Born
A Ninja/Commando
The Ninja
(1988 Blu-ray*/**)/Fallout:
Season Two 4K
(2025/Alliance 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Girls
4K
(1980/Cult Epics 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray**)/Nirvanna
The Band The Show The Movie
(2025/NEON Blu-ray w/DVD)/Saurians
(1994/Blu-ray/*both Visual Vengeance**)/Spaceballs:
The Animated Series
(2008 - 2009/MGM/DVD/**all MVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+/B Picture: C/X/B-/C+ & C/C/C+ Sound:
C/B+/C+/B- & C+/C/B Extras: C/B-/B-/C/B/C+ Main Programs:
C-/B-/B-/C/C/C-
Here's
another wacky mix of releases....
Joseph
Lei's Born
A Ninja
and Commando
The Ninja
(both 1988) are part of a new cycle of old analog videotape-produced
programs only intended for the VHS market that were calculated to
make some kind of profit no matter how small because they were so
cheap to begin with and the VHS boom would find someone
to at least rent them. By this time, any ninjas in media were a pop
culture joke (we'll leave those Turtles out of it, since that is
actually a different matter for another essay) with feature films or
any other media rarely treating it with the dignity and respect you
would see from Kurosawa on down. This pair of bizarre duds are way
way deep down.
The
former has a deadly, manmade WWII virus resurface (the scientist is
somehow alive, even if it is over 40 years after the war when this
was released; guess he was immune) and a goofy duo (Larry &
David; could have been a pizzeria name, but no) who trip over this at
the exact moment this becomes an issue again. Could have happened
sooner after the war, or during the Korean or Vietnam conflicts, but
it just happens to the duo here.
Well,
equally ill-conceived Commando
The Ninja
has a title so bad, they tried two other titles (Silent
Killers,
but that sounds like cancer and American
Commando Ninja,
but that sounds lie the title of a film actually shot on... film)
bring back Larry & David and two female counterparts (Becka and
Brenda) to let us know that they are not gay (or otherwise) but not
to convince us they are dull and boring. Both feature bad marital
arts choreography secretly handled by your great grandmother in her
spare time. But that is more ambitious than the acting, script,
editing, shooting or anything else connected to these messes.
Visual
Vengeance and Wild Eye have saved two more Z-classic VHS duds, which
is fine for preservation if anyone is curious and if they existed,
they should never be censored, but it does NOT mean by any means you
have to suffer through them and actually see them. Still, now you
can see for yourself, like a video version of crystal meth.
Extras
include
Commando
the Ninja
Audio Commentary with Justin Decloux and Will Sloane of The Important
Cinema Club
Born
A Ninja
with commentary by Justin Decloux of The
Important Cinema Club
The
Essential Godfrey Ho
Video Essay
The
Law Chi Touch
Video Essay
Actor
Kwan Chung interview
Image
Gallery
Original
Trailers
Visual
Vengeance Trailers
Two
folded mini-posters with original VHS art
Reversible
sleeve featuring original VHS art
'Stick
Your Own' VHS sticker set FIRST PRESSING ONLY
Limited
Edition O-Card by Uncle Frank FIRST PRESSING ONLY
Booklet
with essay by ninja movie expert C.J. Lines
and
Blu-ray sleeve featuring art by The Dude.
Fallout:
Season Two 4K
(2025) continues as easily the best live-action version of a
videogame ever made for TV, even though I have liked what I saw of
Halo,
so the trick is not treating it like a joke of a videogame but a
solid narrative exercise videogames are usually not known for. You
can read my thoughts on the debut season at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16645/Drew+Carey+Show:+The+Complete+Series+(1995+-
Though
not a fan of Westerns, even post-modern ones and we have seen more
that a bit of this before, it is when it goers elsewhere and tries
something else (in a few things that are still developing here, but I
am still trying to figure out; at least we get some suspense here)
and that's enough for me to continue watching. Cannot go into it
because of spoilers, but even if I am disappointed in some form
later, nice to see any
TV series be this ambitious because too few are.
Extras
include
Commentary: Inside Episode 8 ''The
Strip''
with Aaron Moten and Kyle MacLachlan
Welcome
Back To The Wasteland
featurette
New
Vegas
featurette
Fallout:
Fake Talkshow
- Hilarious interview with the cast
RobCo
Animated Series shorts
and
Fallout: The Ghoul Log.
Just
Jaeckin's Girls
(1980) is a rare film form a filmmaker initial known for
controversial, semi-erotic films like his adaption of The
Story Of O
or the original Emmanuel,
so before the late filmmaker moved on to other thing a while later,
he made this slice-of-life teen comedy/drama abut four gals
(including a pre-La
Femme Nikita
Anne Parillaud) involved in hijinks like petty theft, vandalism,
insulting people, pre-mature drinking, drugs and even sex. Instead
of being Emmanuel-lite
or Young
Emmanuel,
I was surprised how well made this was in what is possibly his best
film.
A
sort of European cousin to Little Darlings with Kristy
MacNichol and Tatum O'Neal, it is sometimes raw and honest, the humor
authentic and a time capsule of young gals int eh late analog era
when you think about it. The music does not hurt, including several
hit classics by the great art rock band 10CC, whose surviving member
Eric Stewart worked on the music score with composer Duncan Mackay.
Better
than you might expect and sometimes even charming, Girls
is definitely worth a look as a time capsule to some extent and for
its honesty, the kind we rarely see in any films anymore.
Extras
include a
feature length Audio Commentary by Jeremy Richey and Peter Verstraten
second
Audio Commentary by Jeremy Richey
Who
is Just Jaeckin?:
Essay by Jeremy Richey
Last
Interview with director Just Jaeckin (2022)
Interview
with actress Isabelle Mejias (2025)
Archival
interview with Just Jaeckin, Anne Parrilaud, Zoe Chaveau, Charlotte
Walior (TFI, 1982)
Girls:
The German Cut
(with
the recasting of actor Philippe Klebert (the key role of the
projectionist) with German actor Claus Obalski because he was in a
big hit there! In low definition.)
and
Trailers.
For
more on Jaeckin's films, try our
coverage of The Story Of O
and the original Emmanuel
at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7787/The+Story+Of+O+(1975/Blu-ray/NC-17+Uncut+Version/
Madame
Claude here:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15881/Madame+Claude+(1977*)/My+Nights+With+Susan,+S
Last
Romantic Lover here:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16282/Joseph+W.+Sarno+Retrospective+Series:+Moonlighting
and
the Private Collections anthology here:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7645/Private+Collections+(1979+Erotic+Anthology+Film/Umbr
Matt
Johnson's Nirvanna
The Band The Show The Movie
(2025) has zero to do with the great Seattle Grunge band misspelled
in its title, has little to show and is hardly any kind of movie.
Instead, the director plays a variant of himself trying to land a
performance gig at a major Canadian venue, including a stunt that
could have killed them. Then, things take a twist when they discover
(sort of) that the can time travel!
That's
accompanied by video footage of Back
To The Future
(a bad sign, we can just watch that film instead) happens to be the
point where what little works jumps the shark and everything else.
Now Canada has given us some funny movies and some of the funniest
comic actors around. So far, Johnson and co-star Jay McCarrol are
not two of them, so SCTV, SNL and National Lampoon have nothing to
worry about legacy-wise.
Sadly
I thought this might be fun and work, especially with it being picked
up by Neon, but just being goofy and neurotic is not being funny.
Guess cancelling Woody Allen has come back to haunt us. Unless
pointlessly neurotic behavior is somehow a hoot to you, go find
cinematic comedy nirvana somewhere else.
Extras
include a Feature Length Audio Commentary with Matt Johnson, Jay
McCarrol, Jarad Raab and Matt Greyson
Second Audio Commentary with
Matt Johnson, Robert Upchurch, Curt Lobb and Tristan Zerafa
Alternate
Opening
Deleted Scene
Figured
It Out
featurette
Home
Movies
featurette
Back to 2008 Animatic
Running Cable Animatic
and
Nirvanna
The Band The Show,
Episode 1: The
Banner.
From
Mark Polonia, the director of Mummy
Shark,
Pandasaurus,
and Amityville
Rex
comes Saurians
(1994) which has just gotten a collector's edition Blu-ray from
Visual Vengeance. This no budget fare is pretty hilarious and
embraces the fact that it is a ''backyard'' shot on video movie with
cheesy looking dinosaurs, nerds being nerds, and a '90s nostalgic
flare that makes this somehow watchable.
The
film stars Mark Polonia, Todd Michael Smith, Todd Carpenter, Maria
Davis, and Dustin Davis.
Saurians
is presented in 1080p high definition on 2K Blu-ray disc with an
MPEG-4 AVC codec, a full frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and a lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. Understandably, the transfer is not
very sharp as it was a shot on video production with some Super 8
film elements as well, but it looks the best it can in this director
approved SD master from the original tape elements. Too bad the
Super 8 color did not hold up better, but maybe its Kodachrome?
Special
Features include:
New
director-approved SD master from original tape elements
Commentary
with director Mark Polonia, moderated by the Visual Vengeance crew
The
Making of Saurians
Saurians
Locations Visit
Actor
Todd Carpenter Interview
Kevin
Lindenmuth Interview
Saurians
Stop Motion Outtakes
Saurians
Super 8 Raw Footage
Alternate,
never released Rae Don Home Video version of Saurians
Commentary
track for Rae Don version with director Mark Polonia, and the Visual
Vengeance
crew
Bonus
Feature Film: The
Dinosaur Chronicles
(2004)
Commentary
track for The
Dinosaur Chronicles
with director Mark Polonia and the Visual Vengeance crew
The
Making of The
Dinosaur Chronicles
Saurians
Visual Vengeance Trailer
The
Dinosaur Chronicles
Visual Vengeance Trailer
Saurians
2
Trailer
Visual
Vengeance trailers
'Stick
Your Own' VHS sticker set
Reversible
sleeve featuring original Saurians VHS art
and
a folded mini-poster with alternate vintage promotional art.
Saurians
is definitely a ultra low budget SOV fare. If that's not your flavor
then this film may not be for you.
Mel
Brooks' Spaceballs:
The Animated Series
(2008 - 2009) is now out on SD DVD as part of the MVD Rewind
Collection. Based on the hilarious (and far superior) 1987 Star
Wars
spoof, this desperate to be funny animated series at least is
masterminded by Brooks and brings back a few of the original cast
members who lend their voices here including Mel Brooks, Daphne
Zuniga, and the late Joan Rivers. That can't save the bad looking
animation and overall lack of laughs that this render.
There
are thirteen episodes in the series that include the two part pilot
episode as well. Episodes include Revenge
of the Sithee, Might Meteor, Grand Theft Starship, Lord of the Onion
Ring, Drudian Idol, Outbreak, Spaceballs of the Caribbean,
Fishfinger, Hairy Putter, Watch Your Assic Park, The Skroobinator,
Spidermawg, Deep Ship, The Avenge of Dark Helmet,
and The
Schwartz Strikes Again.
Special
Features:
Spaceballs
(1987) Original Theatrical Trailer
Spaceballs
2
(2027) Teaser Trailer
Collectible
Mini-Poster
and
Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only and
While Supplies Last).
Spaceballs:
The Animated Series
doesn't reach the laughs of the original movie, but it's nice to see
some fan favorite characters back in action. For more on the
original film, try this link to the Blu-ray/DVD edition, which links
to another big review of the earlier DVD-only release...
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8823/Spaceballs+(1987/MGM+Blu-ray+w/DVD
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on the Fallout
4K
episodes are again shot on actual 35mm Kodak Vision 3 series color
negative photochemical films with great results, using anamorphic
HawkScope lenses (and some Super 35,) continuing to make it one of
the best-looking TV productions being made right now. The
lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems)
sound on all the episodes continues to be also pretty state of the
art and puts more than a few theatrical films, especially in the same
genres, to shame.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition image on Girls
4K
can look really good, especially in its color, but derail can be
limited due to the budget, age and lenses used. Maybe Dolby Vision
or maybe even Barco HDR could improve the image, but this is still
solid, while the 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is
decent, but no match still for the 4K and its more naturalistic and
realistic look. Oddly, the 4K version only has a
French DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix and regular Blu-ray
a French DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix. They are
about evenly matched of the original optical theatrical monophonic
sound, but the 5.1 does not add any of the music in stereo, including
the 10CC hit classics featured throughout the film.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on both Ninja
features upscaled from their very, very old and flawed videotape
shoots can absolutely, extremely show the age of the materials used,
so expect some rough visuals and analog
videotape flaws including video noise, video banding, tape
scratching, cross color, faded color and tape damage. The
lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mixes on both are barely stereo and have
their sonic limits, slight harmonic distortion and lack of dynamic
range likely masking and hiding other audio issues.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Nirvanna
is an HD shoot not helped by its shaky camera work at all and has
plenty of lower-definition video, et al, to make this lesser
visually, with the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix barely better, whiel the
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 DVD is weaker still along with its
weaker-still and lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Only expect so much
quality from this one.
Saurians
is presented in 1080p high definition on 2K Blu-ray disc with an
MPEG-4 AVC codec, a full frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and a lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. Understandably, the transfer is not
very sharp as it was a shot on video production with some Super 8
film elements as well, but it looks the best it can in this director
approved SD master from the original tape elements. Too bad the
Super 8 color did not hold up better, but maybe its Kodachrome?
Spaceballs:
The Animated Series
is presented in is presented in standard definition (480i) across two
DVDs with a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio (in an anamorphically
enhanced center) and a lossy 2.0 English Dolby Digital Stereo audio
mix. The animation is not the best which is a little surprising for
a franchise of this size and the talent involved. There is
noticeable compression which is apparent around the lines around the
characters that can be distracting on an HDTV. Furthermore the
animation choice of full frame over a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio
is curious. The animation is not very detailed, giving it the feel
of an Adult Swim kind of animation that is a bit more crude than what
we are normally accustomed to today. Mind you this was made before
Amazon bought MGM, so I'm sure the budget wasn't too high on this to
begin with.
-
Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Saurians,
Spaceballs)
https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/
