Cheap Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market (DVD) (Max Allan Collins) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market

Good little crime thriller; spectacular DVD
The only aspect of Max Allan Collins' previous movie thrillers that betrayed their low-budget origins was the fact that they were shot on videotape instead of film. Here, however, the very premise of the movie ingeniously embraces the fact that the medium employed is video. Specifically, "Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market" has as its central conceit the notion that "found footage" from various sources- principally store surveillance cameras and local news reports- was assembled and edited to tell the dramatic story of a convenience store robbery and hostage situation in a small Iowa town. In other words, as writer and director Collins freely admits, he used the "Blair Witch" mock documentary/found footage technique, only this time in the service of a crime thriller instead of a horror movie. The result is a pretty entertaining little film that, at 72 minutes, doesn't permit its central gimmick of seeing most of the action through mini-mart security cameras overstay its welcome. The neat thing about this DVD, though, is that the movie itself is only half the fun. There are loads of extras, including (but not limited to!) the following: three separate commentary tracks by Mr. Collins, his actors, and his technical people, respectively; an audiobook version of "Inconvenience Store", the original Collins short story that inspired the film; a complete "Ms. Tree" comic book adventure, as Mr. Collins' "Ms. Tree" detective character (originally created for the comics) was the protagonist in the previously-noted short story; trailers to "Real Time" and previous Collins films "Mommy" and "Mommy II"; and an ambitious multi-angle feature that allows restless viewers to change camera views at will (switching from one "security camera" to another) while watching the movie. So, in short, this DVD is recommended for the gritty, clever movie, but especially recommended for fans of Mr. Collins' novels, movies, and comics work, as the various supplementary materials give the viewer a wealth of archival material, fascinating anecdotes, and other background information about Mr. Collins and his work. And, oh yes, you can't beat the price.