Roger Corman Double Feature DVDs: Eat My
Dust!/Grand Theft Auto + Fighting
Mad/Moving Violation (Shout! Factory)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Films: C+ (Auto: C)
Shout!
Factory continues to roll out the Roger Corman films on DVD, including some
reissues of some titles that were discontinued.
It was
oddly Disney that briefly issued some key titles, including two with Ron
Howard: Eat My Dust! and Grand Theft Auto. Here is our coverage of these titles as
previously issued single DVDs:
Eat My Dust!
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6043/Eat+My+Dust+%E2%80%93+Superch
Grand Theft Auto
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4618/Grand+Theft+Auto+%E2%80%93+Tric
Both offer improved anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 transfers and the Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is slightly better in both cases. Extras have been moved to these new discs,
with Dust adding a new Ron Howard
interview, a Corman interview with Leonard Maltin and featurette The Illustrated Man in which poster
designer/artist John Solle is interviewed.
Auto adds additional
trailer/TV spot clips, more with Maltin and Corman, second audio commentary by
Actor/Co-Writer Rance Howard, Editor Joe Dante, Second Unit Director Allan
Arkush and Key Grip Ben Haller and Rance & Clint Howard interviewed in the
featurette A Family Affair.
The Fighting Mad/Moving Violation (both
1976) combo offer two more films Corman made with 20th Century Fox
and show Corman doing films more serious than those from his own various
studios. Still B-movies, they had higher
profiles thanks to Fox. Mad has Peter Fonda back as another
angry underdog with a counterculture mentality battling an evil corporation out
to kill anyone who stands in their way from acquiring land for development, but
it will not be as simple as they think.
Slightly political, this is more of an action film and the script
structure is not unlike a Revenge Western, but it is not bad and Philip Carey
is great as the main bad guy. Scott
Glenn and Lynn Lowry also star in this film nicely directed by Jonathan Demme.
Violation has Stephen McHattie and Kay Lenz
as loves who witness a police officer killed by a Sheriff (Lonny Chapman) and
since they saw it, he intends to frame them for his crime, which leads to a
nice twist on the bandit chase film. The
couple goes to controversial lawyer Eddie Albert for help, but the Sheriff does
not like him either, so all hell will break loose. Will Geer and Dick Miller also star.
Both are
here in anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 transfers and the Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono are good from decent prints, though they have some flaws, look just fine
for the format. Extras on both are
Trailers & TV Spots, plus feature length Audio Commentary tracks. Mad
has Corman, Demme, Fonda and Lowry, while Violation
has Producer Julie Corman, Roger Corman, McHattie and Director Charles S.
Dubin.
I enjoyed
revisiting all these films and you might too.
- Nicholas Sheffo
