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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Toxic Avenger Part III, The: The Last Temptation of Toxie (Blu-ray) (1989)

Toxic Avenger Part III, The: The Last Temptation of Toxie (Blu-ray) (1989)

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Released 19-Jul-2017

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Cult Introduction-Lloyd Kaufman (3:43)
Audio Commentary-Director Lloyd Kaufman
Audio Commentary-Actor Joe Flieshaker
Featurette-Tromoma (11:40)
Featurette-40 Years of Troma (2:03)
Featurette-Make Your Own Damn Horror Film! (11:26)
Featurette-A Halloween Carol (9:54)
More…-Rabid Grannies: The Infomercial (1:56)
Featurette-Pests! (1:17)
Featurette-Radiation March (0:56)
Theatrical Trailer-x 6 Troma films
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 1989
Running Time 101:41
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Michael Herz
Lloyd Kaufman
Studio
Distributor
Gryphon Entertainment Starring Ron Fazio
John Altamura
Phoebe Legere
Rick Collins
Lisa Gaye
Jessica Dublin
Tsutomu Sekine
Michael J. Kaplan
Traci Mann
Bonnie Garvin
Karen King
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI $14.95 Music Christopher De Marco


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     After returning from Japan, saving his blind girlfriend Claire (Phoebe Legere) and chasing the dastardly Apocalypse Corporation and their thugs out of Tromaville, the Toxic Avenger (John Altamura / Ron Fazio) settles down to a life of peace and bliss with Claire in the toxic waste dump they call home. But, unemployed and with no crime to fight, Toxie is depressed and neither Claire nor his mother (Jessica Dublin) are able to cheer him up. Worse, Toxie learns that although a new operation that could restore Claire’s sight is now available the cost of $357,000 is way out of reach. However, the Apocalypse Chairman (Rick Collins) hears of Toxie’s dilemma and comes up with a new strategy to take over Tromaville; as they cannot defeat Toxie he is offered a job as the spokesperson of the Apocalypse Corporation, the remuneration large enough to pay for Claire’s operation. So, for love, Toxie sells his soul.

     Toxie becomes everything he previously fought against; a corporate yuppie, throwing people out of their homes and allowing Tromaville children to become forced labour for Apocalypse. However, Claire’s operation is successful but she can now see what is happening in Tromaville and finally manages to get Toxie to open his eyes to what he has done. He calls on the Chairman, who transforms into the Devil and challenges Toxie to five contests / labours, winner take all.

     The Toxic Avenger Part III (aka The Last Temptation of Toxie) uses footage left over from The Toxic Avenger Part II and thus has the same cast as the earlier film. If The Toxic Avenger Part II lacked ideas, originality and a coherent plot structure, The Toxic Avenger Part III is worse. It starts off well with a sequence where Toxie foils some thugs in a video store; this is the usual Troma bad taste mayhem of jokes, innocent people killed in a spray of blood and bad guys having their intestines ripped out, hands decapitated in a video machine and a head skewered with a mop handle. But there the violence stalls until the climax; instead there are sight gags and jokes, some of which are funny, a lot not, which is expected in a Troma film. Dialogue is wooden and the Troma trademark school of acting is in full view with especially Phoebe Legere and Rick Collins being silly and annoying.

     The long climax is a contest between Toxie and the Devil. The make-up and Collins’s transforming into the Devil is not bad, as is a sequence with a school bus, but in the main this is a long boring sequence with few ideas and, in fact, it has more extended reaction shots of both Tromaville citizens and Apocalypse heavies than action. Troma can be inventive and over the top, but this, unfortunately, is just long and dull.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The Toxic Avenger Part III is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85.1, in 1080p with the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     This HD presentation is a vast improvement over the previous SD prints. There is softness in the wide shots where colours were also dull but close-ups are generally firm and blood and gore clear. There are some scratches and speckles, but nothing distracting. Grain is evident but also okay. Skin tones are fine. Blacks could be better due to some noise reduction and shadow detail is passable.

     There are no subtitles, not even of the Japanese dialogue at the end of the film.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track at 192 Kbps. The commentary tracks are the same.

     The dialogue was clear and easy to understand. Effects were very loud and sharp, including the explosion. At around 21 minutes there were a few loud crackles, but not elsewhere, and there was no hiss.

     Lip synchronisation is off during the song in the church but otherwise it was fine.

     The score by Christopher De Marco is strident and adds Amazing Grace.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Introduction by Lloyd Kaufman (3:43)

     This plays on start-up; Kaufman is in Denmark researching why Denmark is such a happy country.

Commentary by Director Lloyd Kaufman

     Kaufman can provide fun commentaries but this is not one of his best. He sits with a couple of Troma editors and is dead pan and tongue in cheek as he talks about how fabulous the film is, making two films from the footage they shot for The Toxic Avenger Part II, cast eccentricities, the music, yuppies and conspicuous consumption, identifies which actor was Toxie, turning the camera upside down, running the film backwards, using voiceover, directing with Michael Herz, the Toxie mask and other make-up. Editor Gabe Freeman joins later into the commentary – he hates the film and says why! Another issue with the commentary is that it is not in sync with the film, so that when Kaufman identifies actors, mentions locations and things of interest it is about 2-3 minutes after that sequence occurs on the screen, which is annoying although they get closer towards the end.

Commentary by Actor Joe Flieshaker

     Flieshaker is the large actor who appears in a number of Troma films. This is a sporadic commentary, unresearched, with dead pan humour, off hand comments and lots of silences. There is very little about the filming or the Troma experience and the film audio and this commentary are not in sync with the video but about a minute later. Strange, and not a particularly good commentary.

Tromoma (11:40)

     Troma is honoured by the NTC Museum of Modern Art screening Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 after which Kaufman and cast members Asta Paredes and Catherine Corcoran participate in a Q&A session.

40 Years of Troma (2:03)

    A Troma promotional tape.

Make Your Own D*** Horror Film! (11:26)

     Kaufman has a cameo in the film Old 37. On set he talks to cast and crew and provides tips for low budget, independent filmmakers.

A Halloween Carol (9:54)

     Old fashioned Kaufman is visited on Halloween eve by various people, include Toxie, to urge him to take Troma into the digital / YouTube age.

Rabid Grannies: The Infomercial (1:56)

    An ad for the Rabid Grannies Blu-ray.

Pests! (1:17)

     Another short piece of Kaufman strangeness.

Radiation March (0:56)

     Anti-pollution message in the Troma style.

Troma Trailers

    The Toxic Avenger (3:11), The Toxic Avenger Part II (2:19), The Toxic Avenger Part III (3:00), Citizen Toxie (3:28), Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 (3:24) and Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 2 (1:48)

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     This version of The Toxic Avenger Part III is identically to the US Blu-ray and indeed starts with the FBI antipiracy warning.

Summary

     The Toxic Avenger is synonymous with Troma films and Toxie’s misshapen face has become the Troma logo, so important was that film to the fortunes of the company. The Toxic Avenger Part III is not a good film, nor even a good Troma film; has occasional moments but is generally a mess and one for fans of Toxie or Troma.

     The Toxic Avenger Part III has been released in Australia previously and was reviewed on this site here. That DVD had the two audio commentaries that are on this Blu-ray release but otherwise, and other than the Radiation March, the extras are different. However, the DVD was 1.33:1 and had numerous artefacts. There was also a Director’s Cut released in 2010 but if you are a fan of Troma, or of The Toxic Avenger Part III, an upgrade is warranted.

     The video and audio are acceptable. There a number of extras, some new although others have appeared elsewhere on Troma releases.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE