John Wayne: Legend Of a Cowboy 20 Movie Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)The JOHN WAYNE: LEGEND OF A COWBOY box set consists primarily of widely available hour-length Wayne westerns from the 1930s. The distinguishing feature of this five double-side recorded DVD collection however are the 32 film trailers sprinkled throughout the set.
BRENTWOOD 20 movie packs are fairly thick in size because of their design-- the all-plastic box has a middle leaf added to store two of the discs on. This leaf is attached to the box spine by small tabs which may pull away from the main case if not handled carefully. Reassembling the separate pieces can present a challenge best avoided.

If you're a fan of 1930s westerns and would like to add some unusual lesser-known titles to your library, WESTERN LEGENDS 50 Movie Pack from MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT is exactly what you're looking for!
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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
DISC ONE (A)--
(5.1) The Desert Trail (1935) - John Wayne/Mary Kornman/Paul Fix
(5.6) The Lucky Texan (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes/Barbara Sheldon
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Dakota - Fort Apache - Flying Leathernecks - Back to Bataan
DISC ONE (B)--
(5.7) Riders Of Destiny (1933) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(6.2) The Hurricane Express (edited serial-1932) - John Wayne/Tully Marshall/Shirley Grey/Glenn Strange
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Trouble Along the Way - Cast a Giant Shadow - Wake of the Red WitchDISC TWO (A)--
(5.1) Paradise Canyon (1935) - John Wayne/Marion Burns/Yakima Canutt (in support)
(5.0) The Man From Utah (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Blood Alley - Operation Pacific - The Sea Chase
DISC TWO (B)--
(5.6) Blue Steel (1934) - John Wayne/George 'Gabby' Hayes/Yakima Canutt
(5.9) Winds Of The Wasteland (1936) - John Wayne/Phyllis Cerf
MOVIE TRAILERS--
They Were Expendable - The Wings of Eagles - StagecoachDISC THREE (A)--
(5.4) The Trail Beyond (1934) - John Wayne/Verna Hillie/Noah Beery/Noah Beery Jr.
(5.2) Rainbow Valley (1935) - John Wayne/Lucile Browne/George 'Gabby' Hayes
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Three Godfathers - The Searchers - The War Wagon
DISC THREE (B)--
(5.9) Hell Town ("Born To The West") (1937) - John Wayne/Marsha Hunt
(5.2) Sagebrush Trail (1933) - John Wayne/Nancy Shubert/Yakima Canutt
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Legend of the Lost - In Harm's Way - Rio BravoDISC FOUR (A)--
(5.5) His Private Secretary (1933) - John Wayne/Evalyn Knapp/Al St. John
(4.9) Texas Terror (1935) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Sands of Iwo Jima - The Comancheros - The Horse Soldiers
DISC FOUR (B)--
(5.9) West Of The Divide (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(5.4) The Star Packer (1934) - John Wayne, George "Gabby" Hayes
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Reap the Wild Wind - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - North to Alaska - She Wore a Yellow RibbonDISC FIVE (A)--
(5.0) The Dawn Rider (1935) - John Wayne/Marion Burns/Yakima Canutt (in support)
(5.0) 'Neath The Arizona Skies (1934) - John Wayne/Sheila Terry/Yakima Canutt (in support)
MOVIE TRAILERS--
The Longest Day - The Quiet Man - Donovan's Reef
DISC FIVE (B)--
(5.5) Randy Rides Alone (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
(4.9) The Lawless Frontier (1934) - John Wayne/George "Gabby" Hayes
MOVIE TRAILERS--
Rio Grande - Hatari - The High and the Mighty

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Twisted Terror Collection (Deadly Friend / Dr. Giggles / Eyes of a Stranger / From Beyond the Grave / The Hand / Someone's Watching Me) (1992) Review

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(More customer reviews)Someone else has already said which films are in this set, so I will add detailed descriptions of each featured film:
From Beyond the Grave (1973) Peter Cushing - 4/5 - Cushing hosts this anthology of four tales that is pretty good if you are a fan of British style horror. The shortness of the four tales keeps things moving along nicely so that you don't get bored. What holds the stories together is that Cushing plays the owner of an antique shop whose customers meet supernaturally tragic fates if they try to wrong him.
Someone's Watching Me (1978) - Stars Lauren Hutton and David Birney, directed by John Carpenter - 4/5 - Lauren Hutton is a woman being stalked by a neighbor across from her apartment. He calls her, sends her gifts, and watches her through his telescope. When she can't get the police to take her seriously, she has to take on her tormenter herself along with her boyfriend and a woman that works at the same TV station as she. This is actually a well-done film that was made for TV. The features are:
Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
English, French and Spanish Mono
English, French and Spanish subtitles
New Featurette "John Carpenter: Director Rising"
The Hand (1981) - stars Michael Caine, directed by Oliver Stone - 3/5 - The idea is simple enough. Jonathan Lonsdale is a comic book artist whose right hand is severed in a car accident. The hand takes on a life of its own and kills everyone who annoys or wrongs Jon. Although not great, good direction by Stone and good acting by Michael Caine as the tortured artist really save this one. It's not meant to be so much horror as a character study of Lonsdale, and on that level it works. The features are:
Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
English and Spanish Dolby Surround
English, French and Spanish subtitles
Commentary by Oliver Stone
Theatrical Trailer
Eyes of a Stranger (1981) - Lauren Tewes and Jennifer Jason Leigh - 2/5 - This is your typical immediate post Jason/Michael Myers kind of slasher movie that was prevalent at the time. Tewes, of "Loveboat" fame, is a reporter on the trail of a neighbor that she believes is a serial killer. And of course, what would a 1980 era slasher film be without the helpless girl waiting to be a victim, Jason Leigh, the blind and deaf sister of Tewes. Not very interesting or thrilling at all except for the fact that this is Leigh's film debut. The features are:
Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
English, French and Spanish Mono
English, French and Spanish subtitles
Theatrical Trailer
Deadly Friend (1986) stars Matthew Laborteaux (Little House on the Prairie) and Kristy Swanson (Buffy in the original BTVS movie) directed by Wes Craven - 2.5/5 - Laborteaux plays Paul, a new kid in a strange town whose only real friends are the girl next door, Samantha (Kristy Swanson), and a robot that he has built. When Samantha is murdered by her abusive father, Paul steals Samantha's body and implants his robot's microchips into her brain to bring her back to life. However she is merely reanimated rather than "alive" in the moral sense, and soon becomes out of control. I have to say it's not like any other Craven film I've seen, and it comes across more cheesy than anything else. It does have one extremely original thing going for it - death by basketball. What a hoot. The features are:
Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
English, French and Spanish Mono
English, French and Spanish subtitles
Theatrical Trailer
Dr. Giggles (1992) - Holly Marie Combs (Charmed) and Glenn Quinn (Angel) - 2.5/5 - Larry Drake, the villain in "Darkman", plays the insane son of a mass-murdering doctor. Drake's character escapes from his confinement, sets up practice as a doctor in the town where his father was caught, and comes up with all kinds of inventive ways of killing his patients as a means of avenging his dad. The worst thing a horror film can be is boring, and it seems the film makers had this in the front of their minds because they are so busy juggling activity that the picture literally becomes cramped with action. Much could have been cut from the script and they would have had a better movie. The features are:
Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
English Dolby Surround
English, French and Spanish subtitles
I didn't show any extra features for "From Beyond the Grave" because the Warner press release doesn't specifically mention any. The extra features on the whole package really just add up to the commentary by Oliver Stone on "The Hand" and the featurette about John Carpenter on "Someone's Watching Me". Because of the paucity of extra features in this set I just averaged my ratings of the individual movies in the set to get my final rating of three out of five stars.

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Alfred Hitchcock: The Legend Begins - 20 Movie Classics (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)Since the days of bargain-bin videotapes by labels like Goodtimes, I've always been wary of these "too good to be true" deals. Yet, as I am quite a fan of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, I couldn't pass this one up. And for the most part, I'm glad I gambled a few bucks.
As of this writing, the majority of these films are still in the public domain and thus, not available from companies willing to spend the time and money on a proper restoration. It's worth noting, though, that some of the best films here ARE available in near-pristine condition in the 3-disc The Alfred Hitchcock Box Set (The Ring / The Manxman / Murder! / The Skin Game / Rich and Strange). Two are available in Criterion Collections: The Lady Vanishes - Criterion Collection and The 39 Steps (Criterion Collection Spine #56), while Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn can be found in a cleaned-up version from Image. For those who don't want to shell out the considerable bucks for all those, or if you're a completist (like me) who feels the need to possess EVERY film the man made, this is a good set to own.
Audio/Video quality varies among the films, but I'd consider them all watchable. Since early sound classics like SECRET AGENT and RICH AND STRANGE aren't available in better condition elsewhere, I found the transfers here to be reasonably good. Hitch's best silent film, THE LODGER, unfortunately suffers some serious contrast issues.
The real highlight of this set, however, is nearly an hour's worth of Hitchcock movie trailers. Oddly enough, none of the films contained in the set is represented with a trailer. But they cover much of the Master's career from 1940 thru the late 60's. And the quality on the trailers is far superior to that of the films.
Bottom line: For all but the most discriminating viewer, this is a worthwhile purchase. Just don't expect the quality you'd get from the major companies.


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