Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Blu-ray Movie Review

This should be required viewing for "Film History 101."

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 27, 2012

This is full-on guerrilla-style filmmaking.

Of all the major power players who work in today's big-dollar Hollywood, it's the man who pretty much makes movies as quickly as he can and spends the least amount of money on them who has helped shape the landscape, launched numerous careers, and ushered in new trends that would produce some of the all-time great big-budget movies and popular culture screen icons, including Easy Rider, Jaws, and Star Wars. Filmmaker extraordinaire Roger Corman is the subject of Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, a breezy, well made, and necessary Documentary that sheds light on the man behind the many B-movies to his credit and the influences they've had on A-list Hollywood. A "guerrilla" filmmaker whose pictures have always turned a profit (with the exception of one, ironically the one Corman considers his best and most important work), Corman's pictures have started trends, reflected upon culture, and created legions of fans both inside and outside Hollywood who appreciate not necessarily the finer things in cinema -- few of these movies can match the splendor and scope of Hollywood's best -- but the dedication to craft, the insistence on doing something right, and the vast influence the pictures have had on the cinema landscape, an influence without which the Hollywood of today would certainly be a vastly different animal.

Getting his due.

Roger Corman describes the general style of his films thusly: a character is brutally killed early on, more are slaughtered at regular intervals, and an explosive and bloody climax finishes the movie off. Corman's films emphasize price and speed of production over production values; the filmmaker produced ten movies in 1957 alone. His story is the subject of Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, a history of his life in film as told through interviews and while on the set of one of his latest films, the SyFy Channel's Dinoshark. The Documentary covers his style of filmmaking and the contrast between his true intellectual persona versus his command of the exploitation movie market, the filmmaker describing his own mind as a "boiling inferno." The Documentary examines his break into the business as a Story Editor for 20th Century Fox where he rejected every low-rent script that came his way until he approved -- and improved upon -- The Gunfighter, a Gregory Peck Western that was a major hit for Fox for which Corman was given no credit. The dismayed youngster then set out on his own and made his first movie, Monster from the Ocean Floor, followed by The Fast and the Furious, the latter of which would result in another "big break" and lead to the launch of American International Pictures.

As Corman settled into the fast-paced world of low-budget filmmaking, he began crafting pictures with some greater purpose. His films spoke to the teenage rebellion of the 1950s, offering teens edgy pictures to which they could relate, shaped by his own rebellious streak and anti-establishment ways. But Corman wouldn't settle into a singular niche. He's perhaps best known, aside from generalizations, for his string of Edgar Allen Poe-based pictures from the 1960s, among them The Raven, The Hose of Usher, and The Pit and the Pendulum. The success of these pictures allowed Corman to branch out into more personal filmmaking, moving on to craft The Intruder, a highly-charged anti-segregation picture that was also the debut for a young Actor by the name of William Shatner and the only picture on which Corman would lose money. The loss led Corman down a new path with a new credo: he would make pictures with both a superficial basic context and deeper sub-context through which he could more subtly comment on the world around him in the guise of broader mass appeal. As the calendar turned further into the 1960s, Corman's films would turn to the counterculture revolution; his The Wild Angels -- starring Peter Fonda -- would serve as something of a template for the upcoming cultural phenomenon Easy Rider. His formation of New World Pictures -- perhaps the most iconic and widely-known Corman studio -- provided him greater creative control over his pictures, while the new ratings system would allow him still greater freedom to produce harder content under the "R" rating. But with his success came the big-budget studio imitations; films like Jaws and Star Wars were but big-budget Roger Corman films, the trend towards high-dollar Cormanesque filmmaking threatening his ability to compete and remain relevant on the Hollywood scene. Yet Corman remains even today a hard-working and respected filmmaker, his movies perhaps still not in the mainstream consciousness, but certainly existing in the forefront of the minds of some of Hollywood's most influential power players.

Corman's World is absolutely about its subject. The Documentary is rather vanilla in presentation and its technical merits, but it's effective because the subject material captures one's attention full-on. It's a linear but fascinating journey through the life, films, and influences of perhaps Hollywood's most under-appreciated filmmaker, not because his works lack merit, but because they don't often appear on mainstream charts, "best of" lists, air on television in primetime, or earn a lot of money at the box office. But take eighty or so minutes, screen this Documentary, and watch how Hollywood's elite don't just lightly praise the filmmaker because he's one of their own or because it's the polite thing to do, but because they understand that it's because of his vision, style, and rebel ways that they are where they are today, that the Hollywood they love, that's blessed their lives, to which they themselves have so greatly contributed, is in large part thanks to Corman's dedication to craft and body of work. Filmmakers such as Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese and Actors such as William Shatner and Jack Nicholson -- who, in the Documentary's best scene, breaks down at the emotion of recalling Corman's influence in his life -- unequivocally and unabashedly praise a filmmaker who might make movies called Attack of the Crab Monsters, Humanoids from the Deep, and Dinoshark, but who has through his work and perseverance become an icon of the medium and a role model for consistency, trendsetting, shattering the status quo, giving deserving people the breaks they need, and making the movies he loves at a reasonable price, not the movies that will make himself and the studios the most money.

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel features a meat-and-potatoes 1080p, 1.78:1-framed Blu-ray transfer that's neither dazzling nor disappointing. It's steady throughout, however, delivering both newly-minted interview footage, archival interviews, and clips from Corman's films with accuracy. The newest footage -- showing Corman and talent such as Scorsese, Roth, and Nicholson in various locations -- offers up fine clarity; sturdy detailing on faces, clothes, furniture, and surrounding objects; and accurate colors, whether in the bright Corman shots, the interior Nicholson segments, or inside what appears to be Scorsese's personal theater. The throwback footage is grainy but steady and holds up well in high definition. The old film clips vary in quality, no surprise, but the somewhat beat-up prints add a certain charm to the proceedings. Looking at this one primarily via the new footage -- including some on-set looks at Dinoshark -- shows viewers stable, clear, and crisp high definition imagery that's suitable for the style of film it supports.

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel features a steady Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue is the name of the game, generally. It's crisp and delivered neatly from the center channel, though some of the older footage from interviews or films occasionally struggles to keep up in terms of raw clarity. Music is nicely spaced and well defined throughout the entire range, including a positive low end. Various clips form older movies, no surprise, come up lacking in range and body, but then again they're not explicitly the center of attention. This one is all about the dialogue; no matter who's talking, the spoken word comes across clearly and accurate in all critical instances.

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel contains three brief extras.

• Extended Interviews (1080p, 13:10): More or less deleted scenes from the film.
• Special Messages to Roger (1080p, 15:15): Interviewees deliver their own personal messages to the legendary filmmaker.
• Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Trailer (1080p, 2:06).

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Besides being a great Documentary, Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel is also something of a modern history lesson; the Filmmaker's pictures have set trends and reflected the times, as evidenced by the steady narrative that features not only Corman himself but some of his closest associates as well as several of Hollywood's elites weaving together the story of his life, films, and influence on the Hollywood landscape. The Documentary itself is straightforward and technically blasé, but the story is captivating and important, a must-see for fans of modern cinema. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel features good video and audio as well as a few extras. Recommended.