Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)

**** (out of 4)

Exceptionally well-made and entertaining documentary taking a look at the career of Roger Corman, the man who turned out some of the cheapest but most successful films out there but perhaps more importantly are the number of talented people he gave jobs to. You can see how much Corman done for others just by seeing the number of people who turned out to be interviewed for this film. Just a few of the names include Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante, David Carradine, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert DeNiro, Paul W.S. Anderson, Gene Corman, Jonathan Hale, Dick Miller, John Sayles, Bob Burns, Jonathan Demme, William Shatner, Polly Platt, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Pam Grier and others. Considering how many films Corman has been involved with over the decades it's really amazing how much they got into this 90-minute movie. The documentary is broken into various periods including Corman's directing years, the "young" talent taking over, the exploitation of the 70s, JAWS and STAR WARS killing business and then the home video market. Fans of Corman and all the filmmakers he discovered are really going to enjoy all of the stories here. When I heard they were making a documentary on Corman I was a little worried that they wouldn't be able to capture everything but the filmmakers actually do that. I was really shocked at how much information they crammed into the picture and it was great hearing from so many people that you don't normally get to hear from. With this I'm really thinking of Nicholson who simply doesn't do many interviews. He talks about his first film THE CRY BABY KILLER, makes fun of THE TERROR and eventually breaks down when talking about what Corman means to him. Even Bogdanovich finally talks about his early work including Corman buying a Russian movie and then hiring him as "director" to add a few scenes with women. There are countless clips shown throughout the movie and by the time it's over you really want to go out and rent all of them to enjoy all over again. CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A Hollywood REBEL is an excellent look at low-budget filmmaking and the man who pretty much invented his own genre.

Now 90 years old, Roger Corman (aka. King of the B-Movies) has been in the film-making business for close to 60 years now.

Through film clips, stills, and interviews with colleagues, relatives, etc., etc., this 90-minute documentary gives the viewer a fairly realistic look at the overall history of Roger Corman's career, first as a low-budget film director, then as a low-budget film producer.

Throughout his many years in the business Corman has given struggling, young actors (such as William Shatner and Robert De Niro) and budding, young directors (such as Martin Scorsese and James Cameron) a big, helping hand in their chosen field of work.

Needless to say - Corman is one man who is certainly owed a helluva lot of thanks in gratitude from countless people who went on to notable success in the movie business as either actors, producers and directors.

All-in-all - I think this documentary was quite entertaining, especially from the standpoint of getting to see some hilarious film clips from a number of Corman's cheesier horror movies and brutally bad, teen exploitation pictures which were all standard Drive-In fare from the 1950s and 60s.

A documentary on DIY producer/director Roger Corman and his alternative approach to making movies in Hollywood.

As a fan of horror, science fiction and cult films, the name Roger Corman is legendary in my home. I have watched and reviewed countless of his works, and interviewed more than a handful of his colleagues. To say he is the biggest influence in the history of modern cinema is an exaggeration, but not by much.

What I found most interesting about this documentary was that it covered so much that I did not know. I was aware of Corman's connection to Scorsese, Nicholson and Demme. I knew about James Cameron (who is practically ignored here for some reason). But I did not know about Shatner and "Intruder"... and indirectly the "Twilight Zone"?

This is a must-see for all fans of horror, science fiction, and film history in general.

definitely enjoyed the DVD however if you are looking at it to try and come up with some good ideas for which old school grindhouse movies to watch then it might not offer a whole lot of suggestions. What it does do however is offer a very informative view on how roger corman came to be. Its more of a biography concerning his film career opposed to concentrating on his filmography. I'd say i developed more of a respect for roger corman after seeing how he struggled and pulled all his resources together to slowly build up his huge body of work, especially after my respect for him seemed to be recently faltering do his garbage additions to the sci fi channel (im looking at you sharktopus). With that said i did come away with a few new movies to add to my watch list ie, wild angels, big bird cage(i know i know i should have seen this by now), bloody mama, and the trip. All in all it was very informative and entertaining and held my attention throughout. Nothing much in the way of special features though, i guess the whole movie is basically one big special feature.

If anyone ever made a movie about you, you'd wish it was made like this. I'm pretty sure Roger Corman himself is happy about the end result. It's a mix, where you are treated to the past and the present (of course the present is the past, at the time you'll be able watch this, but you get what I mean) of Corman body of work. New and old collaborators are there to be interviewed.

At the end there is a special treat, though I guess fans will know this (actually should know this), before watching the movie. But to newbies or people not as aware to Corman (like myself) this works wonders. You really start to respect the man. And while it is rose tinted most of the time, it also involves some controversial material in it too. Still this is here to celebrate a man and that is what it does