Starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorcese, James Cameron
Written By: George Armitage, Jack Nicholson, Charles B. Griffith, R. Wright Campbell
Directed By: Roger Corman
Studio: MGM
Buy on Amazon.com link

Roger Corman has put out over 300 movies in his filmmaking career and has launched the careers of superstar actors such as Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Robert DeNiro and Peter Fonda. Corman’s movies range from car chase movies like “Eat My Dust” and “Death Race 2000” to horror movies like “A Bucket of Blood” and “X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes” to the downright zany and satirical comedy of “Gas-s-s-s!”. He’s done sci-fi, romance, action movies, biker movies…hell, I don’t think that there is anything that he hasn’t done. While this collection may not include his best movies, it sure gives you a taste of the wide variety of movies that Roger Corman had made earlier in his career.

The newest movie in this set is “Bloody Mama” which stars Shelley Winters and Robert DeNiro while the oldest flick is the 1959 horror comedy titled “A Bucket of Blood”. In between, you’re served a biker movie starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra (The Wild Angels), which could be considered a film documentary of a sect of the notorious Hell’s Angels biker gang, one long ass LSD trip with “The Trip” which was written by none other than Jack “The Joker” Nicholson and four more Corman specialties to whet your appetite.

Notoriously famous for his frugal filmmaking, it is apparent that with most of his older movies, Roger Corman had the budget of a homeless alcoholic in a liquor store. Some movies turn out to seem more realistic like “The Wild Angels” where the story focused around a gang of bikers and actually had real Hell’s Angels appear in the film, while other films like “Gas-s-s-s!” were so cheaply made that it was hard to watch all the way through.

When watching a Roger Corman film, you have to know what to expect. You’re not going to get state-of-the-art special effects, you’re not going to get an epic Star Wars storyline and sometimes you’re not even going to get a plot. But you have to realize that you are going to be entertained and you have to realize that during his career, Roger Corman was always pushing the boundaries, was always innovative, knew how to pick actors well before the big-name directors did and his movies would always provide you with an emotional experience…whether you’re blown away by the surprise ending or whether you come away from a movies so pissed off that you just wasted an hour and a half on such a terrible pile of spew…Corman films always invoke something from the viewer. “The Roger Corman Collection” provides you, the viewer with the full spectrum of that which is Roger Corman. May he direct 300 more films before it’s all said and done.

Individual Movie Ratings:

Gas-s-s-s! (Rated R; 78 Minutes) One and a half Stars
The Trip (Not Rated; 79 Minutes) Three Stars
The Young Racers (Not Rated; 81 Minutes) Three and a half Stars
The Wild Angels (Rated R; 86 Minutes) Three Stars
Bloody Mama (Rated R; 91 Minutes) Three Stars
A Bucket of Blood (Not Rated; 66 Minutes) Two Stars
The Premature Burial (Not Rated; 81 Minutes) Two and a half Stars
X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes (Not Rated; 79 Minutes) Three and a half Stars

Features:
Original Theatrical Trailers
Roger Corman Interview
On “The Trip”: Audio Commentary, Tune In Trip Out featurette, Love and Haight featurette, Psychedelic Film Effects

Audio:
Dolby Digital Audio, Close Captioned

Video:
Widescreen (Varies by movie)

Subtitles:
English, French or Spanish (Varies by movie)

Favorite Scenes: The Wild Angels, Bloody Mama, Young Racers, X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes
Rating: NR
Running Time: 641 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: