42nd Street Forever [Blu-ray]

A brief digression: is Synapse going under? None of the titles announced for 2019 have been released --Glickenhaus' McBain and Massacre at Central High, etc. - or is Synapse solely in the Japanese smut biz?Anyway...Divided (more of less) by genre (and sub genre): kung-fu, U.S. horror, International horror, exploitation, "artsploitation," Mondo, 007 ripoffs, "X," and more - many, many unclassifiable oddities.My only complaint: roughly one-third of the trailers (of the films featured) are not on DVD or bluray as of 2019. (Which is kinda cool, I guess - deferred gratification and all that...)The easy to use menu allows you to watch a specific trailer if you choose - though you'll probably watch the entire disc. (And again with the commentary.)Great compilation. This, unlike other trailer collections, gives a sneak peek at films that even the most seasoned (or jaded) fan hasn't seen - so have a pen and paper handy. The clips are great quality, which, curiously isn't at odds with the spirit of grindhouse fare - and every grindhouse genre is represented - and then some. Great commentary track (courtesy of AVMANIACS.COM's Edwin Samuelson, FANGORIA Magazine's Michael Gingold and TEMPLE OF SCHLOCK's Chris Poggiali - who manage to rap for almost four hours). Lots of trivia and adroit aesthetic/ critical observations - very conversational too. In other words: not fanboy/nerd babble. These fellas adept at separating the good from the bad (and ugly).Great value as well - so many DVD/bluray trailer comps out there hawking the same old, same old.Would love to see a vol. 2 (bluray) - I've read that many trailers from previous Synapse DVD aren't included. Here's hoping.This, along with Severin's All the Colors of Giallo are amongst the the best of the Trailer Comp genre.

This is a collection of the best of this fine series showcasing the glorious sleaze that was the grindhouse film. It is a collection of trailers showing the best of the most awful of this gutter trash that is just so much fun to watch when you are in the right mood. It covers all the genres: Crappy Slasher, Weird Comedy, Outlaw Biker, Teen Rebel, Blaxploitation, Chop Sockey, even more adult entries. If you want to get a feeling of truly crappy cinema that is absolutely NOT to be missed, the "so bad it's good" stuff, this is a perfect introduction to what you can expect. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino seem determined to bring this small theater sleaze back with Grindhouse, Machete, Hobo With a Shotgun, Hellride, and other fine pieces of cinematic sludge. I am not being ironic or hyperbolic in my comments. I love these movies when I am in a certain mood. Check out this collection, and you'll laugh, gasp and say to yourself disbelievingly, "My God, we were louts back then. I gotta see that!"

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.

This Blu-ray combines most of the first two volumes of '42nd Street Forever', with a few deletions and additions. However, the real selling point, besides the nearly four hour running time, is the audio commentary. While you circle the globe a couple of times with these trailers, three exploitation experts - Edward Samuelson of AV Maniacs, Micheal Gingold of Fangoria magazine, and Temple of Schlock's Chris Poggiali - go through the endurance test of trying to find something to say for 89 mostly crappy movies.They succeed, for the most part, due to their immense knowledge of all things sleazy. Things do flag a bit during the second hour but when the horror section comes up, they rally and sprint to the finish. As for the trailers themselves, they are the cornball exploitation material, full of boobs and blood, violence and politically incorrect commentary that we all love. So the commentary gives the disc a reason for repeated spins, since it acts as a virtual encyclopedia of all things exploitation.

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.