Tracs Movie Reviews

I only watched this movie for one reason; I'd heard Tracy Scoggins was in it. Sadly, she only appears for a few seconds, in the only role that isn't detestible. The plot is simplistic to the point of non-existance. The characters are miles beyond idiotic, to the point where you suspect the scriptwriters are. There isn't enough suspense or finesse to fill a teaspoon. The only appeal Busey's character holds in his brief appearance is to those who find the extremes of gross amusing--in short, adolescent mentality that laughs at anything disgusting and cruel that Hollywood's been shovelling their way for the past few years. Makes some of the bad B-movies of the 50's look positively sophisticated and artsy. If it was meant to be a vague Blair Witch rip-off, it has more in common with the story of Hansel and Gretel (except that was scarier). I wish they allowed "zero" stars in the Amazon.com ratings...

This one's a tough call. Well, I've been on a post-'90s, straight-to-video horror movie kick, and, honestly, compared to some of the other junk I've sat through recently, "A Crack in the Floor" looks pretty good. Yes, its plot is threadbare and hardly original, and, sure, many of the scenes are purely time-fillers -- but, man, look at that oddball cast! Gary Busey and Rance Howard (that's Ron Howard's dad, by the way) pop up in one bizarre and twistedly funny scene that demonstrates the difference between city kids and backwoods chicken farmers (granted, the scene is a little forced and wholly unnecessary, but, darn it, for some reason it cracked me up anyway. Busey's a nut!) Tracy Scoggins, Bo Hopkins, Mario Lopez (dude--that's Slater from "Saved by the Bell"! Totally awesome, man!) and, if anyone remembers, David Naughton from "An American Werewolf in London" (although his part is so small and inconsequential that you barely notice him.) Also, the main cast of young actors actually do a passable job. A few of them were even quite good (with the exception of the pothead chick, whose dialogue consisted of little else than, "What do ya smoke? Cigarettes or weed?" --really, if people actually talked like that, oh what a dull and stupid world this would be.)
But, overall, this movie worked for me on some levels. Some of it was tedious and dumb, but there were some honest laughs, some honest shocks (like the two guys discovering the redhead in her sleeping bag with her neck twisted around) and even some unexpected twists (such as people getting knocked off early who I thought were going to be the main heroes/heroines) and a surprising downbeat ending.
No, it's not great, and it does get downright meanspirited towards the end, but, compared to a straight-to-video, killer-in-the-woods pile of junk that I watched recently called "Fear Runs Silent," this one's a masterpiece.

This shonky production gives a new dimension to the term 'exploitation'. The DVD cover lists the running time as 85 minutes. It isn't. The total running time of the disc is 73 mins. To compound the deceit the running time of the story, such as it is, is a mere 59 mins. The balance of the time is taken up with a 14 min credit crawl. That's longer than the credit crawls for Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments combined. It's painfully slow and is plainly done for the sole purpose of padding out the disc. Don't waste your time looking for the director's commentary and Behind The Scenes mentioned on the cover. They're nowhere to be found. A complete disgrace.

When I ordered this off amazon, I was hoping that the film would be as good as those "guilty pleasure" late night Cinemax films that I so enjoy watching. But this film was truly pitiful. I was hoping for some good looking girls, and what I got were some unatractive strippers that seemed like they didn't read the (horrible) script. I was hoping that Nikki would save the film, but she was pulling off some weird back-flip, stunt-man stripping! Like I said, I usaully love films that have beutiful naked girls doing naughty things, but this, is not that! Take my advice and subsribe to Cinemax!

When I ordered this film on line ..., I had pretty high expectations for it to be pretty good. Surrender Cinema is usually--as mentioned by another reviewer--a pretty reliable source for films like these (Femalien, Virtual Encounters, Lolida 2000). I wasn't expecting a great, well thought-out drama flick--I just wanted what everyone else who bought this movie or is considering to do so: hot girls and lots of skin. As for the "hot girls" part, there is not a whole lot of them in Hidden Beauties, let me tell you that (no offense to any of the women who starred in this film). Okay, so this movie is not chalk-full of bodacious babes. So? To make matters worse, most of the acting during the sex scenes isn't that good and it is not that stimulating to get couples in the mood who may be watching this film together (which defeats the purpose of watching something like this in the first place!).

The bottom line is that while there may not be an abundance of steaming love-making scenes and hot girls wherever the camera turns and the acting is pretty bad, it is an okay movie. I am not saying rush out and buy Hidden Beauties nor am I trying to imply that this is an awful movie. I am just saying that there are dozens upon dozens of better softcore flicks out there in part by Surrender Cinema. Consider those before this one. Trust me, you will be glad you did.

This is one of my all time favorite movies...the sequel to Father of the Bride with all the same cast back again. However what a mess this DVD is. The quality is horrible. Some scenes are so lightened up you can't even see faces! Parts of the movie were also cut out, such as when Liz Taylor is sitting in the swing with Spencer Tracy outside while her new house is being built. You can also see cuts and scratches in the film. I also bought Father of the Bride on DVD at the same time and what a difference! The quality is wonderful! I guess that is becuase it was released by Warner Brothers and not some 2 bit unknown company. I hope Warner Brothers will put out of a copy of this great movie some day! Until then I will content myself with the VHS version I taped off of a cable movie channel 10 years ago!!

DO NOT buy this DVD. Another inferior product by Madacy: bleached out picture and tinny sound. Weren't DVD's supposed to be better quality than VHS?!?!

In the light of the huge success of "Father of The Bride" the previous year MGM naturally saw that a follow up movie taking place after a year has gone by in the lives of the Banks family was a terrific idea. Assembling the same cast, director and production crew combined with the usual MGM care and attention to detail they were assured of a worthy successor to its admittedly splashier predecessor. This time around in "Father's Little Dividend" the trauma of a wedding is replaced by that of the news that Stanley Bank's daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) is expecting a child, much to Stanley's annoyance as he has just congratulated himself on finishing paying for the wedding. Vainly hoping for a little peace from now on he discovers his life is once again thrown into turmoil by the emminent arrival of the baby that will make him , horror of horrors, a grandfather!

"Father's Little Dividend" made at a time when movie sequels were a real rarity manages to keep the continuing adventures of the Banks family as seen through the weary eyes of the head of the house , fresh and enjoyable. While certainly not possessing all the magic of it's classic parent this film still is highly entertaining and manages to resassemble all the essential elements that combined to make "Father of the Bride" such a memorable viewing experience. The original cast of Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennet and Elizabeth Taylor are back, ably supported by supporting cast members Don Taylor as Kay's new husband Buckley with Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the senior Dunstan's. Seen through the eyes of Stanley and with the same narration so effectively used in the first film we are reintroduced to the characters after a year has passed and where to Stanley's dismay his cherished daughter Kay has announced that she is expecting. Much like the period following Kay's engagement announcement Stanley now sees himself again going into a free fall from which there is no escape as he finds himself engulfed by baby showers, plans for a bigger house for the couple to accomodate the baby, renovations, trouble over naming the baby and then of course trouble between the expectant couple which of course he is required to sort out. Just wanting to escape from the whole mess Stanley finds that like the first time around when the wedding plans were announced, his beloved wife Ellie relishing the idea of becoming a grandmother, has gone into hyperdrive once more and wont let Stanley rest for one minute as a virtual tug of war begins between the Dunstans and the Banks over who is stage managing the whole affair and more importantly who will control this new baby. Many amusing incidents occur leading up to the great day when Kay gives birth and Stanley is almost driven to distraction and worry for his much loved daughter as her time draws near. After a highly amusing false alarm involving a frantic drive to the hospital which ends up with Stanley in trouble with the police, the great day arrives and Kay delivers a healthy baby boy. However Stanley's troubles are not over as the baby seems to have a mind of it's own and takes an instant dislike to him, crying every time Stanley is within view. Spencer Tracy once again steals the whole movie here as the befuddled grandfather trying to deal with further disruptions in his life. Just when he comes to an "understanding" with his new grandson a quite frightening incident occurs where the baby is temporarily lost and only then does Stanley realise the impact this child is having in his life and how important this grandchild has become to him. At the christening, despite earlier arguments about the child's name Stanley receives a real surprise where in a nice touch, seeing the bond existing between the two, both sides of the family agree on Stanley as the child's name.

"Father's Little Dividend", makes delightful viewing and as with the first film despite being firmly positioned in 1950's America, has alot that even present day audiences can identify with in regard to how families react to an upcoming birth. Spencer Tracy once again displays that unique talent of his in this performance as he turns from reluctant grandfather to devoted carer for the baby and his work with both Joan Bennett and in particular Elizabeth Taylor is a joy to behold. In the christening scene in particular he appears totally real as the proud grandparent and his repeated scenes of concern for Kay's welfare not only are absolutely convincing but is work that reflects his real life affection for Elizabeth Taylor who during production of this film was going through the horrors of the break up of her Hollywood marriage of only 8 months previously. Directed again with much affection by veteran Vincente Minelli this is a slice of Americana from a simpler time and although certainly idealized reflects alot of the very real concerns that parents have when their children are having their own off spring. All those feelings of possessiveness and wanting to "help out" the new parents are amusingly represented in the script with Joan Bennett's "wanting to get her claws into this new baby (according to Stanley!)and her "grand idea" to move Buckley , Kay and the baby into their home to be able to "help out" being highly amusing and very identifable.

The "Father" films released in 1950 and 1951 make great double viewing. They captured once again the excellence of Spencer Tracy in a tailor made role and they also captured forever the beautiful and talented Elizabeth Taylor just as she was making the transition from teenage roles to those as a young adult. The example of Spencer Tracy's acting skills has been quoted by Elizabeth Taylor as being a wonderful learning experience for her as can be seen in her later efforts like "A Place in the Sun". Enjoy Stanley Banks being taken on another nightmare ride care of his loving family in MGM's "Father's Little Dividend".

The Slime People has always been one of those favorites of mine. I was excited to be able to get it on DVD format. Unfortunately, the transfer of the original to DVD has been done so badly, that the film is nearly unwatchable. And the sound is warbly to say the least. Perhaps they simply had a bad original to work with. It is still fun to watch though....just not very well preserved.

Creature was transferred with about the same disregard for getting a decent quality of picture recorded on the DVD format. It's a shame that two fun movies were recorded this badly.

I'd recommend this DVD for anyone who likes old flicks, The Slime People is one of the classics of low-budget B&W California sci-fi. Just don't expect to see high quality video or hear decent sound because the thing was recorded very badly.

I enjoyed this movie, which is about a trio a aliens that terrorize a small backwoods town. It has a few good scares and came out before Alien, so it can't be billed as a ripoff.

I bought this DVD just because of the big stars in it. I am quite surprised that the great setting, the breathtakingly beautiful woods, is not used to the fullest. It's merely a backdrop rather than a solid background of the movie.

The scripts, and of course the dialogs, are plain awful. I don't know why those big stars even bother to be in it in the first place.

The DVD has no extra features, except for 3 trailers (including the movie's own trailer). The movie is presented in full screen format. What a waste!

As this is a movie about a small town, three generations and two lovers, here's how I think the story should be told. Deroy is a California isolated town, the existence of which relies on a lumber mill run by Logan Reeser (seventy-six-year-old Oscar winner Jason Robards). Reeser is a mentor to twenty-six-year old Frank (Eddie Mills) who while being seen as a freak by his family and community, fully shares Reeser's deep-rooted devotion to the giant redwoods. Then summer comes, and Frank finds himself in bliss and trouble when a romance blooms between him and the mill manager's daughter, Sylvia (twenty-four-year-old Hilary Swank, one year before her Best Actress Oscar). The young lovers are temporarily separated, but as old Logan Reeser gets deeper in debt and might have to shut down the mill, Frank and Sylvia devise a clever plan, and together they prove that love and determination can save a town from disaster and be the answer to Reeser's prayers as well...

Although the DVD isn't very cool (only chapter selections, no special features) I really enjoy this movie. I love its message regarding environment (similar to what was voiced in such good films as "Silkwood", "A River Runs Through It", "Erin Brockovich"...) Credits should also go to the cinematography and the solid performance of the entire cast, especially Hilary Swank with her imcomparable freshness and natural beauty. So if you're tired of movies that offer nothing than senseless violence and obsessive sex crave, get "Heartwood" and enjoy this heartwarming love story, as narrated by its main character: "It started 15 years ago in a forest in my sawmill town, Deroy, population 254, where the trees are more than a livelihod, they're a way of life..."

VCI is offering a terrible print of this 1937 serial. (...)

VCI's print looks as though it were recorded through a dirty screen door, and I'm returning this title. It is as bad a print as any DVD I've ever seen from a "major" company, and I intend to avoid further serial releases from this company until they explain.

You want good serials on DVD in great prints, pick up UNDERSEA KINGDOM and SOS COAST GUARD from the Roan Group and FLASH GORDON and its sequels from Image!!!

This DVD of Dick Tracy 1937 has a much better print than the VHS tape set that I bought years ago but it leaves a lot to be desired. I was expecting a 5 rating when it arrived but 3 is the best I could do. The commentary is interesting about the Tracy character but I wish there had been talk about how VCI came about to obtain this print etc. and why the quality could be better, but there was nothing. He also talks about the upcoming release of the other Tracy serials but they had better be of better print quality than this or I will just stick to my VHS set.

it was ok but it could been better but having six of them for that price is more than worth it.

Let's face it - cheesy movies definitely have their place in society. Who hasn't wasted away an evening with frozen pizza, beer and a movie? And once the beer begins to make its mark it really doesn't matter what the little people on your tv are saying and doing. So, in this respect, "I Spit On Your Corpse" is a worthy enough movie to fill this niche. But for crying out loud - don't buy the DVD! Just ... rent it as you will not be wanting to watch it twice.

It's hard to believe that a movie like "I Spit On Your Corpse" is coming to the general public in digital format, while most normal people would love to see real films like "Star Wars", "Indiana Jones" and heck, even "Puff The Magic Dragon" show up on DVD. But instead we get this? The only reason I even know this movie exists is because my brother and I were bored one night and decided to grab pizza, beer and the worst-looking movie we could find at the video store. This one won, of course. In fact, until this very moment I was convinced that we were the only two people on earth that had ever even heard of this movie. It's about half-naked women that escape from prison (I think) and get involved in shady mob work, chasing one of their former members after she witnessed a murder, got scared, and ran off. So the rest of the film is a chase scene pretty much. It's soft-core porn at its most uninteresting, I'm guessing (not too familiar with the genre). The parts that are supposed to be funny (both of them) aren't and the rest of it is. As far as acting, plot and other more esoteric film elements go, I have seen worse. But most of the time I've sure seen a lot better. Unless you were personally in this movie and would like to have a copy for archival purposes, I wouldn't suggest buying it. In fact, if you have even seen this movie once in your life, I'd highly recommend hypnotherapy to get rid of the memories. However, if you literally have every other movie in existence, and you have plenty of money to blow on nothing better, I suppose I can't stop you from getting this one as well.

But I wish people would leave Al Adamson alone. As Sam Sherman states in the dvd's honest and illuminating commentary, this is nothing more than a drive-in movie, aimed at a drive-in audience. Its value lies in the sociological import such films (inadvertently) carry, capturing an era that has since completely vanished, and, as such, it's pretty entertaining. The only differance between films like this one and the latest STAR WARS film (as but one example) is about 100 million dollars, and I'd argue the performances, energy, and inventiveness of the worst of Adamson outshine the best of the equally exploitative Lucas.

I purchased this movie for a measly sum of money, and since I'm a fan of bad movies, I wasn't really disappointed. Made in 1967, this film offers nothing new or interesting to the idea of time travel or science fiction.
The plot? "I just inherited all this money from my daddy, and I want to know what you deranged scientists are doing with it." and they respond thusly; "We're travelling through time with it, here we'll show you right after we bore you with Einstein quotes. Whoops!" etc.
Disappointingly long and oft-times mistaken dialogue, this movie joureys to an extremely boring future that does include, as a highlight, an attractive alien spacecraft and its attractive female leader. This is subsequently destroyed by the low-brow humans of the future. The crew then attempts to go home, but overshoots into the far past with dinasaurs. The film-makers should have taken the cue from 'Journey To The Center Of The Earth' with Pat Boone, and not used a pet lizard to play a dinosaur. It always looks ludicrous, and it is no exception in this film. I won't give anymore spoilers, just don't pay good money to purchase it with out prior knowledge.

To say this was low budget would be too kind. The stereotype acting is not stereotype enough. The stereotype actors are not stereotype enough. Let's face it; this whole stereotype project is not stereotype enough. If the budget was just a tad lower maybe this would never have been made.

Basic premise is an attempt to look into the future and into the past actually forces the lab to go into the future into the past. The lab is stuffed with good guy, bad guy, and screaming girl. The good guy does good things. The bad guy does bad things. The girl screams a lot. While back at the ranch, they talk of a lot about how they've lost the lab.

This DVD is perfect for testing the fast forward option.

The energetic Hector Echavarria stars in this low-budget martial arts actioner which surprisingly has a lot going for it. He stars as Marcos De Santos, a Robin Hood style thief who wants to escape his life of crime and spend the rest of his days with his girlfriend. Problems arise when his partners talk him into doing one last job - to steal a priceless Mongolian artifact. Now, anyone with less than a minutes attention span will already guess that this a big con, and our hero De Santos is presumably left for dead. Quickly rescued by the owners of the stolen artifact and nursed back to good health, he is sent to get it back. Buddy-style antics are the order of the day as De Santos is partnered by a Mongolian bodyguard, and between the two of them they kick, punch and fight their way through 90 minutes of redneck beating, coconut crushing and major kickboxery mayhem!

The cast are uniformally good, which is quite a shock for a film of this kind. Echavarria is one to watch, and one wonders what he could do with a bigger budget. Youssef Qissi (who portrays the main villain, and De Santos' nemesis) is great - an evil look and an equally good screen fighter to match. Playboy model Nikki Lemke turns up as the manipulative partner of De Santos, and she too is really good in her role (check out the camera, as it seems to be mesmerised by her never-ending legs!). Director and co-star Michel Qissi (Yeah, bad-movies fans rejoice! It's Tong-Po from the KICKBOXER movies) is great as the Mongolian bodyguard. He deadpans his way through all of his lines - and to his credit, he handles this movie very well behind the camera as well. The action scenes are well choreographed and the film has a sharp professional look that elevates it above many of its direct-to-video peers.

Released in the UK (with an awful cover) under the shabby title EXTREME DRAGON (this review actually refers to that Third Millennium release), the movie bears no widescreen option or any extras to speak of. This is a shame as a short 'making-of' would have helped the package further. Not even a trailer? C'mon, this is DVD isn't it? Not VHS. I cannot speak for this US release, whether it will have any extras or anything to speak of, but for the movie alone - it is worth a looksee. If you are a fan of those old Kickboxer-type movies of the late 80s/early 90s or like your action with a little direct-to-video edge to it, then this could very well be for you.

To phrase this as kindly as possible ... the folks at Fox Home Entertainment are dumber than dirt, especially when it comes to their library of classic movies. They've pulled off some spectacular marketing fiascos over the years ... such as releasing the 1939 box-office smash "Jesse James" on laserdisc in a faded, washed-out print back in the early 1990's; and more recently, pushing their (badly) colorized versions of several Shirley Temple classics into the marketplace on DVD instead of the glorious black and white originals.

But the DVD edition of "To the Shores of Tripoli" represents a new low for the company. This movie received an Oscar nomination for Edward Cronjager's and William Skall's gorgeous candybox TECHNICOLOR cinematography. The title frame of the film itself says: "'To the Shores of Tripoli' in TECHNICOLOR." The DVD box itself says, "1942, COLOR, 86 minutes" under the advertising blurb; and then proclaims "Photographed in TECHNICOLOR" in the credits area. But guess what?!!? The DVD was mastered from a BLACK & WHITE re-release print, and not the original Technicolor negative! Hello, 11th-Century Fox! That churning sound you hear is former studio head Darryl F. Zanuck spinning 'round and 'round in his grave. Unfortunately, this movie is just not worth watching unless you get to marvel at Maureen O'Hara's beautiful tresses in all their flame-colored glory!

But that's not the only blunder on this disc or its packaging. In the box describing the DVD's features, the aspect ratio is correctly noted as 1.33:1, Full Frame Format. However, the last line on the bottom of the box's back panel notes: "WIDESCREEN VERSION: Presented in a letterbox format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition." Huh! Who proofreads this stuff? And while I'm on a rant ... the actress featured on the front of the DVD looking soulfully at John Payne - and who is also featured in a scene still on the back of the box - is none other than fourth-billed Nancy ("The Bad Seed") Kelly, who played the distaff second lead in the film. NOT that you would know from reading the DVD box, since Fox didn't bother to give the future Oscar-nominee even a small feature credit.

Fox Home Entertainment, get it together! At this point, you're the laughingstock of the industry, despite having some of the best classic films ever made in your library ("The Grapes of Wrath", "The Ox-Bow Incident", "Laura", "Leave Her to Heaven", "Pinky", "A Letter to Three Wives", etc., etc.). We're waiting patiently for these goodies ... and praying you won't screw them up too badly when you finally get around to releasing them.

I bought a copy of the DVD version of this movie which I had seen in the theatres many years ago. When I started the movie I noticed it was in black and white, not in color as the movie was photographed in and what the DVD jacket said it was in. Thinking the DVD was defective, I returned it. I then went to another place and bought another copy. It too was in black and white. I sent e-mails to Fox asking what was wrong and never received an answer. I strongly recommend that you do not buy the DVD version. Too bad, the movie actually is very good.

This Technicolor film received an Academy Award nomination for best color cinematography. So what did Fox Home Video do? They put out the film on DVD in a BLACK & WHITE PRINT!!!!!!