Digi-Schlock: THE ACTION PACKED COLLECTION (Shout! Factory 2-DVD Set)
As Shout! Factory gets further into the New World Pictures catalog, it is releasing more of these films in double and triple features (there’s even a quadruple-feature on the horizon). This is a smart strategy on a few levels. For starters, there are only so many marquee titles in any exploitation film studio’s library. It also makes sense to package lesser items together at a value-conscious price point to give the hardcore fans a break. This is the case with the Action Packed Collection, a three-films-on-two-discs proposition that collects The Great Texas Dynamite Chase, Georgia Peaches and Smokey Bites The Dust all in one DVD case.
Transfer quality varies from title to title. The Great Texas Dynamite Chase boasts a nice-looking anamorphic transfer. Unfortunately, the soundtrack suffers from noticeable overmodulation at times, with scenes that lean on the musical score suffering the most from distortion. It’s not bad enough to ruin the film but it’s enough to make a fan wish that a little more work was put into cleaning up the audio.
Georgia Peaches is the best looking of the bunch, offering a sharp and colorful anamorphic transfer under the film’s foreign release title, Follow That Car. The mono audio sounds nice as well. Unfortunately, Smokey Bites The Dust is the worst-looking of the bunch. It appears to have been taken 
from an old, full-frame video master that looks dark and fuzzy. Audio on this title is acceptable, if a bit muffled.
Extras are limited to trailers for Smokey Bites The Dust and The Great Texas Dynamite Chase. B-movie students would probably have wanted more in this area but it seems churlish to complain when you’re getting three films on two discs for the price of one catalog title. Despite a few technical issues, the Action Packed Collection still offers Roger Corman aficionados a solid deal.
