The Toxic Avenger (2023) - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

It takes bravery to remake a classic. But to remake a cult classic? That takes real creative moxie with a set of cojones willing to face the wrath of an angry established fan base! Apparently, Macon Blair was the right guy to take on a remake of Troma’s marquee franchise. Our new Toxic Avenger is a little bit of everything. We get big-name stars, new characters, a bigger budget, more gore, CGI, practical effects, and a rather surprisingly heartfelt story to tie it all together. It’s still outrageous. It’s still gross. It’s still hilarious. It’s just a new spin on an old favorite that might leave some longtimers behind for straying too far from the source while also inviting new fans to join in on the fun. 

Centering our little chemical-enhanced cinematic reboot is Peter Dinklage as janitor/stepdad Winston Gooze, who is just trying to make a buck, get by, and raise his deceased wife’s teenage son. But when a deadly diagnosis hits and he needs serious cashola for treatment, he attempts to rip off his kookie fitness supplement employer, Body Talk Health founder Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon). But the heist goes wrong, and Gooze is shot in the head and blasted by radioactive ooze! Miraculously surviving the incident and armed with his radioactive mop, Winston becomes the hero his city needs to clean up the violent filth and evil as the Toxic Avenger! 

Much like the original, this take on The Toxic Avenger is intensely aware of itself and its particular brand of humor. If you didn’t like what Troma was cooking forty years ago, you likely won’t be on board for this new offering. It’s not like they toned anything down! If anything, this remake is at times too in on the gag. There are brilliant moments where that brand of deliciously subversive home-grown low-budget horror/humor hits every nail on the head with ease. But then there are times when the film almost forgets what it is, tries to course-correct, but misses the mark because the gag just feels too desperate for a laugh. Thankfully, any bumps are few, far between, and relatively forgivable.

Marking the highlights of Macon Blair’s new take on Toxie is the great, fully committed cast. Dinklage gives Winston some real heart and soul - even when he’s only the voice, while Luisa Guerro does the body work. Elijah Wood locks into his slimy role with ease, while Kevin Bacon goes all in as the body-perfect poison-supplement evil-doer. A great cast is nothing without some awesome practical effects work - and there’s plenty of blood and guts to go around. So yeah, it might be a bit more “professional” and it might have a much bigger budget, but it still has that distinctly sleezy Troma flavor. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
The Toxic Avenger comes home to physical media with a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release from Cineverse. The 4K is pressed on a BD66 disc with a Region A BD50 serving up the 1080p edition and the bonus features. Both discs are housed in a standard black case. My review copy came in with a slick lenticular slipcover that flips between Winston and Toxie - so I hope that’s the case for every copy out there.

The Toxic Avenger looked great in theaters, and to no real surprise, it looks pretty damned good on 4K HDR10! With a clean encode that sees bitrates holding a robust average in the 90mbps range, the fine details really pop. Facial features, clothing textures, the set design, and, most importantly, the great practical effects makeup really shine through beautifully. It’s really something to see the Toxie makeup in action and hold up to high-resolution scrutiny. Now that does lead to some of the CGI effects looking all the more obvious, but those tend to be more enhancements and extensions than full-out VFX replacements. There’s plenty of practical gore and viscera to go around! The HDR10 grade is effective, letting colors pop nicely, giving primaries their due, but also letting all of the radioactive neons their place. Black levels are right on spot too. Flipping between this disc and the included Blu-ray, the HDR certainly gives this transfer the edge, but I also felt the image depth was a lot stronger. All around, an impressive disc.

On the audio side, we have ourselves a pretty friggen fantastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 track to enjoy. Initially, I was a little worried about the lack of Atmos for a modern movie with so much sonic activity going on, but once this disc got going, all of those worries went away. It might not be a full-on object-based mix, but this 5.1 track came to play. Almost immediately, the surround channels are fully employed. We get the goofy flashback introduction, complete with over-the-top voice-over that jumps right into some punks offing a journalist, setting up our plot. These moments set the stage for everything to come, creating a rich, often hilariously immersive audio mix. There’s plenty go goey, sticky, sloppy sounds to get those surround channels working while the dialog stays clean and clear throughout. Sure, it’s not Atmos, but damn if this track doesn’t prove the point that not every film needs an Atmos mix to be fully enjoyable.

On the bonus features side of the set, we have a pretty solid selection of materials to wade into. At the top of the pack is a fun and very informative commentary track with writer/director Macon Blair. He spends a great deal of time on the small details of the production while keeping the pace light and breezy, with a funny, self-deprecating tone. There are some small gaps here and there, but otherwise a steady track. After that, the set comes with a decent EPK-style behind-the-scenes segment. We get a short visit with Tiffany Shepis with a nice historical look at the 40th Anniversary of the character, that is very in style with a Troma release. All extras are only on the included Blu-ray.

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Macon Blair
• A Toxic Environment: Best of Behind the Scenes (HD 13:06)
• Toxic Shock With Tiffany Shepis (HD 10:14)
• 40th Anniversary of the Toxic Avenger (HD 15:03)
• Trailer

To be honest, I expected nothing from the remake of The Toxic Avenger. It was a project that was bounced around for years, with even Schwarzengger attached at one point! Then it got made in 2023 and sat on a shelf for two years before reaching theaters. Not usually a winning combination for my set of expectations when going to the theater. But I’d be damned if that wasn’t a fun trip out to the movies, and it's still fun a second time through! Sure, it’s not perfect, but it works and delivers some over-the-top gore-fueled low-brow humor entertainment! Macon Blair delivered a remake worthy of the namesake, well within the Troma brand of absurdity and low-brow humor - but still with a heart. On 4K UHD, the film radiates with an impressive HDR10 transfer and excellent audio. The bonus features package may be slim, but the commentary is worth the listen. As a won-over former skeptic of the entire venture, I have to call this one Recommended