Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

Picasso Trigger Blu-ray Movie Review

Softcore with no core.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 30, 2019

Late director Andy Sidaris liked boobs. A lot. He was probably best suited for the adult film industry but chose to go the Troma route instead, delivering a wave of low-budget action/adventure movies between 1985 and 1998 including Malibu Express, Hard Ticket to Hawaii, Savage Beach, Hard Hunted, Return to Savage Beach, and more. Peppered with nudity, violence, and cheesy dialogue, these "Triple B" movies (Bullets, Bombs, and Babes) got a lot of play on cable back in the day and, not surprisingly, earned a decent cult following in the process. Last released on DVD by Kino and Mill Creek, the latter has seen fit to bring these moves to Blu-ray in grand fashion. Paired with terrific 4K-sourced transfers (yes, really) and a nice mix of DVD-era bonus features, they're a no-brainer for the right audience.

But don't get it twisted, though: Picasso Trigger is not good, even within the very limited boundaries of Sidaris' films. The plot is a mess, its dialogue is worse than usual, and as a whole it just feels thrown together. Our story follows double agent Picasso Trigger (John Aprea) for all of seven minutes before he's apparently murdered in cold blood by men working for Miguel Ortiz (Rodrigo Obregón). Eventually "The Agency" and its soap-opera-looking agents are called in to stop Ortiz and...you know what? It doesn't really matter. Stuff blows up, there's gratuitous nudity, and someone gets exploded by a heat-seeking missile. Yet for every solid action scene and (usually unintentional) laugh, there's at least two or three pointless sub-plots. It's a 99-minute popcorn flick that breezes by quick enough, but actually could've been halfway decent with more judicious editing, re-takes, or a second draft of the story. Simply put, Picasso Trigger will only hold up if you've got fond memories of catching it on basic cable...and even then, just barely.

Picasso Trigger Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Advertised as both a new 4K restoration by the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) and the film's first widescreen home video release, Mill Creek's 1080p transfer of Picasso Trigger obviously represents a huge leap beyond previous DVD editions. For the most part, fans will be thrilled: colors are nice and bright -- if not a bit too saturated, as teals and reds tend to bleed at times -- and fine details are quite striking in outdoor locales. Black levels tend to flicker, although shadow detail holds up reasonably well in all but the darkest moments. Bear in mind, however, that the (unnamed) source material was not thoroughly cleaned. Dirt and debris run rampant, while more sporadic print damage issues can clearly be seen along the way; one fight scene around the 67-minute mark had a few brown vertical scratch marks sporadically appear for about 15-20 seconds. Overall, though, die-hard fans will be thrilled: natural grain far outweighs noise levels and, combined with other strengths, give Picasso Trigger an appealing film-like appearance that hasn't been smoothed over with excessive DNR. There's room for improvement, but much less than anticipated.

Picasso Trigger Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix maintains the film's original two-channel roots, this Blu-ray can't wring out much sonic detail from its low-budget source material. The mixing on this film is awful, with dialogue that's often buried way down to the point where I had to crank my receiver at least 10 dB higher than normal to make out some of the conversations. (One specific moment right after the 31-minute mark had a few lines dip even lower, but this drop-out only lasted about 20 seconds.) Picasso Trigger's synth-heavy score and stray lines of ADR (automated dialogue replacement), on the other hand, were recorded at normal listening levels and had me dialing the volume knob right back down -- this doesn't exactly make for a smooth, seamless listening experience and may prove quite frustrating to viewers. I'll assume that these mixing issues are baked-in to the original source material, so I can't be too hard on a disc that likely made Crystal Light out of lemons...but aside from punchy gunfire, explosions, and the soundtrack, there's not much to get excited about here. Does anyone watch these things for the dialogue anyway?

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the film and formatted nicely with no obvious sync issues.

Picasso Trigger Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mill Creek's Blu-ray of Picasso Trigger is packaged in a standard keepcase with attractive cover art and a Digital Copy redemption slip. The DVD-era bonus features are entertaining and well-rounded (assuming you enjoyed the film, of course) with plenty of input from late director Andy Sidaris and other key members of the creative team.

• Intro (1:22) with Andy Sidaris and Julie Strain, but only one of them is wearing a shirt the whole time.

• Audio Commentary - This features Andy Sidaris (writer/director) and his wife Arlene (producer) and covers the basics pretty well including cinematography, shooting locations, casting, music, bit parts and extras, weapons, props, and more. It's actually a pretty solid and informative track with very little dead space along the way.

• Behind The Scenes (36:17) - Shot the same day as the intro, this piece features Andy, Julie, and Arlene waxing nostalgic; an interview segment with Joe Bob Briggs, Dona Speir, and Roberta Vasquez; test footage from Return to Savage Beach, and more. Not particularly revealing, except for Julie's outfits.

• Trailers for all 12 Malibu Bay films (many of which are remastered in HD)...but no "Play All" option.

Picasso Trigger Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its titillating visuals and occasional brushes with storytelling competence, Picasso Trigger is a mostly flaccid and uninspired production that's more "guilty" than "pleasure". It's pretty great when you're 13 and home alone...but as an adult, this one only holds up with nostalgia goggles. Still, a part of me can obviously appreciate the beautiful location footage, goofy action, and even goofier dialogue, so it's not a total loss. However...if you count yourself as a disciple of Malibu Bay Films, Mill Creek's Blu-ray edition of Picasso Trigger is a no-brainer: featuring a surprisingly good 1080p transfer and a decent assortment of DVD-era bonus features, there's more than enough camp for the asking price.