Product Details

• Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, Lee Van Cleef
• Directors: Lewis Allen, Christian Nyby, Arthur Lubin
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC, Full Screen
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 10, 2007
• Run Time: 1530 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000NY1EAI
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,544 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Movies & TV > Television > Classic TV > Bonanza
  #4 in	Movies & TV > Westerns > Western Stars > Lee Van Cleef
  #13 in	Movies & TV > Boxed Sets > Westerns

• For more information about "Best of Bonanza (34 episodes)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Cartwright's thousand-square-mile Ponderosa Ranch is located near Virginia City, Nevada, site of the Comstock Silver Lode, during and after the Civil War. Each of the sons was born to a different wife of Ben's; with none of the mothers still alive. Join Ben (Lorne Greene), Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker) and Little Joe (Michael Landon) as they rewrite the book on the western genre. These were the days where family values and the fight for justice were backed up by six-guns that always had right on their side. Included in this set are three bonus episodes of the classic TV western Wagon Train.

Disc 1

Gunmen, The

Fear Merchants, The

Spanish Grant, The

Blood on the Land

Desert Justice

Stranger, The

Escape to Ponderosa

Avenger, The

Disc 2

San Francisco Holiday

Bitter Water

Feet of Clay

Dark Star

Death at Dawn

Showdown

Mission, The

Badge Without Honor

Mill, The

Disc 3

Hopefuls, The

Denver McKee

Day of Reckoning

Abduction, The

Breed of Violence

Last Viking, The

Trail Gang, The

Savage, The

Disc 4

Last Trophy, The

Silent Thunder

Ape, The

Blood Line, The

Courtship, The

Spitfire, The

Alias Bill Hawks (Wagon Train)

Dr. Denker Story, The (Wagon Train)

Malachi Hobart Story, The (Wagon Train)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a BONANZA for sure!, May 17, 2007

By	Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

BONANZA, one of the earliest series filmed in color, was a Sunday night tradition for fourteen seasons on the NBC-TV network. Even when being bounced around the weekly schedule (the show aired on Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays over the years), this family-style oater always got good ratings. The stars were Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon and Dan Blocker (although Roberts chose to leave less than halfway through the show's 14 season run).

The BEST OF BONANZA DVD box set is a terrific package of classic TV westerns. You get 25½ hours of programming for one great low price. This MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT collection consists of four double-sided DVDs. There's 31 BONANZA episodes here, as well as a bonus of three WAGON TRAIN shows. The list of prominent actors who appeared in these (primarily) 1960 programs is quite extensive (see below).
The BEST OF BONANZA is most definitely for all fans of early television and especially TV westerns.


The following list includes 1 to 10 poll ratings maintained by a film website. There's also season/episode/airdate and guest stars for each show.

PROGRAM CONTENTS:
DISC ONE--
(7.2) The Gunmen (S.1, #19 - 1/23/60) - Ellen Corby/Dorothy Crehan/King Donovan
(7.5) The Fear Merchants (S.1, #20 - 1/30/60) - Philip Ahn/Gregg Barton/Alexander Campbell
(7.7) The Spanish Grant (S.1, #21 - 2/6/60) - Salvador Baguez/Holly Bane/Sebastian Cabot
(6.8) Blood on the Land (S.1, #22 - 2/13/60) - Ray Daly/Glenn Holtzman/Everett Sloane
(7.8) Desert Justice (S.1, #23 - 2/20/60) - Claude Akins/Tom Greenway/Ron Hayes
(???) The Stranger (S.1, #24 - 2/27/60) - Hal Baylor/Lloyd Nolan/Elizabeth York
(6.8) Escape to Ponderosa (S.1, #25 - 3/5/60) - Chris Alcaide/Dayton Lummis/Joe Maross
(8.0) The Avenger (S.1, #26 - 3/12/60) - Jean Allison/James Anderson/Vic Morrow

DISC TWO--
(7.0) San Francisco Holiday (S.1, #28 - 4/2/60) - Kathleen Crowley/Richard Deacon/Tor Johnson
(8.3) Bitter Water (S.1, #29 - 4/9/60) - Clarke Alexander/Merry Anders/Rhys Williams
(7.7) Feet of Clay (S.1, #30 - 4/16/60) - John Eldredge/Logan Field/Tom Greenway
(8.5) Dark Star (S.1, #31 - 4/23/60) - Arthur Batanides/Argentina Brunetti/Hugo Haas
(8.3) Death at Dawn (S.1, #32 - 4/30/60) - Paul Carr/Nancy Deale/Peter Leeds
(8.5) Showdown (S.2, #1 - 9/10/60) - Ben Cooper/Jack Lambert/Norman Leavitt
(???) The Mission (S.2, #2 - 9/17/60) - Robert Adler/Harry Carey Jr./John Dehner
(7.8) Badge Without Honor (S.2, #3 - 9/24/60) - Fred Beir/Dan Duryea/Wendell Holmes
(8.0) The Mill (S.2, #4 - 10/1/60) - Claude Akins/Dianne Foster/Harry Townes

DISC THREE--
(???) The Hopefuls (S.2, #5 - 10/8/60) - Patricia Donahue/Larry Gates/Paul Genge
(8.2) Denver McKee (S.2, #6 - 10/15/60) - Bob Barker/Stephen Cortleigh/Franchot Tone
(7.9) Day of Reckoning (S.2, #7 - 10/22/60) - Gail Bonney/Anthony Caruso/Ricardo Montalban
(8.4) The Abduction (S.2, #8 - 10/29/60) - Bob Hopkins/Barbara Lawrence/Robert 'Big Buck' Maffei
(7.4) Breed of Violence (S.2, #9 - 11/5/80) - Norman Alden/Val Avery/Hal Baylor
(8.4) The Last Viking (S.2, #10 - 11/12/60) - Neville Brand/Herbert Lytton/Ric Marlow
(9.6) The Trail Gang (S.2, #11 - 11/26/60) - Edgar Buchanan/Harry Antrim/Richard Davalos
(7.9) The Savage (S.2, #12 - 12/3/60) - Anna-Lisa/Maurice Jara/Victor Millan

DISC FOUR--
(8.0) The Last Trophy (S.1, #27 - 3/26/60) - Edward Ashley/Jimmy Carter/Hazel Court
(8.1) Silent Thunder (S.2, #13 - 12/10/60) - James Griffith/Albert Salmi/Stella Stevens
(7.7) The Ape (S.2, #14 - 12/17/60) - Leonard Nimoy/Cal Bolder/Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.
(8.7) The Blood Line (S.2, #15 - 12/31/60) - Lee Van Cleef/Thomas Brown Henry/Allan Lane
(7.7) The Courtship (S.2, #16 - 1/7/61) - Julie Adams/Paul Dubov/Lyle Talbot
(8.7) The Spitfire (S.2, #17 - 1/14/61) - Jack Elam/Claude Hall/Don C. Harvey
(???) Alias Bill Hawks (WAGON TRAIN) (S.6, #34 - 5/15/63) - Jeannie Bal/Hal Baylor/Ed Nelson
(???) The Dr. Denker Story (WAGON TRAIN) (S.5, #18 - 1/31/62) - Theodore Bikel
(???) The Malachi Hobart Story (S.5, #17 - 1/24/62) (WAGON TRAIN) - Franchot Tone/Irene Ryan/Wally Brown

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars GREAT DEAL PRICEWISE..........BUT THERE ARE PROBLEMS, April 25, 2008

By	Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I've read the other reviews listed here and while the theme song doesn't bother me, I can understand why it might be bothersome for others. I was a junior in high school when Bonanza came to TV, we had only a black and white set so the color shows meant little to us. Though I've seen ads for Bonanza in recent times I did not want to invest as Bonanza was never one of my 'favorites', but at such a low price, why not?

As to the picture quality on this 4 disc set: fine, no problems, in fact some are very colorful. Where my trouble occurs is in the playing of some of them, they stall, and will not advance at all. So be aware that some of the discs do not play well. Yes, I know, many will say it is my DVD player, yet all my other DVDs play fine, and that includes two recent Mill Creek sets (Robin Hood and Cisco Kid) all of which play quite well. And several years ago, I purchased the 20 movie set of John Wayne westerns from Mill Creek and it too plays well. Maybe you will have better luck, but you should be aware of this potential problem.

At the low price I paid for these I will not return them to Wal-Mart, as I say, some play well, some do not. I am, however, a little upset with Mill Creek and will in the future weigh my decisions as whether to buy more of their possible faulty discs.

One further note to prospective buyers: these discs contain shows from the 1960, first season only, now how that can be interpreted to be the 'best' of a series that ran 14 seasons I would not want to say. But again, a prospective buyer might want to ponder that. Several western DVDs I have, such as Wyatt Earp or Gunsmoke do state 'best of' but the DVDs span most of the series' seasons.

Best of luck, pards!

Semper Fi.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not original theme music, July 19, 2007

By	Leslie - See all my reviews

The sound and picture quality is really good on these DVD's but doesn't have original theme song.