You pretty much know what you’re getting out of an Andy Sedaris movie and that’s plenty of T&A alongside a patched together plot with some fairly bad performances. That said, while Picasso Trigger had a few dull moments, there was some fun entertainment.
Picasso Trigger
(1988)
Genre(s): Action, Thriller
Mill Creek Entertainment | R – 98 min. – $19.98 | July 9, 2019
Date Published: 07/28/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Mill Creek Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Spy Travis Abilene (STEVE BOND) and L.E.T.H.A.L. agents Donna (DONA SPEIR) and Taryn (HOPE MARIE CARLTON) from Paris to Texas to Hawaii to Las Vegas as they attempt to thwart the insidious Salazar (JOHN APREA), a master of deception who is about to unveil his masterpiece: a plot to blast his enemies to kingdom come. Quick Hit Review: To say writer-director Andy Sidaris is an acquired taste is an understatement. Might be overstating it, but Sidaris is a legendary B-movie filmmaker surpassed only by Roger Corman, with the ability to make some of the more senseless yet wildly entertaining action-thrillers featuring plenty of T&A to keep one’s attention.
Picasso Trigger is the third of his nearly 15-year franchise and follows Malibu Express and Hard Ticket to Hawaii, both widely “appreciated” on such YouTube shows like Best of the Worst and Good Bad or Bad Bad, both personal favorite series of mine. As for the movie itself, while it certainly has its wonderfully cheesy moments and more than a few fantastic kills, the amount of dull moments were a bit too many to make this a completely entertaining B-flick. If you’ve ever seen either Malibu Express or Hard Ticket to Hawaii, you know you’re not getting top-of-the-line acting. The two primary leads, Dona Speir and Hope Marie Carlton are both Playboy Playmates which comes with a benefit in that they’re game to get the T&A fans want. The side effect of course is neither can act and it is on the laughable side they’re playing covert spies. But I guess that’s the charm of a Sidaris film after all… The other actors in Picasso aren’t that much better with Steve Bond possessing very little charisma though I did kind of like Roberta Vasquez, who also was a former Playboy Playmate herself (1984).
As I said, Andy Sidaris is a bit of a noteworthy name in the sexploitation field and while his filmmaking skills aren’t always the best, to say the least, with some shoddy editing and bad performances, there is a fun factor that is undeniable, and even amongst the duller scenes, I did have somewhat of a good time. I will give Sidaris some credit, his films, the ones I’ve seen so far anyway, are far more competently made than another “legendary” writer-director, Neil Breen, for what that’s worth… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.5/5 |
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As with Malibu Express and Hard Ticket to Hawaii, this release comes with an Intro by Sidaris, an Audio Commentary with writer-director Andy Sidaris and his wife and producer Arlene Sidaris, a fun Behind-the-Scenes (36:17), primarily interview with Sidaris, and the Trailers for all of his films. Inside there is a code to redeem through Mill Creek’s “movieSpree” app. Sucks you have to have another one instead of MoviesAnywhere, but I’m sure there’s some legal reason why. |
VIDEO – 3.75/5 |
| The picture was taken from a 4K widescreen restoration and is presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. On the positive front, the picture does look half-decent, detail is fairly sharp especially on the close-ups and colors do have a natural appearance, including skin tones. On the other hand, there were plenty of instances with dust marks, scratches, and some film damage. So, it’s a mix bag though I assume it is superior to its DVD counterpart. |
AUDIO – 3.0/5 |
| The movie does come with a DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track which was pretty much all over the place. In some spots, dialogue came through with fine clarity, though the lackluster sound design was noticeable, but other places I could barely make out what was being said. The action scenes with explosions give this some ever so minor depth. I did give consideration to the lower budget and time period this was filmed in. |
OVERALL – 3.25/5 |
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You pretty much know what you’re getting out of an Andy Sedaris movie and that’s plenty of T&A alongside a patched together plot with some fairly bad performances. That said, while Picasso Trigger had a few dull moments, there was some fun entertainment and I can imagine a group get together would still have a blast. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.