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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.
Surf Nazis Must Die: Director's Cut (Stomp Visual) (1987)

Surf Nazis Must Die: Director's Cut (Stomp Visual) (1987) (NTSC)

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Released 16-Jun-2005
Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Horror	Menu Animation & Audio Introduction-Lloyd Kaufman (President Of Troma) Featurette-Take The Tour Of Troma Interviews-Crew-Peter George (Director) Interviews-Crew-Robert Tinnell (Producer) Trailer- Aroma Du Troma (Montage) TV Spots-PSA's Featurette-Scenes From The Tromaville Cafe Web Links Deleted Scenes-Lost Surf Scenes Gallery-Photo Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	83:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Peter George
Studio Distributor	Troma Studios Stomp Visual	Starring	Gail Neely Robert Harden Barry Brenner Dawn Wildsmith Michael Sonye Joel Hile Gene Mitchell Tom Shell Bobbie Bresee Thomas Demenkoff John Williamette Rand Hogen Daniel Kong
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip	Starring
RPI	$19.95	Music	Jon McCallum

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Screen, not known whether Pan & Scan or Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.29:1
16x9 Enhancement	No
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
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

Possibly more unwatchable than the last Troma film I reviewed - Redneck Zombies - is the unsufferable Surf Nazis Must Die, a particularly amateurish B-grade revenge flick featuring a clash between various surfer gangs and the one crazed black lady itching for vengeance over the death of her grandson. Like Redneck Zombies, its a high-concept premise that's executed horribly thus voiding any fun that might have been had with it.

The "storyline" follows the Surf Nazi gang as they do their Surf Nazi things alongside various interchangeable characters who do things related or unrelated to the plot, while the supposed protagonist, crazed old black lady Mama Washington (Gail Needy) settles into a retirement home and gives her carers sass. Her tune changes when her grandson is killed by the Surf Nazis, and she leaves the home to purchase weapons and go after the gang.

The central problem with this film is that it's such a crude, shambling mess that it's less a film than a bizarre montage of unrelated events and surfing footage. The godd*** surfing footage. The film keeps cutting to it for no reason whatsoever: to bookend scenes, in the middle of scenes, whenever someone uses a vowel, and its always some people we've never seen before (or we have, whatever) surfing. There's nothing in the way of characters except for Mama, who's essentially a precursor to Tyler Perry's insufferable Madea character. The craft that went into this film is non-existant: everything appears to have been shot with one take, subsequently amateurish to the extreme; each "action sequence" is a lengthy, awful, never-ending never-convincing slow fight on the beach in which the slow movements show off that no one was even potentially hurt; everything is something that no one in their right mind would have ever attempted to commit to celluloid. The super-cheap boat-vs-Nazi finale is cheap and crude and actually makes me a little sad - I never thought it possible that I could describe something like boat-vs-Nazi as boring and uninspired and insipid, but there you go.

There's just nothing more to say about this film. I really wish I could be recommending it as a cheap, fun B-grade flick to enjoy drunkenly with some mates, but.. no. Don't see this film. There are plenty of greats from the Troma archive that you can nab instead for a good bad movie night.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. I am unable to source if this is the original aspect ratio.

Surf Nazis Must Die gets off on the wrong foot with black/darkness problems as the film begins, which stresses how poor quality this transfer is to be. The film's dark scenes look terrible, either with nasty low level noise (12:55) or no detail whatsoever in darkness, just black (9:01). There's frequent film artefacts and other various problems, such as annoying telecine wobble (12:31) and odd issues with the colours changing within shots. It's an old film which hasn't been transferred well, and looks all the worse for it.

There are no subtitles.

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

Audio

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo).

Surf Nazis Must Die gets a better audio transfer than video, but that isn't really to the DVD's credit - this is a no-frills, workman-like competent audio track that delivers audible dialogue, effects and music but nothing else. There's some minor problems with drop-outs and changing audio levels, and there's certainly nothing in the way of surround, but all things considered this is fine.

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

Extras

Animated Menus with Sound

The menus here feature a taste of the soundtrack in the background over promo pictures and confusing menu choices. Usually I'm not so put off by the bizarre and awkward menus favoured by Troma, but it felt like a real pain trying to locate anything on the disc.

Lloyd Kaufman Intro (0:54)

Sometimes Lloyd's intro to the awful film actually makes the whole DVD experience worthwhile, but not here - Lloyd barely says anything here except that the film was taken to Cannes Film Festival and was quite well received - no japes, no jokes, very disappointing.

Interactive Tour of Troma Studios

The same interactive tour as seen on many of the Troma DVDs, this is great fun for fans with several sections to explore. Features extreme violence and gratuitous sexual content!

The Waves are a War Zone - Director Peter George (3:36) Producer Robert Tinnell (1:53)

A short interview with Director Peter George chews the fat over shooting the film, tensions on the set, and blah blah blah. Meanwhile the short interview with Producer Robert Tinnell has him talking up a major problem they had completing the film and then doesn't tell us how they solved the problem; like telling the first half of a joke and then refusing to reveal the punchline. Annoying.

Aroma Du Troma (2:00)

An extremely violent two minute montage of Troma clips advertising their most infamous films, with all the nudity and gore you can poke a stick at. It ends with a car flying through the air into a boat and exploding.

Lloyd Kaufman's Autobiography (1:15)

A short trailer for Lloyd’s book, featuring Michael Herz, Sgt Kabukiman, and a random scantily dressed girl.

Scenes from the Tromaville Cafe (3:29)

Terrible featurette of two random Troma actors dressed like fantasy characters leading into a sad interview between Lloyd Kaufman and the director.

Radiation March (0:53)

An extremely strange, surreal dance clip that’s really a public service announcement against pollution. I have no idea what this is doing on this DVD, aside from being very clearly in the vein of Troma, it’s a bizarre though enjoyable addition to the package.

Public Service Annoucement (3:36)

An excerpt from Troma’s Edge TV offering 90 seconds of uncut gratuitous nudity as a solution to those trapped in a hotel room unable to afford the cost of inhouse pornography.

Public Service Annoucement #2 (2:28)

Al Gore (who's black) appears to talk to us about Global Warming, while two nearly-naked girls undress and make-out, rubbing ice on their bodies. Then there's fart jokes. This is actually my favourite special feature on the DVD, much much better than the film itself, and achieving exactly what Troma is attempting to do.

Lost Surf Scenes

A selection of uninteresting cut scenes introduced by Lloyd and the director, and with commentary by the director.

Photo Gallery

Exactly what you'd expect here - a short slideshow of production stills with nothing major to report.

R4 vs R1

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

The R1 and R4 are identical except for the same ommissions plaguing other Aus Troma releases - the Troma Intelligence Test and Trailers are missing - I'd recommend whichever is cheapest, unless you HAVE to own the two extras.

Summary

Although not quite up to the standards of Rabid Grannies, Surf Nazis Must Die is still legitimately terrible and should be avoided.

The video transfers is awful whereas the audio transfer is average and workmanlike.

The extras are the same as on every other Troma disc with few exceptions.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Sony Playstation 3 (HDMI 1.3) with Upscaling, using Component output
Display	Philips 47PFL9732D 47-inch LCD . Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio Decoder	Logitech 5500 THX. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
Amplification	Logitech 5500 THX
Speakers	Logitech 5500 THX

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