 Anchor Bay Entertainment // Buy from Amazon.comFor five strangers from the city, it was supposed to be the ultimate wilderness challenge: Four weeks at the North Rockies Survival Quest School led by a tough-as-nails instructor (Lance Henriksen). When the group crosses paths with a sadistic paramilitary squad, a shocking accident transforms their nature trek into a desperate life-and-death struggle. Armed only with the survival skills they have just learned, they must make their way through the wilderness, surviving the brutal elements while keeping one step ahead of their vicious pursuers! Don Coscarelli has proven himself to be a very talented, and one of my personal favorite, directors - from the bizarre romp that is "Phantasm" to the unbelievable hoot that is "Bubba Ho-Tep," this man has a very (very) unique vision and ensures that it remains uncorrupted when released on the big screen. Because of that, I'm very confused as to where "Survival Quest" fits into that. A weak, cheesy, cliched romp in the woods, the only saving grace this film has is Lance Henriksen, who has made a career out of taking lemons and making sweet tasting lemonade with most of the work that's been sent his way. All I can figure is that Coscarelli was a bit downtrodden after the less-than-stellar box office receipts for the early "Phantasm" movies and perhaps decided to try something a little more digestable to the mainstream. That, or maybe someone danged a big fat stack o' cash in front of him - hey, everyone has to eat! As such, this movie is far from good, but does provide some decent entertainment. Of note is that it's making it's DVD debut with this release (coinciding with Anchor Bay's new super-duper releases of "Phantasm" and "Phantasm III"), but whether you actually feel the need to own this movie is a very personal decision... Video The film is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen transfer and the TLC Anchor Bay is known for employing with each of their releases is very evident here, as this is a very nice looking movie. Audio Nice, strong Dolby 5.1 surround mix - bueno. Extras Closing Thoughts Midling "deadliest game" outdoors action flick + minimal extras = of interest only to Don Coscarelli completists Labels: review |
