Product Details

• Actors: Rick Giovinazzo, Veronica Stork, Mitch Maglio, Asaph Livni, Nick Nasta
• Directors: Buddy Giovinazzo
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Troma
• DVD Release Date: July 28, 2009
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001V732VK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,807 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Combat Shock (Two-Disc Uncut 25th Anniversary Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Review

Uncompromising And Relentless --Dave Kehr, The New York Times

One Of 80s American Independent Cinema's Most Powerful And Uncompromising Triumphs --Film Comment

LIKE A BULLET TO TH HEAD...Giovinazzo's world is horrific and the movie's conclusion will never be forgotten. --Film Journal

Product Description

Nearly 25 years after its original release, Combat Shock returns from the cult underground to reclaim its title as perhaps the most shocking independent film of the '80s. Writer/director/producer Buddy Giovinazzo made his indelible debut with this nihilistic saga of a Vietnam vet's desperate pursuit to save his family from the horrors of poverty and urban squalor. Culminating in one of the most brutal climaxes ever committed to celluloid, this unforgiving masterwork remains as controversial and relevant as it was at the height of Reagan's America. Get ready to be blown away: Combat Shock is back like you've never seen it before.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-American Nightmares (100 mins): The Never-Before-Seen Director s Cut
-Combat Shock (90 mins): The Theatrical Cut
-Audio Commentary with Director Buddy Giovinazzo and Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik)
-Post-Traumatic, An American Nightmare All-new documentary exploring the continued impact and influence of Combat Shock, featuring:
John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), William Lustig (Maniac), Richard Stanley (Hardware, Dust Devil), Jim Van Bebber (Deadbeat at Dawn, The Manson Family), and many more
-The Early Works of Buddy Giovinazzo: 8 Never-before-released short films and music videos
-New interview with Buddy Giovinazzo on Combat Shock
-Unscarred: The first interview with Combat Shock star Rick Giovinazzo
-Buddy interviews Nekromantik Director Jorg Buttgereit at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival
-Der Combat: Buddy Giovinazzo and Lloyd Kaufman (President of Troma Entertainment and the creator of The Toxic Avenger) discuss Combat Shock at the 2006 Trominale in Berlin
-Hellscapes (10 min): A Look at the Locations from Combat Shock as they appear today
-Original Press and Photo Gallery
-Original Theatrical Trailers
-Solider of Misfortune: New Liner Notes by Steve Puchalski (Shock Cinema, Slimetime)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie January 19, 2000

By Marc Black

Format:VHS Tape

Combat Shock is one of those movies you watch not because it's good. but because it is interesting. The story of a man's struggle with life after the Vietnam War, and what he cannot remember about what happened. When he starts remembering it changes his life. In conclusion I would like to say Combat Shock is the best movie I have seen about a man trying to cope with life after a war.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An underrated gem! Inventive no-budget art! December 3, 2001

By Josef K

Format:DVD

"Combat Shock" is one of those rare microbudget films that has a lasting impact on its viewers. Originally titled, "American Nightmares", "Combat Shock" plays like a really grimy, amateurish version of "Eraserhead" with a little bit of "First Blood" and "Taxi Driver" thrown in. The commentary is extremely helpful, and Buddy went on to direct "No Way Home" with Tim Roth. If you're expecting an over-the-top satire Troma style, you're in for a surprise. The last 15 minutes of the movie may very well blow your mind. Also, the plotline predates "Jacob's Ladder", which is an almost exact word-for-word descendant of this sometimes cheesy, but mostly honest film of urban decay and psychopathy in the mind of a Vietnam vet. Lloyd, you sure know how to pick 'em! Buy the dvd and see what I mean. Remember, it is pretty shocking though, with that special graphic violence that will Tromatize you forever!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The heart of darkness July 24, 2000

By linus

Format:DVD

Forget Henry Winkler in HEROES, Jon Voight in COMING HOME, or Stallone in FIRST BLOOD. If any film released by the notorious schlock distributor Troma has a claim to art, this is it. I'm not kidding. This Vietnam-flashback psychodrama, probably the most savagely depressing film ever made, brings you inside the splintered mind of a 'Nam vet and never lets you out. (In the few scenes having nothing to do with him, we see guys even worse off than he is.) The film is best described as a cross between ERASERHEAD and the last two hours of THE DEER HUNTER. Frank Dunlan (Ricky Giovinazzo) has blocked out his painful memories of combat - captivity, torture, atrocity, the works - but they keep creeping up on him. Unskilled and unwashed, he can't hold a job. This annoys his wife Kathy (Veronica Stork), who must take care of their baby - which has been mutated by his exposure to Agent Orange. Frank spends his days standing on unemployment lines, avoiding loan sharks, and hanging out with heroin addicts. This is the best Harvey Keitel/Abel Ferrara movie they never made; if you appreciated BAD LIEUTENANT, you've got to see this. The last reel (if you're still with it by then) will leave you in a sickened stupor. Sometimes low-rent and amateurish, but it gets under your skin in ways that a more polished movie never could. The DVD includes often amusing commentary by director Buddy Giovinazzo, always eager to goof on his own movie; he's not one of those gasbags who go on and on about how brilliant their film is and what every scene signifies. NOT FOR EVERYONE! - but an unforgettable ride for those who feel that movies should be more than Tom Hanks acting cute.