Tank Girl — Tank Girl( Blu Ray)
Eureka’s limited-edition box set of Rachel Talalay’s (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Sherlock and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) comic book sci-fi movie from 1995 is a long overdue opportunity to revisit a movie that was poorly received at the time of its original release in 1995. Starring Lori Petty (A League Of Their Own, Free Willy and Point Break) in the titular role, alongside Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, King Kong and Birdman), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Caligula and Cat People), and rap legend Ice-T (New Jack City, Johnny Mnemonic and Ricochet).
Based on the 80s and 90s comic books by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Tank Girl is set in the year 2033, the world has been suffering a severe drought for over 10 years, and water has become the most prized asset. One man, a businessman called Kesslee (McDowell) has taken control of most of the world’s water supply, but it greedily plotting to control it all. A combination of Rebecca Buck aka Tank Girl (Petty) and her friends, who have a small farmhouse and are cultivating their own water, and a group of human/kangaroo hybrid’s called the Rippers stand in his way. Buck and her group are attacked by his men, leaving them for dead in the desert. A young girl called Sam is kidnapped by Kesslee’s men and they leave with her, fortunately, Buck is still alive and sets out to free her friend and stop Kesslee and his plans for global domination. She teams up with a disaffected pilot, Jet Girl (Watts) and the Rippers (including Ice-T) to get Sam back and bring down the greedy kesslee.
At the time of its initial release, Tank Girl received a lot of flack from the media and fans alike, however, I think it has aged pretty well. Yes, it’s no masterpiece, however, it’s a genuinely fun slice of comic book action, and yes it’s a comic book movie that feels like it has been adapted from a comic book, unlike many of Marvel or DC’s less than impressive recent attempts at hoovering up all the money at the box office. I also think it worth mentioning the solid job Rachel Talalay does in directing the movie, she made a good fun film with some strong positive, feminist role models in an age when Hollywood was afraid to do such things. This may also have had something to do with the movies poor reception in the past. Beyond that, Petty is fine in the lead role and in fact everyone does a reasonable job, however it’s Malcolm McDowell who steals the show as a bad guy you genuinely love to hate. He truly loves playing these sorts of roles, and you can see how much in every moment he’s on screen. Stan Winston’s makeup effects work is good, and I enjoyed seeing his vision of how the rippers should look.
This new limited edition Blu-ray from Eureka is a cracker, featuring the movie in full 1080p for the first time with multiple audio tracks including a 5.1 DTS audio track. On top of that, we get an audio commentary with Rachel Talalay and Lori Petty, and a host of archival interviews with cast and crew, a new interview with Gregg Staples, looking at the transition from page to screen and a making-of documentary, as well as the ubiquitous trailer. If that weren’t enough, you also get a hardcover slipcase designed by Gregg Staples and a 60-page booklet featuring photographs and several essays.
If you’ve never seen Tank Girl before, go and check it out, you’ll be amazed at just how much fun it is, and if you remember Tank Girl and thought it was a very flawed movie, I would encourage you to revisit it and revel in the fact it’s a comic book movie that does everything a comic book movie should. Maybe, it doesn’t do it as well as some other movies, but you might just find you end up having a lot more fun.