DVD Reviews: The RiffTrax Collection from Legend Films - Page 10

The laughs continue with "Act Your Age (Emotional Maturity)" (1949), a film about teaching high schoolers to grow up (50 years on and they’re still not doing it, fellas); and "Safety: Harm Hides At Home" (1978), starring an even-more-embarrassed-than-usual Filipino film regular Susan Valdez, is a prime example of why you should never take a current science fiction movie trend and incorporate it into your educational short. The last three shorts here include "Coffee House Rendezvous" (c1969), a look into a caffeine-fueled folksong hell of Vietnam-era; "Are You Popular?" (1947), reminder of just how painful school was for me; and "Good Health Practice, Part I: Eating, Cleanliness, Toilet, Rest & Sleep" (1953), a short that takes us into the eating and bathroom habits of two really close siblings, Jim and Judy. Unforgettable. Rating: A-

Many of these titles were released before by Legend Films (with colorized versions also included) and had Mike Nelson providing a solo commentary (Missile To The Moon was also available through the RiffTrax website with guest riffer Fred Willard, who needs more work, people). While a few of the “older” jokes remain in these newer commentaries, it should be noted that a majority of the gags are brand new. For those of you who appreciate the original un-riffed versions of the films, you’ll be happy to know that all of the feature films include the original audio tracks as well (sorry, but you don’t get to see the shorts on their own — so go pick up the Fantomas Educational Archives today).

The audio and video quality varies from one title to another, with most of the offerings looking and sounding just fine. A few titles (three of the Vol. 2 shorts, NotLD) look very choppy and pixelated as if they were taken straight from the Internet, but for the most part, there are no complaints here. All titles are presented in their original 1.33:1 ratio with the exception of Shake Hands With Danger, which is presented in anamorphic widescreen (the short is displayed in the center of the screen while the animated characters look at it from the side and bottom).

Although there are no special features on these discs per se (one might argue that the original versions of the films, as well as the unreleased Shake Hands With Danger are bonus materials in themselves) we are treated to original comical songs from the RiffTones (Mike, Kevin, and Bill again) on the DVD menus. Songs for the feature films are somewhat specific to the title and make fun of several other popular songs (the menu theme for The Little Shop Of Horrors sounds like a cross between David Bowie and a Queensryche rock ballad). Out of all of them, I would rate the House On Haunted Hill song and the tribute to Larry Fine, “I Think Larry Is Fine,” on Swing Parade as the best of the bunch. There are three songs on the Shorts, Vol. 1 menus, whereas the menus for Shorts, Vol. 2 just feature stock music.

Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

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