Thanks for the kind words guys. The first Phantasm dvd is out of print at the moment, but you should be able to find it used on the net. Phantasm II was never released on dvd, which is most unfortunate, as there are some great cuda shots I'd love to show you folks from that one, but I can't easily pull the images off my vhs.
Triple Black Hemi, thanks for sharing that man. It does my heart good to know someone else had the same reaction to seeing that car, and made their dream come true.
I actually saw Phantasm II first, on TNT's old show with Joe Bob Briggs, Monstervision. He said the following when introducing the film:
"And this movie contains the most terrifying scene I've ever witnessed--a perfectly decent 1971 Hemi Cuda flipping over, landing on its roof and bursting into flame. I cried for two hours. It's amazing what they'll let these people do for the sake of a goldang movie. A Hemi Cuda--greatest muscle car ever made--so many horses you couldn't get insurance for it. And they use it for a stupid movie stunt. That's like cutting up the Mona Lisa. You know? Or destroying the original "Poker Playing Dogs.
Nothing makes me madder than watching that mint-condition 1971 Hemi Cuda get totally destroyed in that crash scene. What were they thinking? That car, you could just barely touch the gas pedal and that car would make a sound like a 747 taking off. The engine in that thing was so big you had to use a booster seat to see over it. People would drive a hunnerd miles in that car, say "Honey, did we hit something?"--stop the car, go around and look at the grillwork, and there would be a Canadian moose with its eyes bulging out, it felt like maybe you ran over a garden hose. That was THE most powerful car ever built. The greatest of all the Muscle Cars. And now we have one less Hemi Cuda in the universe. You can't even get insurance on those things. You've gotta go to Lloyd's of London and make a deal where, if you get into any kind of accident, they get to hack off your hand. You say, "Can I get a policy on this car?" And they say, "Sure. It's the same agent who writes policies on the F-16 fighter plane." Anyway, that's just irresponsible. You know, anytime they RUFFLE THE FUR on a poodle in a movie, you've got the ASPCA complaining, you've got PETA protesting, you've got people going to jail for poodle abuse--but you can just TRASH a beautiful machine like that, with impunity. I'm sick."
I actually met Reggie Bannister, star of the Phantasm series, at a comic book convention years ago, and he assured me that the car that is destroyed was merely a beat to hell Barracuda with a 318, not the hemi cuda that so traumatized Joe Bob. Still, makes for a great story. :cool:
