Empire of the Ants Blu-ray - Joan Collins / Pamela Susan Shoop

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "H.G. Wells' Empire of the Ants")

Directed by Bert I. Gordon
USA 1977

It’s no PICNIC! From sci-fi mastermind H.G. Wells and B-movie bigwig Bert I. Gordon (Village of the Giants, The Food of the Gods)—brace yourself for mutant mayhem and pestilent payback in this cult classic creature feature about good bugs gone BAD! Starring queen of mean Joan Collins (The Stud), this incredible insect extravaganza is swarming with flesh-crawling chills, hair-raising thrills and spine-tingling terror...with a venge-ANTS! A heavenly paradise becomes a hellish nightmare when a toxic spill turns harmless ants into rampaging, radioactive reprobates! Stumbling into their creepy lair, a sleazy land developer (Collins) and her clients (including Robert Lansing and John David Carson) are horrified to realize that the ants are having a picnic...and humans are on the menu! Fleeing for their lives—only to be squashed underfoot—they soon discover that these bad-boy bugs are hell-bent on exterminating mankind, and building an evil empire where humans check in...but they can’t check out!

***

In the '50s, Bert I. Gordon made a career out of sci-fi movies about gigantic mutated insects (Beginning of the End, Earth vs. the Spider), lizards (King Dinosaur, Serpent Island), and even people (The Amazing Colossal Man), and in 1977, he was still up to his old tricks with this picture, loosely adapted from a story by H.G. Wells. Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins) is a less than scrupulous businesswoman who is trying to sell shares in a worthless Florida housing development to a group of naive souls. However, both Marilyn and her potential customers have bigger things to worry about than low property values, when they discover that a large stock of nuclear waste was dumped near the development site, and the result is a pack of gigantic mutated ants with a nasty disposition and a taste for human blood. The supporting cast features Robert Lansing, John David Carson, and Albert Salmi.

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 29th, 1977

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Comparison:

Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Kino (Cult #11) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover
		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray	Kino (Cult) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:29:38.414	1:29:50.051
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 45,973,905,123 bytes Feature: 23,652,820,992 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.83 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 30,524,785,850 bytes Feature: 28,998,887,424 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Shout! Factory Blu-ray:
Bitrate Kino Cult Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English (SDH), None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Shout! Factory 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 45,973,905,123 bytes Feature: 23,652,820,992 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.83 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio Commentary With Director Bert I. Gordon Photo Gallery (3:12) Radio Spots (1:00) Theatrical Trailer (2:19) Blu-ray Release Date: May 26th, 2015 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Kino (Cult) 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 30,524,785,850 bytes Feature: 28,998,887,424 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle and Filmmaker/Historian Michael Varrati • Audio Commentary by Producer/Director Bert I. Gordon • Radio Spot (1:04) • Theatrical Trailer (2:19) Blu-ray Release Date: August 27th, 2024 Standard Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino (Cult) Blu-ray (August 2024): Kino Cult have transferred the 11th title of their sub-label; 1977's Bert I. Gordon schlocker Empire of the Ants to Blu-ray. In 2016 we reviewed the Shout! Factory Blu-ray HERE, that was paired with Jaws of Satan on a single disc. The Kino provides the film with its own dual-layer housed transfer with a 40% rise in bitrate over the Shout! Factory rendering. It improves with richer, deeper colors and more defined contrast. A case could be made that it has also improved in-motion but all of this superiority would be dependant on your system. Bottom line is that it is better.

NOTE: We have added 42 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino Cult use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language. Empire of the Ants has two menacing fires and noises of the ants plus some of their movement in the forest and building destruction. It has a strong high end with modest depth actually coming across as fairly irritatingly. Empire of the Ants has a score by veteran Dana Kaproff (The Big Red One, Between the Darkness and the Dawn, 3 Bad Men) and it adds suspense maintaining an effective tone. Kino Cult offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Kino (Cult) Blu-ray offers two commentaries. The first is by David Del Valle (author of Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign) and filmmaker / historian Michael Varrati (A Nurse to Die For.) They talk about "Mr. Big" Bert I. Gordon, his films, the production, cast etc., Drive-In-esque comparatives and how they are frequent guilty-pleasures. Agreed. It's great - I always love David's inside anecdotal stories. The second commentary is the previous one from director Bert I. Gordon that was on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray. He shares details of the production with praise and focus on the film's 'process shot' effects. The supplements also include two radio spots and a theatrical trailer. The package has alternative artwork via a reversible cover (see below.)

Bert I. Gordon's Empire of the Ants is a typical example of the 70's revisionist creature-feature genre but there is some latent star-power with ageless Edith Keeler aka Joan Collins (The Devil Within Her,) steady Robert Lansing (4D Man,) Albert Salmi (The Bravados,) Jacqueline Scott (Macabre) and the sexy poser Pamela Shoop (Boop-Oop-a-Doop.) Empire of the Ants was the last, of three, films released in A.I.P.'s H.G. Wells film cycle, after The Food of the Gods (1976) and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977). I had forgotten that, in the film, the queen ant, using her seductive pheromones, has the entire town of humans under her control! Publicly, I will state that - I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted Blu-ray reviewer I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves. The Kino Cult Blu-ray gives the schlocker some love with an upgraded, superior transfer, slipcase and new commentary. It's more enjoyable than it is 'bad', imo. Pair it as the "B" feature with Phase 4. Have fun!