Eat My Dust – Supercharged Edition (1976/Roger Corman/Disney)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C+
In the
midst of the bandit/chase cycle, Roger Corman landed one of his biggest hits
with Charles B. Griffith’s entry Eat My
Dust, but beside more cars being smashed, it had the novelty of Ron Howard
being a bad boy after the successive hit TV series The Andy Griffith Show and Happy
Days (in the middle of its hit run) and the result was one of the few films
that had commercial appeal and even some family appeal.
With that
said, it is a fun companion piece with Grand
Theft Auto, reviewed elsewhere on this site, but this one is holds up well
and has both amusing and unamusing moments.
Some of Howard’s relatives co-star, as well as Dave Madden, but the
other stars are the automobiles getting smashed throughout among other
things. Yes, this could be called
“Grindhouse lite” and even the trailer is a hoot. That is why it is worth a look.
The 1.33
X 1 image is not bad, but it is obvious that this is not a new transfer, but is
passable despite detail and depth limits.
Colors look good, but I will be very curious to see this one on Blu-ray
to see what might be missing versus the age of the film and film print. The Dolby Digital 5.1 upgrade also shows its
age from the original theatrical monophonic sound, but is good enough to hear
just about everything. Extras include
the original trailer and making of featurette How To Crash On A Dime.
- Nicholas Sheffo