Return to Savage Beach Blu-ray Review

Julie Strain & Shae Marks Heat Up The Screen

The final movie from director Andy Sidaris and Malibu Bay Films, Return To Savage Beach offers the hottest action yet from the b-movie filmmaker. Playboy Playmates Shae Marks and Carrie Westcott, and 1993 Penthouse Pet of the Year Julie Strain, bare everything in sizzling scenes. If that is what you are looking for in a campy action movie with cheesy characters and questionable acting, Return To Savage Beach is your film. A masked villain looking for lost Japanese war gold battles the lovely ladies of L.E.T.H.A.L. one last time in the confused and irrelevant plot.

Julie Strain plays commander Willow Black once again, leading the gorgeous ladies of LETHAL. In a ridiculous twist, WCW wrestler Buff Bagwell returns after being stopped in Day of the Warrior. He’s now a reformed villain working for the good guys, being the romantic interest for Strain’s character. A few nods to the original Savage Beach are included with an appearance by Ava Caddell returning as a radio astrologer whispering coded messages disguised as sweet nothings.

Return To Savage Beach offers the hottest action yet from the b-movie filmmaker

The formula for Andy Sidaris remains the same in this last outing. The ladies of L.E.T.H.A.L. (Legion To Ensure Total Harmony And Law) show up to battle villains, either in or out of their clothes. Return To Savage Beach dabbles in a little half-hearted ninja action, which feels like a decade late. By 1998, the ninja craze of the 1980s in action movies had already died out.

The plotting this time around is even more muddled and confused. By the final act there are several different villains, none worth really caring about. Returning Sidaris player Rodrigo Obregon plays Martinez, a masked and mysterious criminal.

The principle focus in Return To Savage Beach are agents Tyger (Shae Marks) and her partner/lover Tyler. Shae Marks is the real scene stealer, clearly receiving a lot of love from Andy Sidaris and his camera. She practically steals the spotlight from star Julie Strain.

While the tepid action and premise aren’t the best from Malibu Bay Films, Andy Sidaris goes out with his steamiest love scenes ever filmed. Return To Savage Beach isn’t his best work but still fondly remembered for other things important to his fanbase.

Video

Mill Creek Entertainment finishes their fine line of Blu-ray releases for Andy Sidaris with Return To Savage Beach. Listed as a newly struck 4K film transfer, the main feature is nicely encoded in AVC at excellent bitrates on a BD-50. The 1.78:1 presentation has been blessed with a lively contrast and solid black levels. The transfer is unprocessed and film-like in appearance, retaining fine detail in close-ups.

Exteriors exude substantial depth and  sun-lit definition, highlighting the simple and direct cinematography often favored by cable productions. Shadow detail and delineation occasionally reveal limitations in the original cinematography. The print has little visible damage, though establishing shots are mildly softer.

Select scenes look outstanding with sharp texture and definition. Andy always went for a bright production with generous amounts of clarity.

Audio

An upfront and loud stereo mix is provided in 2.0 DTS-HD MA lossless quality. Return To Savage Beach is a clean recording with completely intelligible dialogue. Acceptable dynamic range includes moderate low-end activity and enough separation when demanded. Action junkies shouldn’t have an issue.

The best-sounding part of the mix is probably the soft jazz score by Ron DiLulio, a cheesy effort perfect for the various sex scenes. The basic audio design at best is b-movie quality when the action heats up.

Optional English SDH subtitles play in a white font.

Extras

Mill Creek finishes out their line of Andy Sidaris Blu-rays with Day of the Warrior and Return To Savage Beach, completing all twelve films on the format with new transfers and bringing over all special features found on the original BCI Eclipse DVDs.

It’s a surprise the label didn’t go for slipcovers on this line but Mill Creek rarely uses them on BD for whatever reason.

Introduction By Director Andy Sidaris (01:14 in SD) – Alongside a half-nude Julie Strain, Sidaris playfully introduces Return To Savage Beach in grand style.

Audio Commentary By Andy Sidaris and Arlene Sidaris – A comfortable discussion between the married couple remembering the cast and various production tidbits. Not dissimilar to any of their prior commentaries, Andy likes talking up his cast while Arlene drops in a few snarky comments. You develop a good grasp of how a low-budget filmmaker cuts corner to save time and money.

Behind The Scenes Featurettes (42:29 in SD) – A total of seven featurettes pulled from the BCI Eclipse DVDs run in consecutive order. You get Andy’s trademarked Film School Sexy and Film School Action segments, breaking down how he films the different types of scenes. The most interesting featurette included here is a look back at actor Rodrigo Obregon’s career with Andy Sidaris. A featurette on the location shoot for Hard Hunted is included.

Return To Savage Beach Trailer (02:23 in HD)

Trailers are also provided for the other eleven Malibu Bay Films by Andy Sidaris:

Malibu Express (02:21)

Savage Beach (01:38)

Hard Ticket to Hawaii (01:40)

Picasso Trigger (01:30)

Guns (01:28)

Do or Die (01:19)

Hard Hunted (01:07)

Fit to Kill (01:45)

Enemy Gold (02:28)

The Dallas Connection (01:28)

Day of the Warrior (02:04)

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

The 15 unaltered images below represent the Blu-ray. For an additional 27 Return to Savage Beach screenshots, early access to all screens (plus the 120,000+ already in our library), 100 exclusive 4K UHD reviews, and more, subscribe on Patreon.