The Deathsport / BattleTruck double feature is due out on August 3rd, and can currently be pre-ordered at considerable savings through Amazon.com

The first of Shout! Factory’s Roger Corman’s Cult Classics double feature DVDs brings together two wildly disparate but thematically complementary New World catalog titles – 1978’s Deathsport, roughly inspired by the earlier Death Race 2000, and 1982’s BattleTruck, an independent production from New Zealand distributed in the United States by Corman’s company. While the former was made available on DVD in 2000, the latter here makes its domestic digital debut.

Set a thousand or so years in the future, after the Great Neutron War has caused the collapse of Western civilization, Deathsport follows a pair of nomadic warriors (David Carradine and a gorgeous Claudia Jennings) who are captured by a cruel despot for use in his government-sanctioned ‘deathsport’ – gladiatorial combat intended to keep the population of his kingdom under his control. The two warriors escape in the midst of combat, and are pursued cross-country by one of the despot’s henchmen (Richard Lynch, The Sword and the Sorceror), himself a well-trained warrior. Along the way they encounter bands of bug-eyed mutant men and an inordinate number of exploding dirt bikes.

Utter nonsense from start to finish, Deathsport is unflinchingly stupid post-apocalyptic entertainment that makes up for its foolishness in the typical Corman-approved manner: with lots of low-budget action and as much exposed skin as can be crammed into the narrative. The story by Frances Doel, Nicholas Niciphor and Donald Stewart posits an improbable post-war future that puts medieval-styled warlords in control of space-age gadgets (hand held lasers, force fields and the like) and armies of dirt bike ‘death machines’. The writing is almost universally abominable, the sort of ambiguous fantasy stuff that will leave many rolling wth laughter (provided their stomachs aren’t too busy churning). “Now we will have our duel,” says Carradine before a climactic sword battle, prompting an inept, “I agree,” from nemesis Lynch.

It’s difficult to tell whether its the direction (credited to Allan Arkush and writer Niciphor with an uncredited assist from Corman himself) which is awkward here or merely the source material, and I’m not sure it really matters. The disappointing opening third is full of clumsy dramatics, all handled with a near-insufferable seriousness, but once the eponymous combat begins the film evolves into something far more amusing, with plenty of motorbike chases, explosions, breast shots and hand-to-hand combat to keep things interesting. The focus was clearly on the money shots here, and to hell with the rest, leaving Deathsport a resoundingly hollow but ultimately entertaining drive-in affair.

Produced beyond Corman’s sphere of influence in the gorgeous New Zealand countryside, BattleTruck (also known as Warlords of the 21st Century) proved quite a surprise. The action here is strictly of the PG variety, with not even a hint of nudity in sight. It’s enough to make one wonder why Corman and New World were interested in distributing the picture at all, though I’m quite glad they were.

Michael Beck (The Warriors,Xanadu) is Hunter, a hardened but kind-hearted survivor managing a comfortable and ecologically sound existence in the aftermath of a world-wide fuel war that has crumbled civilization to its very foundations. He keeps friendly with a local farming commune and raises chickens, from which he distills a methane fuel to keep his trusty motorcycle rolling. Everything seems fine for Hunter until the day he happens upon a young woman (Annie McEnroe, The Hebrew Hammer) on the run from a band of thugs. Though she pretends otherwise for a time, the woman turns out to be the daughter of Straker (James Wainwright, The Survivors), a cruel ex-military warlord who roams the countryside in an armored transfer truck, bleeding whatever rural communities he encounters of their precious fuel and supplies.

Though it takes obvious inspiration from the recent success of The Road Warrior, especially noticeable during the climactic action sequences, BattleTruck remains a tasty piece of kiwi exploitation all its own thanks to a talented cast, excellent direction and an above average story (based upon a novel by Margaret Abrams). Aside from Beck, McEnroe and Wainwright, the film features Bruno Lawrence (The Quiet Earth) in a supporting role as an unhinged fuel-pirate named Willie and John Retzenberger (pre-Cheers) as the friendly all-purpose engineer Rusty. The drama is pretty straightforward, with the screenplay by Irving Austin, John Beech and director Harley Cokeliss populating its post-civilization setting with relatable heroes and memorable baddies.

Direction by Cokeliss (assistant director on The Empire Strikes Back) is sharp all around, and he manages a good number of complex action setups on what was doubtlessly a limited budget. Of these the most impressive is, predictably, the climax, which has Hunter bringing down Straker’s plundering organization with a few well-placed grenade blasts and some remarkable motorbike dexterity. Even after all the films I’ve seen, nothing seems quite so beautiful as the sight of an out-of-control automobile careening to its fiery end in smooth, over-crank slow motion.

Previously released as a full-screen disc in 2000, Deathsport gets a nice progressive and anamorphic upgrade for its latest home video edition. Sourced from a 35mm inter-positive of an abbreviated television cut and augmented with additional footage from a theatrical release print, image quality ranges from near spotless to well-worn depending on the scene, not that this hinders appreciation of the brainless exploitation antics in the least. Color, detail and contrast are all fine for the majority of the show, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Audio is a decent 2.0 monophonic job that replicates the rough-and-tumble late ‘70s sound mix (complete with a number of effects that sound like they could be right out of Star Wars) as accurately as one could ever hope. There are no subtitles.

The far better yet second billed BattleTruck doesn’t fare quite so well, though its open matte full-frame presentation is far from bad. Sourced from an older standard definition video master under the Warlords of the 21st Century title, the progressive image is still smooth and relatively detailed, if a bit too dark in places. From what I’ve seen this is a huge step up from earlier video editions, and I’ll not complain. Another 2.0 monophonic track does just fine by the unrestored audio, with the dialogue, sound effects and Kevin Peek’s excellent synth score all coming through clearly. As with Deathsport, there are no subtitles.

I wasn’t expecting much in the way of supplements for these two titles, and while they are limited I was more than pleased with what Shout! Factory has provided. Both films are accompanied by full-length commentary tracks, with co-director Allan Arkush and editor Larry Bock on Deathsport and director Harley Cokeliss (moderated by Jonathan Rigby) on Battletruck. Both are active, informative and entertaining, more than making up for a lack of featurettes and the like. Arkush has no reservations about his contribution to what he admits is a terrible film, while Cokeliss is rightly proud of directing a restrained actioner that still holds up well today. Other supplements are more typical – Deathsport gets a trailer, a tv and radio spot and a still gallery, while Battletruck gets by with just the latter, which is accessible through the Deathsport ‘Bonus Features’ menu. Packaging is of Shout!’s typically high standards (kudos to designer David Levine), with Roger Corman offering a brief introduction to the release on the single page insert.

Shout! Factory’s single-disc double-feature release is a good compromise for a pair of titles that don’t necessarily warrant full special edition treatment on an individual basis, and a low retail price (the disc can currently be pre-ordered for a whopping $9.99 at Amazon) only sweetens the deal. I had enormous fun with both films for entirely different reasons, and cult cinephiles will find plenty herein to love. Recommended!

Reviewed from a screener provided by Shout! Factory, LLC

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