Customer Reviews

The Toxic Avenger (Unrated Director's Cut Collector's Edition) [VHS]

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

PLOT:
In a town called Tromaville there is a gym where a little dweeb named Melvin works. He's a geek who gets on all the cool kids nerves. They plan a prank on him that ends seeing Melvin fall out of a window and land in a barrel of Toxic waste on the back of a truck parked outside. But instead of killing Melvin, it turns him into a hideously deformed creature of super human size and strength that develops Troma-zones that make Melvin fight crime when needed. Melvin helps the people of Tromaville and cleans up the town of its crime, while also getting revenge on the kids who caused him to become what he is.

Review
TA is a dark comedy full of action, horror and comedy that will not be accepted by people who take things too seriously. It is an over the top, cult style film. It's a breath of fresh air to have a movie with actors who aren't trying to steal the spotlight, or use the film as a stepping-stone to further there acting credibility for future reference. This movie would never win any academy award. But that's what we love about because we hate the academy awards anyway. Toxie is just a great movie of the little guy that was always pushed around finds himself in a situation that leads to him finishing on top...and also some wacky, gross, disgusting, silly, over drawn, ridicules things along the way. It's a fun movie but not something to sit down with grandma to watch.

DVD
Finally I was able to sit down, kick back and relax and watch the Toxic Avenger clearly and as a bonus, uncut. I've had the first 3 Toxies on VHS for years, but the videos where bad quality, warn out and the image was always rolling and fading, the sound was dropping in and out... so even tho I've been a fan of Toxie for years, I felt like I was watching it for the first time.

The quality isn't super great, there is still speckles here and there, but it's clear enough not to worry about it, they polished it up as best they could and you'll only see the dust speckles if your purposely looking for them.

The sound wasn't surround sound, but it didn't matter, least it was clear and loud enough to understand what was being said.

Bonus Features
Like many of the Troma DVD's, TA is packed with great bonus features. There are 2 discs in this edition, but I think if they had have tried, it would all fit onto 1 disc.
- Interviews - There is heaps of interviews with Lloyd Kaufman (Producer/President of Troma) & Mitch Cohen (Toxic Avenger) plus many more of the actors and directors.
- Commentary - Interesting
- Intro to the movie by Lloyd
- The intro and outro used on the laser-disc version
- Fan films - Short films sent to Troma from fans inspired by Toxie, they're actually so bad there entertaining!
- Deleted scenes - Why did they cut these? Some of them and hilarious!
- Plus a heap of stuff you find on every Troma DVD like the tour of Troma, and how to make a movie things etc.


Cons:
- A lot of the bonus features look like where recorded off a VHS, but who cares, there only bonus features, the movie is fine.
- No subtitles -
- no out-takes, gag-reel, bloopers.

As you can see, the positive weighs down the negatives enough to show that Troma has once again presented a great movie with a great DVD package.

The Toxic Avenger is probably one of the best cult movies of its time and of course it brought Troma to life in every way possible. When I heard that this movie was coming out on DVD again and it was put in widescreen quality I thought "That's cool. Maybe they'll remaster it and give it a new digital makeover!" Man was I fooled. The 21st Anniversary edition packaging was cool but I played both the new one and the old one. The old one had a transfer that was way way better than the new one and the widescreen format didn't make much of a difference to the movie (than again Troma never did good transfers to their movies, but the original DVD of this movie has a way better transfer). The fullscreen transfer actually had a wider reach than the widescreen version. The extras on the new one are not much better than on the old one. even though it did include most of the stuff on the original version, some of the stuff on the original version was more helpful on the behind the scenes look to the movie. The new one showed mainly fans recreating classic scenes from the movie and the commentary track is different; the one on the original is way more informative. If you don't own the movie the two-disc version is at a cheap price but the original DVD release is cheaper and is definitely the better one to have.

Me, being a big fan of Troma, I did enjoy the movie, and I own the original DVD release. If you people are planning on upgrading to the 21st Anniversary Edition, you may be a little disappointed. I still give this movie a 5-star rating for the movie and for the original DVD release. But beware, as I say again, you may be disappointed with the new DVD release. I'd say only the elite die-hard fans will want the new version. I'm a die-hard fan but I'm perfectly happy with the original version. But the movie passes with flying colors. GO TOXIE!

I always wanted to see a movie where pedestrians are mowed down by cars, little old ladies are beat up, and guys get their arms ripped off and hands crushed. If this is what you look for in a movie, check out Toxic Avenger. Inredible stuff, I don't care about the poor acting (some of the worst I've ever seen), low budget feel, poor costumes, etc. This is a great flick. Any time you have a super hero born from chemical waste who beats up bad guys, scores with a blind chick, and makes his house out of garbage in the middle of a dump you know it's a legendary movie. Most memorable scene: guy at the gym gets his face smashed in by a stack of weights. Check it out ASAP.

The title for my review pretty much describes this film. The uncut version of this film is a lot more disgusting than the R rated version. Anyway the plot is as follows... This nerd that works at a health spa gets accidently gets dumped into a vat of toxic waste while getting a prank pulled on him. The Toxic Waste burns and deforms him seriously and also gives him super human strenth. Afterwards Melvin (now known as the toxic avenger) begins a Hilarious and Shockenly Gory Crime Spree. A very entertaining B flick that has to be seen to be believed. WARNING: ANYONE THAT IS SENSITIVE TO VIOLENCE OR SEXUALITY SHOULD NOT VIEW THIS FILM. I put this warning on here mainly because this movie features the most cruel and vile hit and run scene I have ever seen in my life.

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life. Gore, action, and humor all come together to make this incredible film, by an incredible company which is in fact, TROMA. This movie is funny throughout, and one can laugh at when one's guts are being pulled out, or my favorite; ripping off someone's arm and beating the person with it. The story of the movie is simple. A geek by the name of Melvin works at a health club, and being tormented by everyone there, he jumps out of the window and lands in a barrel of toxic waste. From that part on he is the Toxic Avenger, a being that destorys any form of evil that arises. This movie I would recommend to all, except for children because there is gore, violence, and some nudity. But other than that, this is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and definetley one of Troma's best.

Cool movie, The Toxic Avenger is an instant cult classic. The original movie is extremelly well done and fun to watch. I also like the way that it includes material that most other film makers would not dare to use in a film. Example: The kid on a bike being pursosley killed for the amusment of criminals. I liked the fight scenes because they were comical and had a lot of blood and gore. As for Toxic Avenger 2, it was not as good as the first one. It was okay, but the focused was changed from comical gore to crnball gags. And Toxic Avenger 3 was so incredibly bad that you would have to be a complete imbicile to enjoy it no matter what. Part 3 was so incredibly bad, they basically recycled the plot from part 2, took the audience for complete idiots by ignoring nearly everything from the last movie, having Toxie accept a job from the evil Apocalypse Inc. Company he defeated in the last movie, as if he was supposed to not remember who they were. They also brought back bad guys who Toxie killed in the last movie. And they incorporated absurdely and heavy religious content into the script that did not fit well into the script. And even at just around 90 minutes long, Part 3 drags and the storyline often makes no sense at all. So in conclusion I would highly recommend the original movie, say watch the second one if you have time, and don't even bother with the third one. And the Upcoming Toxic Avenger 4:Citizen Toxie looks promising. I do hope that they gring back more of what worked so well in the first movie.

Toxic Avenger is I think is one of the best movies ever made. It's an all american classic. The gore is cheesy, the humor is downright sick, and of course it's a Troma Team movie. The two spawned sequels were fair. Not as good as the orignal, but still need some recognition. I just can't wait to see Toxic Avenger 4: Citizen Toxie. Also check out my toxic avenger website. It's been pleasing fans for 3 years all over the world.

When I was about 4 years old, I came across a cartoon called Toxic Crusaders. The show lasted only 13 episodes, but it made a big impact on me. It was one of my favorite animated shows at the time along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Real Ghostbusters. Not too long after discovering the cartoon, I crossed paths with a familiar face at the local video store.

I remember going with my Dad to a very small video store. It was the only one near our house at the time, and it's business ran surprisingly well for most of the 90's. So one day I was wandering around and noticed Toxie, leader of the Toxic Crusaders on the cover of a VHS. The cover read "The Toxic Avenger Part II" and had an illustration of Toxie with his signature mop in one hand and a hot chick on his shoulder, firing a machine gun. It was one of the coolest images I had seen in my young life and left a lot to the imagination.

Unfortunately, my Dad did not allow me to rent the video. Ironically, I was allowed to watch movies like Puppet Master 2 and Species. Years went by, and I would just stare at the cover of the video. I would wonder what the movie was about and if any of the other Crusaders made an appearence. Near the end of the 90's the small video store closed, but I never stopped thinking about this movie. We started to rent movies from a new video store, it was larger but there was no Toxie in sight.

Then in March of 2001, just a couple months before my 8th Grade Graduation, a new section opened in the video store. It was called CULT CLASSICS. They were all VHS, and to my surprise sat a copy of the very first Toxic Avenger movie. I was in shock; could this be real? I was 14 years old now and I spent ten of those years wondering what would happen if I put this video in the VCR; what would I see? I was 14 now, the rules had changed and the gloves were off; and besides it was my Mom who came with me to the video store on this day.

So, my Mom allowed me to rent it for the evening. My parents were going out with friends and I was finally alone with the one movie that I had wanted to watch since I was four years old. The film was very different from the show I remembered as a kid, it was filled with awesome fight scenes, gore, and few boobs. I loved every minute of it and a few weeks later my Dad decided to get a DVD player...and I decided to get my first DVD.

wow. the toxic avenger. what an amazing freaking movie! if there is one film that defines 80's cinema, i feel that its the toxic avenger. the film is about a nerd janitor named melvin who is constantly harrased by everyone at the tromaville health club were he works. he receives the most torment from 4 hit and run drivers, one of whom tricks melvin into dressing in a tutu and meeting her at the pool were everyone is waiting to laugh at him. melvin is chased through the health club before jumping out a window and landing in a barrel of misplaced toxic waste. this transforms him into the toxic avenger or toxie for short. its now toxies job to fight crime in tromaville and get revenge on the 4 creeps who transformed him into a monster. the toxic avenger is a very,very entertaining film that althoughis full of violence and sensitive subject matter, is still very funny. the best parts of the film are toxies fights with the deranged criminals of tromaville. his first fight is against 3 drug dealers who are about to kill a cop. another cool fight scene is against 3 insane freaks robbing a fast food rersaurant. besides these 2 fight scenes, the rest of the film is wildly enjoyable. gore hounds will be pleased as toxie smashes heads, tears limbs, gouges eyes and rips out the guts of every sadistic criminal he comes across. one infamous scene is were the 4 hit and run drivers run over a young boys head. even though this scene is pretty intense and disturbing, its not done to disturb the audience and the rest of the films violence is done in an over the top fashion. if you havent seen the toxic avenger then trust me, you wont be dissapointed. my only complaint is that toxies revenge onthe 4 hit and run drivers should have been as gruesome as the rest of the films violence. they ran over a little kid and laughed about it! they should have been torn to peices, but they still get whats coming to em. the toxic avenger is one of my all time favorite films and i'm positive that once you see it you'll love it. get tromatized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it may be corny as hell and the acting may stink but damnit when im by myself i love to watch this movie! i think it reminds me of my childhood i grew up watching this. but i will never tell any of my close friends i still watch Toxic Avenger