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| "TROMA'S Toxic Avenger Box Set!" |
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The Tox Box - The Toxic Avenger Boxset
BOXSET/APPROX. 297 MINS/1985 - 1989/USA UNRATED
BOXSET/APPROX. 297 MINS/1985 - 1989/USA UNRATED
Having noticed that the DVD release of Toxic Avenger II was not truly the director’s cut the box claimed it to be, the Troma team saw fit to put the
first three UNCUT Toxie films together in a little container and give it a name that rhymed.
A good way to kick off any series is with the original film. Who could forget the loveable tale behind The Toxic Avenger, the story of Melvin the
mopboy’s descent into a barrel of toxic waste during a cruel practical joke? Melvin mutates into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size
and strength, and begins ridding his hometown of all evildoers in extremely messy ways. This gory, hammy classic with toxic waste that looks
suspiciously like green Jell-O introduced us to our favourite tutu wearing, voice fluctuating hero, and no Tox Box would be complete without it.
Fortunately, it is included. This would be a rather stupid collection if it wasn’t, really.
The DVD has some nice extras, though some will be pretty familiar by the end of the Box. Toxic Avenger comes with the first Troma Intelligent Test
included, a game where you try to answer questions about Troma. Answering correctly normally earns a snippet of nudity, incorrectly earns a clip of
a painful demise. The T.I.T. is the reason this DVD was denied classification in Australia, so the disc had to be repressed without it there. The DVD
also has Lloyd’s intro from the original “director’s cut” (just the same old unrated version) video release, “lost scenes” which have been “found” for
TV versions for many years, and a slideshow featuring stills. Oddly, the “lost scenes” are presented without the intro Lloyd shot for the “director’s
cut” video release. Along with those extras comes comic and cartoon art; the Radiation March, a weird public service announcement; the Toxic
Crusaders intro; the “Death of Toxie” episode of Tromaville caf?; Troma trailers;; Aroma du Troma (clips of Troma flicks to M?torhead’s “Sacrifice”); a
tour of the Troma building featuring plenty of juvenile humor; and a very stupid thing about Toxie 15 years after the first film. The DVD lists Lloyd’s
farewell as an extra, but it’s the same thing as his intro.
The DVD comes with two commentaries. One is “Secrets of Mopboy,” with Mark Torgl, the man who played Melvin prior to his transformation. Torgl’s
commentary is presented in a 'select a scene' type menu, which is practical because his commentary is only offered on select scenes. Guess there
wasn’t much point in listening to him prattle on about stuff he wasn’t in…the second commentary features Lloyd Kaufman, who lovingly mocks his
product. His commentary is amusing and informative with very few gaps. Unfortunately, the background audio is out of sync with the film, which I
found a bit distracting. Otherwise, this track is a lot of fun.
Though the original is a classic, the real star of The Tox Box is Toxic Avenger II FINALLY making its US debut as the unrated gore fest it was meant
to be. I wonder what was with all those other copies that’ve been marketed for several years as unrated director’s cuts? Unfortunately, Toxic
Avenger II and III were originally intended to be one film. When it was discovered there was way too much footage for one movie, the film was
split into two parts. In order to get two feature length films, though, a lot of stuff was left in that shouldn’t have been, especially the pointless,
tacked on climax. II is too long, but it’s got some fun along the way. With tongue threatening to burst through cheek in a horribly violent explosion,
the sequel offers more glorious mutilation of bad guys.
In this installment, Toxie has cleaned up Tromaville and is a bit bored. As he’s questioning his worth in the community, the evil Apocalypse
Incorporated group shows up and tries to destroy him. When they fail, they instead influence Toxie’s shrink to send him on a quest which will leave
him out of the area. I’m not sure why Toxie’s tromatons didn’t react to the shrink, who was now a tool of evil, but should anyone really waste
precious brain cells finding plot holes in a movie like this? Any who, Toxie’s off to Japan to find his father. But first he finds this Japanese girl who
Troma dubbed with the most annoying voice possible. Turns out the new voice was provided by Lloyd’s wife. If I were the Japanese actress, I’d be
pissed if a movie company took out my voice and replaced it with something that makes Fran Drescher sound pleasant and soothing. Without the
excessive and ridiculous gore the movie was left just silly, but despite of that, I’ve always enjoyed Toxie II. Now it finally fits in the series, the gore
helping the film a lot.
Some of the FX are incredibly goofy and cartoony, such as the guy squished under his hat and the basketball midget, and there is some nice meat
in this film. The first scene has a lot more gore, making up most of the augments to the runtime. We finally get the full wheelchair crushing, the
rosary death is extended, a fist smooshes in a face, necks gush blood, and ears are more explicitly ripped off (which explains the deaf guy in III).
The overall scene was too long in the cut version, and it still gets a little draggy here and there. The added punchlines to the fights helps, but this
is one of the areas where splitting into two films hurt because the editing needed to be quicker. More new stuff includes a scene set in a radio
station, Toxie grinding a bad guy with his foot, and a cone scene which was cut more for content than bloodshed. The Japanese crew did the best
gore FX, and Big Mac’s full dismemberment is the highlight of the DVD. Some of the FX in this scene are a little hokey, but damn, some look
good…wonder where Japanese people learned to film people being hacked up so well.
While both II and III suffer from the milking of footage, II holds up better. There are many scenes, including the fights, which are too long, but it’s
hard to dislike a movie with assassins that wear puffy, tiger underwear. Watch for the introduction of the DeNiro-like egg eater, and some kooky
credits.
Like every Troma DVD I’ve gotten, II’s not light on extras. Unfortunately, within The Tox Box a lot of the extras are repeats, presumably because
when the discs were originally pressed, they weren’t part of The Tox Box. Of course, since this is a repress to get the true uncut version, it was a
whole new disc anyway, so what the fuck? The T.I.T., Troma tour, Radiation March, Aroma Du Troma, and Toxie 15 years later are all on this disc,
too. There’s also a still gallery, some behind the scenes footage, and clips of the female Japanese lead on Japanese TV PROVING she sounds
nothing like her annoying English dub. A few interviews, listed as commentaries on the menu are also available. Two are unspectacular, one with
Michael Gingold of Fangoria, the other with Video Hound’s Mike Mayo. The third, with the lead villainess, has her coming off as freaky weird and is
just dumb. Smaller bonuses include an ad for Lloyd’s autobiography; the Toxie’s birthday episode of Tromaville Caf?, which ends with Toxie breast
feeding off Lloyd; two public service announcements, one funny, one just stupid, but with nudity if that’s all you care about; and some more Troma
trailers.
Lloyd once again offers up a commentary track full of fond mockery of his product, chronicling mishaps of the film and such. At one point while
discussing a mean blind lady, Lloyd trails off and cuts out, then picks up on an entirely new theme, like some weird audio jump. Other than that this
track is quite good…except IT MADE ME SO FUCKING MAD AT LLOYD!! Lloyd admits that it was the “R” version of II was put out on the first
“director’s cut” DVD, but says he didn’t realize they were releasing a cut version until doing the commentary, and by then it was too late to change
the film and make the DVD release date. But surely Troma lost money on returned discs by doing this? I took back the video I bought years ago
when it turned out to be the same “R” version. It’s not like Troma didn’t know, either, because the cassette itself said it was the “R” version!
Anyway, Lloyd then goes on to thank the fans for calling to Troma’s attention the fact that they’d released a fucked DVD and a blatant case of false
advertising. Lloyd, what do you mean you didn’t know until the commentary? I wrote to Troma at LEAST five years ago about this very problem
when I bought the stupid “R” version!! The prior DVD release infuriates me, and the whole fiasco left me wondering what I felt about Troma as a
whole.
Toxic Avenger III: The Last Temptation of Toxie also boasts to be the “unrated directors cut,” but it appears to just be the same unrated version
that was released when the film first came out. It’s easily the least of the series, but it does have some merit. Part III suffers more than II did from
the splitting into two films. III opens with a typically over the top violent scene set in a video store…but then not much happens until the climax.
Toxie has returned from Japan, but gets duped into working for Apocalypse in order to pay for his girlfriend to get eye surgery. I’m not sure why his
Tromatons don’t react to the people at Apocalypse, Inc., but whatever. While definitely not the most action-driven installment, III is pretty funny.
Wondering what to call a cross between a frog and a duck will always elicit a chuckle from me, but I’m particularly fond of the send up of Angel
Heart’s Louis Cyphre. First glimpsed in II, here the Cypher spin off gets a chance to show his egg munching abilities. Toxie finally confronts the devil
at the end of the film in a video game sequence called 5 Levels of Doom. By then, the viewer will be wishing it were the 1st Level of Doom, but at
least there’s been a few laughs.
For some reason, III gets the best treatment out of the first three films. The menus on the DVD are significantly upgraded from the prior two discs,
and there are more extras. The DVD proudly proclaims to have subs for the hearing impaired, but they suck. They get cropped off screen, words
turn into strings of coding, and sometimes they get stuck on one line. If the desire to read along with the story is the make or break on whether or
not to purchase, stay away.
Fortunately, there are some other things that actually do work, like a few quick interviews with the cast. I enjoyed Rick Collins a lot, despite the
annoying camera movement, and found his presentation of various anecdotes about David Mamet and scaring children quite amusing. While
wandering around Troma HQ, Ron Fazio talks about his being hired and replacing the other guy playing Toxie. He tells a few anecdotes as well, but
he’s not as good as Collins and ends up chatting with Lloyd, who claims he couldn’t find Fazio to cast him in Citizen Toxie. I found that a bit odd,
since Joe Fleishaker says he’s been in contact with Fazio, and Fleishaker’s obviously still around. Tracy Mann, the black-lit snake girl, offers some
relatively amusing stories. Gay Terry, the scripter, gets subjected to more of that annoying camera movement crap, but has some interesting
things to say. She discusses changes to the script, developments that were made, and things she’d have preferred handled differently. Of the
interviews, Fleishaker’s is the worst, since it’s just a stream of fat jokes from the interviewer. There’s also some quick catch ups with the stars on
the set of Citizen Toxie, featuring Fleishaker, Collins, and Dan “Cigar Face” Snow.
If you don’t get enough of Fleishaker there, you can also see him star in the included short, Naked Dance of the Damned Fat, an odd, black-lit
thing. One of the better extras is clips from the Anthology Film Archives screening of The Toxic Avenger, which has Lloyd and the guys that played
the two road-runnin’ teens talking to a small crowd. I don’t know what was with the poor turn out, but the snippets are cool, and this was the only
place I saw those two particular people discuss their place in cinema history. I’m not sure why this wasn’t on The Toxic Avenger DVD, but at least it
made it on somewhere. I also got some enjoyment from “Where in the World is Toxie,” a feature that offers up some amusing clips of the Troma
Team touring the world. These clips were my introduction to Heidi Sjursen, star of Citizen Toxie, and she’s VERY, VERY annoying. Check out the
Rashamoron bit on Citizen Toxie if these segments leave you doubting this. You shouldn’t doubt this, of course, because I said it, and if I say
things, they are irrefutable. This is also where the Easter Egg is on the DVD. I think it was almost impossible to miss by just trying to move the
cursor around the map sites, but press down on “Korea” to hit it for sure. You’ll be treated to Lloyd filming scenic stuff in Brussels to prove to his
wife that he wasn’t "spending all his time getting lapdances" while he's in Europe. Also included on the disc are the Radiation March (yes, AGAIN);
the Troma Treasure Chest, a QVC parody; a Tromadance retrospective; a slideshow; and Troma Trailers. The Tromadance thing annoyed me,
because it seems Troma’s doing something pretty cool there for indie cinema, and I still wanted to be mad at Lloyd for re-releasing the “R” II.
Another interesting feature on the DVD is the “play with commentary" function because I couldn’t get it to work. I had to toggle through the audio
options to hear the other tracks, but I guess that’s not too difficult. Lloyd quickly claims III is the greatest film in the Toxie series and possibly the
best Troma flick ever. I’m hoping he was being facetious. Lloyd repeats a few things that were said on II’s commentary, but given that the two
films were shot together, that’s understandable since some information would be relevant for either movie. Lloyd has two editors in with him, who
were barely on II’s commentary, but here interrupt much more. At first this stilts the track because they were not part of the film at all, but
eventually they begin to chime in with worthwhile things to say, like mentioning how so many shots are milked for run time because of the splitting
of the films. Lloyd offers more self-deprecation and sarcasm, as he tells about this particular cinematic adventure. He admits the films were
compromised for MP@@ ratings, leading to conformity within the films, hurting the two sequels. It’s amusing that the two co-commentators don’t
really like III, citing the lack of deaths and violence. They seem to really admire the first film, but dislike the sequels ‘cause more people survive…I
guess they forgot the two female villains in the first film, who both receive inane punishments and live. I suppose the editors could say that the
scene showing that the two girls survive was cut, so it seems that they die gruesome deaths. Well pthppppppt to you. The intent was still there,
and either way you don’t see anything in the film, so at the very least they’re tame off-screen kills. Anyway, Lloyd frequently says that III had little
exposure, which I found odd since it was at virtually every video store I ever went in. Maybe that particular Troma flick was a hot renter in my little
redneck, hick town, so every store needed a copy? For some reason, Lloyd’s commentary abruptly ends. Maybe God smote him for saying III was
the best.
Along with Lloyd’s view of things is an additional commentary from Fleishaker. He makes a few humorously condescending observations and gives
some actor information, but this track probably should have been given a treatment similar to Torgl's on The Toxic Avenger. There are some
significant gaps on the track, and once again the background audio is out of sync with the film. This is more annoying than it was on The Toxic
Avenger because Fleishaker’s not talking enough to cover up the background, so you’re left watching the film out of sync. Instead of Fleishaker, I
wish Collins had been given a full commentary. He was in the film more, so the gaps would’ve been less, and he seems to be a good orator.
An exclusive to The Tox Box (unless the uncut version of II is never released solo, I guess) is The Toxic Crusaders’ movie. The DVD starts off with
Uncle Lloyd’s very funny intro about media monopolies, and then we get 6 episodes of the TV show. Since the story did expand, it’s ALMOST like a
movie, I suppose. The first episode is pretty jumpy as it tries to set up the whole situation, but the pace slows in the later episodes. It’s a funny,
self-aware show, that might appeal to fans of things like The Tick and John Byrne’s She-Hulk run.
The DVD also has, SURPRISE, the Radiation March, and the first chapters from the Radar Men from the Moon and Undersea Kingdom serials. I guess
Troma’s affiliated with the company releasing these serials, so we essentially get a prolonged ad for Commando Cody and some crappy
underwater thing. The Troma classroom feature is just an ad for Lloyd’s book. The disc also includes two Toxic Crusaders comic stories.
The films are all presented at 1.33:1.
If you like The Toxic Avenger, you probably already have this. If you don’t like The Toxic Avenger, you probably don’t want this at all, so I’m curious
why you’d read this far. Either way, I’ve just wasted a lot of time writing all this up, haven’t I?
first three UNCUT Toxie films together in a little container and give it a name that rhymed.
A good way to kick off any series is with the original film. Who could forget the loveable tale behind The Toxic Avenger, the story of Melvin the
mopboy’s descent into a barrel of toxic waste during a cruel practical joke? Melvin mutates into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size
and strength, and begins ridding his hometown of all evildoers in extremely messy ways. This gory, hammy classic with toxic waste that looks
suspiciously like green Jell-O introduced us to our favourite tutu wearing, voice fluctuating hero, and no Tox Box would be complete without it.
Fortunately, it is included. This would be a rather stupid collection if it wasn’t, really.
The DVD has some nice extras, though some will be pretty familiar by the end of the Box. Toxic Avenger comes with the first Troma Intelligent Test
included, a game where you try to answer questions about Troma. Answering correctly normally earns a snippet of nudity, incorrectly earns a clip of
a painful demise. The T.I.T. is the reason this DVD was denied classification in Australia, so the disc had to be repressed without it there. The DVD
also has Lloyd’s intro from the original “director’s cut” (just the same old unrated version) video release, “lost scenes” which have been “found” for
TV versions for many years, and a slideshow featuring stills. Oddly, the “lost scenes” are presented without the intro Lloyd shot for the “director’s
cut” video release. Along with those extras comes comic and cartoon art; the Radiation March, a weird public service announcement; the Toxic
Crusaders intro; the “Death of Toxie” episode of Tromaville caf?; Troma trailers;; Aroma du Troma (clips of Troma flicks to M?torhead’s “Sacrifice”); a
tour of the Troma building featuring plenty of juvenile humor; and a very stupid thing about Toxie 15 years after the first film. The DVD lists Lloyd’s
farewell as an extra, but it’s the same thing as his intro.
The DVD comes with two commentaries. One is “Secrets of Mopboy,” with Mark Torgl, the man who played Melvin prior to his transformation. Torgl’s
commentary is presented in a 'select a scene' type menu, which is practical because his commentary is only offered on select scenes. Guess there
wasn’t much point in listening to him prattle on about stuff he wasn’t in…the second commentary features Lloyd Kaufman, who lovingly mocks his
product. His commentary is amusing and informative with very few gaps. Unfortunately, the background audio is out of sync with the film, which I
found a bit distracting. Otherwise, this track is a lot of fun.
Though the original is a classic, the real star of The Tox Box is Toxic Avenger II FINALLY making its US debut as the unrated gore fest it was meant
to be. I wonder what was with all those other copies that’ve been marketed for several years as unrated director’s cuts? Unfortunately, Toxic
Avenger II and III were originally intended to be one film. When it was discovered there was way too much footage for one movie, the film was
split into two parts. In order to get two feature length films, though, a lot of stuff was left in that shouldn’t have been, especially the pointless,
tacked on climax. II is too long, but it’s got some fun along the way. With tongue threatening to burst through cheek in a horribly violent explosion,
the sequel offers more glorious mutilation of bad guys.
In this installment, Toxie has cleaned up Tromaville and is a bit bored. As he’s questioning his worth in the community, the evil Apocalypse
Incorporated group shows up and tries to destroy him. When they fail, they instead influence Toxie’s shrink to send him on a quest which will leave
him out of the area. I’m not sure why Toxie’s tromatons didn’t react to the shrink, who was now a tool of evil, but should anyone really waste
precious brain cells finding plot holes in a movie like this? Any who, Toxie’s off to Japan to find his father. But first he finds this Japanese girl who
Troma dubbed with the most annoying voice possible. Turns out the new voice was provided by Lloyd’s wife. If I were the Japanese actress, I’d be
pissed if a movie company took out my voice and replaced it with something that makes Fran Drescher sound pleasant and soothing. Without the
excessive and ridiculous gore the movie was left just silly, but despite of that, I’ve always enjoyed Toxie II. Now it finally fits in the series, the gore
helping the film a lot.
Some of the FX are incredibly goofy and cartoony, such as the guy squished under his hat and the basketball midget, and there is some nice meat
in this film. The first scene has a lot more gore, making up most of the augments to the runtime. We finally get the full wheelchair crushing, the
rosary death is extended, a fist smooshes in a face, necks gush blood, and ears are more explicitly ripped off (which explains the deaf guy in III).
The overall scene was too long in the cut version, and it still gets a little draggy here and there. The added punchlines to the fights helps, but this
is one of the areas where splitting into two films hurt because the editing needed to be quicker. More new stuff includes a scene set in a radio
station, Toxie grinding a bad guy with his foot, and a cone scene which was cut more for content than bloodshed. The Japanese crew did the best
gore FX, and Big Mac’s full dismemberment is the highlight of the DVD. Some of the FX in this scene are a little hokey, but damn, some look
good…wonder where Japanese people learned to film people being hacked up so well.
While both II and III suffer from the milking of footage, II holds up better. There are many scenes, including the fights, which are too long, but it’s
hard to dislike a movie with assassins that wear puffy, tiger underwear. Watch for the introduction of the DeNiro-like egg eater, and some kooky
credits.
Like every Troma DVD I’ve gotten, II’s not light on extras. Unfortunately, within The Tox Box a lot of the extras are repeats, presumably because
when the discs were originally pressed, they weren’t part of The Tox Box. Of course, since this is a repress to get the true uncut version, it was a
whole new disc anyway, so what the fuck? The T.I.T., Troma tour, Radiation March, Aroma Du Troma, and Toxie 15 years later are all on this disc,
too. There’s also a still gallery, some behind the scenes footage, and clips of the female Japanese lead on Japanese TV PROVING she sounds
nothing like her annoying English dub. A few interviews, listed as commentaries on the menu are also available. Two are unspectacular, one with
Michael Gingold of Fangoria, the other with Video Hound’s Mike Mayo. The third, with the lead villainess, has her coming off as freaky weird and is
just dumb. Smaller bonuses include an ad for Lloyd’s autobiography; the Toxie’s birthday episode of Tromaville Caf?, which ends with Toxie breast
feeding off Lloyd; two public service announcements, one funny, one just stupid, but with nudity if that’s all you care about; and some more Troma
trailers.
Lloyd once again offers up a commentary track full of fond mockery of his product, chronicling mishaps of the film and such. At one point while
discussing a mean blind lady, Lloyd trails off and cuts out, then picks up on an entirely new theme, like some weird audio jump. Other than that this
track is quite good…except IT MADE ME SO FUCKING MAD AT LLOYD!! Lloyd admits that it was the “R” version of II was put out on the first
“director’s cut” DVD, but says he didn’t realize they were releasing a cut version until doing the commentary, and by then it was too late to change
the film and make the DVD release date. But surely Troma lost money on returned discs by doing this? I took back the video I bought years ago
when it turned out to be the same “R” version. It’s not like Troma didn’t know, either, because the cassette itself said it was the “R” version!
Anyway, Lloyd then goes on to thank the fans for calling to Troma’s attention the fact that they’d released a fucked DVD and a blatant case of false
advertising. Lloyd, what do you mean you didn’t know until the commentary? I wrote to Troma at LEAST five years ago about this very problem
when I bought the stupid “R” version!! The prior DVD release infuriates me, and the whole fiasco left me wondering what I felt about Troma as a
whole.
Toxic Avenger III: The Last Temptation of Toxie also boasts to be the “unrated directors cut,” but it appears to just be the same unrated version
that was released when the film first came out. It’s easily the least of the series, but it does have some merit. Part III suffers more than II did from
the splitting into two films. III opens with a typically over the top violent scene set in a video store…but then not much happens until the climax.
Toxie has returned from Japan, but gets duped into working for Apocalypse in order to pay for his girlfriend to get eye surgery. I’m not sure why his
Tromatons don’t react to the people at Apocalypse, Inc., but whatever. While definitely not the most action-driven installment, III is pretty funny.
Wondering what to call a cross between a frog and a duck will always elicit a chuckle from me, but I’m particularly fond of the send up of Angel
Heart’s Louis Cyphre. First glimpsed in II, here the Cypher spin off gets a chance to show his egg munching abilities. Toxie finally confronts the devil
at the end of the film in a video game sequence called 5 Levels of Doom. By then, the viewer will be wishing it were the 1st Level of Doom, but at
least there’s been a few laughs.
For some reason, III gets the best treatment out of the first three films. The menus on the DVD are significantly upgraded from the prior two discs,
and there are more extras. The DVD proudly proclaims to have subs for the hearing impaired, but they suck. They get cropped off screen, words
turn into strings of coding, and sometimes they get stuck on one line. If the desire to read along with the story is the make or break on whether or
not to purchase, stay away.
Fortunately, there are some other things that actually do work, like a few quick interviews with the cast. I enjoyed Rick Collins a lot, despite the
annoying camera movement, and found his presentation of various anecdotes about David Mamet and scaring children quite amusing. While
wandering around Troma HQ, Ron Fazio talks about his being hired and replacing the other guy playing Toxie. He tells a few anecdotes as well, but
he’s not as good as Collins and ends up chatting with Lloyd, who claims he couldn’t find Fazio to cast him in Citizen Toxie. I found that a bit odd,
since Joe Fleishaker says he’s been in contact with Fazio, and Fleishaker’s obviously still around. Tracy Mann, the black-lit snake girl, offers some
relatively amusing stories. Gay Terry, the scripter, gets subjected to more of that annoying camera movement crap, but has some interesting
things to say. She discusses changes to the script, developments that were made, and things she’d have preferred handled differently. Of the
interviews, Fleishaker’s is the worst, since it’s just a stream of fat jokes from the interviewer. There’s also some quick catch ups with the stars on
the set of Citizen Toxie, featuring Fleishaker, Collins, and Dan “Cigar Face” Snow.
If you don’t get enough of Fleishaker there, you can also see him star in the included short, Naked Dance of the Damned Fat, an odd, black-lit
thing. One of the better extras is clips from the Anthology Film Archives screening of The Toxic Avenger, which has Lloyd and the guys that played
the two road-runnin’ teens talking to a small crowd. I don’t know what was with the poor turn out, but the snippets are cool, and this was the only
place I saw those two particular people discuss their place in cinema history. I’m not sure why this wasn’t on The Toxic Avenger DVD, but at least it
made it on somewhere. I also got some enjoyment from “Where in the World is Toxie,” a feature that offers up some amusing clips of the Troma
Team touring the world. These clips were my introduction to Heidi Sjursen, star of Citizen Toxie, and she’s VERY, VERY annoying. Check out the
Rashamoron bit on Citizen Toxie if these segments leave you doubting this. You shouldn’t doubt this, of course, because I said it, and if I say
things, they are irrefutable. This is also where the Easter Egg is on the DVD. I think it was almost impossible to miss by just trying to move the
cursor around the map sites, but press down on “Korea” to hit it for sure. You’ll be treated to Lloyd filming scenic stuff in Brussels to prove to his
wife that he wasn’t "spending all his time getting lapdances" while he's in Europe. Also included on the disc are the Radiation March (yes, AGAIN);
the Troma Treasure Chest, a QVC parody; a Tromadance retrospective; a slideshow; and Troma Trailers. The Tromadance thing annoyed me,
because it seems Troma’s doing something pretty cool there for indie cinema, and I still wanted to be mad at Lloyd for re-releasing the “R” II.
Another interesting feature on the DVD is the “play with commentary" function because I couldn’t get it to work. I had to toggle through the audio
options to hear the other tracks, but I guess that’s not too difficult. Lloyd quickly claims III is the greatest film in the Toxie series and possibly the
best Troma flick ever. I’m hoping he was being facetious. Lloyd repeats a few things that were said on II’s commentary, but given that the two
films were shot together, that’s understandable since some information would be relevant for either movie. Lloyd has two editors in with him, who
were barely on II’s commentary, but here interrupt much more. At first this stilts the track because they were not part of the film at all, but
eventually they begin to chime in with worthwhile things to say, like mentioning how so many shots are milked for run time because of the splitting
of the films. Lloyd offers more self-deprecation and sarcasm, as he tells about this particular cinematic adventure. He admits the films were
compromised for MP@@ ratings, leading to conformity within the films, hurting the two sequels. It’s amusing that the two co-commentators don’t
really like III, citing the lack of deaths and violence. They seem to really admire the first film, but dislike the sequels ‘cause more people survive…I
guess they forgot the two female villains in the first film, who both receive inane punishments and live. I suppose the editors could say that the
scene showing that the two girls survive was cut, so it seems that they die gruesome deaths. Well pthppppppt to you. The intent was still there,
and either way you don’t see anything in the film, so at the very least they’re tame off-screen kills. Anyway, Lloyd frequently says that III had little
exposure, which I found odd since it was at virtually every video store I ever went in. Maybe that particular Troma flick was a hot renter in my little
redneck, hick town, so every store needed a copy? For some reason, Lloyd’s commentary abruptly ends. Maybe God smote him for saying III was
the best.
Along with Lloyd’s view of things is an additional commentary from Fleishaker. He makes a few humorously condescending observations and gives
some actor information, but this track probably should have been given a treatment similar to Torgl's on The Toxic Avenger. There are some
significant gaps on the track, and once again the background audio is out of sync with the film. This is more annoying than it was on The Toxic
Avenger because Fleishaker’s not talking enough to cover up the background, so you’re left watching the film out of sync. Instead of Fleishaker, I
wish Collins had been given a full commentary. He was in the film more, so the gaps would’ve been less, and he seems to be a good orator.
An exclusive to The Tox Box (unless the uncut version of II is never released solo, I guess) is The Toxic Crusaders’ movie. The DVD starts off with
Uncle Lloyd’s very funny intro about media monopolies, and then we get 6 episodes of the TV show. Since the story did expand, it’s ALMOST like a
movie, I suppose. The first episode is pretty jumpy as it tries to set up the whole situation, but the pace slows in the later episodes. It’s a funny,
self-aware show, that might appeal to fans of things like The Tick and John Byrne’s She-Hulk run.
The DVD also has, SURPRISE, the Radiation March, and the first chapters from the Radar Men from the Moon and Undersea Kingdom serials. I guess
Troma’s affiliated with the company releasing these serials, so we essentially get a prolonged ad for Commando Cody and some crappy
underwater thing. The Troma classroom feature is just an ad for Lloyd’s book. The disc also includes two Toxic Crusaders comic stories.
The films are all presented at 1.33:1.
If you like The Toxic Avenger, you probably already have this. If you don’t like The Toxic Avenger, you probably don’t want this at all, so I’m curious
why you’d read this far. Either way, I’ve just wasted a lot of time writing all this up, haven’t I?
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