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Shout Factory DVD
1983,1987,1985,1984
When I was a teen my uncle had come down to visit my family. And he took me to the video store to rent some movies. Well he saw they had Deathstalker II and was telling me how great the first one was. "Newt this is even better than Beastmaster!" Well I had seen Beastmaster and loved it so I talked him into renting Deathstalker II. We got back to my house and ended up watching it with my Dad. I was enjoying the film cause of the comedy and all the boobs. Well I kind of forgotten about Deathstalker for years. Then the third film in the series got shown on MST3K. Which promoted me to go track down the films. Well I could only find the original Deathstalker. It was at this tiny Mom and Pop video store and I tried to copy the VHS. But it seemed to have some kind of copy protection on it. So when I brought it back I asked the owner of the store if they were willing to sell it. But they wouldn't. Well about a year later I got on the Internet for the first time and tried to track down the Deathstalker films. Never could find them for a price I was willing to pay.
Fast forward to 2011 and I hear that Shout Factory,who is quickly becoming my favorite DVD company,is releasing lots of the Roger Corman films onto DVD. So I wrote an email to SF and asked if the Deathstalker films might be coming out. I got a reply saying that the first two were coming out soon. So as soon as I saw a pre-order for the Sword and Sorcery collection I ordered it. The day it came in I sat down and watched both Deathstalker films.
The original Deathstalker was obviously made to cash in on how huge a hit "Conan the Barbarian" was.While it's low budget is obvious it is still a fun enjoyable film. With the right mixture of action and comedy it brings back memories of sitting around with my buddies and watching all the various 80s action films we would rent almost every weekend. What I really liked is we get a fun commentary with John Shardellati,John Carl Buechler and Richard Booker. Lots of interesting behind the scenes stories are told and it seems like they all had a blast making this film.
Deathstalker II is even more of a comedy than the first one. But I find this one even more enjoyable than the original. We get Monique Gabrielle playing a double role. And John Terlesky is great as Deathstalker. Plus there is a fun scene where Deathstalker has to wrestle the Queen of the Amazons. Who is played by Queen Kong of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling fame. Now it is obvious this film has an even lower budget than the original. Cause some scenes from the original are replayed in this film. But what I really enjoyed about Deathstalker II is we get an amazing commentary with Jim Wynorski,John Terlesky and Toni Naples. They all seem to be having a blast watching the film and there is some interesting stories told about the making of the film.
Barbarian Queen is a film I had heard about for a long time. But never saw it in any video store. And never saw it playing on cable.The late Lana Clarkson is the lead. And the night before her wedding her world gets turned into shit. Her groom is put in jail,her village is destroyed,and her friends are killed. Now Ms Clarkson isn't the best actress but she does a fine job as the lead. From doing some research it seems there is some stuff that is cut out of this version of the film. Some of the scenes where Lana is tortured are cut down. But they are included as extras on the DVD.
The Warrior and the Sorceress is the final film on the DVD set. And my least favorite of the four. David Carradine is the lead. He is wandering around the world as a mercenary. So really he is a barbarian version of his character from the old "Kung Fu" TV show. David ends up involved in a war between two clans. I have only watched this movie one time and I doubt I will watch it again anytime soon.
To me at least this set is worth the price for the two Deathstalker films. With Barbarian Queen being a nice addition to the set. All the films look great. And as always Shout Factory has done a great job with the packaging. I like how the DVD case is see thru. The backside of the cover has the various films posters. I have seen this DVD set selling for as cheap as 10 bucks online and if you are a fan of films like "Conan the Barbarian" or "Beastmaster" track down a copy. Sword and Sorcery collection gets a B.
