Search - The Toxic Avenger on DVD

Toxie Time

Micheal Hunt | Hellbourne | 06/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"

PLOT:
In a town called Tromaville there is a gym where a little dweeb named Melvin works. He's a geek who gets on all the cool kids nerves. They plan a prank on him that ends seeing Melvin fall out of a window and land in a barrel of Toxic waste on the back of a truck parked outside. But instead of killing Melvin, it turns him into a hideously deformed creature of super human size and strength that develops Troma-zones that make Melvin fight crime when needed. Melvin helps the people of Tromaville and cleans up the town of its crime, while also getting revenge on the kids who caused him to become what he is.

Review
TA is a dark comedy full of action, horror and comedy that will not be accepted by people who take things too seriously. It is an over the top, cult style film. It's a breath of fresh air to have a movie with actors who aren't trying to steal the spotlight, or use the film as a stepping-stone to further there acting credibility for future reference. This movie would never win any academy award. But that's what we love about because we hate the academy awards anyway. Toxie is just a great movie of the little guy that was always pushed around finds himself in a situation that leads to him finishing on top...and also some wacky, gross, disgusting, silly, over drawn, ridicules things along the way. It's a fun movie but not something to sit down with grandma to watch.

DVD
Finally I was able to sit down, kick back and relax and watch the Toxic Avenger clearly and as a bonus, uncut. I've had the first 3 Toxies on VHS for years, but the videos where bad quality, warn out and the image was always rolling and fading, the sound was dropping in and out... so even tho I've been a fan of Toxie for years, I felt like I was watching it for the first time.

The quality isn't super great, there is still speckles here and there, but it's clear enough not to worry about it, they polished it up as best they could and you'll only see the dust speckles if your purposely looking for them.

The sound wasn't surround sound, but it didn't matter, least it was clear and loud enough to understand what was being said.

Bonus Features
Like many of the Troma DVD's, TA is packed with great bonus features. There are 2 discs in this edition, but I think if they had have tried, it would all fit onto 1 disc.
- Interviews - There is heaps of interviews with Lloyd Kaufman (Producer/President of Troma) & Mitch Cohen (Toxic Avenger) plus many more of the actors and directors.
- Commentary - Interesting
- Intro to the movie by Lloyd
- The intro and outro used on the laser-disc version
- Fan films - Short films sent to Troma from fans inspired by Toxie, they're actually so bad there entertaining!
- Deleted scenes - Why did they cut these? Some of them and hilarious!
- Plus a heap of stuff you find on every Troma DVD like the tour of Troma, and how to make a movie things etc.


Cons:
- A lot of the bonus features look like where recorded off a VHS, but who cares, there only bonus features, the movie is fine.
- No subtitles -
- no out-takes, gag-reel, bloopers.

As you can see, the positive weighs down the negatives enough to show that Troma has once again presented a great movie with a great DVD package."

Head crushing fun!

viewmaster | STEWARTSTOWN, PA USA | 09/20/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"With the Toxic Avenger, like most Troma films, it's hard to wrap your mind around what you've just watched. Not there is any deep emotional insight and political commentary here. It's just that there is a difficulty in figuring out just what this film is. Not to mention whether or not it's actually any good.
Toxic Avenger is undeniably low grade. Production quality, writing, and cinematic technique take a back seat to the quest for the lowest common denominator. It's undoubtedly an exploitation film and no target is unworthy. From fat people to muscle headed jocks, blind people to little old ladies, Toxic takes every cheap shot it can think of. And it makes sure to lay them on with a very broad stroke. No subtlety here folks. That also goes for there obvious delight in soft core hijinks and gore that borders on the ludicrous. There is nothing like seeing a man getting pounded over the head with his own arm. And yet I still enjoyed it.
There is no doubt that Toxic Avenger is the very definition of B-movie. One might go as far as to call it a C-movie. But this is nothing that fans of Troma's particular brand of crap don't already know. Because there lies the charm. I personally admit to laughing heartily throughout. Probably more due to the fact that I sat there mouth agape, amazed at what I was watching. Everything about this movie is excessive. Most notably for me was the psycho jock foursome who emotionally torture janitor Melvin, (the future Toxie). They don't just chew the scenery, they gnaw and tear at it like it's a big, juicy turkey leg. Keep an eye out for the top jock, who's head always seems about ready to explode, and his main squeeze, who's giant, gnashing, pearly whites are quite blinding, (and not just a little frightening). Everyone else envolved manages to overact to, although to somewhat lesser degrees, and there is obvious enjoyment had by all envolved. Then there is Toxie himself, a likable hero even when he's walking around grunting and disemboweling people. Surprisingly he is one of the few characters who doesn't seem loopy, although he makes up for it in the carnage he leaves behind.
This is, of course, a comedy. And on that level it is a success. But it is still a bad movie even in light of that. Toxic Avenger never claimed it wasn't bad, which is an obviously redeeming quality. Still, though the humor is low brow, some of it falls flat and misses out on intentional laughs in exchange for simply humorously bad ones. Having a police chief who acts like some kind of odd Dr.Strangelove, Colonel Klink combination just doesn't make sense. There are some small jokes that are so broad and juvenile that they are almost pointless. And some major plot shifts make the film lose track of it's overall destination.
But this is great fun, though mainly for those who already enjoy this sort of thing. If your not the sort of person who can get a laugh out of watching some kid get his head pulped by the back tire of a car, then I'd look elsewhere for enjoyment.
As for this dvd, the film quality is decent and it's probably better than any previous version, but the fact that it is low budget is obvious. The same goes for the audio. The Toxic Avenger is crammed full of special material. There are deleted scenes, some quite funny. A number of trailers for some of their more well known films, like "Surf Nazis Must Die", are also here, as is Toxic Avenger. An interesting Toxic memorabilia section with many little tidbits relating to Toxie, notably the opening scene from the short lived Toxic Avenger cartoon from the early nineties, (I had forgotten about it until I saw this),add to the fun. You'll also find a trivia game. Answering questions results in short video clips from and assortment of Troma's films. Right and wrong answers each result in different clips so you'll probably have to go through it several times. Finally, there is a twisted tour of Troma's New York office. Much of this is led by Lloyd Kaufman himself, the madman behind much of Troma's labors, including Toxic Avenger. It's an enjoyable collection enfussed with the same demented sense of humor that makes Toxic so bizarre. If you like Troma, this is their crown jewel. If you like your movies sans that very special Toxie brand of humor, well...I just pity you.;)"

THE KING OF B-MOVIES!

MoonGerms | New Jersey USA | 04/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I rented the toxic avenger when it came out in the mid 80s, i was about 9 or 10 years old, i was sitting on the couch watching it and when the part when the car hit the kid on the bike i laughed so hard, my mom came in and seen what i was watching and made me turn it off and return the tape back to the video store, the next day i went back and rented it again!
This movie made me realize what kind of humor i have, and now im 31 yrs old and have a ton of b-movies in my collection...and it was all from this lloyd kaufman masterpiece. If your looking for cheap B-movies..... THIS IS THE MOVIE!"

Definately worth your time.

Luke | Delta, CO | 11/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing for so many years about The Toxic Avenger, I made it my mission in life to hunt this movie down. I spent a lot of time at the local Hastings looking for it, but it seems big companies have a thing against Troma films. Hm, I wonder why.
This search continued for many years, and finally when I was about to give up, the Heaven's blessed me. Kind of. I was looking around in the store and decided to look up TTA in their computer system. To my luck, it said the store had one copy of the 21st Anniversary Edition in stock. So, naturally, I went looking for it, and, of course, couldn't find it on the shelves. Now, when I say local Hastings, I really mean Hastings-that-I-have-to-drive-thirty-miles-to-get-to. The lady said that it was probably still in the back and I asked her to go look, and of course she feeds me some line of crap saying that it's probably still boxed or whatever and she doesn't have time to look for it, try back next week. So I did. And I found it.
So I pop it in my DVD player and start watching it. At first, I was kind of thinking, 'Oh man, what did I just do?' because the acting in the beginning was atrocious. But then I realized it was part of the film's charm. And from there, the film just impressed me, especially with the few-but-gory death scenes. It was controversial, and I finally understood why Wal Mart hates Troma.
If you're looking for something with a budget, good acting, and some sort of class, this is not the place to look. Only special people can appreciate a Troma film, and I am proud to say that I am one of these special people. If you appreciate low budget film making with little to no candor, you just can't go wrong with a Troma film. Especially this one."