Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 20, 2020

Andy Sidaris had a rather interesting career in both television and film, having won a (shared) Emmy Award for his contributions to ABC’s coverage of the 1968 Summer Olympics before setting off for assumedly greener pastures in the world of film. Sidaris’ cinematic output prominently features what might be thought of as another kind of athletic activity, one which a sixties’ film title jokingly referred to as being Man's Favorite Sport?, namely sex, and a dozen of films either written, directed or produced by Sidaris offered one of Sidaris’ stocks in trade — former Playboy Playmates and/or Penthouse Pets in starring roles. Mill Creek Entertainment has been releasing Sidaris’ so called L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies films, and is now bringing out the last two in the series.

Previous releases in the series can be read about by clicking on the following review links:

Malibu Express Blu-ray review

Hard Ticket to Hawaii Blu-ray review

Picasso Trigger Blu-ray review

Savage Beach Blu-ray review

Guns Blu-ray review

Do or Die Blu-ray review

Hard Hunted Blu-ray review

Fit to Kill Blu-ray review

Enemy Gold Blu-ray review

The Dallas Connection Blu-ray review

What is with the ladies of L.E.T.H.A.L. and their computer system? Day of the Warrior’s “plot” was built around a muscle bound assassin hacking into their files and getting a list of their supposedly top secret undercover agents, while Return to Savage Beach involves a stolen floppy disc which contains the location of a priceless fortune. Once again, as in virtually all of Sidaris’ so-called “BBB” (bullets, bombs and babes) films, the “plot” hardly matters, since the film exists largely to provide an opportunity for insanely pulchritudinous females to flaunt their bodies (the babes part), while gunfire and other explosions regularly fill the interludes (the bullets and bombs part). Oh, and just for good measure, also as with many other Sidaris outings, there are some interstitial soft core porn moments just in case your interest starts to flag.

As I mentioned in our Day of the Warrior Blu-ray review, one of the things that "elevates" a typical Sidaris film is that Sidaris obviously knew he was making exploitation fare, and he had just as obviously had a great sense of humor about it. Therefore, there's a certain joie de vivre in this film that probably helps it to elide some of its smarmier content. The film does have a certain gonzo aspect a lot of the time, with absolutely over the top action elements (as in non-sexual action, that is) and ample time given over to women just taking off their clothes for no discernable reason.

Somewhat hilariously, the film almost seems to want to reference the musical version of The Phantom of the Opera, with a very "Phantom-esque" mask that one character wears. In this particular version, though, it's just as likely that "Christine" will strip and engage in a bit of lovemaking as she will be to sing anything.

Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Return to Savage Beach is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The back cover of this release touts that the film is "available for the first time on Blu-ray from a 4K widescreen restoration". This presentation is very much in line with what is seen in its predecessor Day of the Warrior, though it's arguable that some of the outdoor material in this film looks just a bit softer than both the rest of this presentation as well as some of the outdoor material in the earlier film. The palette is once again very nicely saturated, and detail levels in close-ups especially are commendable. Like Day of the Warrior, while the grain field is generally very organic looking, it can kind of randomly spike at moments and look considerably grittier for a while, as can perhaps be gleaned in screenshots 16 through 19. There are also once again some minor but noticeable signs of age related wear and tear, with minimal nicks and flecks occasionally showing up.

Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Return to Savage Beach features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that supports the film's occasionally kind of noisy sound design. Dialogue and effects are all presented cleanly and clearly, and there were no noticeable signs of any age related issues to report.

Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Intro (480i; 1:14) features a little comedy from Andy Sidaris and Julie Strain. This is authored to move automatically on to the feature after it plays.


• Audio Commentary features Andy Sidaris and Arlene Sidaris.


• Behind the Scenes (480i; 42:29) aggregates a bunch of snippets from various Sidaris films with some often funny commentary from Sidaris and others.


• Malibu Bay Trailers offers Day of the Warrior (1080p; 2:23) along with trailers for the other films in this series.

Kind of hilariously, the Chapter Select page has little thumbnail images next to each chapter heading which I assume are there to indicate which of the "three Bs" listed above are included in that particular chapter.

Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As unabashedly gonzo as it often (always?) is, Return to Savage Beach just didn't make me giggle the same way Day of the Warrior did, which may be due at least in part to the fact that maybe a little Andy Sidaris goes a long way and watching more than one of these L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies entries at a time may not be advisable. That said, this is another completely over the top (and/or topless, depending on the scene) offering that offers slightly naughty salaciousness with a ridiculous action underpinning. This is another film I can't in good conscience score any higher than 2.0 stars (and even that might be a bit on the generous side), but for those who like unbelievably curvy women making the world safe for all of us, Return to Savage Beach should suffice perfectly fine as a decent time killer. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplemental package enjoyable for those who are considering a purchase.