Beastmaster: Special Edition. Dar (Marc Singer) seems like your typical barbarian hero: loincloth, broadsword, muscular physique. But no one who was born out of a cow is going to be typical. The evil priest Maax (Rip Torn) magically transported the baby Dar out of his mother’s womb into the aforementioned bovine to stop some sort of prophecy. But a kindly hunter put a stop to that shit and raises the baby as his own. So Dar grows up to be a warrior Dr. Doolittle, speaking to the animals. So Dar along with two ferrets, an eagle, a panther, and an actual human girl named Kiri (Tonya Roberts) is going to kick some lawful evil cleric ass. Anchor Bay has added some new special features to this sword and sorcery flick. There’s a new documentary, The Saga of the Beastmaster, which gives a comprehensive overview of the film. You also get a commentary from the production team, Don Coscarelli and Paul Pepperman, along which some decent talent biographies and photo galleries. A definite buy for those into Conan type fantasy. (Buy it from Amazon.)
Big Bad Mama: Special Edition. It’s never easy for a single mother to be a breadwinner. Being one during the Depression makes it even worse. But Wilma McClatchie (Angie Dickinson) and her two daughters decide to go to work in an industry that never has a problem with unemployment: crime. So the family begins a fun filled family trip with stops for bank robbery, oil field heists, and naked escapades with fellow bank robber Fred Diller (Tom Skerritt) and charming gambler William J. Baxter (William Shatner). So why talk about that not-so-fresh feeling with your mother when you can bond over hot lead and wads of stolen cash. Buena Vista gives this Roger Corman classic a couple of nice features. A new documentary, Mama Knows Best: A Retrospective, includes interviews with Dickinson, Shatner, and Corman. Dickinson and Corman also deliver the audio commentary. If you’re in the mood for some old fashioned B movie goodness, this is the disc for you. (Buy it from Amazon.)
