The Age of Commercialism

Must See Movie...

Best movie ever!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Being as old as I am I can remember when the original ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES was released. Not so much in theaters as on video tape. I'm not sure if it played many theaters, then again it could have hit the midnight movie circuit. In any event, it was hilarious by being intentionally low budget and glorying in that format. It became popular enough that a sequel was bound to happen. Who would have thought that it would have George Clooney in the second lead role though? Mad Professor Gangreen (John Astin) is planning a produce protest, an herbal uprising, a tomato tornado…in short he is planning on having the tomatoes once again attack the world. Using music he can change tomatoes into various human forms. One of those is Tara (Karen Mistal), a ripe tomato turned into a gorgeous human who isn't pleased with the way Gangreen treats her fellow veggies. She runs off only to meet our hero, Chad (Anthony Starke) and fall in love.After Gangreen sends his assistant out to capture Tara and bring her home, Chad and his best friend Matt (Clooney) attempt to thwart the plans of Gangreen. Discovering that certain songs change the tomatoes back and forth, he's heartbroken when one song turns Tara back into a tomato. Finding the right song to change her back he and Matt do their best to stop Gangreen and his 'mato minions.The movie not only uses its cheesiness to its advantage it grasps it with both hands and strangles every single joke possible out of it. It basks in the glory of being a grade B movie and relishes in that format, playing on words and situations that mingle vegetables and humor for some decent laughs and a lot of fun. This isn't Oscar material and all involved know that. Instead it embraces the genre it is a part of a goes for all it can.The acting isn't amazing but well done by all involved. I'm not sure this is one that Clooney is proud to have on his resume but he should be. It displays his ability for comedy long before he was able to put it out there for fans to enjoy much later. The rest of the cast might not have achieved near the stardom but they all put forth a great effort here. Astin, most famously known for playing Gomez Addams in the TV series THE ADDAMS FAMILY, does a great job here as the mad scientist intent on overtaking the world. He would continue to play the character in the next sequel as well as the animated series based on the films.Even though this film is not the type to receive a ton of respect it gets it in spades here from Arrow Video. Like all of their other releases their offering it in the best presentation possible with a 1080p blu-ray copy. The extras aren't abundant but the odds of those even being available are small. Included are brand new audio commentary with writer/director John De Bello, a brand new interview with Stark, the original theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin and a fully illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing by critic James Oliver.If you remember the films from your days at the video store or maybe from the animated series then odds are you'll enjoy this one. Fans of Clooney looking to make their collection complete will want this one as well. It's a fun time that has been given a new life thanks to Arrow Video.

Professor Gangreen is cooking up the Great Tomato Uprising, in which music converted tomatoes into human form to war against mankind. Pizza delivery man Chad Finletter must save the world and beautiful tomato-girl Tara.....The problem with this film is that it tries way too hard to be intellectual, and to further it's self away from cheap exploitation.The fact is, no matter how many times you break the fourth wall, or kill the product placement joke to death, you cannot get away from the essence of Troma that the film wreaks off.The actors are great, Clooney was always going to be famous, and the other chap will always be the whining accountant who gets killed by Sanchez in Licence To Kill.It's just the idleness of the whole thing, trying to be an adult orientated comedy, but having that weird furry tomato whom is obviously going for the gizmo look, because kids, they love the merchandise don't they?It loses it's way toward the end of the second act, so they up the ante on sight gags, and more product placement, and fail, miserably.It's a car crash movie of the highest order, you know you shouldn't watch it, but you can't take your eyes of the blasted thing.At least the pizza dough comes down at the end....

i found this sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes to be a slightly better movie.for one thing,it's high energy and not boring.plus,the music in this one is actually not annoying.however,i still didn't think it was funny at all.some of the gags are just too stupid too be funny.but that's just my opinion.again,i wouldn't watch it again in a long time.it wasted just over an hour and a half when i had nothing else to do.again,it's all about the novelty factor with this one.there's a third one entitled Killer Tomatoes Eat France,which is likely more of the same,so i'll be skipping that one.for me,Return of the Killer Tomatoes!is a 5/10

Years after the original batch of evil tomatoes was destroyed by the song "Puberty Love", a new batch has been created -- a batch that can be transformed into a humanoid appearance, to blend in with the human population. Wilbur Finletter, the original hero, returns as his nephew unknowingly falls in love with Tara, a tomato and the girlfriend of the evil Dr. Gangreen.While there's something to be said about sequels not being able to surpass the originals, I find this to be an exception. The humor is campier, and the jokes are lamer. But for some reason, I really appreciate it. The visual gags are stepped up to the level of "Airplane!" or some Mel Brooks movie and I do not think this one should be neglected. Even in the beginning when clips are shown from the first movie, the clips are well chosen to really bring out the funniest and most important parts, adding something to the new saga.The original film was actually a student film at UC-Davis, and was redone in 1977 as what we know today. That could have been the end of the series, but by early 1980s home video came around and gave the original a new lease on life and a sequel was inevitable... this time even produced by New World (who had no input). The bar was set higher (or lower) and they succeeded.George Clooney appears. Actually, he more than appears -- he is on screen more than just about anyone. This is before he was big, and he has a long-haired look as though he was auditioning for the part of Jesse on "Full House" (but I guess he lost to John Stamos). Clooney is very lovable in this film, pulling a Charlie Sheen act of women-chasing that suits him well. There is something funny in retrospect about him running a "Meet Rob Lowe" contest to meet women, when now (2016) the women would much rather meet Clooney than Rob Lowe (though Lowe has come back in the last few years).Some of the jokes are more subtle, at least as subtle as a film like "Killer Tomatoes" can be. Take, for example, the Oliver North Federal Prison. At the time, this was probably pretty funny. Today, the audience who "gets it" will be much smaller (they'll say "Isn't he a commentator for Fox News?"). And there are plenty of sex jokes, but despite their prominence I never felt the film crossed into the childish realm of "gross-out" humor. Even the nudity was more or less tastefully done (I expected much more).For me, the scene (or scenes) with the product placement running joke are among the funniest. We get the characters to break the fourth wall, we get some slight jabs at low budget film and consumerism... and just in general the whole concept is funny. Some have pointed out that the gag was stolen by "Wayne's World"... how much this film (or "Wayne's World") were actually paid by the companies they use in the joke remains unclear.If you liked the first film, I cannot see why you would not love this. And if you grew up with the cartoon, you will want to see this film since this is the one the series was based off of. I have yet to see "Killer Tomatoes Eat France", but I think it is safe to say that "Return" is the high point in the movie series.As always, the best way to see this film is on the blu-ray released from Arrow Video. Besides the priceless audio commentary with creator-writer-director John DeBello, there are also TV spots and other promotional items. Anthony Starke provides a nice interview concerning how he got involved and the use of product placement. Clooney, unfortunately, is not interviewed, but that is not really a surprise. Stephen Peace, a series regular, is also not interviewed, most likely because he went on to be a notable California politician of all things.