Oblivion

Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: 7/5/2011
Director: Sam Irvin
Cast: Richard Joseph Paul, Andrew Divoff, Meg Foster, Isaac Hayes, Julie Newmar, George Takei
Year: 1994
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The Movie:

Space cowboy Zack Stone returns to his roots after running away from his responsibilities. Being the son of the greatest sheriff in the universe puts a lot of pressure on a young man and he left to escape it and the violence. On his return home, he saves a tribesman of some sort who acts like Native American and the spiritual guy latches on to repay his debt. Meanwhile, Daddy gets gunned down by Redeye, a reptilian looking space being who's got a sweet-on for the local shop owner. Redeye's gang consists of a Spanish swordsman and a whip-yielding vixen, and they all mean bad news for the town. Will Zack have what it takes to embrace his fate and fulfill his destiny and save the town from the evil clutches of the lizard creep?

No doubt re-released on disc in the hopes of cashing in a bit on the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster-in-the-making Cowboys & Aliens, Shout! Factory makes this Full Moon Entertainment production available again to the public in case they missed the opportunity to snatch it up in 2010 when Full Moon put it on disc, or in 2002 when Artisan put it on disc. If you missed it either time, you can probably skip it again.

There are lots of genre actors in this one and the interesting notion of mixing The Wild West with science-fiction, and those tidbits alone should be enough for those interested in B movies to perk up their ears. Unfortunately the gaggle of writers that put this script together went for a tongue-in-cheek approach that goes beyond the hip-factor and straight for the crapper. The jokes are awful, there're ton of Star Trek references uttered by George Takai, Julie Newmar plays “Kitty” and purrs like she did when she was Catwoman. The alien bad guy says some of the dumbest shit in the movie and none of it is even remotely funny. The pacing is dreadfully slow at times and there's a long slow motion action sequence that pads the running time by way more than it should.

Aside from some overkill acting, most of it is decent enough, but it doesn't do any good. The special effects are quite cheesy, although some of the make-up stuff us pretty good and the look of the film is interesting. Pino Donaggio (composer of the amazing music for The Howling) wrote the score, but it's overshadowed by the severe fart stains that cover this clunker. Nothing can save this one from itself, because at its base Oblivion is a dumb story with awful dialogue that results in a big pile of suck. And somehow a sequel was made. Shame on Truck Turner for even agreeing to be in this movie.


Video/Audio/Extras:

The film is presented in 4:3 Full Frame and doesn't look like any effort was made for making it look nice. Plagued with interlacing (see screen capture below), the image is below par on how DVD can look, and fathoms beneath what Shout! is so wonderfully doing with their “Roger Corman's Cult Classics” line. The audio is a simple 2.0 Dolby Digital track that sounds ok, with no issues to mention. Balance seems fine. Aside from a DVD cover and the Menu with the simple start button, it doesn't seem like Shout! did a whole lot with this movie. Probably just as well.


The extras…None. Not even a chapter selection option.

The Final Word:

Oblivion has all the promise of a fun movie but is just a real disappointment. And Shout!'s lack of extras on top of a less-than-stellar picture puts this one in the category of “Don't Bother”.