Trailer on the MOD DVD: Busting (1974, Peter Hyams)

This looks to be an original American theatrical trailer that someone pulled from an old UK pre-cert VHS tape.  We even get a glimpse of the beautiful British Warner Bros. big box artwork for Busting; the trailer is on this MGM MOD DVD, but I'm quite sure that disc does not include the spinning, rotating VHS cover graphic that this version does.  It seems that UA titles were distributed on home video by WB in Europe in the early days of the medium.  If I haven't already mentioned it, this site is a goldmine for information about this particular corner of British home video history.  Freebie and the Bean gets a lot of love from my fellow '70s cult movie cultists, but I prefer Busting to it, as my favorite "cop buddy" picture of that year, 1974.  Both are as freewheeling, nasty, and politically incorrect as you'd expect from '74 and you can't go wrong with either if that's your bag.  My friend Mr. Peel has written quite a bit more eloquently on both films here and here.

Here's a trailer that actually does right by the film, one of the more underrated--and, in fact, one of the original--cop buddy (or, is that "buddy cop"?) films.  It's high time that director Peter Hyams was given his due for well-crafted and intelligent genre films like this one and Outland.  If Hyams' Running Scared is the most unsung cop buddy movie of the '80s, Busting gets that moniker for the '70s.  The extended chase sequence that centers around a large, urban outdoor food market is rightfully often cited as a highlight of the film and Hyams' directorial career.  And, the man is still at the action game (now collaborating with his son, John) and talking about it!

Something I noticed watching this trailer, after not seeing the film for awhile, is that Blake, fresh off of his starring role in Electra Glide in Blue, is seen standing in front of a nightspot called the Electra Club. That...and the original score by Billy Goldenberg is killer, and it's available on CD from the great Kritzerland label!

More Warner Pre-Certs

I love the uniformity of these first generation big box WB releases from the U.K. and other European countries almost as much as I love their U.S. counterparts.  Many of these are UA titles that WB held video rights to in non-U.S. territories.  I found many of these images at this comprehensive, well-organized U.K. site.

Some UAs, a number of which were never released on VHS in the U.S., or which only came out on VHS years after the European counterpart:

Nowadays, this would probably be released with the same title in all English-speaking territories.  In fact, the film probably has not been issued under the Violent Streets name in many years.

AKA Hickey and Boggs, a film never released on home video in the U.S. until this MGM MOD disc.

In the U.S., Warner Bros. did not gain video rights until the release of the "Director's Cut" in the early '90s.  This U.K. cassette dates from the early '80s and is what's known over there as a "pre-cert" video.

Some striking alternate art:

It's strange to see UA's biggest franchises under the WB seal:

Utilizing an image from Rocky II for the cover.

It's also odd to see these genre stalwarts released by the WB, reminding one that Friday the 13th, for instance, was an independent production that was a negative pickup for Paramount in the U.S. and that different deals were struck for different parts of the world:

Known in the U.S. as The Sea Gypsies, I recall seeing this as a young child on HBO under the international Shipwreck! moniker and being captivated:

Don't know if this one had a U.S. counterpart.  I'd like to see it: