Home Video Exclusives

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense


Another brand new entry! This outing we get a sexy video game adaptation in "Dead Or Alive"...



The motion picture opened on June 15th, 2007. It was made with a budget of $30,000,000 (estimated) and bombed, grossing $480,314 during its U.S. theatrical run; counting foreign receipts it made $7,755,686. The film opened number seventeen at the box office, the following week it dropped to number fifty-four.

The feature opened against "Spider-Man 3", "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End", "Shrek The Third" and "Mr. Brooks".

There was no slipcover issued. Came with a single sided insert for "Dimension Extreme" titles; "D.O.A.: Dead Or Alive", "Dirty Sanchez: Unrated - Uncensored" and "Broken: Unrated".

Did some looking; total domestic DVD sales was $1,842,809 even when added to the amount, it still bombed. So bad this wasn't even screened for critics before its theatrical release.

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There were two exclusives for this title which is pretty impressive, considering the above. I can only guess they really expected this to be a modest hit and had exclusives lined up and were contractually obligated to release them.



The first was from Blockbuster, a rental with exclusive deleted scenes. As with the regular release this streeted on September 11th, 2007. The retail price is unknown - was a rental. This was an item I bought off eBay in April of 2019, used. I sent it away to be professionally resurfaced, made like new.

There is a third menu screen for deleted scenes.

The other exclusive was from another home video giant which is now extinct, Circuit City, remember them?



It came with a deck "Ninja Playing Cards", round playing cards. Part of sealed exclusive inside the case is a folded up box for the cards. That was nice. My copy is still sealed.

A short tale. I didn't buy it when it came out. Sorry, I don't have the Circuit City weekly ad. Anyhow, nearly a week later was I out of town and saw it at the store and didn't buy. Then it started eating at me. That 'what if' finally got the best of me and I went back, seeking the set. It was a mess.

As some might recall, at this time - the store had declared closures, their bankruptcy failed to save their store. So all inventory had to go. This news fueled by desire to get a copy before I was beyond my reach. Wasn't looking for exclusives on eBay at that point.

Came back to that store and discovered the title was among a DVD menagerie. Somewhere among the shelves was the movie (with exclusive), it wasn't in order anymore. Might have taken me well over half an hour of searching, but I was lucky to have re-found it. Took it home that late afternoon.

Can't recall the price.

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Rant.



The was a movie based on Sony Playstation game of the same name from 1996 (shown above). As I understand the motiion picture was mostly based on "Dead Or Alive 2" (2000) game.

Never played them, but was aware of it. *nods* It was well known for scantily-clad women doing martial arts and for titillation for young guys. It was always going to be a hit.

The game spawned several sequels with the last one, "Dead Or Alive 6" released last year (2019).



The movie makes as much sense as it could - which isn't much. But that's not why you're watching it. You're here for the fast action and hot girls. I'm honest about it and the film isn't playing semantics.

Okay, I suppose I should, since it tanked. So we have three dangerous women; Princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki), Tina (Jamie Pressly; above) and Christie (Holly Valance) who have been invited for a high prize contest (serious dollars) on a private island owned by a billionaire, Donovan (Eric Roberts).

Once there the games begin, the ladies manage to rise in the rankings in their hand to hand combats. But discover they're actually pawns in a 'game' designed by Donovan as revealed by Helena (Sarah Carter) a company insider.

Plus there's a subplot involving Kasumi trying to find her missing brother who was a previous competitor there - has gone missing. Oh noes!



You get a good amount of fisticuffs and well placed jiggles, too bad this was PG-13 it would've benefited from an R rating which is what it originally had. A nude scene with Valance at the beginning in the hotel room; she was topless coming out of the shower.

Kinda wonder how this would've look - the character of Tina wasn't going to be played by Pressly. Two WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) divas were considered, Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson.

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Tangent.

Need something else to write about to beef this Past Tense up. *wink* And I have a topic. Sway.

I am a fan of the "Wrong Turn" franchise. The last installment was "Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines" (2012) and was the worst of the lot. It had poor make-up effects plus a weak story. Its failure put a pause on more entries, years.



Late 2019 came the announced that it was coming back with the original writer, Alan B. McElroy and director, Mike P. Nelson. They did the first film (from 2003). Great news. Then more came out, not a sequel, but a reboot. "Wrong Turn: The Foundation" was completed on April 25th, 2020. Early promo artwork above.

More news came out, it's been revised - now as a prequel to the first feature.

Friends hiking the Appalachian Trail are confronted by 'The Foundation', a community of people who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years.

- official synopsis

See that? April 25th? Then why was this NOT released this past October? Which is when it should come out. Minus the first movie, the rest were direct to home video sequels. I would expect this to be no different.

Did 20th Century Fox drop the ball? Or was it because that studio was bought by Disney, the new owners didn't know what to do with the finished film? All of the above?

Now I'm learning this has been retitled as "Wrong Turn" and has a blank 2021 release. Was it hampered by Covid; did the studio want a theatrical run? A lot of questions clouded by haze.

Can tell you, it stars Charlotte Vega, Emma Dumont, Matthew Modine, Daisy Head, Dylan McTee and Adrian Favela. Has a score by Stephen Lukach. And will be rated R whenever it comes out.



Not one of my biggest entries - not a complex story either (eighty-seven minutes long). A behind-the-scenes pix above; director Corey Yuen with stars Carter and Valance. Indeed. Spend the day before Christmas with me on December 24th, 2020 for the last Past Tense of '20. I'm still considering what that might be.