Out on Blu-ray and 4K UHD July 30, 2024
Director Nico Mastorakis sits firmly in the B-movie realm, providing his fans and unsuspecting viewers with films that are all a bit off kilter and a whole lot of fun. This new set here includes 6 of his movies: The Time Traveller, Sky High, Terminal Exposure, Glitch!, Ninja Academy, and The Naked Truth. The last 5 listed here are definitely on the B-movie range and the first is a much better film.
In terms of the better film of the bunch, The Time Traveller is head and shoulders above the other 5 films. The Time Traveller is about a widow and her son who are in Greece while mourning where they meet a mysterious stranger on the beach. From there, the film mixes science fiction and romance, giving us an odd mix of both and a decently entertaining film that is quite date, but being that it is 40 years old, that’s not entirely surprising. Boasting probably the best/better-known cast of this set, this film stars Keir Dullea as the titular character and Adrienne Barbeau as the widow. Both are fantastic to watch, the locations are lovely, and the cinematography is very pretty. The film may feel a bit long by modern standards, but it’s most definitely worth checking out.
Then come the 5 stooges of action comedy. These films all have different themes and casts, but all feel somewhat the same. The humor is dated (as best, with some offensive stuff by current standards peppered throughout), the action is fun most of the time, and the cast for each film does what they can. Ninja Academy is the highlight if these, showcases Gerald Okamura, a legend in the martial arts world and as a henchman specialist, as well as Art Camacho who is now better known for his fight choreography and film directing, but his martial skills should not be overlooked, he is known as the Latin Dragon after all. The film that gathers those here does not give either of them enough screen time, but what they get, they make the most of.
The other 4 films are entertaining enough, but their quality is a bit lower, making films like Laser Mission look like masterpieces. These aren’t bad and are interesting enough to be included here justifiably, but they are not films most people will go look for as separate items. The acting, writing, and editing in most of the films here is pretty even from one to the other, meaning on the b-movie range, with a few good spots here and there. The fun of these movies is how silly they can get, the kinds of stunts they bring, and how insane their endings can get. These films are not known for their logic or high quality, but they are fun and sometimes, fun is all you need.
When it comes to this release, the quality of the transfers is good, solid even, some of them looking a bit more aged than the others, but still. The sound quality was just as good. The extras on this set are, umm, questionable…? I mean, they aren’t bad, but the idea of self-interviews feels very self-serving and self-aggrandizing, something that will turn many folks off of them. They aren’t bad, but these interviews are for ultra fans of Nico Mastorakis mostly. The best special feature here is the one that will appeal to martial arts fans, an interview with Geral Okamura that looks back at his career and his role in Ninja Academy. This set is very much meant for the B-movie fans and should be loved by them.