is the perfect scapegoat. Fortunately our Magnificent Singular Amigo Samurai just happens to have brought his Ninja motorcycle and ninja instructional manuals along for the big fight.
Despite all onscreen visual evidence he does indeed transform into the titular Ninja and take vengeance. However as I mentioned before, the purpose for this is not to bring racist murderers to justice, but to absolve himself of guilt! I presume the yin-yang is used here as a metaphor for separate but equal. For shame!
Watch Ninja Vengeance right now, streaming at NitFlex!
Also read this article on "combat reality training" by Ninja Vengeance co-star and real life ninja Stephen K. Hayes in this spring 1986 special issue of Ninja Magazine
That's Hayes on the right.
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