Customer Reviews

Hi-Yo Silver [VHS]

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It's stuntman Yakima Canutt aboard Silver riding at breakneck speed to thwart the badguys. What we see here is what's left of the only available print of Republic Pictures' 1938 serial,"The Lone Ranger." It's still fun to watch.

Considered by film historians to be one of Republic's finest chapterplays, "The Lone Ranger" (1938) also remains one of the great "lost" serials. Sadly, the original negative no longer exists and the only surviving prints feature Spanish subtitles and substandard quality. Republic's 1940 abridgment, "Hi-Yo Silver," remains the best opportunity to see this classic serial. Running 68 minutes, it moves at a swift pace with plenty of terrific stuntwork and six-gun action. However, Republic has altered the traditional Lone Ranger framework by presenting FIVE masked men - a device later used in 1943's "The Masked Marvel." It's an intriguing concept, though fans of the radio and television series may be disappointed. The print quality of "Hi-Yo Silver" is quite good, which makes one hope that the original serial will surface in the same condition.

Excellent nostalgia to make current generations aware of what our parents grew up with. Well preserved & well dubbed video,good audio. Great to have for generational comparison of pop culture and its development down through movie serials & TV series (Clayton Moore's Ranger, Superman, etc...)up to today's gothic interests - the innocence of the past down to the blatant entitlement of the present and its brutality.

This is a movie made from a serial. It has a odd flow because of this. I wish a good quality version of the serial was available.