{"id":23909,"date":"2021-11-22T23:33:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T07:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=23909"},"modified":"2021-11-22T23:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T07:33:10","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-reviews-maniac-cop-2-1990","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=23909","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Reviews: MANIAC COP 2 (1990)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set from Blue Underground is\ncurrently available for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For those unfamiliar with Maniac Cop<\/em>, it was an\naction\/slasher picture about a deranged, scarred and potentially undead ex-cop named\nMatt Cordell who sets out to kill those he believed wronged him in life (as\nwell as anyone else who stood in his way). It starred Robert Z\u2019dar as the title\ncharacter, along with Bruce Campbell and Laurine Landon as cops out to stop his\nbloody rampage. This B-movie was something of a minor hit, particularly on VHS.\nNaturally, this prompted an even more ambitious sequel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a young viewer, the follow-up seemed like a marked improvement over the entertaining original. And in reviewing the movie, Maniac Cop 2<\/em> does up the ante in just about every regard and is even more successful than the first feature. Cordell is most definitely a walking corpse in this feature, getting himself into more elaborate battles with officers and citizens as he continues to wreak vengeance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, while receiving a theatrical release in other parts of the world, the movie premiered exclusively on VHS in North America. Regardless, it found its audience and remains a very popular cult flick. After years of rights issues preventing its release, Blue Underground are finally putting the film out on disc with incredible, upgraded picture quality and tons of bonus features. This 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray release is absolutely stunning and presents this great genre movie as it was meant to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story begins with a now zombified Cordell (Z\u2019Dar) picking up an abandoned police cruiser and hunting more victims in New York City. After facing off against the cop in the previous film, Officer Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) and Officer Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon) are rightly convinced that Cordell could still be out on the streets. Of course, they\u2019re soon proven right, although a local commissioner (Michael Lerner) would rather the public not know the truth. After a series of confrontations leave various persons dead, new arrivals Lieutenant Sean McKinney (Robert Davi) and police psychologist Susan Riley (Claudia Christian) take on the case. In the meantime, Cordell befriends a psychotic killer named Steven Turkell (Leo Rossi). When Turkell is arrested, the Maniac Cop decides to break his new friend out of jail, leading to a series of wild, action-packed escapades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The plot itself isn\u2019t exactly revolutionary, but the writing\nis clever enough to throw in some unexpected story twists and further develop the\nCordell character. The redesign of the Maniac Cop\u2019s make-up is a vast improvement,\nand of course, with the slightly higher budget, the action itself is far more\nextensive and impressive. Fans hoping for the central character to walk the\nstreets and literally take down dozens of citizens and fellow police officers get\nexactly what they want out of the feature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the cast also help keep things fun, milking each scene\nfor everything it\u2019s worth. Besides Davi, Christian, Campbell (in admittedly, an\nall-too brief part), Landon, Z\u2019Dar, Lerner and Rossi having fun with their\nroles, there are also some great scenery-chewing appearances by Clarence\nWilliams III and Charles Napier (as well as a brief cameo by Danny Trejo).\nEverybody has a juicy role and most do their part to make the characters\nmemorable. In particular, Rossi goes into full Dracula<\/em> Renfield mode as the\nsleazy murderer who befriends Cordell. He\u2019s compelling to watch as he interacts\nwith Cordell and explains his own motives. Director William Lustig (Maniac<\/em>,\nVigilante<\/em>, Relentless<\/em>, Uncle Sam<\/em>) and writer Larry Cohen (It\u2019s\nAlive<\/em>, God Told Me To<\/em>) attain the perfect tone that mixes shocks,\nexcitement and laughs in equal measure. Almost everyone on screen is having a\ngreat time and viewers will feel the same way about the film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the stunt work here is just as good, if not\nbetter, than any Hollywood film of its era. There\u2019s a remarkable car chase\nthrough the streets at night that looks incredibly dangerous, as does a stunt\ninvolving one of the characters being handcuffed to a moving vehicle (which\nanother does battle with Cordell using a running chainsaw). A raid of a police shooting\ngallery and station is equally impressive, with the Maniac Cop literally\nwalking through doors and taking down victims. A stunt during the finale\nfeaturing a pair of characters on fire plunging out a window down to the\npavement is also memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This movie promises action and delivers in spades, providing\nB-movie thrills at a consistent level. The new Blu-ray is just as impressive,\nwith a cleaned up and sharp picture that still retains a gritty New York vibe. And,\nas expected, the extras are great as well. There\u2019s a commentary featuring Lustig\nand Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive<\/em>, Only God Forgives<\/em>,\nThe Neon Demon<\/em>). Their conversation is friendly, with Lustig answering\ninteresting questions and giving away fascinating tidbits about the production.\nHe explains why he swapped out the original heroes for new characters, also noting\nthat a lot of the movie was actually shot in LA. Lustig tells a wild story about\nhow Robert Davi became involved and notes that he didn\u2019t get along well with actress\nChristian. He also details how he convinced local policemen to let him shoot far\nmore material on the streets than he was initially allowed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll hear more of these tales in the 47-minute making of\nspecial included on the disc. It includes Lustig, Cohen and most of the cast and\ncrew describing their experiences and offering their own perspectives. Lustig\ngoes into more detail on some of the above stories, including how he told\ninvestors he had cast Robert Davi (who receiving attention at the time for his upcoming\nrole in the Bond movie, Licence to Kill<\/em>) even though they had never been\nin contact. Another highlight is a discussion with stunt coordinator Spiro\nRazatos, who set up the incredible stunt shots. He has since worked in the same\nposition on titles like Captain America: The Winter Soldier<\/em>, Kong:\nSkull Island<\/em> and F9: The Fast Saga<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If that wasn\u2019t enough, there is another lengthy extra featuring\na Q&A with Lustig at an LA screening of the film. Additionally, the disc\nincludes a deleted scene, domestic and international trailers for the feature and\nan extensive poster and still gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you enjoy the work of William Lustig, Maniac Cop 2<\/em>\nis likely one of your favorite titles from the filmmaker. This release from Blue\nUnderground looks phenomenal, will entertain genre fans and provide plenty of\nbackground details about the movie that even enthusiasts may not have known\nabout. This release is highly recommended to any genre fan! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: And keep checking this site for an upcoming review of the new Blue Underground <\/strong>Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence<\/strong><\/em> 4k Ultra HD and Blu-ray.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set from Blue Underground is currently available for purchase. For those unfamiliar with Maniac Cop, it was an action\/slasher picture about a deranged, scarred and potentially undead ex-cop named Matt Cordell who sets out to kill those he believed wronged him in life (as well as anyone else who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[123,697,2124,2928,3073,3202,3602,4472,4496,5186,9319,12161,12250,13038,13039,13040,13803,17148,17200,18035,18515,22825,24319],"class_list":["post-23909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-123","tag-action","tag-b-movie","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-blue-underground","tag-bruce-campbell","tag-clarence-williams-iii","tag-claudia-christian","tag-danny-trejo","tag-horror","tag-laurene-landon","tag-leo-rossi","tag-maniac-cop-2","tag-maniac-cop-2-blu-ray-review","tag-maniac-cop-2-review","tag-michael-lerner","tag-robert-davi","tag-robert-zdar","tag-sequel","tag-slasher","tag-thriller","tag-william-lustig"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}