Product Details

• Actors: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis, Dennis Weaver
• Format: Subtitled, Color, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: January 3, 2006
• Run Time: 1145 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BITUYI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,352 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

GUNSMOKE:50TH ANNIVERSARY ED VOL 1-2 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

169 of 178 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh, please--- why not do a season-by-season DVD release??, December 31, 2005

By 

widowedwalker (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2 (DVD)

Look, I know "Gunsmoke" ran 20 years and filmed 636 or so episodes, but cant we still get a full season-by-season DVD in motion?

This "50th Anniversary Edition" looks to be chock full of extras, and that's great, but it's another "compilation" collection, with just a few espisodes here and there from the series' run.

And if we're lucky enought to GET a full seasonal DVD release on "Gunsmoke" (finally), will these same wonderful extras still be available on those??

I am NOT excited about this middling tossed-together package--- no matter how many interviews and commentaries it has... Yes, I WANT those extras, but with a full episodic collection to go with them!

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice, but woefully inadequate, January 18, 2006

By 

History Man (Potomac, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2 (DVD)

Since a number of truly mediocre TV series have been released in complete season DVD sets, it boggles the mind to see that "Gunsmoke," the longest running drama in TV history, has gotten comparatively shabby treatment. Here we have a mish-mash of episodes from the show's various eras that have mostly been selected because of "big name" guest stars that appeared in them, not because they are the best in the series' 20-year run. If CBS wanted to issue a "selected episodes" collection, they should have used better criteria than guest stars (some of whom aren't all that "big" anyway, including Angie Dickinson, Richard Chamberlain, Leonard Nimoy, Adam West, et al). Moreover, most of these epiosodes have been issued on home video before.

Perhaps it is asking too much for CBS to issue the entire series on DVD, consisting of some 635 episodes (although they already have issued the first 3 1/2 seasons on 20 DVDs through their video club), but there are a number of better alternatives than this half-hearted effort. They could issue DVDs with the best episodes of each season, or sets with the best of the show's several eras (half-hour and one-hour black and white shows, and one-hour color episodes), or entire seasons one at a time to see how well they do in the market place (they have already done 3 seasons worth of "Have Gun - Will Travel" this way).

Since this set is all that "Gunsmoke" fans are likely to get for some time, it will have to do (and is better than nothing; there are, after all, some interesting special features included). Whether or not it is worth the asking price may depend on how many of the episodes you already have in your collection. For many "Gunsmoke" fans, that may be a deal breaker.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment, January 6, 2006

By 

DPC1212 "David" (Georgia, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunsmoke - 50th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1 & 2 (DVD)

This set has its good points and its bad points.

The picture quality is outstanding as well as the audio; much better than TV Land. The special features are nice as well. I also really liked the audio commentary from not only James Arness and Dennis Weaver, but actors like Angie Dickinson and Bruce Dern. There is another subtle feature to the episodes that I liked. The episodes on TV Land are edited more than you realize. There are small snippets throughout the show that are edited out, usually a delayed glance here or there. No big deal really but they can have a powerful emotional impact to the story. I first noticed it on "The Wrong Man" with Carroll O'Connor. When Hootie leaves the Long Branch and his sons are trying to tell him that he has no more credit at the general store, there is a knowing delay by O'Connor as well as a glance to his other son which to me was powerful in setting the tone for the rest of the episode. But it is cut out of the tv version, which I have recorded on VHS.

My main complaint which overrides most of the positives is with the episodes selected. Some are good but there's a long list of much better episodes that were ignored or not selected for a reason. I, like many others want to see the entire series put out season by season or bundled. I for one will gladly buy them all.