88 Films DVD Reviews: Bad Channels (1993) & Arcade (1992)

Received more titles from the good folks over at 88 Films sent me over a batch of some of their March releases included the two titles I am reviewing now. I have decided to include them in one review because they are both Full Moon goodness (well, depends what you personally think of THAT type of cinema I guess). Both films are from the early 90's so expect a lot of 80's hangover in terms of style and a certain person's fantastic hair (more later). Anyways, this is a very tedious introduction that isn't tad or bodacious at all.

Bad Channels

"Killer Music! Alien Airwaves!"

At this point, I would copy and paste 88 Film's synopsis but at the time of the review, they have the Arcade write up there so I'm going to have to summarise this one myself.... What do you mean I'm a lazy bum of a human!? Basically the story revolves around our main character a shock-jock by the name of Dan O'Dare. Whilst doing his show one night, his radio station is invaded by a couple of outrageously campy aliens and yeah, it's your typical "can the crazy hero guy save the day" sort of thing and.... To be honest, this was not my thing at all, so ignore me if it sounds like I'm a film snob (at least I'm not like Cinemaphile who gave this is a 0/4 and bitched).

Is it by any means a generally bad movie? Yes! It's cheesy fun that just lacked... the fun part but I will say that if you do like your overly camp cheesefests, then I think the majority of you will enjoy it. I loved the alien costume and the special effects, that side I found very charming and I really enjoyed the musical sequences. The film's score was actually written by Blue Oyster Cult. If you want to shut your brain off for 90 minutes then give this one a go. It's not one of Full Moon's greatest films but I can see some people really digging it.

Once again, props to 88 Films for giving this a release. I'm not too sure what other discs are available so I can't really comment but you do get the typical special features with this including a making of and trailers. The transfer is good and the artwork is really nice so if you haven't seen this or you are a fan of Full Moon I would suggest picking it up. The disc will be released on the 17th March and at £7, go for it.

Check out the Wikipedia, IMDB and the 88 Films page for more information. Pre order and buying link is here, obviously...

ARCADE

"The game wants to play with you."

"All the kids in town are dying to play the hot new video game ARCADE. Trouble is once you play the game you can kiss reality good-bye. Arcade has seven levels of excitement, adventure and terror for its players. The game transports you to another world with its stunning graphics, thrilling sound effects, and virtual reality simulation. It is the ultimate experience in a video game.  But excitement like this doesn’t come cheaply - when you battle with ARCADE you’re putting your life on the line.  The kids have accepted the challenge and are absorbed into the game. Only Alex (Megan Ward) realises that their mysterious disappearances are linked to ARCADE. She must battle the game, alone.  Too bad she’s never been very good at games…"

Things pick up a tad with this title. For it's time, this shit was cutting edge and now it's something the Gravity snobs would laugh at. Yes, I am talking about Seth Green's hair. The computer stuff is pretty nifty too by the way. I could imagine this film resonating with bible thumping church goers who genuinely think that video games are turning our children in to mindless thugs. I enjoyed this one, the story was straight forward, the characters were fun and the computer generated worlds and sequences in general were awesome. There were actually some genuinely dark moments in there too which I won't spoil because this is the film out of the two I would urge you guys to check out... Yes, even just for Seth's fantastic do!

I'm glad I got to watch this flick, don't let the dull two or so minute credit sequence put you off because just it gets better. Features are essentially the same as Arcade and similar Full Moon titles by 88 Films. The making of did give me a chuckle when they were talking about how there are points were the audience won't be able to tell what's computer generated or not... Sorry bud, my eyes aren't that bad yet. 

Check out the Wikipedia, IMDB and the 88 Films pages and of course pre-order/ buy here.

PDx

88 Films DVD Review: Robot Wars (1993, Albert Band)

"First there was ROBOT JOX..."

 It feels good to get back in to the groove of actually reviewing stuff up on the blog for a change. The kind folks at 88 Films sent me a few discs recently. The first of the trio of titles I am going to be looking at over these next few days is the 1993 Albert Band directed, Robot Wars. When I was quickly skipping through the titles when I first received them, this flick looked so fantastically bad that I had to watch it first. What did I think of this robotic romp in the desert? Well let me tell you bub!

Basically all you need to know about the actual story is this synopsis taken from the 88 Films website itself:

"Toward the end of the 21st Century two great powers dominated the world, a division that resulted from a 30-year war known as the War of the Hemispheres. The war came to an end with the creation of giant, indestructible mega-robots, the MRAS-2, designed for military missions and balance of power.

 Recently, the mega-robot has become a tourist attraction and is used for tours through the wasteland. While on one such tour, the MRAS-2 is attacked by an extremely violent terrorist group known as the Murdaggians. Their leader turns out to be a frequent passenger on the mega-robot, Professor B. Wa-Lee, who hijacks the MRAS-2. The only hope to stop the Murdaggians is Lane Drury, the robot's pilot. But can he do it in time..."

Yeah, that's a bit of a cop out me literally copying and pasting but it sums up the film much better than I could and lets face it, you don't really watch this sort of cheese for the story.... Right? Guys? Where are you going!?

The biggest draw to this film is obviously the giant robots kicking the living crap (or the robotic equivalent) out of each other. The practical effects and the stop motion in this film are fantastic. Sure, elitists will laugh and mock but you know what? There's actual hard work gone in to these effects, and I have the say the jerky stop motion movement of the robots is downright creepy but that's just me. Watching the making of included in the disc, it's great to see how it was all put together. Now as much as I loved these scenes, I do have a big problem... WE NEEDED MORE!!!! I could have spent the whole film focused on these action sequences because I loved them.

The characters in the film itself are likable (which is actually never a problem with me in films... sometimes directors don't want you to always get to know the character properly you know). I especially loved Don Michael Paul who was cheesy, funny and all round the star of the show. His interactions with Barbara Crampton were funny and cringe worthy but again, what do you expect from a Full Moon sci-fi flick from the 90's? Speaking of Barbara Crampton (...and cheesy 90's Full Moon sci-fi), unfortunately for you sleazehounds out there, there's no boobage on show... it is a PG rated film you know, sickos. Why that would ever be a problem for some of my viewers... I... erm... will never know.

Overall, the film itself was enjoyable but I am genuinely disappointed that there wasn't more emphasis on the robots battling. In terms of special features you do get the making of which is worth a watch especially if you want to learn about the special effects. You also get a trailer as well as 10 other trailers for other 88 Films titles which is a nice treat because I do appreciate a good trailer (although I don't think I will be purchasing any of Charles's lack luster trailer compilations). You also get reversible artwork which is always nice. For the price, it's a nice little investment but I wouldn't say it's for everybody. 88 Films have done another nice job with this one.

If you want to know more about this film head on over to the 88 Films page, IMDB and Wikipedia pages. The film will be released on the 17th of February and can be ordered here.

Hopefully you will join me for the next review...
You know what? If you don't, I'm going to get my giant kick ass robot scorpion!

PDx

Mandroid (1993)

"It's Power is in Your Hands!"

Recently on the blog we have been watching some classic examples of slapstick cheese courtesy of the kind folks at 88 Films and Full Moon Entertainment. Don't worry, that will keep coming by the bucket load but today we are looking a film that isn't played for laughs but it's just as cheesetastic and just as enjoyable. Strap on your headsets because we are looking at:

Mandroid is a 1993 flick directed by a Swedish guy named Jack Esgard, set in Russia, shot in Romania and boasts a predominantly American cast. Yeah, that's a whole load of factors right there! Deep in a hidden lab a professor has created Manborg, a thought controlled humanoid for the good of mankind and science. Unfortunately for him his partner wants to sell the droid to the military because boy is this a killing machine in the making. He steals it but gets horrifically disfigured in the process but that doesn't stop him... Oh hell no! There's a whole lot of awesome you can expect with this one ladies and gents including a mask wearing psycho, an unstopable killing machine and... a man who is slwoly becoming invisible?

It's another simple tale of greed and power tokd brilliantly. Yeah, it's cheesy as hell but that's why we watch these films right? You can marvel at how badass the mandroid is. You can squirm at the site of our disfigured supervillain and you can be on the floor in stitches at the hilariously bad Russian accents. Yeah it's one of those early 90's action flicks that are hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Bad stereotype accents (thank the fuhrer this isn't set in ze Germany!) aside, it's a well acted romp that will keep your attention throughout.

Overall, I would suggest you give it a try. I enjoyed it but wouldn't say it was as entertaining as the campy schlock I have reviewed over the past couple of days. If you love your early 90's so bad it's good action then this is a great film for you to sink your rusty little teeth into. For those of you aware with the fantastically crap budget DVD label here in the UK called Hollywood DVD... Yeah it's a film that you would expect to see on one of their amazing multipacks. However, this isn't just a throw away pickup to fill up a space in your collection!

88 Films have done another brilliant job with this release and comes with the added extras you come to expect. The short film this time however is in the form of a behind the scenes/ making of feature which I am guessing was take from a TV show or something? I don't know but it is a nice extra as you never really see a making of or behind the scenes feature for a film like this. I enjoyed it for what it was and the 81 minute runtime flew by. Oh by the way, I mentioned an invisible man earlier right? Well, you have to watch the follow up film to this to see where that one goes. I think I will have to invest my time into that one... If I do... I will let you know!

PDx