Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Action Comedy	Audio Commentary-Lloyd Kaufman Audio Commentary-Troma Team editors Gabe Friedman and Sean McGrath Audio Commentary-Trent Haaga, Joe Fleishaker, David Mattey and others Outtakes-Jaw Dropping Deleted Scenes-Optional Commentary with Gabe Friedman, Sean McGrath Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Look at who's in Citizen Toxie Theatrical Trailer Featurette-Making Of Deleted Scenes-from "Apocalypse Soon" Unseen Footage-Premier of Theatrical releases around the world Featurette-Making Of-The Special effects and make up secrets of Toxic Avenger Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Script Meetings and pre production on Citizen Toxie
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	108:46
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (101:34)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Lloyd Kaufman
Studio Distributor	Stomp Stomp Visual	Starring	David Mattey Clyde Lewis Heidi Sjursen Paul Kyrmse Joe Fleishaker Michael Budinger Lisa Terezakis Dan Snow Debbie Rochon Barry Brisco Ron Jeremy Corey Feldman Rick Collins
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Chad Bernhard John Gemberling Wes Nagy

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 mono English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 mono English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None
16x9 Enhancement	No
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.37:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

     The Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie, the third sequel to Troma's most successful movie of all time, The Toxic Avenger, starts off on the right foot renouncing the previous two Toxie films as never happening before launching into a disgustingly offensive "special school shooting" by a gang of diaper-wearing psychopaths. The Toxic Avenger (David Mattey) and his sidekick Lard-Ass (Joe Fleishaker) are the only ones who can save the day - but an interdimensional tear is about to throw Toxie into his greatest mess yet, an alternative universe where everything is the complete opposite! While our hero is trapped in Amortville, his evil doppelganger the Noxious Offender (Noxie, also David Mattey) takes over Tromaville, murdering the mayor (Ron Jeremy) and impregnating Toxie's girlfriend (Heidi Sjursen)! Can anyone save Tromaville?

     Since Terror Firmer it feels like Troma have been trying to one-up themselves, and Citizen Toxie is a grand effort: featuring more "star" cameos than ever before, like Lemmy and Ron Jeremy and Corey Feldman, and narrated by one Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame, the film attempts to play up the idea of Toxie as a comic book hero whilst trying to be the most disgusting and offensive it could possibly be. (Troma were frequently in trouble during the production, for example drawing controversy over a scene in which a black man is dragged behind a car by racists until he is nothing but mush.) It's all good fun, though - consider the film an equal opportunity offender, in which nothing is sacred. Classic Troma footage is reused (including the infamous car crash - utilized after a pensioner hit and run - and a substantial amount of footage from the original Toxic Avenger) and there's even a cameo by the infamous P**** Monster from the classic Tromeo and Juliet. But while the gags are rapid fire, they're only about 50% effective, with long scenes dragging out and some pivotal, potentially hilarious moments falling flat.

     The film is bursting to the seams with characters, thus making it hard to be sympathetic with anyone, while the plot's lack of seriousness makes it difficult to care about. Still, it's very difficult to harbor animosity towards a film which features good vs. evil embryos battling it out in the womb and ends with a great joke stolen from the late Leslie Nielsen’s classic series Police Squad! (Not to mention footage of near-naked director Lloyd Kaufman running down the street in a parallel universe pro-recycling PSA, closing the film on an even weirder note). Troma's strengths are maintaining interest while being occasionally very funny, taking joy in their B-grade hits, and with this in mind the film delivers: it's rarely boring and often very funny, despite running too long and needing a little bit more direction. It's the perfect antidote to the previous two sequels, though, and a blast to watch with friends who love this kind of filmmaking.

Video

     The video is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The video transfer occasionally has problems, falling into the "above average" category in the Troma quality spectrum. As a direct NTSC conversion, there are lots of bad interlacing and aliasing, as well as obvious use of different types of footage that quickly draws one out of the viewing, particularly when stock footage and flashbacks to the previous film are used. On the other hand, this is a consistently bright and detailed transfer, with a lot of sharpness and lovely bright colours flourishing onscreen. The dark levels are quite good and the colours flourish, with the majority of it looking lovely and cartoonish as the screen explodes in extreme violence.

     There are English subtitles, which were accurate in the parts that I sampled.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 2.0. For a low budget film, this audio track is very effective. Although simplistic, lacking any surround and using minimal subwoofer, it's very clear and very audible, doing the different effects and music justice. Sound effects range from the typical horrific violent sounds to effects you'd usually find in cartoons, which ham up the onscreen action accordingly. The dialogue is fine, with good ADR and is very audible.

     The music by Wes Nagy is great, very fitting to the comic book "origin" of the story and sounds excellent here.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Animated Menus with Audio

     The Toxie-inspired animated menus are fantastic, focusing on the comic book nature of the film complete with toxic gunk and a great metal soundtrack.

Introduction by Lloyd Kaufman (2:23)

     Director and Troma President Lloyd Kaufman introduces the film with megastar Toxie, whose voice has been dubbed for not only the feature film, but also this amusing introduction. It's an obvious joke but a nice lead in to the feature film. In 1.33:1.

Commentary tracks by director Lloyd Kaufman, actors Trent Haaga, Michael Budinger, Heidi Sjursen and others, editors Gabriel Friedman and Sean McGrath

     Somehow, astonishingly, this film gets three commentary tracks, and all are actually quite good. The first is director Lloyd Kaufman, always a pleasure, with plenty of insight and gags about making this entry into his infamous series (though this cuts off suddenly at the end for reasons I'm unclear on); followed by a track featuring various actors led by Trent Haaga and Michael Budinger, then others recorded separately, which is very informative as to the creative process (Haaga wrote the first draft of the script and both were present for the entire production) and plenty of great vignettes and Easter eggs; and finally editor Gabriel Friedman with associate editor Sean McGrath with their own stories behind how the film came together, as well as some self-aware moments about mistakes they made in the post-production, and flatulence. Completists will have a blast listening to all of the different discussions of the film and the production, alongside the huge amount of other extras across the two discs.

Outtakes (7:16) and Deleted Scenes

     Several minutes of cast members flubbing their lines and swearing isn't nearly as amusing as anyone thinks it is, then over a dozen deleted scenes, most of which are under a minute and aren't great, with commentary explaining their omission. This desperately needs a "Play All" button, but is sadly lacking. In 1.33:1.

Citizens of Tromaville

     A collection of short on-set interviews and B-roll with 'stars' including Toxie, Heidi Sjursen, Ron Jeremy and James Gunn, with some footage of Lloyd mixed in. Very enjoyable to watch, in 1.33:1, although also demanding a "Play All" button..

Make Your Own D*** Movie trailer (1:45) and Troma Website

     A short trailer for Lloyd’s second book, and a quick peek at the Troma website, in 1.33:1.

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!

Radiation March (0:53)

     An extremely strange, surreal dance clip that’s really a public service announcement against pollution. A bizarre though enjoyable addition to the package.

Conception - In the Beginning: Pre-production (14:38), Toxie Mold / Test make up (3:01), Script Meeting (8:02)

     The first section of the second DVD covers the pre-production stage of the film, with interviews from the crew, shots from auditions, discussions with the screenwriters and Lloyd, and some commentary on homosexual nudity and the P**** Monster. Concludes with a t-shirt that says "Welcome to the Jungle," an accurate slogan for what's to come. The special effects test is quite interesting, watching them create the mould for the main star to wear, a time consuming process sped up here that looks very impressive and professional. Applying the prosthetics and make up to make the monster is also nifty - very professional for a production like this. The script meeting is a brief insight into the writing process, for completists only, concluding with a scene cut from the final film. All of these are in the same scratchy 1.33:1 as the rest of the film - I can't wait for Troma to get their hands on cheap HD.

Apocalypse Soon: The Making of The Toxic Avenger IV Citizen Toxie (137:23)

     The centrepiece of the bonus DVD is this epic, feature length 2002 documentary detailing the production phase of the film, capturing first hand a lot of the problems that went on during filming the movie. Lloyd Kaufman comes off sympathetically, dealing with his cast and crew with empathy and calm though occasionally launching into Michael Bay anger; unfortunately the majority of the Troma players don't come off nearly as well, with equal parts incompetence and stupidity making the production much more problematic than it should be. It's enjoyable to watch, though maybe a little too long, but fantastic to have a rare fly-on-the-wall look at making a low budget production. In 1.33:1.

Appendix

     The appendix to the production documentary is this collection of 9 behind-the-scenes shots from the production, covering some of the special effects shots and other issues that arose during shooting. Fun to watch, but as usual where's the "Play All"? In 1.33:1.

Completion - Clyde Lewis dubs Toxie (1:54), NYC Premiere (4:46), LA Premiere (4:00), Rashamoron Part 1 (7:00), Sitges (2:55)

     The post-production footage includes a short clip of recording the ADR for Toxie, who has an entirely different voice to the actor playing him, then premiere footage from the NYC and LA Premieres, which are a good mixture of "red carpet" footage, audience reactions and quick interviews with cast members. Rashamoron is incriminating behind-the-scenes footage from a radio interview in Japan with Lloyd Kaufman and Heidi Sjursen that is a complete disaster due to their amusing drunken misbehaviour. Sitges is a short bit of video from the Sitges film festival, which was the world premiere of the film, complete with nudity and misdirection claiming the film is a direct remake of Citizen Kane. In different levels of video quality in 1.33:1.

     The Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie is the best Toxic Avenger sequel: a gleefully disgusting and offensive film that is rarely boring and frequently funny, though could have used a little streamlining to truly be the best Toxie ever.

     The video and audio are both above average. The extras are plentiful and very entertaining for Troma fans, especially those who want a detailed look behind the scenes of the film.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall