Fight for Your Life (1977) (NTSC) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Horror |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Straw Weisman (Writer) And Lloyd Freidus (DoP) Theatrical Trailer-2 Teaser Trailer TV Spots-2 Gallery-Poster And Stills |
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Rating | ? | ||
Year Of Production | 1977 | ||
Running Time | 85:39 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Robert A. Endelson |
Studio
Distributor |
William Mishkin Stomp Visual |
Starring | William Sanderson |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $24.95 | Music | Jeff Slevin |
Video (NTSC) | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 480i (NTSC) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The biggest surprise for me in watching Fight For Your Life isn't that the film is still surprisingly effective in its unpleasant depictions of violence, sexual assault and murder (alongside an endless stream of racial abuse) but rather that the majority of the controversy is unfounded: gratuitous moments aside, director Robert A. Endelson created an intriguing character study in the power play between a strong black family and an unpleasant, pathetic man who seeks to have control and authority over them.
This is to say, there's no denying that the film includes squirm-inducing scenes of rape, a child being murdered, and a baby being threatened at gunpoint (shades of The Hills Have Eyes), but rather the accusations that the film is racist are completely unfounded. The characters are well developed beyond simple stereotypes, and the black family taken hostage show strength and defiance against their captors which are typically unseen in similar 42nd Street films of this nature (which leads to the inevitable series of revenge scenes against the criminals which are handled superbly, especially in comparison to vengeance-fantasy films like I Spit On Your Grave and Last House on the Left) As a lowbrow profile of the psychology of racism, the film is absolutely fascinating; consider that despite travelling with both a Hispanic and an Asian, who he also racially taunts, Kane only chooses to victimise the family when they don't offer him the authority that he feels he deserves over them, and subsequently his ongoing racist taunts come off less powerfully and become more and more pathetic as the film proceeds. Like most people who discriminate against race/gender/sexual preference/so on, this character is robbed of his power by the presence of these people who don't share his values, who discomfort him, who he perceives as a threat, and must regain the lost power through abuse. His ultimate destiny is that of a pathetic underhung child who cannot stand up to one with real values and worth, and this is understood by patriarch Ted Turner (a fantastic Robert Judd).
I'm very pleased that this film is now easily available, as exploitation fans and film fans in general now have the opportunity to view it. For those who can take the violent scenes and the often unbearable racial tirades, this is a fascinating grindhouse classic that's worth its cult status - just not for the reasons it has been remembered for.
Just as I was surprised by the quality of the film, I was astonished by the quality of the transfer, which is phenomenal for a low budget 1970's grindhouse film. Some light grain aside, this is a very strong, bright, focused video transfer that looks better here on DVD than a lot of the high budget 1970's films. The colours are vivid and bright, sometimes to the point where they draw attention to the low budget (observe Dirty Harry-esque fake blood that looks like delicious strawberry topping).
There are numerous issues with the dark scenes, however, which are haunted by low level noise and a lack of detail (see early in the film, such as 8:34) and minor film artefacts appear across the running time. On the flip side, although this is an NTSC transfer I saw no interlacing at all, and despite changes in film stock the transfer maintains a high level of detail throughout.
There are no subtitles.
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Overall |
This is a no-frills audio track which still offers a very strong listenable soundtrack. There isn't a lot of music used across the film, but the levels of the effects and dialogue are maintained and always audible, with no drop outs or other issues that are heard frequently heard in such low budget fare - it seems someone has done a very good job of cleaning this up. As mentioned in the past when reviewing low budget fare, for this DVD this sound is perfectly serviceable; I can't imagine Fight For Your Life in fully mastered DTS or better. I am perfectly satisfied with the audio and video transfers on the whole.
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Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video and audio transfers are both good, if minimalist.
The extras are also minimalist, unfortunately lacking any comprehensive coverage of the film and context.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony Playstation 3 (HDMI 1.3) with Upscaling, using Component output |
Display | Benq PE7700. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p. |
Audio Decoder | Logitech 5500 THX. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). |
Amplification | Logitech 5500 THX |
Speakers | Logitech 5500 THX |