Whacky Racers!

I'd've spelled it Wacky, but it wasn't my decision. ;)

These Havoc-like tapes are often hit-and-miss, or just contain stuff I don't want to see (deadly collisions and such), but this one is actually pretty good! Certainly worth the 25 cents I paid for it.

My favorite segment on it, besides any of the rally-type stuff, is a competition held on a beach (Brighton, England, maybe? Can't remember...) where hundreds of motorcyclists race. They all seem to start out fairly well, but then when they hit the first hill, the field is pretty much cut by 2/3. Some try and try and try to get over, but it just doesn't happen for many of them. Must be incredibly frustrating...but it's fun to watch.

Animal Farm[s]

I have two different copies of the 1954 cartoon adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. I'll display them in the order I got them, starting with this more artsy one...

I quite like this one! Simple and very effective. :) A more adult presentation, if you will.

The more novel-like approach continues on the back. Very classy.

Now let's take a look at the much more kid-friendly version...

Simple watercolor painting for this one. I don't know why they have the American flag there instead of a Union Jack, since Manor Farm is in England. Marketing, I guess. :p

Somewhat non-descript back cover with somewhat hard to read text. (but not too bad)

As is the case with many old films, it's YouTube time! I definitely recommend it! :D

Enjoy!

The Jet Benny Show

*sigh* It's The Jet Benny Show...

Prepare yourself indeed! But how?! This painting reminds me of something... No, don't tell me! :p

The packaging is nice, as is the logo. (which also reminds me of something...) Anyway, the premise is interesting, but overall, ugh. It drags on and on and on and on and on... I picked it up at a video store that was closing and I believe it had been rented twice in the past 25 years. :p

This is the only clip I could find of it at YouTube:

So there you go. Here are a couple of other Bennys...

Benny "The Jet" Urquidez versus Jackie Chan...

and Benny (on the right), one of the cats that lives outside...

UPDATE Mar. 16, 2020: I don't know what happened to Benny, but her brother Handsome on the left is still around. Saw him yesterday. He'll be 8 in a couple of months!

Psycho Skate

I love old school skateboarding videos and still buy VHS copies when I find them. The older and more obscure the better. :) I was so happy to find this legendary (and controversial, as explained below) video!

 

 Typical busy, though not terribly interesting, cover. The huge bright lettering certainly draws your attention, though.

Same busy look on the back. (obviously)

 

This tape featured a LOT of the big names at the time, including Vision posterboy Mark "Gator" Rogowski. A lot of people hated his parts in this at the time (some goofiness, some arrogance), viewing him as a bit of a corporate sell-out. He had the look and they took advantage of it. (this even led to the rise of smaller companies like Blind, who tried to be the opposite of the corporate machine called Vision) Sadly, he later became a rapist and murderer, so some people also hate this video in hindsight. (similar to how people say that WWE is now supposedly erasing Chris Benoit from history) I take it for what it is: a fascinating snapshot of a great era of skating. It really has everything.

Happily, the entire video is available for your viewing pleasure! :)

2020 Texas Gladiators

Ah, the masterpiece* known as 2020 Texas Gladiators (a.k.a. 'Anno 2020 - I gladiatori del futuro' in the original Italian)...

Neither of those guys, nor that cool cannon/blunderbuss gun thingy appear in the film, not surprisingly. This is just another example of cool, yet misleading, poster art of the time. :) There is actually nothing in the movie to make you think this was in the future. It looked pretty much like a messed up 1984.

The description is fairly accurate, but the story is so bogged down with "meh" that it's not too clear. *shrug* This is also typical of B-movies, of course. Actually, B is pretty generous. (think C or Z)

They spelled explosive as exsplosive throughtout the fuel refinery scenes. Those pics will show up in my dumberer blog eventually. ;)

As is the case with a lot of old OOP movies, you can see the whole thing at YouTube! (can, but don't have to, of course...)

*No.

Not Quite Human

The Not Quite Human trilogy was a HUGE favorite of mine—and my brother's—growing up, but especially the first one from 1987:

Great cast! Jay Underwood was very likeable and played the part so well. Alan Thicke was allowed to play his role as father with a certain levelheadedness, rather than the 'idiot' father of so many movies, so that was nice. And speaking of nice, Robyn Lively...wow! Definitely had a big crush on her! Hesseman and Balogna were a fun duo you had no problem seeing beaten. (business-wise, I mean)

Not sure when this tape was released (I'm guessing early to mid 90s), as they never put any dates anywhere. :p I have a bunch of undated Disney tapes. Why would they do that?

The whole movie is on YouTube! :) Here's the first part:

Z.P.G.

Ah yes, Z.P.G. I picked it up on a whim at a video store liquidation. I'm glad I did. It's a little lot slow at times, but pretty interesting overall. And this is a case where the low quality of the print seems to help it be more mysterious. 

Love them 'tells you nothing' covers! ;) 

Decent dystopian story, typical of the 70s. 

Here's the trailer:

 Makes me want to watch it again!