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Carolco Pictures
Written and compiled by Matt Williams and Juniorfan88
Background: I have conflicting opinions on how much Artisan has had to do with this company. Their website has said that they own the Carolco film library-but I've heard elsewhere that France-based Canal+ owns the library/assets, something indicated by the presence of a Canal+ copyright on Artisan's Rambo: First Blood: Ultimate Edition DVD. However, since Artisan is in charge of releasing Carolco films, and that they have always had some sort of relationship with the company even in their Live and IVE days, I'm including it as an Artisan company. Also, Carolco Pictures made their first film in the late 1970s and early 1980s; however, their first logo would not appear until the release of First Blood.
1st Logo
(1982-1984/1987)
Nickname: "Flashing C"
Logo: The logo starts out being in a black background with two silver streaks hitting diagonally from the opposite sides of the screen (lower-left and upper-right corners of the screen). The streaks merge and they have 1 or 2 beams of smaller light coming from them. Afterwards, the streaks form a curvy "C". After the "C" is formed, it flashes/shines in a bright orange light, which will remind many of the WGBH "Flash of Doom" logo.
Variant: On the theatrical trailer for Extreme Prejudice (which is from 1987, strangely enough), the logo is silent and tinted blue.
FX/Cheesy Factor: Well, certainly the synthesizer music sounds perfect for any late '70s/early '80s logos, and the animation looks fairly cheap if it was used on today's movies. The logo itself is cheesy because it's not too awesome when you see an all-silver logo (with a hint of turquoise and purple) that glows orange. But for its time, this logo was pretty awesome.
Music/Sounds: It's starts out with a descending electrical zoom effect, then after the streaks come together to form the "C", it plays some very cheesy synthesizer music, which sounds as if it came off an NES. The Rambo animated series and the 1989 VHS of Angel Heart, though, uses the next logo's jingle.
Availability: Extremely rare to find. Can probably be found on Live/IVE releases of First Blood, and may be found on the VHS releases of Extreme Prejudice and Angel Heart, which finding those VHS are now extremely hard to find. The Rambo animated series produced by Ruby-Spears also contained this logo at the end (but with the 2nd logo's music). The recent HD-DVD release of First Blood from the UK may have it, though, and it may also show up on the 6-disc DVD box set containing all 4 films in the trilogy.
Scare Factor: Medium; the flashing lights, zooming FX, streaks connecting, and very-cheesy synthesizer may startle some, but otherwise it's not too bad (with the exception of the synthesizer music).
2nd Logo
(1984-1987)
Nicknames: "C in Space", "Space Streaks"
Logo: Against a starry space BG, a blue streak of light zooms out, flashes, and forms 1/3 of Carolco's "C" logo, which is colored bronze. The process repeats two times, working its way outward. Afterwards, the logo shines brightly as the words "CAROLCO" shine in underneath. The logo then sparkles.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The animation and the way the logo looks are indeed tacky.
Music/Sounds: A nice orchestrated piece conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, but it has one variation where it plays the 1982 Carolco logo's synthesized jingle, which was seen on Extreme Prejudice.
Availability: Uncommon; the four films confirmed to use this logo are Rambo: First Blood Part II, Angel Heart, and Extreme Prejudice. However, Rambo: First Blood Part II, at least on the Artisan tapes, plasters this with the 3rd logo, so your best bets are the IVE and Avid releases of said films.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the glowing effects may get to some, along with the presence of the 1982 music, but it mostly looks tacky.
3rd Logo
(1988-September 1995)
Nicknames: "Laser Light", "The Laser-Light C"
Logo: Against a black BG, a blue laser carves out a series of curves, making its way inward as it slowly turns up, revealing the C used in the previous two films. Then, the logo shines brightly in a "wind tunnel" effect and zooms out. As the shining ends, the logo is silver-colored, and the words "CAROLCO" fade in below. The logo shines once more.
Variant: On Mario and the Mob, the logo is gold-colored.
FX: Top-notch '80s CGI.
Music/Sounds: The same music played on the '84 logo, except now it's a little bit more dramatic. Some laser sound effects are also heard as the logo is formed.
Availability: Very common, particularly on big hits such as Terminator 2, Total Recall, Rambo III, and others. The Mario and the Mob variant is extremely rare, as it was only released on video in the UK. Carolco went to TriStar Pictures for 80% of their releases; Carolco's logo is kept while that of TriStar is cut, with a few exceptions (the TriStar/Carolco logo combo has been seen on DeepStar Six, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, Cliffhanger, Basic Instinct, the Artisan release of Red Heat and an airing of Universal Solider on Encore Action).
Scare Factor: None, unless you're not a big fan of lasers or dramatic music. Otherwise, it would qualify as minimal.
4th Logo
(December 1995)
Nickname: "Big C"
Logo: We see the later logo superimposed at the screen:
FX: None; it's a superimposed logo.
Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Very rare, being seen on Cutthroat Island, the last movie produced by the company.
Scare Factor: None.
Editions by mr3urious
Video captures courtesy of Juniorfan88, joecool85, lenhill, and ThatLogoDude
Video captures courtesy of Juniorfan88, joecool85, lenhill, and ThatLogoDude
Background: I have conflicting opinions on how much Artisan has had to do with this company. Their website has said that they own the Carolco film library-but I've heard elsewhere that France-based Canal+ owns the library/assets, something indicated by the presence of a Canal+ copyright on Artisan's Rambo: First Blood: Ultimate Edition DVD. However, since Artisan is in charge of releasing Carolco films, and that they have always had some sort of relationship with the company even in their Live and IVE days, I'm including it as an Artisan company. Also, Carolco Pictures made their first film in the late 1970s and early 1980s; however, their first logo would not appear until the release of First Blood.
1st Logo
(1982-1984/1987)
Nickname: "Flashing C"
Logo: The logo starts out being in a black background with two silver streaks hitting diagonally from the opposite sides of the screen (lower-left and upper-right corners of the screen). The streaks merge and they have 1 or 2 beams of smaller light coming from them. Afterwards, the streaks form a curvy "C". After the "C" is formed, it flashes/shines in a bright orange light, which will remind many of the WGBH "Flash of Doom" logo.
Variant: On the theatrical trailer for Extreme Prejudice (which is from 1987, strangely enough), the logo is silent and tinted blue.
FX/Cheesy Factor: Well, certainly the synthesizer music sounds perfect for any late '70s/early '80s logos, and the animation looks fairly cheap if it was used on today's movies. The logo itself is cheesy because it's not too awesome when you see an all-silver logo (with a hint of turquoise and purple) that glows orange. But for its time, this logo was pretty awesome.
Music/Sounds: It's starts out with a descending electrical zoom effect, then after the streaks come together to form the "C", it plays some very cheesy synthesizer music, which sounds as if it came off an NES. The Rambo animated series and the 1989 VHS of Angel Heart, though, uses the next logo's jingle.
Availability: Extremely rare to find. Can probably be found on Live/IVE releases of First Blood, and may be found on the VHS releases of Extreme Prejudice and Angel Heart, which finding those VHS are now extremely hard to find. The Rambo animated series produced by Ruby-Spears also contained this logo at the end (but with the 2nd logo's music). The recent HD-DVD release of First Blood from the UK may have it, though, and it may also show up on the 6-disc DVD box set containing all 4 films in the trilogy.
Scare Factor: Medium; the flashing lights, zooming FX, streaks connecting, and very-cheesy synthesizer may startle some, but otherwise it's not too bad (with the exception of the synthesizer music).
2nd Logo
(1984-1987)
Nicknames: "C in Space", "Space Streaks"
Logo: Against a starry space BG, a blue streak of light zooms out, flashes, and forms 1/3 of Carolco's "C" logo, which is colored bronze. The process repeats two times, working its way outward. Afterwards, the logo shines brightly as the words "CAROLCO" shine in underneath. The logo then sparkles.
FX/Cheesy Factor: The animation and the way the logo looks are indeed tacky.
Music/Sounds: A nice orchestrated piece conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, but it has one variation where it plays the 1982 Carolco logo's synthesized jingle, which was seen on Extreme Prejudice.
Availability: Uncommon; the four films confirmed to use this logo are Rambo: First Blood Part II, Angel Heart, and Extreme Prejudice. However, Rambo: First Blood Part II, at least on the Artisan tapes, plasters this with the 3rd logo, so your best bets are the IVE and Avid releases of said films.
Scare Factor: Low to medium; the glowing effects may get to some, along with the presence of the 1982 music, but it mostly looks tacky.
3rd Logo
(1988-September 1995)
Nicknames: "Laser Light", "The Laser-Light C"
Logo: Against a black BG, a blue laser carves out a series of curves, making its way inward as it slowly turns up, revealing the C used in the previous two films. Then, the logo shines brightly in a "wind tunnel" effect and zooms out. As the shining ends, the logo is silver-colored, and the words "CAROLCO" fade in below. The logo shines once more.
Variant: On Mario and the Mob, the logo is gold-colored.
FX: Top-notch '80s CGI.
Music/Sounds: The same music played on the '84 logo, except now it's a little bit more dramatic. Some laser sound effects are also heard as the logo is formed.
Availability: Very common, particularly on big hits such as Terminator 2, Total Recall, Rambo III, and others. The Mario and the Mob variant is extremely rare, as it was only released on video in the UK. Carolco went to TriStar Pictures for 80% of their releases; Carolco's logo is kept while that of TriStar is cut, with a few exceptions (the TriStar/Carolco logo combo has been seen on DeepStar Six, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, Cliffhanger, Basic Instinct, the Artisan release of Red Heat and an airing of Universal Solider on Encore Action).
Scare Factor: None, unless you're not a big fan of lasers or dramatic music. Otherwise, it would qualify as minimal.
4th Logo
(December 1995)
Nickname: "Big C"
Logo: We see the later logo superimposed at the screen:
C
CAROLCO
Presents
CAROLCO
Presents
FX: None; it's a superimposed logo.
Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.
Availability: Very rare, being seen on Cutthroat Island, the last movie produced by the company.
Scare Factor: None.
VofDoom |
Latest page update: made by VofDoom
, Oct 29 2008, 11:42 PM EDT
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Keyword tags:
Carolco
More Info: links to this page
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logophile | Unique TriStar/Carolco logo combo | 0 | Sep 8 2008, 1:09 PM EDT by Logophile | |
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Thread started: Sep 8 2008, 1:09 PM EDT
Watch
On Comedy Central's print of the 1994 film Wagons East, we see the Live Entertainment logom followed by the 1993 Tristar logo, then the Carolco logo.
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| grf450 | Nightflyers (1987) (Question) | 1 | Aug 12 2008, 1:25 AM EDT by Greendayfan1997 | |
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