Customer Reviews

Have Gun Will Travel - The First Three Seasons

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, I love half-hour dramas. They are a holdover from radio where executives thought that a half hour was as long as they could hold an audience. When TV began they took what they learned on radio and transferred it. (Interestingly, HGWT was the only TV show to spawn a radio show - usually it was the reverse.) The format trims the fat and makes for taut story-telling. So you've got a great format and another key ingredient - Richard Boone, a terrific actor. He was Paladin "a soldier of fortune in a savage land" named by TV Guide as one of the all time 100 top tv characters. A refined gentleman in San Francisco who dons a black cowboy outfit to work as a troubleshooter to afford his refined tastes. Oh, and let's not forget the writing. Many of the episodes were written by none other than Gene Roddenberry, honing his skill that would be evident in Star Trek. His scripts are always clever and thoughtful - a must for trek fans especially the episode where three lovely mail-order brides arrive under suspicious circumstances for some lonely ranchers (shades of Mudd's Women!)The bottom line is this series will spoil you for real entertainment. And the transfers are top of the line quality. If you love westerns, you've got to have this series. If you don't love westerns, get this series anyway. You'll see the error of your ways.

The first three seasons of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL was undoubtedly the better half of the series, though the fourth season and first half of the fifth season was excellent.

Buying all three in this box set isn't going to benefit you with a bonus disc of extras like some TV series, but you will save money if you don't want to buy each season separately - if you have not done so already. The box set only suggests they will do the same after seasons four, five and six are released, or if the studio doesn't want to be kind to consumers, release all six seasons in a big box set forcing you to buy dupliates just for the box set.

The behind-the-scenes trivia that is included with the episodes on each of the DVDs isn't worth a darn. Very little trivia at all. Telling me that Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek isn't trivia to me. I do recommend when you buy this set or future HGWT sets, you buy the HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL COMPANION book by Martin Grams and Les Rayburn. That book tells you who got shot accidentally on the set, who got drunk, which episodes were filmed in 1 day instead of 3, how to spot Hal Needham as a stuntman, where the episodes were filmed, which episodes have Richard Boone's son in the cast, lots of background material that is worth reading before or after each episode. [...]

"...is the man called Paladin."

Many times one has fond memories of the older TV programs. When they are finally distributed and bought, it is a shocker to find that they are sophomoric or just long cigarette commercials. Well this time you will not be disappointed.

Each episode must find a conflict and solve it in an extraordinarily short time. Each with a moral and still maintain the entertainment value. One of the ways this is accomplished is the use of a wide spectrum of writers; many of the stories are adoptions of classics or became classics of other programs and/or movies.

Each episode is accompanied by a synopses of the story, which by the way is very well done and points out the purpose of the story. Also each episode has a small but interesting biography of the main actors.

One of the finer points of this series is that there usually is no clear cut hero or villain as the characters and themes of the stories are as complete as many ancient myths. We can see virtues and faults in everyone and many times there is no such thing as a clear-cut winner or loser.

Paladin (Richard Boone), a well chosen name as on a chess board there are many moves available, lives in San Francisco and most people assumes he has investments all over the west as he is taking frequent trips to protect them. We know different as "Have Gun Will Travel" he makes his fortune on his many skills. Every once in a while we get a gimps of his past as we know he went to West Point and can quote many ancient writings and wars. He has an uncanny way of knowing what the meanings of names are. Yet who ever he really is many people are better off for knowing him. And so are we.

A side benefit is recognizing the list of star (actors) and stars in the making.

This program does not lose but picks up momentum through the first three seasons.

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) [Remastered Edition]

I used to watch this series when I was a kid and it was in its original airing (guess I just dated myself!) and I loved it. Some things never change!!! I was hoping that all the seasons would be available, but I'm beginning to see that it won't happen. This was one of the best cowboy programs to ever grace a tv screen and that isn't only my view! The stories were well written and well executed...but the thing that really sets this series apart from the rest is the educational aspect: Paladin was constantly teaching the villains (and consequently the viewers) things of value. He often quoted Shakespeare and the Bible...both of which provide great lessons to be learned! That may not be politically correct, but it is true nonetheless. I am hoping the rest of the series is released, but do not expect it. Sadly, there is probably not enough of a market for it.

First of all I love Have Gun Will Travel!

This disk set is nice but there are a number of video and audio problems.

1. By judging the video quality from how the telecine transfer process was done (film to digital tape transfer), the episodes did not come from the original picture negatives. This makes for a poor quality picture.

2. There are several video tape problems that should have been caught in quality control and were not. They should have been retransferred again instead of leaving these tape problems in. This is very disturbing and shows that the people in charge and the techs who did the jobs really did not take pride in this project.

3. The audio should have been transferred from the original magnetic film masters instead of the optical sound tracks that are on the positive picture prints. By using these it leaves the sound very noisy and crackly. These should have not been used either for this project. If they had to use these optical audio tracks, they should have gone through the digital audio sweetening process to clean them up properly. This should have been done also to the magnetic film masters if they had been used.

4. There should have been some picture editing to clean up the bad edits in the black commercial holes and finding a consistent end credit for the CBS logo that was clean and could have been used for all episodes.

In the final analysis, I am still glad to have the first three seasons but, overall, I am disappointed in the quality. I still want the final three seasons to complete the entire series. I can only hope that CBS/Paramount will do a much better job on these.

B. "Wolf" Pinkstaff

This was my favorite TV show as a kid, and it revisits very well. There is a ton of material here, and you can see the experiments these people did with their material. Richard Boone was a fascinating actor, and he becomes Paladin in a way only a long series can provide. Some of these shows are absolute jewels. I rarely think DVDs are a good purchase. This one is.

We got a set of "Have Gun Will Travel" for my father-in-law, who loves all the old westerns. We've watched them with them, and, I have to say, you do not have to love the western genre to really like this show. The writing is first-rate, and first rate writing transcends genre. (Another example is "Foyle's War", so well written that you don't have to love mysteries to enjoy it.) Highly recommended series.

This is/was a great series, and the only real complaint I have is that it's been over 2 years since season three was released.--WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE SEASONS ? The first three seasons have been released what about seasons 4-6 ?

Have Gun-Will Travel came to TV just as I was turning 11. This program was required viewing at our house as my parents really like this program and we had just the one TV. Even as an boy it was a good show and I had good memories of watching it. Now as an adult, I find that the program is even better than I remember. The quality of both the scripts and the acting is amazing.

This is one purchase that I will never regret!

I was impressed with the overall quality of the DVDs. If you were a fan of Paladin then you will really enjoy these DVDs, especially since there are no commercials. My hope is that seasons 4-6 will eventually become available on DVD.
If you are not familiar with the Have Gun Will Travel TV show then you should be. It was one of the most classic western TV shows I ever watched. Paladin is a gunfighter for hire but definitely not your typical one. He has morals, intelligence, experience and bravado. His method of solving perplexing situations is quite unique and always on the side of right (which is quite interesting for a gunfighter!).
Highly recommended if you were/are a Paladin fan or love the old Westerns.