Hey, I was running by Walmart today to pick up a couple of grocery items and they had a big $4.88 DVD display right in the front of the store.
I picked up "Vanishing Point: The Wide Screen Edition" and "Big Trouble in Little China" (also in wide screen). They were by far the best choices, although they did have "Commando" and "Enemy Mine". I didn't see anything else I cared to own.
As usual when I am distracted by such things , I forgot the sausage I was supposed to pick up. Hey, I got 3 out of the 4 items I was supposed to get.
I haven't dug through the local WalMart's bin in a few weeks. My wife keeps me away from it each time we go there.
I did see Commando in there when I walked by over the weekend. I'd probably pick that one up.
Didn't realize they had Vanishing Point. Is it the original or the Viggo one? I love the original with a passion and it'd be awesome to get it on DVD. Might have to slip away from my wife the next time we go shopping.
The copy of Vanishing Point I got from Wal-Mart has scan lines running through it, like they dubbed it off a decaying VHS tape. :hatred:
Quote from: Skaboi on December 27, 2006, 05:39:55 PM
I haven't dug through the local WalMart's bin in a few weeks. My wife keeps me away from it each time we go there.
I did see Commando in there when I walked by over the weekend. I'd probably pick that one up.
Didn't realize they had Vanishing Point. Is it the original or the Viggo one? I love the original with a passion and it'd be awesome to get it on DVD. Might have to slip away from my wife the next time we go shopping.
These weren't in the usual $5.50 bin that all the Walmarts around here have. They were at the front of the store in a cardboard display stand for $4.88.
This is the original Vanishing Point and has a directors commentary and includes the US and UK versions of the film . Evidently the UK version has an additional sequence with Charlotte Rampling as a hitch hiker .
Haven't watched it yet, but I'll let you know about the quality.
In the target discount bin, there is STAR ODDOSY and DESTROY ALL PLANETS.
I picked up "Flatliners" and "The Family Man" in the Wal-Mart cheap bin the other day.
I haven't seen Flatliners in years...since at least 1992.
Definitely looking forward to sitting down and watching that one.
The Vanishing Point DVD they have is the same one I bought a while ago, but I paid more for it. I didn't have scan lines in mine though; I wonder if it is just a defective copy you have, Akiratubo, or if they are selling a bad batch.
The Charlotte Rampling scene, which is included in the British edit on this DVD, is ...well...weird. It does not fit well with the rest of the movie, though it does provide some additional insight and also provides us with the answer as to how the police were tracking Kowalski.
Some DVDs I found at Wal-Mart are Altered (Loved it), Little Shop of Horrors (Loved it too), and Congo (Bleach! I'm ditching this at the next Garage Sale).
Picked up Vanishing Point there the other day, irritates me I rented it about a month ago, when I wanted to see it widescreen, instead of my old VHS copy on a dull weekend. At least I can watch it when I want now, in its full glory.
The scene in the UK version was odd and stuck out when watching it, plus I watched the film with the commentary on, which was interesting.
I made a point to not get any other movies at Wally World, I knew $4.88 per film could turn into $20 extra bucks quickly.
They had Hell is for Heroes at the one I went to. I was tempted, plus they had a couple of horror double features: One had The Body Snatcher with Boris Karloff. the other had Taste the Blood of Dracula. Don't remember what films they were paired with, I tried sticking copies further back in those cardboard shelves, but that won't stop anyone.
Before this the last film I got there was Marathon Man from the $5.50 black hole several weeks. Damn, was that thing picked over early on the 27th. That whole Wal-Mart was a disaster area even after the rampage of shopping on the 26th ended. Even the $1 movie rack was down to the dregs, Still plenty of copies of God's Gun/Kid Vengence in there, along with the cheap cartoons.
Yeah, I watched the UK version last night and the Charlotte Rampling stuff does seem like it was tacked on and really didn't add anything. I also thought it interesting how the CHP was tracking him the whole time. Those looked like the little boxes they used to put on the highway to count traffic.
The disc I have definitely has nothing wrong with the picture quality. You can,however, tell that they did the sound different back then. To me it sounds like they didn't loop anything and all the sound effects were actual sounds.
Quote from: trekgeezer on December 28, 2006, 05:11:13 PM
...the Charlotte Rampling stuff does seem like it was tacked on and really didn't add anything.
The main thing that the scene added for me was something which flew in the face of that horrible remake. In the remake, they give Kowalski a first name: Jim. Thoughout the original, we have never heard him referred to anything other than as Kowalski. In the Charlotte Rampling scene, she specifically asks him if that is his only name to which he replies (paraphrased) 'first, last, and middle'.
Maybe I need to look at it again, but everytime I've watched it I've always gotten the impression they were tracking him the whole time. Even when he goes offroad, the tracks would easy to follow from the copter. I figured they were waiting him out rather than risk men and resources in the desert or wanted to run him to ground or force him to surrender with people watching since he was becoming a quickie folk hero according to the movie.
Which seemed odd as well. The time frame of the story is fairly short for it to reach most of the nation, especially before the days of cable news, etc.; and Super Soul was on a radio station in a small little desert town, just how far would his signal carry anyway? Wire services spreading the story?
I know some, including the director, hint at the telepathy-like link between Super Soul and Kowalski, but it seemed to only be one way, and Kowalski was wired up anyway so I figured he was thinking outside a "normal" frame of mind anyway.
Plus the remake gave him a higher purpose or goal, the daughter being born storyline. The original works better since he's a man with no real purpose (it all started from a pontless bet), cut loose from conventional society, no full name - he was a symbol people could project onto.
Vanishing Point is definitely an interesting movie from various aspects, but in particular in trying to define it. At times it seems allegorical in its context perhaps representing a movement of anti-authoritarianism gaining ground in a relatively short span of time with a public both rallying behind it and wanting to see it stopped. What flies in the face of its potential political context is that the writer of the story lived in England and was of Cuban/English desent.
In some ways it almost seems as though there is a Christ allegory to Kowalski (which would suggest an even more interesting allegory for Super Soul). In some ways, I felt that Dean Jagger's prospector character was an allegory for the devil; Kowalski crosses the desert, but it is the serpent collector who shows him the path back to the mundane world.
In some ways it seems, and is probably more of the case, that the movie just touches on enough, without really saying anything specifically, that its meaning is whatever the viewer ascribes to it.
On a side note: the ending of the movie was originally supposed to have Kowalski miraculously pass through the bulldozers. The producers of the movie did not feel that a viewing audience would accept that and made them change it to the ending with which we are now familiar.
A few months ago I found a Village of the Damned (1960)/Children of the Damned double feature for $4.88. I remember seeing Critters for the same price but passed on it.
I've found plenty of good things in the $5.50 bin, like Godzilla 2000, Fear/Parents (I haven't watched Fear but Parents is a weird little dark horror/comedy about a boy who suspects that his parents are cannibals. The dad is played by Randy Quaid and he's actually kind of creepy in it.), When Worlds Collide, Batman (1966), Creepshow (although I think it's been there since the beginning of the $5.50 bin), and a number of other things I can't remember.
I haven't seen Vanishing Point, but it sounds interesting enough to buy.
Welcome aboard Pilgermann.
Man, some of you all find hidden gold in the Walmart bins. When I happen by there and check, it is always a bunch of mediocre crud. I think my best find was "Barbarella" for about $2. The films always seem to be fifty copies of "Dante's Peak" (or some such), sprinkled with a bunch of exercise videos and throwaway documentaries that I would probably not watch even on a slow TV night.
Quote from: Menard on December 28, 2006, 06:20:53 PM
Vanishing Point is definitely an interesting movie from various aspects, but in particular in trying to define it. At times it seems allegorical in its context perhaps representing a movement of anti-authoritarianism gaining ground in a relatively short span of time with a public both rallying behind it and wanting to see it stopped.
I saw this movie when I was 16 at the drive-in (yes, the year it came out). There was definitely an air of anti-authoritarianism going around back then. We were neck deep in Viet Nam and the government was lying to us and spying on it's on citizens, so myself and most of the other teenagers I knew had very little respect for anyone in a position or authority. We quite regularly p**sed the high school principal off. He even kept our entire class after a pep rally once just to tell us he was going to declare war on us if we didn't shape up. (I can tell you some stories about how he didn't succeed).
We cheered Kowalski on because he respresented something that seemed to be lost. He was an individual who was damaged by the events in his life and his "purpose" had become the road, plain and simple. Plus he was saying f*** you to "the man".
A lot of movies in that time period had the same attitude, even those that featured military and law enforcement types. Take for example Dirty Harry and The Last Detail.
As for Kowalski's death, only Kowalski can know the true meaning of it.
Today I found Enemy Mine and The Golden Child in the Walmart cheapie bin. Both are favorites that I recall watching a zillion times on HBO back in the 80's.
I'm always amazed when I see "The Edge" in the bin, that's such a fun movie. Once in awhile I do see some interesting ones like "Altered States" or "exorcist III". I recently picked up "Hollow Man" and "The Haunting" to have something to watch on my vacation.
"The movie Trading CompanY' is local here in dallas and I think a subsidiary of Blockbuster. Anyhow they sell movies dirt cheap, you can get brand new, or used in their cases for decent prices. But they also sell some movies next to nothing - you may only get them in a cd case or slipcase. They also have a refund guarantee, they take trade-ins in case something is wrong with it and buy back movies. So if I have a movie that i've tired of and nobody i know would want it I just go sell it back or trade it. I found that my penny seems to go further there than in that Walmart dvd bin.
Yeah...the Wal-Mart cheap bin has its ups & downs.
For weeks on end it'll have crappy junk that no one wants, and then out of the blue, they'll restock it with some decent films.
Ours was full of Friday the 13ths after the Halloween horror/suspense flicks went in there. But since when does Narc fall in that category?
There always seem to be copies of: Kiss the Girls, 28 Days, Hollow Man,, some Best of Gallagher disks (Why sell blank disks that way?), that spaghetti western 4-pack I bought a while back, some twofer of Lifetime type flicks one starring Vanessa Marcil, the other with Corbin Bersen, and some others that will come to me later clogging up the bin. Oh and there are always copies of Conagher and The Shadow Riders as well.
Sometimes I find that TV movie based on a Norman MacLean story starring Jerry O'Connell, Sam Elliot, and Ricky Jay. I need to pick that one up.
Hopefully after the purging the bin got on the 26th, they'll load up with a new batch of stuff. Luckily, it's been too easy to say "no" to the call of the dump bin lately.
Back during the summer, I made out like a bandit at the Wal-Mart near where I live.
I got the following during that particular run:
Bevery Hills Cop (special edition) 4.88
The Brood 4.88
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (70's version) 4.88
Rambo First Blood: Part 2 5.50
Little Shop of Horrors (1986 version special edition) 4.88
Cliffhanger 5.50
The Craft 4.88
End of Days 4.88
Hercules in New York 4.88
I picked up MORTAL COMBAT in the $4.88 bin at my local Wal-Mart.
Yeah our local wally world has a plethora of stink to choose from but I did get a few cheapies in the last several months such as a few of the Friday flicks, Mazes and Monsters, and Rambo III. Much of the selection was mediocre just like Andrew said.
If you want to find real obscure stuff and don't mind VHS, I recommend locating some ma and pa video rental places -most are selling their VHS and you can find some real gems really cheap. I recently acquired Slaughter High, Deadly Friend, and Barry Lyndon, which I don't even think is on DVD yet. A couple years ago my girlfriend and I went ape$h!t over the local grocery that sold all their VHS for $1 a piece, which is how I ended up with an old WWF Slammies vid, Barb Wire, Ghoulies III, and a few other old flicks.
Quote from: clockworkcanary on January 04, 2007, 04:24:26 PM
...a few of the Friday flicks...Much of the selection was mediocre just like Andrew said.
Now since when are
Friday flicks mediocre? (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Tongue/mockery-022.gif)
Oh, baby!
VHS just rules rules rules right now, because, as during the huge fad turnover from vinyl to CDs a few years back, you can find HUGE bargains on VHS nowadays, even from the mainstream video stores, 'cause nobody wants them.
For big instance:
We have a Hollywood Videos store in Boulder. Not as good as Video Station, but what the hey -- ANYWAY, my friend figured out that rather than rent them, he would just take VHS tapes up to the counter and BARGAIN for them with the clerks!! It works!!! We have gotten sooo many cool things for $1 and $2 -- sure, they're used, but still watchable, and better than renting!!
Try it at YOUR local store: "Aw, c'mon, man . . . it's a TAPE . . . Who wants a tape?? C'mon, I'll take it off your hands for a dollar . . ."
It works -- TRY IT!
peter johnson/denny weasel
Quote from: Gerry on January 04, 2007, 12:35:49 PM
I picked up MORTAL COMBAT in the $4.88 bin at my local Wal-Mart.
You mean Mortal Kombat... :teddyr: or better yet MORTAL KOOOOOOOMBAT!!
Apparently the big VHS sell-off among the little stores was about three years ago in my area. The stores are still selling off tapes, but the interesting stuff is gone for the most part. Some of it turns up at pawn shops now, but you have to look for it.
I got a few videos from a grocery store selling off Hollywood Video tapes, but the selection was thin when they first got them, and has only gotten worse as no "new" stock has come it to top up the shelves.
I wish I had gone back to the place when Green's Video had their big going out of business sell-off around 2000. I got some fun cheese - Deep Space, Demons, Demons 2, Tough Guys Don't Dance (hey, I like that trainwreck of an ego trip), but never went back for other stuff that I really wanted - Cutthroats Nine, Near Dark, and anything I could afford from their horror section, they had a good b-movie selection, wish I had gone to that store when it was open. Should have bought less mainstream stuff, since it was going to hit DVD sooner for the most part.
Probably for the best if I'm serious about paring down my collection.
Ah yes, the $4.88 Wal-Mart bin. The only thing that'll make me set foot in one of those dumps.
I've got nothing against VHS. It's been a while since I've nabbed some though. I've managed to find some real interesting obscurities that way, like Confessions of a Police Captain, stuff that'll probably never be out on disk unless if falls into public domain.