This one that I learned of via Tars Tarkas' site may be more of all of the above than anything before it, and is certainly guaranteed to be the most disappointing Christmas gift ever for any fan of the movie Kick Ass. It has nothing to do with it. Instead, it contains a quartet of films that include among them the Godfrey Ho Franken-movie Robo Vampire and a retitling of the in-name-only sequel to Cannibal Holocaust.
But what's interesting to me are the two films that round out the set. One of them is The Fantastic Argoman, and, as you may have heard, I like that one quite a lot. If you don't already own it, here's your chance to own it for only two bucks -- that is, if you ignore the fact that you still have to pay the remaining six bucks to get the other three movies that you may or may not want.
The fourth film is something that's listed under the title The Red Eagle and given a production date of 1970. Judging by that date and the artwork on the DVD case, this film appears to be Insee Thong, aka The Golden Eagle, Thai superstar Mitr Chaibancha's final turn in the role of Red Eagle. What the wha..? I'm wondering now if this is the same subtitled version of that film that appears on the Thai DVD version from Triple X, or perhaps a dubbed, US release cut of the film that I didn't know about.
In any case, those last two films alone make this set well worth the price, no matter how dire the quality. (Not that it could be that much worse than any of the previously available versions of The Fantastic Argoman or Insee Thong.) So, how about it. Has anyone out there picked this set up?
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I picked this up for the original "Red Eagle" (Insee Thong), and while it's a beat up print in a 4:3 letterboxed, it does have subtitles and is not cropped to 4:3 full frame like the rest of the movies on here. I haven't watched it through to the end yet, but this is the movie that Mitr died on in the last scene, shooting the stunt where he's hanging on a rope ladder from a helicopter. Poor superstar lost his grip. And when they originally showed the film in theatres they kept that footage in! "Tears of the Black Tiger" paid tribute to this sort of Thai cinema, and that film's director recently completed a remake of "Red Eagle."
Thanks, Dave. That sounds like it could well be the same version that's on the Thai disc. Good to know.
I have some trepidation about checking out Sasanatieng's version of Red Eagle. From what I've heard, it's more an attempt at a CGI laden, contemporary-style superhero event movie, rather than a return to the style of the original films -- which is a shame, given Sasanatieng is so well suited to the latter.
I picked this up in the bargin bin at FYE a couple of weeks before Christmas. "Red Eagle" is the only one I've had time to watch so far (not counting "Robo-Vampire" which I've seen previously). Anyway it looks like the "Red Eagle" on this disk is the same as the one you've seen previously. At least the terrible subtitles made the "drier" bits of the film more entertaining.
I loved that they repackaged some obscure titles to ride off the success of a popular film. It's very reminiscent of the tactics of the schlockmeisters of the 70's and 80's, and I found that to be weirdly charming.
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