The Corner Penthouse

Giant Interactive recently released the The Toxic Avenger: The Musical (2018) MOD DVD-R. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

This musical tells the story of the citizens of Tromaville, desperate for a hero to clean up their toxic waste problem. Enter Melvin Ferd the Third (Ben Irish), an aspiring earth scientist. When the Mayor (Natalie Hope) and her goons (Oscar Conlon-Morrey & Che Francis) get wind of his plans, Melvin is tossed into a vat of waste transforming him into The Toxic Avenger (Ben Irish), New Jersey's first superhero! While cleaning up the town, Toxie finds love with blind librarian Sarah (Emma Salvo).

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The movie (filmed stage production) is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 2:00:58. It is Not Rated, but I would give it a "Hard PG-13" or a "Soft R" due to sexual references and multiple uses of the "F-word". Audio languages include English Dolby Digital 5.1. There are no subtitles.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

All of the content listed below can be found the disc.

• Trailer (1:32)

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

No digital copy code voucher is included. The single DVD-R disc is inside a standard black DVD case.

[ NOTES ]

The Toxic Avenger: The Musical (2018) is available on DVD only. Yeah, for reasons I don't understand, although it was filmed in high definition, there is no Blu-ray release. Do be aware that this is a Manufacture-on-Demand DVD-R disc, not a factory-pressed disc. I know that can be a turn off for some people, but it's the only release that exists, so take it or leave it.

The musical is based on Lloyd Kaufman's 1984 cult film, but only in the most basic story elements and names. If you've seen the original film, forget everything you know about it. Gone is the nudity, gore, and bad taste. In its place is a wacky love story performed by only five actors - most playing multiple roles - that drags a bit at its two hour runtime. That's not to say that it sucks. Bits and pieces of it were quite funny and witty, and I loved the adult humor. If you stick with it, and you have a naughty sense of humor, you'll find parts of it to like, too.

As for the original The Toxic Avenger film series (1984-2000), the whole collection is available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD. I can not stress enough how different in tone the movies are to this musical. The musical is somewhat suitable for a family of adults, while the films are not. If you are easily offended, DON'T watch any of the films.

The original film was also remade with Peter Dinklage in the title role (yes!). It was screened at some festivals in 2023, but has not yet gotten a wide public release, be it theatrical, streaming, or disc. Such a shame, as I would love to see how it differs from the original and the musical.

This item has been provided by Giant Interactive for review on this site.