TRAILER TRAUMA V: 70S ACTION ATTACK! (2020) *** ½

For my money, the Trailer Trauma series is the gold standard when it comes to movie trailer compilations.  After thoroughly exhausting the horror genre in parts 3 and 4 (I consider 3 to be the best trailer compilation ever made), the franchise now sets its sights on the action movies of the ‘70s.  While this collection lacks the OCD level of detail the past two sets had, it still packs plenty of punch, giving you over three hours of badass trailers.

There is a nice amount of variety here as 70s Action Attack! covers plenty of ground.  The action subgenres include Blaxploitation (Three Tough Guys, Three the Hard Way, Hit!), biker pictures (Angels Die Hard, C.C. and Company, The Losers), westerns (High Plains Drifter, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Junior Bonner), revenge flicks (Rolling Thunder, Mr. Majestyk, Vigilante Force), Good Ol’ Boy movies (Return to Macon County, High Ballin’, Convoy), Kung Fu (Steel Edge of Revenge, The Young Dragon, Deadly China Doll), and drive-in fare (The Abductors, Hustler Squad, The Hot Box).  Although there is no shortage of fun trailers here, many lack the distinct grimy, sleazy, grindhouse edge that made the past Trailer Trauma collections so much fun.  (It could’ve used more wild trailers like the one for the amazing looking Wildcat Women 3-D.)  Also, because of the sheer number of trailers, it becomes a bit numbing as it enters its second hour.  Because of that, I think this set would work best if you broke it up in parts and watched it over several nights as opposed to trying to tackle it in one sitting.  

These are relatively minor quibbles in the long run.  I mean I am pretty much destined to give a rave review to any trailer compilation that starts with a trailer for Cockfighter (shown here under its alternate title, Born to Kill), followed by one for another Warren Oates classic, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.  That right there tells you it’s going to be something special.  Not only that, but it concludes with trailers for Lee Marvin (Prime Cut, Emperor of the North) and Charles Bronson flicks (The Family, Hard Times).  In between, we see a lot of William Smith (The Losers, Camper John, Fast Company) and Jan-Michael Vincent (Buster and Billie, Big Wednesday, White Line Fever), which is always a sure sign that you’ve come to the right place.

I’m something of a connoisseur when it comes to trailer compilations.  Watching these things is one of my favorite things to do on this planet.  So, trust me when I tell you this one is a damned good one.  While it may not reach the dizzying heights of the previous entries in the series, any ‘70s action fan worth their salt needs to pick up Trailer Trauma V:  70s Action Attack!