Reviews

Dust To Glory is an Awesome Movie, Great Dirt Racing, Great Footage and Racers. Truly Cool . Baja Footage!

This mesmerizing documentary about the Baja 1000 is funny and suspenseful. At times it brings tears to one's eyes, like when a spectator dies or when the racers give rides to orphans. The danger of the race makes me the think the participants are crazy, but I loved watching the motorcycles and jacked-up trucks kick up the dust.

Dust to Glory remains, for me at least, the defining motor sport/adventure film - and I have a reasonable collection from which to choose. It covers the Baja 1000 off road race from Ensenada, California to La Paz, Mexico. The prize money for which, (if any) is poultry and the dangers too numerous to mention. Yet the the entrants list reads like a who's who of top American riders and drivers, all willing to commit their skills and indeed their lives for the coveted Baja title - pretty much to the point of near reckless abandonment. The Direction and filming are the best off road work I have ever seen, which coupled with a sound track driven by the Vast's 'Falling from the sky' and excellent slow motion shots, brings the whole movie to life in a way that will invite you to watch again and again. To be honest, I am not sure that it has many, if any film rivals to compare against. Dana Braun's (the director, writer and narrator) witty and measured commentary adds a dimension rarely seen in such a genre. It is the one film I recommend time and again. The problem is that it leaches into you - to such an extent that I am now going to Baja next year to do a couple of exploratory runs following the same route as in the film and will (perhaps) compete in the race in 2011.

One thing is certain in Baja, and that is that nothing is certain. This movie was beautifully filmed, showing some truly mystical moments that one would experience in the race of all races. The only reason why I gave this film a 4 star rating instead of 5, is because I felt the director spent a little too much time following the motorcycles, and not enough time displaying all which trophy trucks go through. I love all the classes of Baja; I don't think I'm alone on this when saying that Trophy trucks are the climax of the racing day. So I was somewhat dissapointed when I realized I was only given maybe a solid 15 mins of trophy truck time, but nonetheless I still enjoyed watching this movie very much. For some time now, I've kept telling people that I want to race in the Baja 1000 one day, and all I get is negative feedback, on what a challenge it is, or how expensive a race it is to compete in. But I don't want to let that stop me, these great racers made it, so why can't I??? This movie made me internalize my feelings towards Baja even more, the landscaping is so beautiful at times with the trucks roaring through, that I felt tear jerking moments of happiness. This movie really shows what kind of experience it really is, and it made me want to push to make it there myself! Watching this movie in HD with dolby digital made the experience even more enjoyable, but I think anyone can appreciate this film.

This is one of my favorite documentaries. It's does a great job of showing how it feels to ride in Baja. A must have for the off-road rider's collection.

Reviews

Thank god I didn't buy this DVD. I rented here at Amazon after reading some reviews. I wish I had believed the ones who reviewed this movie negatively. This was such a bad movie that I couldn't even give it "b" status. If there was an "f" status that's what I would give it. If you're looking for a good Vampire movie don't look for it in this lame excuse. Yes, it is that bad. I watched it all the way to the end just because I didn't want to say I hadn't seen it all. It was torturous, inane, and BORING! The acting was atrocious and whoever directed it must have been working on his first movie ever having absolutely no idea what he was doing. Please don't even waste the $1.99 that I did to watch it. Save your money and your mind.

Relocating a vampire to 20th century America? "Count Yorga, Vampire" and "The Velvet Vampire" were amongst the movies that tried this twist; what's more, "TVV" adds desert dwelling and dune buggy action. Perhaps it was considered "action" at its time. Now it just seems kind've clunky. I DO get a perverse amusement in seeing films that really reflect that era's goofy-looking fads and fashions (aren't ANY era's popular trappings goofy-looking in retrospect?), but aside from the dune buggy, there isn't much that actually nails this film into that era, other than maybe some hairdos and some almost bizarre clothes...but there are examples of both that just seem ordinary, as well. So as far as "groovy thrills", this doesn't especially deliver. Sherry Miles is almost painfully "dumb blonde California Girl" in her performance (IS it a performance?), and Michael Blodgett is typical of that era's "heroes". Early on, we see a street thug, who is played by Robert Tessier, the workhorse toughguy of 60s,70s, and 80s tv and film (the bald musclehead often beaten up by Bronson, Mr. T, Billy Jack, and Lou Ferrigno)...here we see him (briefly) with hair! What drew me to "TVV" is the lead character being played by Celeste Yarnell (or Yarnall, depending on which spelling the filmmakers used...which is proper, who knows?), who had appeared in Star Trek's episode "The Apple". Quite honestly, I would have NEVER recognized her; she really does look like a completely different person to me. Not just the element of 4 years' difference, but totally different. Attractive, certainly! We get to see a good deal of her; not exactly voluptuous, but much more appealing than what we see of Miles, for my tastes. As for the other criteria sought by genre buffs, GORE, there is very little. No, I think this film was actually aimed more at being outre' and narrative than shocking and horrific. It achieves moodiness and gloom, which is in turn shattered by the unlikely desert setting. Why does the sun only sometimes affect TVV? This smacks of "TV movie", only with nudity. The music is really, for me, the only thing really superior and creepy...and of course, the best part of it is overplayed to death. Do NOT expect a blood-saturated journey into grim darkness as the cover art (this is a review of the Cheezy Flix edition) suggests. I found nothing "psychedelic" about this, as other reviews indicate; "Dracula A.D. 1972" is far more "psychedelic", if that means weird hippies listening to dopey music while wearing fringed bell bottoms, vests, awkward jewelry, ludicrous hair, and a layer of dirt. This is a trip to the vaguely hip Southwest of early 1970s America. I felt, several times, very bored; perhaps if the film had been pared by about 11 minutes it would have been more effective. As it is, it is surpassed on every level (except dune buggy action and naked Star Trek guest yeomen)by other films of the time.

THE VELVET VAMPIRE is one of the better 70s vampire movies. If you enjoy stuff like COUNT YORGA 1 and 2, DEATHMASTER, or LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH, you'll absolutely love TVV! Loads of dreamy, topless, neck-nipping fun! Dianne LeFanu (Celeste Yarnall) is the perrrrfect seductress / hungering throat-sucker. Her pale frame is exquisite to say the least! Who could resist her vampiric charms? Not me...

Psychedelic vampire film from the director of "Terminal Island" comes this mod vampire story. More or less a 1970 updating of the Dracula story, sultry Diane LeFanu (Celeste Yarnell) meets a young couple (California blond Sherry Miles and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" star Michael Blodgett) and invites them to her pad in the desert... Is she a vampire? And who does she have her fangs set on? Shot the same year as Jess Franco's similar themed "Vampyros Lesbos", the somewhat stilted acting and dated hippy dialogue is salvaged by the director's excellent dream-like photography.

This is the third time I've purchased this cult vampire classic, and I can finally watch it without all the problems associated with illegitimate dubs. If you must have pristine video quality, you probably won't be interested in this movie in the first place. For those of you who appreciate lower budget seventies-era films, this edition is everything you'd desire.

Reviews

Not as good as expected - hubby was a little disappointed with the whole dvd.

Reviews

I bought the Razor Dune Buggy for my 8 year old son for Christmas. I looked at other dune buggies but was not at all interested in gas powered ones (way to smelly and dangerous). I was looking for something that did NOT look like a toy (no Fisher Price plastic ride-on electric motorcycle type stuff). But I also did not want something that was too powerful. This Razor buggy is perfect. It goes fast enough to give him a thrill but not so fast to make me worry. It charges up overnight and he can ride it for 45 minutes which is plenty of time. From the picture of the buggy it looks short, like your child's knees will be bent when riding it. Turns out, it fits him just fine (he's average height for an 8 year old), he is perfectly comfortable on it and his knees are not bent too much and they are not in the way of the steering wheel. We've owned it for 2 months and love it. IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW: if the weather is going to be below 32 degrees outside at night you can't leave it outside (or even in the garage). Below-freezing temperature drains the battery life. So we store it in the utility room in the winter at night. It weighs about 70 pounds (not light!) so moving it into our utility room at night is a little cumbersome. It's worth it though b/c he loves it. You can't put a price on his delighted laugh everytime he rides it!

I was quite apprehensive when my husband purchased two of these for our 6 year old grandaughters. I was very pleased when I saw them begin to ride. 10 MPH sounds fast until you see it. The controls are easy for them to reach and handle, the buggies actually stop when you let off the throttle. The charge time is good, at least 30 minutes of ride time. I would not purchase them if I did not have ample and SAFE yard area and HELMENTS ARE A MUST! A lot of fun for our girls!

We bought this for xmas for our 6 year old daughter. We took it out of the box, adjusted the tire pressure's and off she went. She loves it rides it almost everyday. There has not been one problem with it. We have a dirt yard and she motors through it all. We would buy this again for sure!

This has proven to be a fun and reliable toy for my 5 year old son. He absolutely loves it. The build quality seems solid and my only real concern is the parts supply drying up in the future on things like throttle switches, etc. There are a few niggling things that I would change, but I am sure they would add to the cost of the product. -The throttle is operated by your thumb, which works fine, but my son is always complaining that his thumb hurts and he has to take a break. I have rotated it up from where it was in the box, and that helped some. I would have a throttle pedal and leave the brake on the steering wheel. -The dune buggy has no reverse switch. We are going to add something ourselves. There have been a lot of situations where having reverse for a three point turn could have saved frustration. Power Wheels have it, why not this? -The tires wear very quickly. This stems both from the tire's tread design and that fact that the buggy has a solid rear axle. The axle is a great way of keeping costs down, but the tires could be a better design. Our tires have worn so quickly that I am thinking of buying 8 of them so I can assure a supply for the future. I am also planning on looking for different tire choices from industrial suppliers. There might be something that fits that was originally made for a caster or something. -Our son is only 40 lbs. and that doesn't activate the rear suspension at all. The spring seems pretty stiff for the application, even with the preload backed all the way off, meaning that the suspension at this point is just a gimmick.

Stopped working after 9 months. Razor only warranties their stuff for 90 days. Really crappy if you ask me. I'll never buy another razor product.