The Dungeonmaster / Eliminators Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

The Dungeonmaster / Eliminators Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 2, 2017

For individual reviews of each film, and a few more screenshots, please click through the links below. Note that these films are also available as part of the Empire Pictures Collection.

• The Dungeonmaster
• Eliminators

The Dungeonmaster
Score: 2.5/5.0

Computer nerd/visionary/genius Paul Bradford (Jeffrey Byron) has invented a supercomputer that he can wear on his wrist. He's named it X- CaliBR8. He seems to be married to his work, but he wants nothing more than to settle down with his girlfriend Gwen (Leslie Wing). Even the computer thinks they are a perfect match. But one day, Paul and Gwen are pulled into another dimension and taken prisoner by the mischievous and powerful Mestema (Richard Moll), a sorcerer who believes he has finally met a worthy adversary in Paul and his high technology. Mestema tasks Paul with surviving seven challenges. Should he fail even one, he and Gwen will pay a heavy price. Armed only with his computer, which grants him remarkable powers -- including laser beams -- Paul sets out to tackle each challenge and save his girl.

Helmed by seven directors for each of the seven trials Paul must face, The Dungeonmaster, which brings to mind some Dungeons and Dragons game rather than a Sci-Fi-meets-ancient-magic movie, was originally called (and is still titled in-film) Ragewar. That's a bit more edgy, but it probably doesn't matter in the long run. Dated, cheap, but clearly made to please a very baseline want for crude but fun cinema, the film fails to truly excite or prove its worth beyond a passing glance but it does offer a somewhat unique story that pits modern (at least "modern" as it might have been a few decades ago) against hideous creatures and the dark arts. It's hardly high art, even if it shows the potential to be high concept, but it's neither, instead just flat-out fun in a very simplistic way. It's a party movie, offering enough opportunities for laughs but still oddly drawing the viewer into its worlds and, just maybe, easing the viewers in to the point that narrative absorption overtakes the want to poke fun at it.

Eliminators
Score: 3.0/5.0

If any of the 80s Empire B-grade Sci-Fi movies epitomizes the studio's output, it has to be Eliminators. The film features a cyborg, or a "Mandroid," as well as a sexy scientist, a ninja, and a rough-and-tumble riverboat captain. On the antagonist side of the ledger: a maniacal scientist and his band of misfit ruffian henchmen who are cousins to the folks from Deliverance. It's a clash of ludicrous low-budget goodness that holds up not as a great movie per se, but as a quintessential low budget 80s extravaganza.

A downed pilot is transformed into "Mandroid" (Patrick Reynolds) by an evil scientist named Reeves (Roy Dotrice). Mandroid, against his programming, decides he must stop Reeves at all costs. His attempt to kill him fails, however, leaving him wounded and with no choice but to seek out Dr. Nora Hunter (Denise Crosby), whose work was stolen by Reeves. Now, Mandroid and Hunter, along with a riverboat captain (Andrew Prine) and a ninja (Conan Lee) who is also seeking revenge on Reeves, must fight through waves of Reeves' henchmen and put an end to their enemy once and for all.

Eliminators doesn't have much going for it beyond a lot of cheaply constructed costumes and special effects, behind which is an immense level of charm. The movie's budgetary constraints are clear, but it somehow eeks out enough of a cool factor -- which really couldn't be truly appreciated but in hindsight -- to keep the movie relevant and viable as a fun little escape backwards in time. Certainly, the action is rather flat and the characters likewise dull, but the collective absurdity and low-rent style somehow works well enough to inject the film with enough likability to satisfy. Of note is that the film appears to have been a major influencer in the wonderful video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which expertly parodies all things 80s Action and Sci-Fi.

The Dungeonmaster / Eliminators Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Dungeonmaster
Score: 3.0/5.0

The Dungeonmaster was shot on film. The results are mixed. The film often looks poor, lacking definition, a consistent grain structure, or bold colors. Colors never find much depth or intensity, but there are times when detail firms, grain tightens, and the image captures a very balanced, very attractive filmic presentation. More often than not, however, details appear flat and grain clumpy. Print wear is constant and sometimes substantial. It's watchable, but it's not particularly attractive.

Eliminators
Score: 3.5/5.0

Eliminators certainly shows its age. The Blu-ray's transfer is riddled with print wear, though in this case it combines with an otherwise filmic image to give it a pleasing (to these eyes, anyway) drive-in quality. Detailing is largely firm, with only a few examples of softer textures and mushier grain. Colors are a bit flat, but effective. Skin tones appear to run fine and black levels aren't too problematic. For the most part, the finer-layer grain and well rounded skin, clothing, and "Mandroid" suit details allow the movie to shine on Blu-ray, in its own vintage, lower budget, shot-on-film sort of way.

The Dungeonmaster / Eliminators Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dungeonmaster
Score: 2.0/5.0

The Dungeonmaster's troubled DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack will get listeners through the movie but it accomplishes nothing more. Every element struggles. "Flat" describes the whole thing. Screams are shrilly, effects are choppy, music is crunchy. A waterfall at about the 15-minute mark plays with no real definition and instead badly pitched static. Even a Heavy Metal concert partway through lacks any energy, though it at least does push to the further edges of the stage. Dialogue is serviceably clear and naturally positioned in the front-center.

Eliminators
Score: 3.0/5.0

Eliminators features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack, and while it lacks the fullness of multichannel presentations, it works hard to stretch itself rather far. Indeed, front-side reach is never an issue. Clarity zigzags around the range, from fine and firm to flimsy, with various effects, musical cues, and even dialogue sometimes struggling to maintain consistent pitch. There's some crunchiness to various effects, like gunfire and laster blasts, but the core details satisfy. Dialogue is adequately clear and presented with natural front-center positioning.

The Dungeonmaster / Eliminators Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Only The Dungeonmaster contains supplements. Included are an interview with Director Peter Manoogian (1080p, 32:30) and the film's theatrical trailer (480i, 1:57).

The Dungeonmaster / Eliminators Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Neither film is a classic, but both -- Eliminators in particular -- are representative of Empire Pictures' core Sci-Fi films. They're cheap, but effective, entertainment. Both films look OK, Eliminators sounds a bit better, and there's only one real extra of value between the two. Recommended.