Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

The Naked Truth Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 30, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Nico Mastorakis Collection from Arrow Video.

Arrow Video has been cultivating a really rather sweet relationship with Greek writer and director Nico Mastorakis for several years, bringing out any number of Mastorakis' films, including .com for Murder , Nightmare at Noon, Death Has Blue Eyes, The Wind, The Zero Boys, Hired to Kill and Island of Death. It's perhaps worth noting that as with this release, Mastorakis tends to provide his own masters, which may "cut out the middle man" and facilitate releases. Mastorakis quite frequently uses some incredibly luscious Greek locations for films that might otherwise not be much above what the back cover of this release overtly mentions as "B movie" levels, and that's once again the case with the sextet of films offered in this nicely packaged new set. That said, even when the films stray from the stunning Greek locations, there's another kind of "scenery" regularly on hand in these films courtesy of a bevy of beautiful women, often in little to no clothing. This collection has a rather broad range of subject matter as well as tonal proclivities, and makes a pretty cogent case that Mastorakis can be at least decently facile in any number of genres.

If, as alluded to in some of the reviews of other films in this set, Nico Mastorakis isn't shy about borrowing certain elements from other, much better remembered films, he at times could do so at least relatively subliminally. No such subtlety is on hand in The Naked Truth, however, with Mastorakis unabashedly lifting the central conceit of Some Like It Hot, with two hapless schlubs, here supposedly hilariously both named Frank, getting inadvertently wrapped up in some criminal adjacent activity and then having to go "undercover" by cross dressing. This is a relatively rare Mastorakis film with several recognizable names, albeit mostly consigned to brief, Airplane! like, cameos. Among these are Zsa Zsa Gabor, Yvonne De Carlo, Lou Ferrigno, Erik Estrada and Little Richard. There is in fact an obvious attempt to recreate the kind of lunatic ambience of a Zucker Abrams Zucker outing, and if Mastorakis kind of understandably and unavoidably falls short, the film has some genuine laughs.

The Naked Truth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Naked Truth is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet (really more of a pamphlet this time around) has the following generic information on all the transfers, which are lumped together on one informational page, as follows:

The Time Traveller, Sky High, Glitch!, Ninja Academy and The Naked Truth are presented in their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 audio.

Terminal Exposure is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with stereo audio.

The high definition masters were provided by Nico Mastorakis.

The Mastorakis set goes out on a relatively high note, video quality wise, with this effort largely matching the overall excellence of its "bookend", The Time Traveller, if arguably not quite as pleasingly, though some of that perceived downturn may come courtesy of the fact that this film is set in Hollywood instead of a luscious Greek island. The palette is mostly very secure and nicely saturated, with occasional ebbs along the way. Detail levels are also typically very good to excellent, and little items like the smeared lipstick one of the men wears have noticeable texture in close-ups. One aspect where this presentation may top The Time Traveler is in its much more consistently noticeable grain field, which, while a bit heavy at times, resolves without any issues.

The Naked Truth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Naked Truth features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. Once again frequent Mastorakis collaborator Tom Marolda is on hand providing some tunes for source cues, and those, along with ambient environmental sounds in outdoor scenes, tend to be the most obvious beneficiaries of the surround track. The 5.1 outing on this effort arguably has a more intermittently immersive quality than some of the other tracks in the Mastorakis set. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Naked Truth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged Ninja Academy and The Naked Truth together on one disc. All of the films in this set feature "self interviews" by Mastorakis detailing that particular film's production, as well as other supplements, as follows:

• Nico's Self Interviews: Ninja Academy (HD; 15:42)


• Gerald Okamura, Ninja Academy's "Chiba" Remembers (HD; 15:53) is a fun career spanning reminiscence.


• Nico's Self Interviews: The Naked Truth (HD; 20:37)


• Trailers

  Ninja Academy (HD; 3:23)

  
  

  The Naked Truth (HD; 3:40)

The Naked Truth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're going to "update" a classic, you'd better come armed to the teeth with smart writing and crackerjack comedic timing, which, unfortunately, are pretty much missing from The Naked Truth. Technical merits are generally solid and the "self interviews" by Mastorakis entertaining, for anyone who is considering making a purchase.