Best Direct To Video Films Ever?

[Toku King]

As the title says.

I'll start off with the epic "Guyver 2: Dark Hero". Better than its still enjoyable prequel film "Guyver", "Dark Hero" took things to a darker, violent, and more action packed level.

Just look here for the final fight scene, which I think is one of the coolest fights in superhero movie history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOMS5GqHUZU&feature=related

[jesse_custer]

"The Boondock Saints" and "Equilibrium" are two of the only direct-to-video films I've found remotely interesting.

[Toku King]

"The Boondock Saints" and "Equilibrium" are two of the only direct-to-video films I've found remotely interesting.

Both were in theaters.
Theater time was limited, yes, but both were released in theaters.

[Jettison]

Castle Freak
Cube

[SPAfreak]

Castle Freak
Cube

I think Cube was one of the few good movies made for the Sci-Fi network actually.

[Neal R]

I think Cube was one of the few good movies made for the Sci-Fi network actually.

Cube actually had a small theatrical run. It's multiple sequels on the other hand did not.

[Neal R]

Forgot to add my own contribution to this list (and to confirm this never hit theatres).

Cyborg 2

Sequel to the Van Dammne "Action" movie, it's only connection to it a ten second bit of dialogue/video and from there creates it's own story. It's your basic couple on the run plot with a likeable Elias Coteas in the lead and Angelina Jolie as the runaway Cyborg. You've got great turns by Jack Palance as a disembodied voice/prescence guiding this pair to freedom and Billy Drago, a great heavy, as a scene stealing bounty hunter.

To be fair, the production is cheap, some of the acting is ludicrous, but it's loads of fun and a true guilty pleasure.

[Huh?]

"The Boondock Saints" and "Equilibrium" are two of the only direct-to-video films I've found remotely interesting.You beat me to it. I immediately thought of "The Boondock Saints" as soon as I saw the thread title.

It is a pretty good movie for something that never went to theaters.

Oh, and "Airborne" that movie is hilariously awesome in its awfulness.

[jesse_custer]

Well, apparently it did hit theaters.

From wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boondock_saints

The film experienced a limited theatrical release of only five theaters for one week,[2] and was met with poor critical reviews.

Still, in spirit it is direct-to-video.

[Arvandor]

Freeway - a twisted take on Red Riding Hood, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon. Top film.

[Huh?]

Both were in theaters.
Theater time was limited, yes, but both were released in theaters.Boondock Saints was in theaters in the US for about a week and grossed less than $50k. In my book, that is direct to video.

[Huh?]

Well, apparently it did hit theaters.

From wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boondock_saints



Still, in spirit it is direct-to-video.I owe Jesse a coke

[Jettison]

Theres this docutmentary you all (who like Boondocks Saints) should watch.....its about the making of that film, and the egotistical asshole who directed it.....and his ultimate demise.....lol......hes a real pompous bastard, and talks sh## about important people in Hollywood, and ultimatley gets cast out with no payoff from his film-

OVERNIGHT-
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390336/

'There's More Than One Way To Shoot Yourself'

lol

[Jettison]

oh, and it was released in like, 3 cinemas, for only about a week.

[Agent_Torpor]

Freeway - a twisted take on Red Riding Hood, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon. Top film.

I saw that in the theater. Total indie flick.

[Black Atom]

Timescape or Grand Tour: Disaster in Time with Jeff Daniels. Cool Twilight Zone-esque movie.

[vazel]

Forgot to add my own contribution to this list (and to confirm this never hit theatres).

Cyborg 2

Sequel to the Van Dammne "Action" movie, it's only connection to it a ten second bit of dialogue/video and from there creates it's own story. It's your basic couple on the run plot with a likeable Elias Coteas in the lead and Angelina Jolie as the runaway Cyborg. You've got great turns by Jack Palance as a disembodied voice/prescence guiding this pair to freedom and Billy Drago, a great heavy, as a scene stealing bounty hunter.

To be fair, the production is cheap, some of the acting is ludicrous, but it's loads of fun and a true guilty pleasure.Ah been so long since I saw that movie as a kid but one aspect of the movie that stood out to me was the theme about them loving each other and one growing old and one not and it ended with the guy old sitting next to the still young cyborg.

[Johnny_Luck]

The Good

Evil Remains
Tamara
Final Cut
Control
Dead or Alive
Feast

The Great

Wishmaster 3
Malevolence
2001 Maniacs
Partition
Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe(Though it did air on the Sci-fi Channel first, so I am not sure if this counts it is really the only enjoyable original flick sci-fi has ever played)

If we are counting tv mini series like Dune and such too(which didn't have a shot of a theater release to begin with, then I throw Earthsea and Storm of the century as the best two ever out there. Tin Man was pretty enjoyable as well.

[mgs]

Freeway - a twisted take on Red Riding Hood, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon. Top film.

I saw that movie on cable years ago. Great movie, I loved it.

[EZMOHR]

Timescape or Grand Tour: Disaster in Time with Jeff Daniels. Cool Twilight Zone-esque movie.

Damn, you beat me with Disaster in Time. Man I saw that movie like 15 years ago now, and have always thought it rocked. Plus, the little girl from Jurassic Park was annoying in it like she was in Park. Just a cool movie.

[SnowTrooper]

I've actually enjoyed the last two Direct-to-Video American Pie films. I wouldnt count them with the best ever, but I sure have liked them.

[ForeverTaskmaster]

Drive with Mark Dacascos, Kadeem Hardison and Brittany Murphy is by far the best direct to video movie ever.
If you like action movies you really need to see this one. Dacascos is on par with Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Tony Jaa.
It's a crime that this movie went straight to video.
And can someone please explain to me why Steve Wang doesn't direct action movies anymore with Alpha Stunts ? It's a crime to humanity.

[mlcm]

Wrong Turn 2.

I know, I know, I know. But somehow, it's actually good. I've never seen the first one, but I watched the sequel based on a recommendation from a trusted source.

The kills are interesting, the premise is set up fairly well, and the cast of characters aren't 100 percent archetypal. There's quite a few shades of grey. That means of course, it's not totally obvious who will survive. It was a very enjoyable movie. It's no Citizen Kane, or anything but it's good.

And you get to see Henry Rollins go "Rambo" and kick a whole bunch of ass.

[Jamal]

Drive with Mark Dacascos, Kadeem Hardison and Brittany Murphy is by far the best direct to video movie ever.
If you like action movies you really need to see this one. Dacascos is on par with Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Tony Jaa.
It's a crime that this movie went straight to video.
And can someone please explain to me why Steve Wang doesn't direct action movies anymore with Alpha Stunts ? It's a crime to humanity.

I must agree, Drive is a great action movie and Mark Dacasco is an incredible martial artist. Guyver 2 is also one of my favorites.

A recent DTV movie that everyone should watch is "Undisputed 2" staring Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins ( My pick for Guile in the new Street Fighter movie ). Set in a russian prison with a lot martial arts thrown in it's 100x better that the first Undisputed. Funny enough it was on the FX channel just this morning so if you don't want to rent it you might catch it on tv, I own a copy and was happy with what I saw.

[GRANT!]

Does Animatrix count? I prefer those shorts over the actual Matrix movies.

[The Zapper]

Batman: Subzero was a pretty good direct to video movie.

[marshal99]

The Great

Wishmaster 3



Wishmaster 3 was a big pile of crap. Wishmaster 2 was still okay , 3 was just plain awful. Andrew Divoff is the djinn , accept no imitations.
Wishmaster 3 was just plain bad with the stupid nerd proefessor/djinn being pretty clueless , running up and down , chasing after this girl and then there's the godawful "angel".Truly cringe inducing movie.
If you considered wishmaster 3 as "Great" , you must be insensitive to pain and must love uwe boll movies.

[Johnny_Luck]

Wishmaster 3 was a big pile of crap. Wishmaster 2 was still okay , 3 was just plain awful. Andrew Divoff is the djinn , accept no imitations.
Wishmaster 3 was just plain bad with the stupid nerd proefessor/djinn being pretty clueless , running up and down , chasing after this girl and then there's the godawful "angel".Truly cringe inducing movie.
If you considered wishmaster 3 as "Great" , you must be insensitive to pain and must love uwe boll movies.

No I hate Uwe Boll.

But I love the Wishmaster Idea

and no 1 was great, 2 was beyond Uwe Bolll bad even with Divoff's greatness, 3 had Sean Connery's son who I thought played a great villain, had cool deaths, good effects and I enjoyed the angel thing which made it the only good wishmaster movie outside of the first one.

3 might not actually be great movie overall, but compared to most DTV it was a good enjoyable flick and a good edition to a series that had good Odd numbered movies and really, really bad even numbered movies.

[marshal99]

No I hate Uwe Boll.

But I love the Wishmaster Idea

and no 1 was great, 2 was beyond Uwe Bolll bad even with Divoff's greatness, 3 had Sean Connery's son who I thought played a great villain, had cool deaths, good effects and I enjoyed the angel thing which made it the only good wishmaster movie outside of the first one.

3 might not actually be great movie overall, but compared to most DTV it was a good enjoyable flick and a good edition to a series that had good Odd numbered movies and really, really bad even numbered movies.

Guess you and i see things totally differently because 3 was a pile of crap on par with any of Uwe Boll movies , it was that painful. 2 wasn't that great but it was still funny . The only thing funny about 3 was how bad the acting was even in a low budget movie like this.

[Neal R]

The Good

Evil Remains
Tamara
Final Cut
Control
Dead or Alive
Feast

The Great

Wishmaster 3
Malevolence
2001 Maniacs
Partition
Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe(Though it did air on the Sci-fi Channel first, so I am not sure if this counts it is really the only enjoyable original flick sci-fi has ever played)

If we are counting tv mini series like Dune and such too(which didn't have a shot of a theater release to begin with, then I throw Earthsea and Storm of the century as the best two ever out there. Tin Man was pretty enjoyable as well.

Your list under "Good" were all theatrical releases except for "Evil Remains." Though some of them barely made it out of five cities. Under "Great" 2001 Maniacs also had a brief theatrical run.

If it matters, I'd say include TV/Cable premieres because sometimes that's all the advertising they get before going disc route. What's funny for me is sometimes I'll see a test screening of a movie (Los Angeles) and it'll go TNT or Sci Fi route before "premiering" on DVD.

[JohnPopa]

2001 Maniacs is a blast of a direct-to-video movie!

[jessecuster3]

I believe The Curve aka Dead Man's Curve counts.
With Michael Vartan, Matthew Lillard and Keri Russell, even.



Also, do we count made for TV stuff? Because the one and only time I ever watched the Lifetime Network was when they replayed A Season in Purgatory, with Patrick Dempsey, Craig Sheffer, and Sherilynn Fenn, at least.

[BoosterBronze]

"Legionaire" is perhaps Van Damme's best work since "Street Fighter" with surprisingly high production value, and was actually advertised as 'revolutionizing the Direct-to-Video market.'

[Jared]

I don't think Dog Soldiers had a theatrical release. It's the best werewolf movie I've seen.

Two of the Hellraiser sequels; 'Hellseeker' and 'Deader' were surprisingly good. Better than Bloodlines (the last theatrical) and Infernor, anyway.

I liked all The Prophecy sequels except for the last one, which had Tony Todd as a boring new villain with lame minions and seeming disregard for the mythology set up in previous movies. Oh, apparently now angels can die if you shoot them in the head. That would have been helpful to know in the other movies.

I second the mention of Batman: Sub-Zero.

Superman: Doomsday is the best non-comic Superman comic is many many years. (I'm not big on Smallville)

[Astonishing X-Fan]

Shame on all of you for not saying Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

[marshal99]

I don't think Dog Soldiers had a theatrical release. It's the best werewolf movie I've seen.

Two of the Hellraiser sequels; 'Hellseeker' and 'Deader' were surprisingly good. Better than Bloodlines (the last theatrical) and Infernor, anyway.


Hellseeker was okay as it closes the chapter on Ashley Laurence character Kirsty (the heroine in the original hellraiser 1 & 2 movie) and Lance Henriksen made Deader watchable but otherwise , both movies and every straight to video hellraiser sequels had way too little of Pinhead and the cenobites. It's like Pinhead having only a cameo role in his own movies.

[shamone]

I believe The Curve aka Dead Man's Curve counts.
With Michael Vartan, Matthew Lillard and Keri Russell, even.



Also, do we count made for TV stuff? Because the one and only time I ever watched the Lifetime Network was when they replayed A Season in Purgatory, with Patrick Dempsey, Craig Sheffer, and Sherilynn Fenn, at least.


dead mans curve made it to the flix in ireland, so im pretty sure it got a theatrical release in the states

[marshal99]

Plane Dead aka Flight of the living dead is bound to be a cult classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46bxXgZRXlI

Feast (hated the quickedit shakey cam )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyAJ2wpqn-s

If Only (strangely , the movie opened in theatres in South Korea but not in the states) - a sappy movie but i thought it was pretty nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUYWGWOzk_I

[jessecuster3]

dead mans curve made it to the flix in ireland, so im pretty sure it got a theatrical release in the states

According to this (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0123034/releaseinfo), it was never released in US Theaters, only on TV, aside from a showing at Sundance.

[Kusanagi]

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, please tell me that wasn't direct to video, otherwise there's no excuse for it not getting a mention yet.

[Neal R]

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, please tell me that wasn't direct to video, otherwise there's no excuse for it not getting a mention yet.

It was not. It had a theatrical release on Christmas Day.

[Neal R]

[QUOTE=Jared;6415797]I don't think Dog Soldiers had a theatrical release. It's the best werewolf movie I've seen.

QUOTE]
This was an excellent film. It DID get a midnight release in Los Angeles but in this case, I don't think that really counts. It's a great film to see with a large crowd.

[Kusanagi]

It was not. It had a theatrical release on Christmas Day.
Wow never knew that, how long was it in theaters?

[DWEarhart]

2001 Maniacs is a blast of a direct-to-video movie!

Hell yes it was. The comic book from Avatar was good, and I'm anxiously awaiting the third cinematic installment.

"Legionaire" is perhaps Van Damme's best work since "Street Fighter" with surprisingly high production value, and was actually advertised as 'revolutionizing the Direct-to-Video market.'

That and Wesley Snipes.

Hellseeker was okay as it closes the chapter on Ashley Laurence character Kirsty (the heroine in the original hellraiser 1 & 2 movie) and Lance Henriksen made Deader watchable but otherwise , both movies and every straight to video hellraiser sequels had way too little of Pinhead and the cenobites. It's like Pinhead having only a cameo role in his own movies.

Lance Henriksen almost makes anything watchable. Lance rules, but some movies he's in, not so much.

Wow never knew that, how long was it in theaters?

Depends on the theater, but my guess is not so long. A month and a half at the longest, less for different areas.

I don't know if Equilibrium got a theatrical release anywhere, because it sure didn't anywhere within three-hundred miles of my town, so if it didn't, I'd say that's one of the better/best ones I've seen.

[Neal R]

Wow never knew that, how long was it in theaters?

Not very long. Couple of weeks at most. I was just reading on the trivia page at imdb that it was supposed to end Batman: TAS and they weren't going to release it to theatres in the first place. Glad they did.

[Weapon Ick]

Does Animatrix count? I prefer those shorts over the actual Matrix movies.

This was going to be my answer too. I believe it counts.