Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie Review

Sun's out, guns out.

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, Picasso Trigger, 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.

In comparison to Picasso Trigger (released one year earlier, and with an inexplicably higher IMDb rating), Savage Beach is an obvious improvement. It's a substantially better movie from almost every standpoint: acting, cinematography and, yes, even the actual storytelling. This slightly more streamlined production mostly focuses on DEA agents Donna (Dona Speir) and Taryn (Hope Marie Carlton) after they crash-land on a remote island that contains stolen gold buried by Japanese soldiers during WWII. Once other interested parties -- including Filipino ambassador Martinez (Rodrigo Obregón), who wants his country's gold back -- close in, only Donna and Taryn stand in their way...along with another mysterious inhabitant. High art this ain't, but Savage Beach offers a respectably solid backdrop for its cheesiness to stand in front of. I'll admit, however, that the gratuitous nudity and sporadically questionable acting stick out even more than normal here -- that's what happens when the story isn't horrendous. Even so, it's all in good fun: keep your expectations in check and you'll find this to be one of the director's most entertaining and accessible films.

Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like Mill Creek's other Andy Sidaris releases, Savage Beach is advertised as a new 4K restoration by the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) and the film's first widescreen home video release. The resulting 1080p transfer obviously represents a huge leap beyond previous DVD editions and, unlike Picasso Trigger, the source material looks to be in near- spotless condition. For the most part, fans will be extremely 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 striking in outdoor locales. Black levels tend to flicker, although shadow detail holds up reasonably well in all but the darkest moments. Natural grain far outweighs noise levels and, combined with other strengths, gives Savage Beach a very appealing film-like appearance that hasn't been smoothed over with excessive DNR. I did spot a few chunky compression artifacts, but these are few and far between: the film enjoys a nice healthy bit rate that regularly leaps above 30 Mpbs, which gives it plenty of room to breathe. I really wasn't expecting much out of a low-budget movie authored by Mill Creek, but there you go.

Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Despite my reservations about the mix on Picasso Trigger (more of a source material problem than a Blu-ray defect) , the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track for Savage Beach does not appear to suffer the same fate. Dialogue is typically clear and well-balance, with the left and right channel creating a decently wide sound stage and a few subtle panning effects. Of course, this low-budget adventure will absolutely not rock your sound system: gunfire and explosions are somewhat punchy but there's very little weight and heft, although the balanced dialogue and effects at least keeps everything within comfortable limits. No drop-outs or sync issues were heard along the way.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the film; likewise, there were no obvious sync issues.

Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mill Creek's Blu-ray of Savage Beach 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, who was not in the movie but has big jugs.

• Audio Commentary - This track pairs up Andy Sidaris (writer/director) and his wife Arlene (producer) and covers a lot of topics such as returning to Molokai Island, creative cost-cutting, locations used in other Malibu Bay films, new and familiar cast members, music, bit parts and extras, fake blood, weapons, props, and more. It's a pretty solid and informative commentary with very little dead space along the way.

• Behind The Scenes (43:58) - This featurette includes Andy and Julie expanding on their earlier intro; Andy and Arlene showing off a model airplane seen during the film (with the model's creators); several pieces of test footage from Return to Savage Beach; an MTV interview segment with Andy and Arlene; another short interview with Joe Bob Briggs, and more. It's basically a VHS mixtape of rarely-seen production nuggets.

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

Savage Beach Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What's this? An Andy Sidaris movie...with a decent plot? Compared to his other work, Savage Beach is the closest he's come to "B+" territory, although some of the usual roadblocks are still here: a few supporting performances are just awful, most of the nudity is pointless, and one gets the feeling that the director just wanted a nice vacation between shooting days. Yet these "negatives" are almost inevitable within Sidaris' filmography and, for many fans, the reason they watched it in the first place. But its unexpected strengths make Savage Beach more accessible that most, so it's good that Mill Creek's Blu-ray offers a lot of support including a great A/V presentation and several DVD-era extras featuring the late director. If you haven't purchased any of Sidaris' films on Blu-ray yet, this should be the first.