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.

True Roger Corman was well before my generation and time of film viewing yet over the years I've read enough about him and watched some of the early Jack Nicholson(my favorite actor) classics to know that Corman is a Hollywood cinema legend. His films were cheap, different and off beat clearly Roger Corman did it his way. From three headed monsters, and cult challenging films of teen rebellion clearly one could say that Roger started a cultural movement. And this documentary "Corman's World:Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel" is a historical and educational look at the life and work of still one living Hollywood legend.

This informative picture shows how that cheap filmmaking and hard quick work would lead Roger to make over 100 films by the year 1967 his films always low budget and cult hits would later help him start his own company New World Pictures. His independent streak was so strong he eventually branched out to drive in raw exploitation female films of the mid 1970's. Most memorable is his start when he meet Jack Nicholson in an acting class and Jack would later become a star after appearing in many of Roger's works. It's nice seeing the interviews on this documentary ranging from legends like Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, Bruce Dern, Peter Fonda, Ron Howard, Eli Roth, Quentin Tarantino, and most of all it's nice to hear the words from Jack in fact Nicholson even gets emotional when speaking about his good friend Roger. It's hard seeing Jack choked up and emotional. Still Corman still works today even though in his 80's he's not slowing down, yet as the film mentioned the births of films like "Star Wars" and "Jaws" made it even more tougher for independent film to have success, but still the underground circuit produces.

Overall well worth a view as this long over due culture legend icon is now getting the respect he deserves this documentary is informative and educational a tribute to one man named Roger Corman who clearly did it his way.

I'm so glad a documentary like this exists. It perfectly represents the brilliance of Corman's passion, in that he never gives up and makes movies for the sheer joy of it. By tackling films with low budgets, he always comes out on top. Best of all, his films were the starting blocks for many huge talents such as Jack Nicholson. When Nicholson talks, you feel nothing but love and respect, when he breaks down into tears it's truly an open and beautiful moment of a man who usually keeps his cool. In other areas we get anecdotes of just how cheaply Corman makes his movies and how he has inspired many directors since. Most interesting of all is when it talks about Corman's more serious projects such as The Intruder. It is certainly a celebration of Corman and his finest achievements, though I wish it had gone into more detail as to why he hasn't directed in over 20 years, and covered more of his recent outputs as producer. You have to see this if you love film, and you'll certainly have plenty to stick on your watchlist.

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