Written by: Michael Den Boer on August 21st, 2009
Theatrical Release Dates: Various
Directors: Various
Writers: Various
Cast: Various
DVD released: October 27th, 2009
Approximate running time: 99 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Synapse Films
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $19.95
42nd Street Forever 5: Alamo Drafthouse Edition is the sixth installment in Synapse Films 42nd Street Forever series. The Previous editions being 42nd Street Forever Volume 1, 42nd Street Forever Volume 2: The Deuce, 42nd Street Forever: Exploitation Explosion, 42nd Street Forever: Cooled By Refrigeration and 42nd Street Forever – XXX-treme Special.
The list of trailers included for this collection are, a Life of Ninja, Sting of the Dragon Masters (When Taekwondo Strikes), The Bodyguard, Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Wonder Women, Lucky Seven, The Shark Hunter, Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Let’s Do It!, Chatterbox, Danish Love Acts, Group Marriage, Violated, Caged Virgins (Requiem for a Vampire), Message From Space, The Terrornauts, Mind Warp (Galaxy of Terror), Megaforce, Zebra Force, Blazing Battle, James Tont: Operation One, International Secret Police (Yakuza Deka: No Epitaphs for Us), Machine Gun McCain, Stacey, Lightning Bolt, 3 Supermen In The West, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Putney Swope, Norman, Is That You?, Redneck County (Poor Pretty Eddie), Moonrunners, The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, Magic Christmas Tree, Pinnochio’s Birthday Party, The Magic Kite, The Secret of Magic Island, The Norseman, Sorceress, Terror in the Wax Museum, The Manson Massacre, The Devil Within Her and Slaughterhouse Rock.
Once again this release like its predecessor’s has a nice cross section of genres that are represented. The only genre / trailers that I found lacking are the G rated trailers for children films. Some of the more wild trailers in this release include a martial arts film with kids in the lead roles titled Lucky Seven and The Secret of Magic Island, a film in which all the acting is performed by animals. Some of the standout trailers include a Life of Ninja, Chatterbox, Stacey, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Redneck County and Moonrunners (the film that inspired the T.V. series “The Dukes of Hazard”). Also just like previous 42nd Street Forever entries this release has many films under titles that they are not most known by like Requiem for a Vampire under the title Caged Virgins. Another plus of this edition of 42nd Street Forever is the inclusion of three Sonny Chiba trailers, The Bodyguard, Message from Space and Yakuza Deka: No Epitaphs for us, under the bizarre re-titling of International Secret Police. Besides the trailers there are a few vintage movie theater advertisements and public service announcements. Overall this is another well rounded collection of trailers.
The DVD:
All the trailers / ad adverts are presented in an anamorphic widescreen. This release has been flagged for progressive playback. The bulk of the content is in very good shape with most print damage kept to a minimum.
This release comes with one audio option a Dolby Digital mono mix in English. Outside of some mild background noise all of the audio is more than serviceable.
Extras for this release include an exceptional documentary about Alamo Drafthouse that gives a thorough overview about the history of the theatre. The main extra included with this release is an audio commentary with Tim League (the owner of the Alamo Drafthouse) and Lars Nilsen and Zack Carlson (programmers at the Alamo Drafthouse). All three of participant’s enthusiasm for the trailers at hand is infectious. Overall this is another solid DVD release from Synapse Films.