Roger Corman is a name every movie fan
and film buff should know. He has made over 300 films in a role as a producer,
writer, and/or director. He produced and distributed movies cheaply and
fast outside of the studio system. He gave many of the big stars, writers, and
directors their first chance including Jack Nicholson, Jonathan Demme, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese,
James Cameron, and William Shatner. His way of making movies was a down
dirty cheap hard knocks school of filmmaking. He built a low
budget movie empire that was able to turn a profit on every movie and entertain people.
I was exposed to Roger Corman through the various movies that were available on VHS and shown on Cable TV. I learned about him and the many people he helped get their start in the moviemaking world.
CORMAN'S WORLD features interview
with Roger Corman, Roger Corman's wife Julie, Gale Ann Hurd, Paul W.S. Anderson, Peter Bogdanvich, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme,
Bruce Dern, Robert DeNiro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson, Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Shatner,
and Quentin Tarantino. It is a loving and entertaining portrait of one
of the most influential forces in filmmaking over the last 60 years. The
movie does cover the first 20 to 30 years of his career in great detail and the impact he still has today (and the challenges
he faces today), but I wish they focused a little on the movies he made after STAR WARS and JAWS came out (his film output
for the last 30 years which CORMAN'S WORLD pretty much glosses over as just a footnote).
These big budget tentpole movies such as STAR WARS and JAWS had an impact on his movies since he made those types of
movies on a much cheaper budget.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Extended Interviews has 15 minutes
of interviews not included in the final documentary film while SPECIAL MESSAGES TO ROGER has various Corman alumni (and those
who were influenced by him) give thanks to him. Also included is the theatrical
trailer for CORMAN'S WORLD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: CORMAN'S WORLD is
a fascinating tribute to one of the most influential film producers in the last six decades. The only weakness of the
film is that it doesn't focus much on the last few decades after STAR WARS and JAWS had a negative impact on his movies.
this review is (c)3-30-2012 David Blackwell
and cnanot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
