Space Truckers (Scream Factory) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Space Truckers finally gets a blu-ray release here in the States. Is the blu-ray worth the money or is it a bust?

Studio: Scream Factory

Release Date: April 1997 (theatrical) / August 30th, 2022
Run Time: 1 hour 36 minutes 24 seconds
Region Code: A (locked)
Picture: 1080p (2.35:1 aspect ratio)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Slipcover: No
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Dennis Hopper, Debi Mazar, Stephen Dorff, Charles Dance
Written by Ted Mann
Directed by Stuart Gordon
Rating: PG-13 (sci-fi action violence, sensuality and drug content, and for language)

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Poster

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What's It About?

It is the year 2196. The fiercely independent cargo hauler John Canyon (Hopper) faces a rough road as he attempts to stay in business transporting shipments throughout the galaxy. When John teams up with Mike Pucci (Stephen Dorff) to deliver a mysterious cargo for an astronomical payday, the grizzled trucker takes to the stars for a big score — only to find that he's in for a load of trouble. Along with stowaway Cindy (Debi Mazar), John and Mike undertake an out-of-this-world adventure with nothing less than the fate of the universe at stake.

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Video/Audio

Presented in the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer is pretty good. I want to address one "problem" with the transfer. It seems like the film has been cropped a bit on all four sides. After watching the film a few times, I can say that it is indeed cropped. Everything feels cramped with heads being cut off and jokes being ruined because they aren't on screen properly. It is a shame that Scream Factory didn't fix this as it would have made this release the ultimate release of this film. I understand that they probably couldn't fix the framing, but why release it like this if it is just going to piss people off? It's a lose-lose situation. That being said, this is a good transfer in other areas. This film is pretty damn colorful and those colors really pop at times. Detail is decent most of the time and black levels are good. The DTS-HD Master Audio track sounds good with the dialogue sounding clear and the film's score sounds good.

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Extras/Packaging

Interview with actor Barbara Crampton (7m 54s, HD, 1.78:1) She meet Stuart Gordon when she auditioned for Re-Animator. She was a replacement for the original actor who had to bow out because her mother didn't want her to make the film. She was working on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful and had to beg the producer to let her make the film. She was shot out in a few days. She was nervous about working with Dennis Hopper. She says that Hopper was flirtatious with her to calm her nerves. She based her accent on Debi Mazar's. She says that Stephen Dorff was nice and focused on doing a good job.

Interview with director Stuart Gordon (22m 51s, HD, 1.78:1) He made Fortress in 1993 and he didn't work for three years afterward despite the film being a hit. Gordon had a painting made to help sell the film and the producer was able to secure $27 million dollars, which was the biggest budget Gordon had ever worked with. Stephen Dorff's agent didn't like the title of the film and had it listed as Untitled Irish Space Movie. Gordon asked Dorff what he thought the film should be called and Dorff said Space Trucker. Gordon didn't like this because it made the film seem like it focused on Hooper's character exclusively and went back to the original title. Hired tall models to play the robots in the film. He wishes that he had done more with the pigs. He was told by a pig farmer that the pigs were incredibly accurate and gave the film a few million dollars. Says that Hopper's first take was usually his best and he didn't like doing more than one take. Hopper didn't want to rehearse as it ruined his spontaneity. Hopper said that Gordon was the worst director he had ever worked with. He loved working with Debi Mazar as she was incredibly funny. The role that Charles Dance played was originally given to another actor but the producers wanted a name so Dance was called in to do the role. Speaks very highly of the rest of his cast. Talks about the production design, specifically the main truck of the film and how he wanted it to look like a movie about truckers. One of the producers named a horse he bred Space Trucker and the horse was actually a big winner.

Interview with composer Colin Towns (12m 30s, HD, 1.78:1) Played in a band before starting to score films. Recorded the score in Munich. He wanted to do Space Truckers because it sounded like a lot of fun. He would soon find out that his instincts were right. He is driven by fear when it comes to his scores.

Interview with art director Simon Lamont (8m 25s, HD, 1,78:1) Started in the industry in 1984 on A View to a Kill. Breaks down how his job is done from concept to execution. He makes models of everything so that everyone working on the film can get an idea of what things will look like. Talks about the models used in the film.

Trailer (1m 20s, HD, 1.33:1)

SPACE TRUCKERS is brought to us by Scream Factory and is exclusive to their store. The blu-ray comes in a standard one disc blu-ray case. The front artwork is artwork I have never seen before and isn't very good. I wish that they had gone with the original poster art. There is inner artwork on the reverse side of the artwork.

The disc is REGION A (locked)

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Overall

SPACE TRUCKERS is a really fun film. It has a great aesthetic and the humor is unique. The three leads play off of each other really well and Charles Dance is great as usual. The blu-ray from Scream Factory is decent, but it could have been so much better. The cropping is pretty bad, but not unwatchable. There is a blu-ray in Germany that has the correct framing. (Apparently the "fixed framing" is just the end credits and not the whole film. It feels like false advertising to me.) Scream should have looked into this before releasing this blu-ray, but they didn't. The special features are nice, but I am not sure the asking price is worth it. It is nice to have the film on blu-ray, but it's crippled by the framing issues.

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Extras/Menus