Carolco Pictures

Logo descriptions by Matt Williams and Juniorfan88 Logo captures by juniorfan88, mr3urious, Eric S. and kidinbed Editions by mr3urious, V of Doom, DaBigLogoCollector, and Vahan Nisanian Video captures courtesy of AsdfDailymotion898, TheAccountSecond77, Eric S, TheRedBaron1985 and Ryan Holman

Background: Carolco Pictures, Inc. was originally formed in 1976 by Mario F. Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna as "Anabasis Investments" to make a major independent competitor to the Hollywood studios producing A-movie product. In 1984, Anabasis Investments was reincorporated as "Carolco International, N.V." In 1987, Carolco acquired International Video Entertainment ("IVE" or "I'VE", then later known as "LIVE Entertainment") but later was forced to sell its shares in 1993 to a group of investors led by Pioneer Electronic Corporation after Carolco restructured. On August 28, 1987, Carolco acquired syndication company Orbis Communications for $15.4 million (Orbis would be merged into Carolco's TV unit in 1991). In 1995, Carolco went bankrupt because of overspending on their films and the disastrous release of Cutthroat Island (not to mention being hurt by them giving up distribution rights to Cliffhanger, so they can properly fund the film. Despite being successful at the box-office, Carolco saw little profit.), and the company closed soon after. In 1989, Vajna sold his share of Carolco and formed "Cinergi Pictures Entertainment". In 1998, Cinergi shut down. Kassar and Vajna also reinstated their partnership and founded C2 Pictures, which shut down in 2008. On January 21, 2015, it was announced that an independent production company, Brick Top Productions, purchased the Carolco trademarks and now operates under the Carolco name, with Mario Kassar as the company's chief development executive. Today, the ancillary rights to a majority of Carolco's library are held by the French production company StudioCanal. However, Paramount Pictures thru Trifecta Entertainment & Media handles the TV syndication on Paramount's behalf, and Lionsgate Home Entertainment continues to hold the domestic home video rights (via a new output deal with StudioCanal), while the international home video rights are held by a different company for each country. Exceptions include Aces: Iron Eagle III (produced with Seven Arts) that is owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment by the way of New Line Cinema, Cliffhanger is distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Last of the Dogmen is distributed by NBCUniversal, by the way of Focus Features gaining the rights to the Savoy Pictures library, and Showgirls, which Carolco sold off to Chargeurs during pre-production, and is distributed in North America by MGM. Carolco did not use a logo until 1985.

1st Logo (May 22, 1985-September 4, 1987)

Carolco (1985)Carolco (1985)

Nicknames: "C in Space", "Space Streaks"

Logo: Against a starry space background, 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" (in the Hanzel font) shine in underneath. The logo then sparkles

Trivia: This logo was only used on international prints of Rambo: First Blood Part II, Angel Heart, and Extreme Prejudice. The original domestic prints of these films began with a TriStar Pictures logo.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The animation and the way the logo looks are indeed tacky.

Music/Sounds: A nice orchestrated piece conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, but on later releases a synthesized disco jingle was used starting with a zooming sound.

Music/Sounds Trivia: This was also featured on the 2010 reissue of the First Blood soundtrack (though it appears nowhere on the film itself).

Availability: Extremely rare. The three films confirmed to have used this logo are Rambo: First Blood Part II, Angel Heart, and Extreme Prejudice, all on international prints and early home video releases where this is shown cropped to 4:3 from a print matted to widescreen. However, Rambo: First Blood Part II, from the 1988 IVE release onward (with the exceptions of the 1991 Live Home Video, 1992 Promotional Concept Group, Inc. and 1995 Avid Home Entertainment VHS releases, which retain this logo), plasters this with the 3rd logo. Oddly, home video releases since 2002 and AMC broadcasts have used the 1984 TriStar logo with the Carolco jingle (it was originally silent on that picture), sped up on AMC; on Spike airings of the said film, the TriStar logo, which again uses the Carolco jingle, is cut off by a few seconds at the beginning. All newer releases of Angel Heart and Extreme Prejudice have the TriStar logo as seen on domestic prints, so your best bets are the IVE and Avid releases of these films.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The glowing effects may get to some, along with the presence of the 1985 music, but it mostly looks tacky.

2nd Logo (May 1, 1986-November 30, 1988) Carolco Pictures (1986)Carolco 1987 - 4:3 Full Frame

Nicknames: "Flashing C", "Cheesy C", "Radiator 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 one or two beams of smaller light coming from them. Afterward, the streaks form a curvy "C", the same one from the previous logo. 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, the logo is silent and tinted blue.

Music/Sounds: Either a synthesized disco tune or orchestrated piece from the last logo.

FX/SFX/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 films. 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.

Availability: Extremely rare. It can be found on the 1989 VHS release of Angel Heart. It is also intact on the U.S. VHS, Laserdisc, and Artisan DVD releases of Extreme Prejudice (on the latter release, it is preceded by the 1st Live Home Video logo). It also makes an appearance in full on the trailer for the latter. This logo can also be seen at the beginning of the RAMBO cartoon series.

Scare Factor: Low to 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).

3rd Logo (March 4, 1988-August 26, 1994, 2014- ) Carolco Pictures (1988)Carolco: I told you I'd be back!Carolco (1991, Repossessed)

Nicknames: "Laser Light", "The Laser-Light C"

Logo: Against a black background, 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.

Variants: •There is different lighting animation in the wind tunnel seen on some movies after the laser forms the logo. Appears on Rambo III, The Doors, Basic Instinct, Universal Soldier, and Cliffhanger. •The logo on their website has the text "I told you I'd be back!" below the signature logo.

Closing Variant: Right towards the end credits, the print logo is seen with trademark info below. The logo may be seen again with "A Carolco Release" or "A Carolco International, N.V. Release" above.

FX/SFX: Top-notch '80s CGI.

Cheesy Factor: Nothing wrong with the original logo, but on the newer variant, "I told you I'd be back!" looks cheaply chyroned in, just like Carolco's Home Video division.

Music/Sounds: The same music theme played on the first logo, except now it's a little bit more dramatic. The whoosh of the laser is also heard as the logo is formed. Sometimes, it is silent, or on films such as Total Recall, the opening theme is heard.

Music/Sounds Variants: •On some TV airings of Lock Up, the 1984 TriStar jingle is heard. •On Spanish dubbed versions of Basic Instinct, the TriStar logo has the Carolco theme, while the latter has the fanfare from the former. •On the French Studio Canal Blu-Ray of Repossessed, the logo is silent until the theme from the Seven Arts logo is heard towards the end.

Availability: Very common, particularly on big hits such as Terminator 2, Total Recall, Rambo III, and others. Carolco went to TriStar Pictures for 80% of their releases. For most VHS releases, Carolco's logo is kept while TriStar's logo is deleted, except on DeepStar Six, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, Cliffhanger, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Red Heat (on the IVE screener and all releases since 1999), Air America, The Doors, Chaplin, and Universal Soldier. When Encore and Telemundo air Rambo III, the current Paramount Pictures logo (the 90th Anniversary version on Telemundo's print, cut off by a few seconds at the beginning) omits the TriStar logo but leaves Carolco's intact, while Encore's airing of Deepstar Six shows the Paramount logo in addition to the TriStar and Carolco logos. On Wagons East, the last movie to use this logo, it appears after the 1993 TriStar logo (others after the 1984 TriStar logo), both proceeded by the Live Entertainment logo on TV prints (and on the VHS release). It also plasters the 1st logo on the 1988, 1989, and 1998 VHS releases of Rambo: First Blood Part II. U.S. prints of Repossessed have the Seven Arts logo instead, though the print logo still appears at the end. Don't expect this to appear on Stargate, Last of the Dogmen, and Showgirls. Also appeared on the beginning of the TV movies Dangerous Passion and Two-Fisted Tales. This is seen on the trailer for Cutthroat Island, but the film itself would use the next logo below. This is also seen on international prints of They Live, Shocker, and The Wizard, which Universal Pictures released domestically. Today it can be seen on their website, and in the annotation on the right.

Scare Factor: None, unless you're not a big fan of lasers or dramatic music. Otherwise, it would qualify as minimal.

4th Logo (December 22, 1995, 2015- )

Carolco (1995)Carolco 2015: This is not a hoax!

Nickname: "The Still C"

Logo: Just a superimposed in-credit logo of Carolco, the "C" in gold, with "CAROLCO" below.

Later Variant: Later on, the logo had a silver look, and a copyright notice below.

FX/SFX: None.

Cheesy Factor: Well, most still logos are cheap.

Music/Sounds: The film's/show's opening/closing theme.

Availability: Starting to become common again. Seen on Cutthroat Island, the last production by this company until their resurrection.

Scare Factor: None.

Here is a logo history video for the company (including some variations of the logos):