1983's Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone is one of those rare films that defies an explanation for why all of its fans love it without question. It was conceived and released largely during Hollywood's second (or was that third?) flirtation with 3-D in theatres, but having seen it in its said 3-D state I can assure you I didn't find many of its effects all that interesting. But Peter Strauss admirably pulls off the lovable 'Han Solo'-like clone to perfection; Molly Ringwald plays a scrappy little nobody to delight; and the venerable Michael Ironside chews scenery as 'Overdog' the way a B-Movie villain should from start to finish.
Owners of the 2001 DVD release have probably enjoyed its sugary goodness the way audiences were always intended, and they're even garnered a solid return on investment: a pristine copy sells for nearly $50 on Amazon, and as the feature has never experienced another domestic release copies are hard to come by.
Mill Creek Entertainment recently announced over at Blu-Ray.com (link) that the ol' space rogue would be receiving a new release via their imprint this May 2nd, and I suspect fans will clamor to pick up a new version. The press release doesn't mention any restoration or clean-up, and -- for what my humble opinion is worth -- Mill Creek is atrocious especially in the sound department: I've found several of their discs to be downright unintelligible at times, and I've also had to crank up the volume to hear what was being said over the orchestral accompaniment. Also, this Blu-ray update appears to completely ignore the 3-D aspect of the flick, so I'm guessing that's gone by the wayside unless some other distributor wishes to give it a go.
It isn't listed up on Amazon.com as of yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it: when it does, I'll try to update this post for interested readers.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
Owners of the 2001 DVD release have probably enjoyed its sugary goodness the way audiences were always intended, and they're even garnered a solid return on investment: a pristine copy sells for nearly $50 on Amazon, and as the feature has never experienced another domestic release copies are hard to come by.
Mill Creek Entertainment recently announced over at Blu-Ray.com (link) that the ol' space rogue would be receiving a new release via their imprint this May 2nd, and I suspect fans will clamor to pick up a new version. The press release doesn't mention any restoration or clean-up, and -- for what my humble opinion is worth -- Mill Creek is atrocious especially in the sound department: I've found several of their discs to be downright unintelligible at times, and I've also had to crank up the volume to hear what was being said over the orchestral accompaniment. Also, this Blu-ray update appears to completely ignore the 3-D aspect of the flick, so I'm guessing that's gone by the wayside unless some other distributor wishes to give it a go.
It isn't listed up on Amazon.com as of yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it: when it does, I'll try to update this post for interested readers.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
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