Enter the Video Store: Video Vengeance

[Michael Scott]

Enter the Video Store: Video Vengeance



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
After the success of Arrow’s Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams back in 2023 we knew we were getting a second sent, but this time with a different genre. And while it may have taken 3 years, we now have a sequel to their popular genre classics in form of my bread and butter, action movies. But not just any action set, DTV films from the late 80s and early 90s that were the very start of the Direct to Video craze that was in full swing for literally decades (and has now morphed into Direct to Streaming). And like most of the Empire of Screams set, we get a few titles that were release in HD before, but luckily MOST of the set will be brand new to Blu-ray domestically.

The set is a mixed bag, as expect being straight to video trash titles from that time period, but there are a couple of gems in the batch. R.O.T.O.R. is a hilariously bad Terminator meets Robocop film that is so bad that it’s actually good (and was also released in a double feature via Shout! Studios years ago). While Hangfire is a fairly competent film that almost makes it as a standalone movie. The Final Alliance is probably going to be my favorite bad movie of the bunch though, as it feature David Hasselhoff doing his Hoff thing as a cowboy vengeance film that is sooooooo bad I was in stitches the entire time. And weirdly, we have one movie that only BARELY manages to be a DTV film only due ot the fact that it never got a theatrical release in the United States, but did worldwide in the form of Joshua Tree (which was also release via Shout! Studios a few years back, but this time includes the extended cut, dubbed Army of One included in this set). And frankly, it’s the best film out of the bunch being that it was a theatrical movie for the most part, just not here in the states.

For a Breakdown of the films themsleves, Links are provided below.

Ministry of Vengeance

The Final Alliance

R.O.T.O.R.

Hangfire

Hangfire

Rating: Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:
For a Breakdown of the Video for each film links are provided below

Ministry of Vengeance

The Final Alliance

R.O.T.O.R.

Hangfire

Hangfire



Audio:
For a Breakdown of the Audio for each film links are provided below

Ministry of Vengeance

The Final Alliance

R.O.T.O.R.

Hangfire

Hangfire


Extras:
Joshua Tree

• Joshua Tree (Theatrical Cut)
• Army of One (Extended Cut)
• Commentary by Vic & Andy Armstrong
• Vic Armstrong on Joshua Tree
• A Look Back at Joshua Tree
• Alternate Ending with Commentary
• Vic Armstrong on His Career
• Andy Armstrong on His Career
• Original Trailer
• Stills Gallery

R.O.T.O.R.

• Brand new audio commentary by Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain from The Schlock Pit
• A Matter of Character, a brand new interview with actor Bill Blair
• Machine Head: A Potted History of Robo Schlock, a visual essay from Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain from The Schlock Pit
• Interzone (1989), a bonus feature film in SD starring Bruce Abbott and Beatrice Ring
• Trailer
• Image gallery

The Final Alliance

• Commentary by Mike Hewitt, Russell Lee & Jim Smith
• Hasseling the Hoff
• The Rise of DTV
• Interzone
• Original Trailer

Hangfire

• Commentary by the Edinburgh Zombie Club
• Brothers in Arms
• Crash and Burn
• Re-Release Trailer
• Stills Gallery

Ministry of Vengeance

• Commentary by Rob Hill
• Act Like it's Warmer
• Lebanon in California
• Apocalypse Then
• Original Trailer
• Stills Gallery

Final Score: ​

This set is not going to appeal to everyone due to the niche, low brow, nature of the films included. But for genre fans this is a fun little trip down memory lane when Action movies were a dime a dozen, and we had a million of these on late night cable playing non stop during the 90s. Many of them are barely watchable on their own, but when you take them in stride for the unintentional comedies that they are, then things get better. The single solitary “this is almost too good to be here” has to be Dolph Lundgren’s Joshua Tree, but only barely, as it was his start into the DTV world where he would stay after a while. The Blu-ray looks and sounds OK, but these films were never shot well and never taken care of well, so the restorations can only do so much. As a set, this aims directly at genre fans who like bad movies, and they should be quite pleased to see some of these hit HD for the first time.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: John Schneider, Dolph Lundgren, David Hasselhoff, George Kennedy
Directed by: Various
Written by: Various
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC / 2:39:1 AVC (Joshua Tree)
Audio:
Ministry of Vengeance: English LPCM Mono
The Final Alliance: English LPCM 2.0
R.O.T.O.R.: English LPCM Mono
Hangfire: English LPCM 2.0
Joshua Tree: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English LPCM 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH (all 5)
Studio: Arrow
Rated: NR (Hangfire, R.O.T.O.R.), R (Ministry o Vengeance, The Final Alliance, Joshua Tree)
Runtime: 581 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 27th, 2026

Recommendation: Fun, Schlocky Set

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