Bad Taste: Limited Edition (US)

Well here it is, the first feature film from the now known Peter (Lord Of The Rings) Jackson and what a film it is.
This is an incredibly sick film but also a hilarious one, we see our "heroes" take on evil aliens (that have taken human form) that have come to earth to gather samples of human meat to sell in their intergalactic fast-food chain "Crumbs Crunchy Delights".

The whole film is one big joke from the acting to the plot, but it's not meant to be a big budget blockbuster but a cheap-n-nasty chuckle.
I opted to buy the Limited Edition 2-Disk set and was a little disappointed, the first disk contains the film with a VERY crisp and clean THX restored 1:65:1 Anamorphic print, and seeing as the film was very low budget and made in 1985 this is excellent job done by THX.
The Second disk is where it gets desperate, this disk is devoted to a featurette... that's it, not unusual i hear you say from dusk till dawn had a featurette on a separate disk, but this featurette is 25 minutes long and doesn't talk about Bad Taste that much, it has interviews by Peter's mum and dad telling us how he loved to make cheap films on the family 8mm camera.

The sound on the first disk is like the picture quality, totally flawless giving you a DTS ES 6.1 (do i hear Region 2 Evil Dead) and a DD 5.1 EX; obviously I went for the DTS, which sounded excellent and clear.

An excellent film let down by a flawed second disk that could have been used for so much more than a 25min featurette, the limited edition is for hardcore Jackson fans only (that's why i bought that) if your just looking for a laugh i recommend you go for the movie only version it has the DTS + DD tracks also, but be warned there is a version floating around that is a few years old.

This was the first feature film by Peter Jackson who is now directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Aliens have invaded New Zealand and are using the local population for a fast food restaurant: Crumb`s Crunchy Delights. It`s up to a group of 4 men known as The Boys to stop them. Made over four years, Bad Taste shows how you can make a great film on a very low budget. While the plot is a bit silly, there are lots of fun moments throughout the film. Some great one-liners from the cast. There is also quite a lot of gore and unpleasentness but most of it is funny rather then shocking. Still, people with weak stomachs should avoid this. Everyone else should watch this at least once.

Anchor Bay have treated Bad Taste pretty well. The picture and sound have been THX mastered. The picture is anamorphic widescreen and is excellent considering this is a low budget film. There is quite a bit of grain but the rest of the picture looks great. A lot of Bad Taste was filmed outdoors so this isn`t a dark film.

The sound is available in Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS. I chose DTS and it`s easily the best track. The sound is clear and audible and there are some good effects particulary when there is gunfire and explosions. The score comes across well too.

Since this is a Limited Edition version, you would expect there to be lots of extras. Well, you`re wrong. For your money, you get a trailer, a Peter Jackson bio and a documentary: Good Taste Made Bad Taste. The documentary is the best part of the disc. Peter Jackson is reviewed throughout and shows us how he made the film. He built his own camera equipment, made moulds and other props for the film and even tells us that the camera he used only allowed 30 seconds of filming. There are also examples of Peter`s early work too. This is a great documentary and is worth the price of the disc alone.

Another good thing about this release is the packaging. The LE has a holographic image of the alien leader giving to two versions of `the finger`: two fingers or one.

Overall, a excellent film is presented on a very good disc. While there could have been more on this disc, I still think this is worth getting.