CUSTOMS FRONTLINE Brings the Kaboom

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE (Blu-ray)

2024 / 116 min

From Well Go USA

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Boat Inspector😼

Customs Frontline sounds more like a wholesale furniture outlet than an action movie. Maybe something got lost in the translation, though it is indeed about Hong Kong customs agents. I suspect such a job is seldom as dangerous and exciting as depicted here, but that’s okay. After all, who the hell would wanna watch a cop movie where its characters spend most of their time filing police reports?

Dedicated agent Chow Ching-lai (Nicholas Tse), his mentor/boss, Cheung Wan-nam (Jacky Cheung), and their team come across an adrift cargo ship. The crew is dead, but the ship is loaded with weapons stolen from Thailand. While escorting two Thai agents to the customs warehouse where the weapons are being held, they are ambushed by mercenaries working for an enigmatic arms dealer known as Dr. Raw (Amanda Strang), stealing them back to sell to a couple of countries at war with each other.

"Stand down, guys...that's just my DoorDash delivery."

That’s the nutshell plot, which largely has Chow and Thai agent Ying (Cya Liu) trying to track down both the weapons and Dr. Raw. When focused on the action, Customs Frontline is generally pretty entertaining. There’s fighting, gunplay and plenty o' kaboom, which is all well executed...save for the laughable CGI blood spurting from gunshot wounds (come on, guys, are squibs really that expensive?).

But the film gets bogged down by its subplots. We’re led to expect Chow’s pending divorce to have some kind of significance, but instead, that thread sort of disappears into the ether. Additionally, the film establishes Cheung as suffering from bipolar disorder, a well-presented development that might have made an interesting film itself, but I fail to see how it really serves this narrative.

For the most part, though, Customs Frontline is a pretty decent way to kill a couple of hours. The fiery, destructive climax is especially exciting, which I suppose can be considered our reward for enduring the weak attempts to inject human drama. And if nothing else, it makes the job of customs agent look more thrilling than it probably is in real life.

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING OF FEATURETTE

TRAILER

WACKY RACES Speeds Down Memory Lane

WACKY RACES: THE COMPLETE SERIES (Blu-ray)

1968 / 408 min

From Warner Archive Collection

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

While I wouldn’t bet my life on it, I’m pretty damn certain Wacky Races was the first Saturday morning cartoon I remember watching. I also seem to recall my sister and I eating enough Cheerios to collect all the boxtops required to get models of Dirk Dastardly and Penelope Pitstop’s cars. Of course, this makes me roughly 850 years old.

Back when Hanna-Barbara pretty much ruled Saturday mornings, they cranked out scores of shows that would never be mistaken for Disney, but were enough to placate undemanding kids sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. A few classics notwithstanding, most of them lasted only a season or two. In fact, only 17 episodes of Wacky Races were ever produced.

Originally airing in 1968, Wacky Races featured a variety of colorful characters and their crazy cars competing in a different location for each race. There were always two races per episode, and the winners earned the title of “World’s Wackiest Racer.” As a kid, the fun part was trying to predict who was going to win next because, other than Dirk Dastardly, it could have been anybody.

Dog is my co-pilot.

Looking back at it now, it’s pretty clear that Wacky Races was Hanna-Barbara’s answer to Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons, with Dastardly as the hapless coyote and everyone else taking turns being the Road Runner. Some episodes even copped a few of the same gags. And with such wild personalities behind the wheels of these cars, it’s amusing to think the show may have even been one of the inspirations for Death Race 2000.

For others in their mid-800s who might recall Wacky Races, this Blu-ray is a nifty slab of nostalgia. Though never as uproarious as we might remember, the show harks back to those bygone Saturday mornings when TV was created just for us. Adding to the fun is an assortment of bonus features that delve into the show's short history. Pour yourself a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and start your engines for a trip down memory lane.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races is an 18-minute retrospective of the show, including a few people who were involved in its production; Spin-Out Spin-Offs takes a look at various spin-offs featuring some of the characters from the original how.

AUDIO COMMENTARIES - For 4 individual races/segments.

TRIVIA TRACK - Episode #1 with pop-up text trivia.

RE-ANIMATOR at 40: Nostalgic Nastiness

RE-ANIMATOR 40th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

1985 / 86/105 min (2 cuts)

From Ignite Films / Eagle Rock Pictures

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Man, this one sure stirs some memories…

Back in the ‘80s, weekends often begin with a case of beer, Domino’s pizza and a trip to the video store. We’d inevitably make our way to the horror section and choose a handful of titles, usually based on the VHS box covers or histrionic synopses. Re-Animator was one of those, because no horror fan in their right mind could resist the tagline, Herbert West has a good head on his shoulders…and another one on his desk.

Most movies glutting horror shelves back then were junk…countless slashers, Italian gorefests, zombie flicks and Exorcist ripoffs. Though fun, few of them would seriously be mistaken for good movies, nor were we ever expecting them to be. 

But shortly after popping it into my Winnebago-sized VCR, it was obvious Re-Animator was something different. Sure, it was gory (really gory), and considering the budget, boasted excellent make-up effects, but so did almost everything that oozed out of Italy. Aside from great production values - again, for the budget - what made Re-Animator stand out was brisk pace and playful tone, as well a gleeful willingness to leap beyond the boundaries of good taste with a healthy sense of humor…

…in particular, a scene involving legendary scream queen Barbara Crampton and a severed head, which has since become part of horror movie lore. For the sake of anyone reading who hasn’t yet watched Re-Animator, I’ll refrain from specifics because it must be seen to be believed. 

Most importantly, Re-Animator was (and remains) a genuinely great movie. It’s audacious, funny and clever, with engaging characters and terrific performances, especially Jeffrey Combs as the hilariously snotty & arrogant Herbert West. On that fateful weekend all those years ago, my friends and I had such a good time that we immediately rewound the tape and watched it again. Though previously unaware of H.P. Lovecraft (who wrote the original story), I was even inspired to check out more of his work. Turns out ol’ H.P. is considerably more humorless than Stuart Gordon and his merry band of misfits.

"Herbert, I don't think this is how you're supposed to 'Do the Dew'."

And you know what? 40 years later, Re-Animator still holds up really well. Like the best horror films of the ‘80s (there aren’t nearly as many good ones as some guys would have you believe), it has since transcended its decade - narratively and aesthetically - to become a true classic. The movie’s power to shock audiences may have diminished, but it’s still a potent shot of nostalgic nastiness. Revisiting it for the first time in at least 20 years, I had a great time all over again.

So of course its 40th anniversary should be commemorated, which Ignite Films does with four different editions, from an elaborate 4K boxed set to a more wallet-friendly two-disc Blu-ray. We reviewed the latter, and in addition to an excellent 4K transfer with three audio options, the set features a ton of substantial new & archival bonus features (outlined below). It also includes two cuts of the film, the classic unrated Re-Animator we’ve all grown to know and love, and the lesser-known “Integral” version, which runs about 20 minutes longer. For longtime fans (or the simply curious), this upgrade is highly recommended.

EXTRA KIBBLES

UNRATED & “INTEGRAL” VERSIONS - The latter is basically an extended cut that was released about a decade ago, with extra scenes from the old R-rated version added. Might be interesting to watch once, but is certainly no improvement.

NEW KIBBLES - Re-Animator at 40 is a conversation between producer Brian Yuzna and actors Barbara Crampton & Jeffrey Combs; Piece By Piece: Cutting Re-Animator is an interview with editor Lee Percy; Suzie Sorority and the Good College Boy is an interview with actor Carolyn Purdy-Gordon; The Horror of It All: The Legacy of Re-Animator is an appreciation by several modern directors; I Give Her Life: A Look Back at Re-Animator: The Musical (There was a musical???); Re-Animating a Horror Classic: The 4K Restoration of Re-Animator; The Organic Theater Company of Chicago is a 1977 documentary about the Stuart Gordon’s theater group; New Trailer.

ARCHIVAL KIBBLES - Re-Animator Resurrectus is a feature-length documentary (and the best of the bonus features); Interviews with director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, co-writer Dennis Paoli, composer Richard Band and Fangoria editor Tony Timpone; The Catastrophe of Success features Stuart Gordon discussing his Organic Theater Company; Theatre of Blood features Mark Nutter, who did the music and lyrics for Re-Animator: The Musical; Barbara Crampton in Conversation is a 2015 interview; A Guide to Lovecraft Cinema; Doug Bradley’s Spinechillers: Herbert West: Re-Animator features Jeffrey Combs reading the original story; Isolated Score; Deleted/Extended Scenes; Trailer & TV Spots; Still Gallery; Storyboarded Screenplay.

3 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By director Stuart Gordon and actors Graham Skipper & Jesse Martin; 2) By director Stuart Gordon; 3) By director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, actors Barbara Crampton, Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott and Robert Sampson. 

A TRIPLE FEATURE OF FORGOTTEN THRILLERS

BODY OF LIES, EDGE OF DARKNESS & PRIDE AND GLORY Triple Feature (Blu-ray)

2008-2010 / 370 min (3 movies)

From Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Bingewatcher😼

Does anyone recall these movies? And if so, who honestly gave them another thought since they were first released? Despite impressive names above the titles (and a few behind the camera), none of them made much of a splash and arguably aren’t worth worth purchasing individually. But bundled together, this is a decent triple feature package, since all three films are pretty good.

Ridley Scott’s 2008 thriller, Body of Lies, doesn’t rank among the director’s classics, but it’s well-constructed, fast-paced and features an earnest performance by Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays CIA operative Roger Ferris, who uses any means necessary to try and nab the leader of a notorious terrorist group. He’s simultaneously aided and hampered by his boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), who directs most of the operation from the safety of his phone. While I could have done without the superfluous romantic subplot, the overall story is fairly interesting, with some tension filled moments. This disc comes with a plenty of bonus features, including a 90 minute multi-part documentary, audio commentary, deleted scenes and an alternate ending.

Fresh out of Cocoa Puffs

2010’s Edge of Darkness has the distinction of being Mel Gibson’s last half-decent starring vehicle before his depressing descent into direct-to-video mediocrity. Yet another revenge thriller (and he did a lot of ‘em), Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a Boston cop obsessed with finding those who murdered his daughter right in front of him. His search leads him to shady operations at a nuclear research facility spearheaded by a psychotic CEO and corrupt senator. Structured as a mystery, the plot is fairly interesting, though the film is a ultimately a real Debbie Downer. Ray Winstone steals the movie right from under Gibson’s nose. This disc includes several promotional featurettes and deleted scenes.

When the missus suggests a fun trip to Hobby Lobby.

2007’s Pride and Glory is the best film in this collection. By-far the most character driven, this one focuses on a family of New York cops. Detective Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) is coerced by police chief dad Francis (Jon Voigt) into investigating the deaths of four fellow cops during a botched raid. But Ray has a moral quandary when the investigation uncovers corruption within the department, which includes his brother, Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich), and hot-headed brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (a scenery-chewing Colin Ferrell). Not the most original thing ever made, but it boasts good performances and well-rounded characters to counter an overall lack of narrative surprises. This disc includes a 67-minute making-of documentary.

None of these films set the box office on fire, nor were any of them critical darlings. But while nearly everyone on both sides of the camera have done better work, each movie has a quality or two that make them worth checking out…maybe even revisiting on occasion. 

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray collection originally released in 2012.

DUNE: PROPHECY (4K): Experience Preferred, But Not Necessary

DUNE: PROPHECY - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (4K UHD)

2024 / 392 min

From Warner Bros.

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

Though set in the same universe as Denis Villeneuve’s epic two-part adaptation of Dune, this six-episode series doesn’t really require that you’ve seen it. HBO’s Dune: Prophecy is set 10,000 years before the events in those films. So while the Atreides and Harkonnen surnames are central to the story, we’ve never met these characters before. And almost none of it takes place on the titular planet. 

Still, the show sometimes operates on the assumption that audiences are familiar with at least some aspects of Frank Herbert’s universe…the importance of planet Arrakis (Dune), civilization’s dependence on spice production, the nature of the Fremen, etc. It also feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story and being brought up to speed with opening narration by its main character, Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson). But even then, it takes a couple of episodes for the viewer to keep track of who’s who and what they’re up to (and most are up to quite a bit). 

We’re introduced to a huge cast of characters whose purpose and motives are initially ambiguous, which will intrigue some viewers and frustrate others. And unlike the action and spectacle of Villenueve’s films, Dune: Prophecy is far more driven by the political maneuverings of the various “houses” vying for power. The nutshell story arc focuses on the Sisterhood, the school of “Truthsayers” that would eventually evolve into the Bene Gesserit that longtime Dunies are probably familiar with. Headed by Valya and her sister, Tula (Olivia Williams), their ultimate goal is to insinuate their influence on House Corrino, ruled by Emperor Javicco (Mark Strong), in order to put one of their own on the throne.

"My kingdom for a recliner."

But as Harkonnens, Valya and Tula are also driven by revenge, their hatred of House Atreides being an underlying factor in some of their decisions. What ultimately makes Dune: Prophecy interesting is that even though these two are the primary protagonists, their actions and motives are morally questionable at best. In fact, most of the major characters are seen plotting, conspiring and betraying others to serve their own agendas. This political intrigue grows increasingly complex with each episode, with occasional flashbacks that reveal Valya and Tula’s past and how it impacts the Sisterhood’s direction (which doesn’t sit well with everybody). 

Though Dune: Prophecy pretty light on action - even as the season draws to its conclusion - the overall narrative is eventually pretty engaging. Playing almost like a sci-fi soap opera, the series is loaded with plot twists and revelations, some we see coming, others we don’t. Of the plethora of characters to keep track of, the most interesting is Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel), an enigmatic soldier whose power and motives threatens the Sisterhood...and everybody else, for that matter.

One aspect the series does share with the films is its aesthetic. Dune: Prophecy is visually gorgeous, each world painstakingly depicted through creative production design and excellent visual effects. It also features a moody, evocative music score by Volker Bertelmann. Conversely, and because this is HBO, there’s a lot more sex in this one, with most of the younger cast bumpin’ uglies at one point or another. 

Dune: Prophecy isn’t quite bingeworthy, but after a slow, murky start, it’s a pretty entertaining prequel series. But be prepared for an overall lack of closure, with a majority of the storylines left open-ended in anticipation of Season Two.

EXTRA KIBBLES

INSIDE THE EPISODE - Summary/breakdown of each of the six episodes.

FEATURETTES - Disc 1: Entering the Dune Universe; Houses Divided. Disc 2: Truth or Lie (2 parts); Expanding the Universe.

BUILDING WORLDS (Disc 3) - Exclusive to disc, this featurette covers how each world/planet was conceived & created.

BEHIND THE VEIL (Disc 3) - Five separate featurettes covering various technical aspects of the series.