Halloween is officially around the corner once again and with only days to go until the true start to the annual holiday season only days away, MVD Entertainment Group and Troma Entertainment have partnered to give audiences a unique way to celebrate spooky season. The companies are set to release The Toxic Avenger Collection Tuesday on an eight-disc 4K/Blu-ray collection. The set was originally scheduled for release Aug. 29 but no update was given between then and now as to why the release date was pushed back. Either way, the timing of the collection’s release is perfect since audiences can easily argue that The Toxic Avenger is his own unsuspecting Halloween type character. The new box set boasts plenty of positives, beginning with its packaging, which will be discussed shortly. The production of the movies on both platforms adds to the set’s appeal and will be examined a little later. The set’s bonus content rounds out its most important elements and will also be addressed later. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of The Toxic Avenger Collection. All things considered, MVD Entertainment Group and Troma Entertainment’s new Toxic Avenger Collection is a set that audiences will definitely enjoy both on Halloween (and the days leading up to the big night) and any other time of year. It proves ultimately, to be among the best of this year’s new movies and TV box sets for grown-ups.
The Toxic Avenger Collection, the new four-movie collection of Toxic Avenger movies from MVD Entertainment Group and Troma Entertainment, is a must have for the most devoted fans of the franchise. It is great fare both for Halloween and for any time of year for those noted viewers. Its appeal comes in part through its packaging. In regard to the packaging, each of the franchise’s four total movies are housed in their own case inside a larger box. Within each case, the movie is presented separately on 4K and Blu-ray discs, each of which sits on its own spot inside. By placing the discs separate from one another inside the boxes, the discs are completely safe from scratching one another, thus ensuring a long life for each disc. What’s more, that each movie is presented on each platform also ensures a wide range of audiences will get to take in each movie with no one left behind at any point. That is because 4K UHD Blu-ray players can play both 4K and Blu-ray discs while Blu-ray players can play…well…Blu-ray discs. This is an excellent starting point for the collection that is certain to appeal to plenty of audiences.
Staying on the topic of the movies being available on both platforms, viewers with any familiarity of production quality on both platforms understand that most presentations on Blu-ray look and sound nearly as good on Blu-ray as on 4K. This collection is no exception. The grainy nature of the movies is there on both Blu-ray and 4K but it is also clear that painstaking efforts were made to clean up everything as much as possible for both platforms. That includes the sound. The result is a wonderful sense of nostalgia that will fill most audiences if not all because of just how impressive the video and audio is presented in each movie. The companies even openly pointed out in notes on the box for the second Toxic Avenger movie that the best possible negatives for a number of scenes were inserted into the movie while reminding audiences that the best efforts were made to restore them even despite their quality. Those charged with restoring the footage are to be commended for taking that step to even inform viewers about the attempts to fully restore the movie. The quality is a little questionable at the noted points but is still positive enough. To that end, the overall quality of each movie’s footage – both in regard to its video and audio – is appealing in its own right to the overall presentation of The Toxic Avenger Collection.
The overall production values of each of the collection’s movies is just one more of the items that make this collection appealing to its target audiences. The bonus content that accompanies each movie puts the finishing touch to the collection. The bonus content in the first movie’s presentation for instance, makes that clear. In the first movie, audiences get a handful of feature-length audio commentaries from members of the cast and from director Lloyd Kaufman, as well as interviews with cast members, such as Mitch Cohen and Jennifer Baptist. Baptist talks about her role as one of the people who bully Melvin early in the movie and ultimately lead him to become Toxie, as well as her explicit moments early on in the movie. Cohen, who actually played the part of Toxie (Mark Torgl played the part of Melvin before he became Toxie) talks during his interview, about the process of going through makeup and being open to taking on the role of Toxie again in a proper new take of The Toxic Avenger should it ever happen, as well as other topics. That brief discussion on him not reprising his role in the franchise’s second, third and fourth movies is interesting in its own right and is sure to engage audiences.
Kaufman’s feature-length commentary makes for plenty of its own interest, too. Case in point is the revelation during the scene at the taco restaurant. He points out that one of the actors actually quit the movie after being made to point a shotgun at a child for part of the sequence. Kaufman reveals that the actor in question was so unsettled by having to do that without even causing harm to the child, that he could not bring himself to work on the movie anymore. Considering how violent and explicit the movie is overall, that is a very telling statement in itself. At another point, Kaufman also talks about the influence of classic comedy acts, such as The Three Stooges on at least one sequence. That is quite the intriguing comparison, again considering the explicitly graphic nature of the sequence in question verses the far tamer nature of The Three Stooges’ comedy, even being physical comedy, too. He also makes note of the connection between The Toxic Avenger and Marvel comics at yet another point, and even his own connection to none other than the late great Stan Lee. It is an interesting little anecdote that audiences will enjoy hearing.
As if everything pointed out here is not enough, Kaufman also makes a subtle yet important jab at the hypocrisy of Hollywood at the time through his note that this explicit, over the top movie would go on to spawn a kid-friendly (and short-lived) Saturday morning cartoon series. It really is the starting point for a much bigger discussion that needs to be had even today, considering that movies and television series aimed at adult audiences are also being marketed to children through toys of all things. The more things change…..It is one of the key topics that Kaufman raises during his discussion throughout the movie. It is interesting, as a side note, that for all of the bonus content included in each movie’s presentation, there is no inclusion of any episodes of The Toxic Crusaders, the cartoon series that was spawned from this over the top movie franchise. Maybe audiences will get that series one day from Troma Entertainment. One can only hope. Sure, it only ran for 13 episodes but was still a fun little show.
Kaufman and others provide their own insightful commentaries on each of the collection’s other movies, with the majority of the bonus content being presented on the set’s Blu-ray discs. This is especially important to note even more so than the content itself. That the bulk of the bonus content is presented for each movie in its Blu-ray disc shows that all involved at Troma Entertainment and MVD Entertainment Group really took into account how many audiences likely own Blu-ray technology versus 4K UHD technology, considering the still largely cost restrictiveness of 4K UHD technology. All involved wanted as many audiences as possible to be able to enjoy the bonus content that accompanies the movies, so they went with the Blu-ray discs for this aspect. That being the case it certainly increases the odds that audiences’ appreciation for each movie will increase that much more, so kudos are in order for all involved in this case.
Keeping in mind the positive of the collection’s overall bonus content and that clearly everyone at Troma Entertainment and MVD Entertainment Group wanted to ensure the widest range of viewers possible would get to take in that content along with the movies themselves makes for so much reason for applause. The largely positive quality of the footage in regard to its sound and video adds even more to the positive of this collection. All things considered they make The Toxic Avenger Collection a win for audiences and for both companies.
The Toxic Avenger Collection, the new four-movie/eight-disc collection of Toxic Avenger movies from Troma Entertainment and MVD Entertainment Group, is a successful new presentation that is certain to appeal to the franchise’s most devoted audiences. Its success comes in part through its packaging, which places each of the franchise’s movies in its own case on separate Blu-ray and 4K discs. Those discs are placed separate from one another inside those standalone cases. This ensures they will not mar each other and in turn, lengthening their lives. The production quality of the movies’ footage adds to the appeal because the time and effort that went into restoring the footage clearly paid off. The vintage quality of the footage is there but has also been cleaned up just enough to generate plenty of nostalgia among the noted audiences. The bonus content that accompanies each movie adds so much appeal for the noted target audiences, too. That the bulk of that content was placed on the movies’ Blu-ray discs also ensures that the widest possible range of audiences will be able to take in that content, adding for even more appeal in its own right. Each item examined here is important in its own right to the whole of this set. All things considered they make The Toxic Avenger Collection one of the best of this year’s new TV and movie box sets for grown-ups.
The Toxic Avenger Collection is scheduled for release Tuesday. The limited edition 4K/Blu-ray box set will retail for MSRP of $139.95.
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