Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Special Collector’s Edition
February 9, 2018
BLU-RAY REVIEW:
MVD;
Comedy;
$34.95 Blu-ray;
Rated ‘PG’;
Stars David Miller, Stephen Peace, George Wilson, Sharon Taylor, Jack Riley, Eric Christmas, Ernie Meyers.
The 1978 farce classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a perfect fit for the new MVD Rewind Collection, which preserves cult-hit films on Blu-ray with retro-style VHS-inspired packaging and a slew of bonus material.
The film offers just the right blend of dumb fun, inspired by the cheesiness of 1950s and 1960s Japanese monster movies to present a story about mutant tomatoes that turn on humanity and start killing people, inspiring a bumbling response from the military.
The film is of a kind with other 1970s comedies such as Kentucky Fried Movie that took nothing seriously, paving the way for a golden age of parody slapstick in the 1980s led by Airplane, The Naked Gun, UHF, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and more “Killer Tomatoes” movies.
The film was notable for using its low budget as an asset, as the worse the visual effects get, the better served the film is. Even the film’s most thrilling visual was literally an accident — a helicopter crash during a botched landing that made it into the final film because, why not? Unlike some other notable on-set helicopter crashes in film history, no one was killed and they can all laugh about it in the bonus materials.
Despite its low-brow reputation, the film looks great in a 4K transfer for this new Blu-ray edition. The colors are vibrant, particularly the bright red of the tomatoes.
The Blu-ray is loaded with all manner of bonus material a fan of the franchise could want, from deleted scenes to hours of archival featurettes culled from previous releases, primarily the 25th anniversary DVD, as well as a commentary from the filmmakers.
There are also nuggets such as student films from the filmmakers where many of the story points used in Attack of the Killer Tomatoes were first developed.
Also included are some fun bits of business such as an interview with the San Diego Chicken, and sing-alongs to the ridiculous songs featured in the film.