42nd Street Forever [Blu-ray]

Synapse's awesome 42nd Street Forever series finally makes its Blu-ray debut, and we should all be thankful for it. A best selling and beloved series that collects a smorgasbord of bizarre grindhouse-era movie trailers and presents them in all their nasty glory, the Blu-ray edition of 42nd Street Forever features trailers for a whole mess of horror, science fiction, exploitation, blaxploitation, and other assorted unsavory flavors of trash including The Deadly Spawn, John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon's Dark Star, David Cronenberg's underrated Rabid, They Call Her One Eye (Thriller: A Cruel Picture), Ms. 45, Sugar Hill, Chained Heat, Flesh Gordon, The Italian Stallion, They Came From Beyond Space, and tons, tons more. Outrageous, gratuitous, ridiculously over the top, and featuring a bevy of familiar faces peppered throughout a number of the films advertised here (including Tommy Lee Jones, William Devane, Sharon Stone, Ernest Borgnine, Linda Blair, Marilyn Chambers, Sylvester Stallone, Sybil Danning, Kennan Wynn, and lots more) all help make this collection an excellent pick up. If you already have the DVD's that Synapse released originally, there's no real reason to rush out to pick up this Blu-ray edition, but if you don't have any of the 42nd Street Forever series and any or all of what I said sounds right up your alley, you need to pick this up.

Exploitation fans, drive-in buffs, and aficionados of cult and obscure cinema have long regarded Synapse's 42ND STREET FOREVER compilations as some of their favorite video releases. A retrospective of movie trailers culled mostly from the `60s and `70s - some for independent films, some for obscure studio product, and many hugely entertaining - this bestselling series has finally released its first Blu-Ray edition and the results do not disappoint.

If you're a series fan, the content here won't be a total surprise, the bulk of it coming as a mix of trailers previously released on the first two DVD editions. However, a few new surprises have been added in, with of course the enhanced benefit of having 1080p AVC encoded transfers that further transform your home theater set-up into a cavalcade of politically UN-correct gore, sleaze, sex, and comedy.

At nearly four hours and with 89 trailers on-hand, it's difficult to comment on them all, but here are a few of my favorites:

-Raiders of Atlantis: Hilarious "Road Warrior" rip-off with one of the all-time funniest decapitation scenes ever - and it's in this trailer! (Incredibly, the film itself just surfaced on DVD, in 16:9 no less, as a part of Mill Creek's 2011 "Sci-Fi Invasion" 50-movie bargain pack).

-Skatetown USA: Scott Baio, Epstein from "Welcome Back Kotter," Marcia from "The Brady Bunch," Ruth Buzzi, Flip Wilson and "introducing" Patrick Swayze? Someone tell me why this disco-skating flick isn't on DVD!

-The Crippled Masters: A favorite from the earlier compilation, in full scope widescreen.

-Wicked, Wicked: Early `70s MGM B-movie offered the first - and last - usage of "Duovision," a two-camera set-up that failed to sell this bizarre looking camp horror outing.

-Welcome Home, Brother Charles: `70s Black exploitation outing with a particularly memorable trailer.

As with the prior 42nd Street Forever retrospectives, the trailers are grouped together by category, from sleazy soft-core sex flicks to biker pictures, martial arts outings, sci-fi and horror, with the occasional big-studio film worked into the mix (like, say, MGM's hysterical Japanese co-production "The Green Slime").

The transfers are all superior to Synapse's admittedly terrific DVD sets (with many in anamorphic widescreen), but are also a mixed lot in terms of their condition, as you'd anticipate from materials that aren't pristine - but that only adds to the disc's inherent nostalgic, and overall entertainment, value. In fact, I've found that playing just a few minutes of these trailers is perfect for certain houseguests and friends you might have over, who are certain to get a kick or two out of them. Commentary by exploitation fan/webzine authorities adds some insight to the fun as well.

Here's hoping Syanpse doesn't wait so long to bring us a second volume!

Oh man, where to begin. This is one of the most excellent blu ray releases ever, from one of the leading providers of cult film cinema, Synapse Films!

225 mind numbing minutes of trailers, from some of the most insane genre films imaginable. Nothing more, nothing less (well you do get a commentary track with folks from Fangoria and the like, which is pretty entertaining).

A good number of these films I have never even heard of, while other ones I feel I saw the whole movie before the trailer ends! We're talking a good time here folks, moreso if you are a horror, cult, sleaze, action junkie. Perfect for a long night of drinks and hanging out.

Synapse rules.