Phantasm Week Day 5: Phantasm Ravager (Part of the Phantasm Collection) Blu-ray Review + Screenshots

Phantasm Ravager is film that I did not like very much, although it is better than Oblivion, it is a film that was made with a lot of heart and that goes a long way with me.

The blu-ray from Well Go USA is great and gives the film a lot more meaning than one would gather during their first viewing.

THE FEATURES ⭐⭐⭐

The Making of Phantasm: Ravager (50m 25s, HD)

We get behind the scenes footage, storyboards, looks at the effects (both digital and pratical),and concept art all told to us with a running commentary from Director David Hartman.

Friendship and Phantasm (19m 10s, HD)

Interview with A. Michael Baldwin

The Lady in Lavender (17m 36s, HD)

Interview with Kat Lester

The Name is Chunk (8m 31s, HD)

Interview with Stephen Jutras (who is one of the best things about this film)

Behind the Scenes Promo (5m 7s, HD)

This kind of reminded me of the promos that companies would shoot to sell a film to video stores.

Red Credit Sequence (4m 34s, HD)

Montage of clips from the film, just in black and red.

Deleted Scenes (7m 25s, HD)

Ravager was originally going to be a web series, but when they made the decision to go out as a feature some footage had to be cut. This is that footage.

Deleted Scenes with Audio Commentary (7m 25s, HD)

I do not know why this is listed as a separate feature because it is commentary running over the 

previous special feature. Most blu-rays give you the option in a submenu.

Bloopers and Outtakes (8m 35s, HD)

People flubbing lines, mugging for the camera, and a look at how weird some scenes look before the effects are added.

A Moment with the Director (1m 5s, HD)

A humorous scene with a new sphere

Trailer (1m 44s, HD)

Teaser (1m 3s, HD)

Commentary with David Hartman and Don Coscarelli (found in the set up menu)

THE PACKAGING ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Note: This disc is part of the Phantasm Collection

The front cover is reversible with one side being the new art with the silver sphere and the title of the film against a black background.

The reverse side is the film’s original poster

The back cover gives us the stats and info about the film and its features.

The disc art is the same as the other discs in the with the silver sphere and the title of the film. Also, the bonus disc for the set is found in this case as well. A review for the bonus disc will available the after this review goes live.

The disc is REGION A (locked)

THE PICTURE ⭐⭐⭐1/2

This being the newest film in series, you would think that this would be the best transfer of the bunch, but it isn’t. That is not to say that the transfer is bad in any way. It is hard to judge transfers like this because there is so much manipulation going on that something may look like a problem, but turn out to be something that was meant to be there. Judging it solely on whether the picture looks good or not, I would say that it looks outstanding. Colors look correct and detail is really nice. I didn’t see any DNR or digital clean up and everything looks like it should.

THE SOUND ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Well Go USA has given us another great sounding track. Emersion is well handled and the surrounds give us a nice feel of the world that we are watching. When the action scenes come along, the surrounds get a work out. Dialogue is clean and clear and there are no distortions to the track at all.

THE FILM ⭐⭐

After battling with the Tall Man in PHANTASM: OBLIVION, a battered Reggie wanders through the desert in search of his missing friend, Mike. After recovering his 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda, Reggie is targeted by two of the Tall Man’s Sentinel Spheres and destroys them. He awakens suddenly to find himself sitting in a wheelchair pushed by none other than the elusive Mike! 

Although overjoyed by their reunion, Reggie is in this alternate dimension an aged and weary old patient in a psychiatric ward. And only he remembers their battled and bloodied past with the Tall Man.

Reggie must travel between dimensions and discern what is reality in order to confront the mysteries at the heart of a decades-long struggle against evil. He is met with new and familiar faces along the way, and an epic showdown on the Tall Man’s home world awaits!

Phantasm: Ravager is not a very good film, but it does have a lot of heart. It tries to give the fans everything they want by sacrificing the pace and jumbled storyline of the film. I know that the films in the series haven’t been the understandable films ever made, but it seems like Ravager just doesn’t really know what is going on in its own story. This leaves the audience scratching their heads trying to figure out what they just watched.

I will say that this film is miles better than Oblivion, which I find to be the worst of the series. The scope of this film is bigger, and while people found problems with this due to the budget, I didn’t find the budget to be a hindrance. I think that director David Hartman uses the budget to the best of his ability and then some. Sure, there were shots that looked bad, but that just goes with low budget filmmaking.

Hartman, Don Coscarelli, and company really wanted to make the best film that they could that could serve as an ending to the series. While they do leave the film open for a sequel, they also give us an ending that satisfies our need for closure. I do wish that they had put more time into the story than they did with everything else because effects and a jumbled narrative do not make a Phantasm film great.   

OVERALL ⭐⭐⭐

While I didn't like Ravager as much as others did, I did find that the film had a lot of heart and that goes a long ways with me. I would rather watch a bad film with heart than a good film with no heart. While people complained about the effects, I found them to be good for the budget and sometimes better than the budget would allow. What I didn't like about the film was all the jumping in between timelines. It made the film hard to follow.

The blu-ray, on the other hand, is splendid. The picture and sound quality are beautiful and the special features are great. The only thing that was missing was anything about Angus Scrimm. He is barely mentioned and nothing is said about his death. I guess that the cast and crew are still in mourning. This is a wonderful blu-ray that fans will love.


THE SCREENSHOTS BELOW CONTAIN SPOILERS!!