THE TOXIC AVENGER

Troma's flagship is of course Toxie. Everybody knows Toxie, he has had his kiddies-cartoon tv series, he has had his comics, he is the very symbol of independent cinema. There are four feature films starring this beloved hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength, the already mentioned animated series, a novel and a making of feature about the fourth one that shows that the filmmaking process if done for the love and not so much for the cash is sometimes a hideously deformed craftsmanship. Apart from that, there are some wonderful anniversary- and collected editions of all these materials.

The Toxic Avenger is one of the most important films in independent cinema, and without him there would have been no Lord Of The Rings as we know it. Peter Jackson (only one ofHollywood's major directors who admits to be influenced by Toxie, filmstudio Troma and director Lloyd Kaufman) would never have made his earlier horror-flicks which made him famous enough to be chosen to direct this much too expensive series. The Toxic Avenger may have influenced many directors, it has never quite been surpassed in its originality and brilliance, which is even more surprising if you take into account that it was made for the budget of Christopher Lee's breakfast on the set of LotR.

Lloyd Kaufman is a genius, and his films are trendsetting, innovative and completely original. The Toxic Avenger is the one that put his (and Michael Herz's) filmcompany Troma on the map and they still survive as a truly independent studio after 30 years, in spite of increasingly below-the-belt practices of the Major Conglomerates who don't really like to have any competition of someone who actually has ORIGINAL IDEAS. Besides Disney, Troma is the only filmcompany in the world that has a legion of fans who follow the Brand in itself. And such a thing can only happen if that brand has proven to be responsible for a continuous string of very special, innovating and high-quality products.

This release is a deserved tribute to one of Horrorfilm's icons. The Toxic Avenger turns 21 this month, and with three sequels to his name he is still more alive than he has ever been. Besides a wonderful TROMAMORPHIC widescreen presentation of the film (that has never looked better) this set offers hours of very interesting bonus-material. There is a brand new Audio Commentary. Kaufman's commentary tracks are always an attraction of their own, and this one is certainly no exception. With his unique sense of humor, sharp analisys and immense know-how of making films he offers a highly entertaining, funny and informative commentary that in some cases can even be seen as an extension to his Make Your Own Damn Movie-instructions.
The fist disc also offers very interesting recent interviews with a great number of the original stars of the film, seven deleted scenes, the intro and outro from the original Laser Disc release and an updated 45 minute film showing highlights of many Troma and Toxie-appearances on festivals and other occasions around the world in "Where in the world is Toxie".
And even though this first disc is more than worth the price alone, there is a second dvd in this set with some fantastic stuff. There are fan-submissions offering a number of very interesting reminiscences, hommages and short films of surprising quality that need to be checked out, unique scenes from the successfull theatrical musical TOXIC AVENGER: THE MUSIKILL musical, original trailers for all toxic avenger films, trailers for other Troma-releases and much more Tromatic information. Another disc that would be interesting enough and worth the low price of the entire set.

This is the ultimate release of this very important film. A MUST BUY for thos who haven't yet seen the film. A HAVE-TO-GET for anyone who is familiar with the film but still does not have the title in their collection, but also a GOTTA-GET-IT-TODAY for those who already have the film, as this presentation is much better than ever before, and it offers a load of highly entertaining, infomative and not-to-be-missed extra's that is unheard-of, especially on such an affordable release.
It's from Troma. Of Course!

BRILLIANT! But get the UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT version!
Lloyd Kaufman is a genius making masterpieces on a budget that would barely be enough to pay for one day's catering on an average Hollywood producton and he does it for thirty years now. In a world where low budget independent filmmaking means manymultimillion dollar productions by subdivisions of Warner and Disney, Lloyd Kaufman survived for three decades (and counting) with his truly independent filmcompany Troma and in doing so directed, produced and/or wrote dozens of brilliant films. (For which he received a lifetime achievement award at this year's edition of the prestigious Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival.) CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV is his latest and even better than even those brilliant masterpieces as TROMEO AND JULIET and TERROR FIRMER. I am not going to give away anything of the story, too much is happening in any case to even begin to tell you about in a few lines, but it is SO wonderful you just have to see it for yourself. Dave Mattey is ondoubtly the best Toxie of all four films, Heidi Sjursen his best (in this case) Sarah, and even though the budget of the film is not much more than that of the first one, made almost twenty years ago the production value of this one is unbelievable! This exact same film made by one of the Official Indepentents (Miramax, how independent can one be?) would have cost at least ten times this amount. And then - they would never have the guts and the intelligence to come up with this totally awesome film in which more aspects of our messed-up world are tackled that they could cram in their entire catalogue. Apart from a film you can't afford to miss, this 2-disc-DVD-set (and look at the rediculously low price!) provides you with SO much more. There are no less than three full-length audio-commentaries. One by director Lloyd Kaufman, and his commentaries are always at least as entertaining and insightful as the feature itself. This particular one even includes a soundsample of Troma co-founder Michael Herz!! The second one is a wonderfully compiled track with contributions by the most important stars of the film, including Troma Action Hero Joe Fleishaker, star of many of Kaufman's past movies. Another track is by the editors of the film and provides even more info on how such a brilliant film could be made under conditions that are difficult to say the least. At any rate - much more is there, such as loads of deleted scenes (with or without commentary), talks with the cast and crew, footage of CITIZEN TOXIE-premieres around the world, tons of hidden easter-eggs and much, much more. Apart from all this there even is a complete second feature: the 135 minute behind-the-scenes documentary APOCALYSPE SOON, which also comes complete with it's own deleted scenes! This is NOT the usual ''he is wonderful, he is great, he is the best'' docu - as the audiocommentaries do it provides a no holds barred look inside the hard-working-low-paying world of independent cinema. These people are HONEST, and where do you get that on your DVD-extra's?? There is no doubt this is the very best DVD-presentation of a movie ever - over six hours of Tromatic entertainment, and I'm not even counting the multiple viewings of the film itself with the various audio-tracks! Count those and you need a week to take in all information this instant interactive encyclopeadia provides. If you haven't seen the other installements of THE TOXIC AVENGER, not to worry as everything you need to know is worked into the movie, without it being boring for those who are familiar. Don't rent this one, don't watch your friend's copy but support independent cinema and buy our own copy. You never received so much value for your bucks!! (Except maybe when you bought Lloyd Kaufman's latest book MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN MOVIE).

Someone under this has given this set ONE star for reasons of not having seen it!! I hope Amazon will delete this nonsense, because this gives people the wrong idea. This set is ESSENTIAL for every serious movie collector, everyone who likes to look a bit further than there noses are, everyone enjoying a good film, everyone with a sense of humor and everyone with something even remotely resembling some good taste. THE TOXIC AVENGER is one of the greatest creations in film history, his adventures in Lloyd Kaufman's films some of the most unique ever committed to cellulloid. This set contains the first three of Toxie's films PLUS a disc full of otherwise unavailable adventures of the animated spin-off THE TOXIC CRUSADERS, probably Troma's most successfull franchise to date. This fourth disc is worth the price of the set alone, add the other THREE films (and all of this loaded with extra's, as is Troma's custom) and this is the best buy on DVD of the millennium.
To get ready for the soon-to-be dvd-release of Lloyd Kaufman's ultimate masterpiece (and he has made quite a few) THE TOXIC AVENGER PART IV: CITIZEN TOXIE, the Tox Box is an essential MUST-buy. Forget all the prejudiced criticisms about Troma: it is one of the most innovative and original filmcompanies, and the longest in business of all independants. And still creating unique works of art.
Get this box - you won't regret it.

This is a novel. This is not merely a novelization of a successfull moviefranchise, but so much more than just that. The story this novel tells is the story of how The Toxic Avenger came to be, but that is where most of the comparison with the film ends and the book takes on a life of its own, adding another dimension to the universe of our favorite hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength.

There is so much to be told that could not possible be fit into a 90 minute film, which you can read here and which gives the story a lot of depth, character development and additional scenes that could never be realised, but can now finally be seen using the cinema of the mind. Apart from all that, the discrepancies between the first film and the sequels are intelligently straightened out, the writers even go so far as to enlighten us about the historical origin of the name of Tromaville, there are guest chapters by such people as Oliver Stone that add even more depth and dimension, and there is an incredible amount of humor and cynisism spread throughout the entire book, taking on so many subjects and in doing so tying the whole world around us together to the sad place it has become. It is impossible to even begin to give examples here, as everything ties in with the story and the reality so ingeniously as only Lloyd Kaufman could deliver. I had a huge number of loud laughs and found the book quite unputdownable, just like Mr. Kaufman's previous books "All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger" and "Make Your Own Damn Movie".

Fantastic reading for everyone who already is familiar with the Toxic Avenger, Troma in general and Lloyd Kaufman's work. Just as superb a read for anyone with an intelligent sense of humor and those interested in a different kind of novel. But also a perfect introduction to a completely new realm of storytelling for anyone who wants to know or learn about Toxie, Troma and Lloyd Kaufman, but was afraid to ask. You will find yourself hooked and running to the shops in september when the unmissable and essential 7-disc box set of THE COMPLETE TOXIC AVENGER will be released.