Anna Nicole Smith skyrocketed to fame in the early 90s after starting out as a Playboy magazine centerfold in 1992 and becoming Playmate of the Year in 1993. Capitalising on her curvy, Jayne Mansfield-esque figure, she modelled for numerous big fashion brands and appeared in several TV shows and films, often in minor ‘guest-star’ roles. She wasn’t always taken seriously by the press but she was a big star. Being a heterosexual teenage boy in the mid-90s, I was certainly aware of her.
However, Smith led a troubled life, plagued by court cases, personal tragedy and other problems, before dying of a supposedly accidental overdose of prescription drugs, aged only 39.
At the height of her fame, in amongst her modelling and walk-on parts, Smith was given the chance to be the star of a pair of films for PM Entertainment – To the Limit and Skyscraper. Smith was even Associate Producer on the latter.
Being the only label I’m aware of that’s giving PM Entertainment’s back catalogue the respect it deserves on Blu-ray, it was only a matter of time before Fokus Media tackled these films. Sure enough, they’re releasing both together in a handsome Mediabook, which also includes the ‘documentary’ Anna Nicole Smith: Exposed as a bonus feature on a third disc. I got hold of a copy and my thoughts follow.
* Please note, I’m reviewing the films in reverse chronological order, because that’s the order in which they’re listed on the box set and the order in which I watched them.
Skyscraper
Director: Raymond Martino
Screenplay: William Applegate Jr., Joseph John Barmettler
Starring: Anna Nicole Smith, Richard Steinmetz, Charles M. Huber Branimir Cikatiæ, Calvin Levels, Jonathan Fuller, Lee de Broux, Deirdre Haj
Country: USA
Running Time: 96 min
Year: 1996
In Skyscraper, Smith plays Carrie Wink, a helicopter pilot working for a high-end heli-taxi service. She gets hired to fly a man named Fairfax (Charles M. Huber) around the city whilst, unbeknownst to her, he uses ruthlessly violent methods to collect a series of four interlocking computer components that, when put together, have the ability to somehow “shift the balance of power in the world”.
Things go wrong at the final location though, and Fairfax and his goons take over a hi-tech skyscraper whilst they hunt down the last chip. Carrie is caught in amongst this and does her best to stop the terrorists.
Meanwhile, Carrie’s LAPD detective husband, Gordon (Richard Steinmetz), has been attempting to figure out who’s behind the ensuing killing spree around the city and converges on the skyscraper himself.
Skyscraper has some of the usual PM Entertainment magic, with a good pace, plenty of squib-heavy gunfights and some cool stunts. Aerial footage is well utilised too. However, it’s not one of their top-tier titles.
There’s no getting past the fact that Smith herself lets the film down a little. Let’s not beat around the bush, she’s not a great actor. She certainly has presence, but her line deliveries are wooden and downright bizarre at times. She often manages to over-express with her face whilst under-expressing with her voice, if that makes any sense. She’s not helped by some clunky dialogue, to be fair.
Being an Anna Nicole Smith vehicle, there’s plenty of nudity in the film, including probably the most gratuitous sex scene I’ve ever scene. It appears out of the blue through a flashback at the most inappropriate moment. Carrie starts remembering an epic session with her husband whilst she’s hiding out from the terrorists.
There’s fun to be had in how daft the film can be though. Yes, in essence it’s a bad Die Hard rip-off on a budget, but with a healthy dose of action that’s well executed and done for real, it’s still a good time.
Film: 
To the Limit
Director: Raymond Martino
Screenplay: Raymond Martino, William Stroum, Joey Travolta
Starring: Anna Nicole Smith, Joey Travolta, John Aprea, David Proval, Branscombe Richmond, Michael Nouri, Jack Bannon
Country: USA
Running Time: 96 min (* check notes)
Year: 1995
To the Limit centres around a mafia-like crime network. Several key figures in the ‘family’ are targetted at once in an audacious multi-pronged hit, including the husband of Colette Dubois (Smith) as well as Frank DaVinci (Joey Travolta) and his wife, who are gunned down at their wedding. Frank survives but the sadistic Arthur Jameson (Jack Bannon), who was behind the attacks, continues to send goons to finish him off.
Frank is resilient though and teams up with Colette to find out who’s behind all of this and put and end to their reign of terror. Can the mysterious Colette be trusted though?
To the Limit starts off well, with some brutal and explosive action. However, after an exciting first half-an-hour, it goes off the rails somewhat, becoming pretty tedious by the end.
I think PM are overreaching a little here, going for a moody gangster epic akin to Goodfellas, but falling short of the mark. They try to cram too much in but end up with several superfluous scenes and spend too much time with characters that don’t contribute a great deal to the story (as good a performance as David Proval puts in, his character is given way too much screen time).
This cluttered approach causes the pace to suffer, making for a 90-odd minute film that feels like two hours.
It’s a shame, because, on the surface, To the Limit is classier than Skyscraper. It’s well shot and better performed (even Smith is a lot stronger here) but it tries and fails to be more than it is and suffers because of this. After getting off to a decent start, the film loses steam and drags. It lacks the charm of Skyscraper too, which stuck more closely to the action template that PM Entertainment had honed to perfection.
Film:
Skyscraper + To the Limit is out now in a 3-Disc Blu-Ray Collector’s Mediabook Edition, released by Fokus Media (you can order it on the Fokus Media website or you might be able to find it on various import sites). The transfers, both presented in the 1.78:1 ratio, are strong. Skyscraper looks particularly good, with a clean print and natural colours and textures. To the Limit is a tad softer but it still has a pleasing overall look. Although these are relatively low budget films, they were shot on film, so look great when polished up and presented in HD. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how the films look, though these have been compressed.
You get a choice of German or English language audio options (both 2.0 stereo). I opted for English, and it sounded good on both films. Some of the dialogue on To the Limit wasn’t crystal clear, but this is likely down to the source material. German or English subtitles are also available on the disc.
– Mediabook
– 3-Disc Edition Blu-ray
– Spot Varnish
– Limited to 111 copies
– UNCUT
Extras:
– Art Camacho About Skyscraper,
– Extended Outtakes
– Behind the Scenes Skyscraper
– In Memorium Anna Nicole Smith
– Interviews with Anna Nicole Smith from 1992, Raymond Martino and Gilbert A. Wadsworth
– About Anna Nicole Smith
– Trailers
– Photo Galleries
The biggest selling point in the Mediabook set is a bonus film, Anna Nicole Smith: Exposed. It runs at close to 56 minutes and markets itself as a documentary taking a look at a day (or a year, if you go by the intertitles) in the life of Smith. It’s all quite blatantly staged though, and basically plays out as a softcore porn movie, utilising some clips from her other films. Smith talks about her busy life, which always seems to lead into her discussing her erotic fantasies, or sometimes her job or life leads into another roll in the hay, so to speak. It’s pretty dreadful, to be honest, but if you just want to watch cheesy 90s sex scenes for an hour, it’ll do the trick.
There’s an archival behind the scenes featurette on Skyscraper. This 10-minute piece is presented in a smaller box in the screen and is pretty raw, made up of unrestored production footage, presumably ripped from VHS. However, it’s great to see the team at work.
There’s a 9 minute interview with Art Camacho on the Skyscraper disc. He came in to work on some pickup shots on the film. He’s honest in saying that Smith was inebriated much of the time but thought she was nonetheless a sweet person, who tried very hard during the production.
There’s also a 6-minute outtakes reel for Skyscraper. This is purely focused on Smith. She seems to be struggling at times, which is a little sad to see. Working as the star on films like that with such a fast turnaround must have been exhausting though.
On the To the Limit disc, Gilbert Alexander Wadsworth talks about Smith in an interview. He talks about her being uncomfortable about the shower scene in the film, and he and the interviewer discuss her seeming reluctance to be seen purely as a sex symbol. It’s a surprisingly moving and thought-provoking piece.
Also on that disc is a 1-minute interview with Smith. It’s a shame this is so short, as we get glimpses of her being heartfelt and open about her life and work.
There’s also a 2-minute interview with Raymond Martino about Smith. He talks highly of her. They were reportedly close friends. He describes her as a very kind woman.
You also get a booklet with plenty of publicity stills, posters and essays. It’s in German though, so the text might be lost on non-German speakers.
Overall, whilst the films aren’t amazing, there are some strong, if often short extras, the set is handsomely presented, and the transfers are solid. The inclusion of the bonus film will be a big plus for many too, even if I thought it was terrible. PM and Anna Nicole Smith fans will certainly want to pick this up.
Extras/package: