126 of 135 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Whoops, was I wrong about this set, July 20, 2004
This review is from: The Little Rascals Collection (DVD)
Well, I wrote the review about this set, and boy was I disappointed when I got it. I see that the company who produced it must have paid very little in royalties as there are numerous silent episodes and ones with the lesser caracters. 1 disc has spanky and alfalfa and the fifth is a sad attempt at filling out this collection. The transfers are terrible and the sound is worse. Come on guys, at least try to put some effort into it!!! I got the set, watched it< and traded it in at the local hock shop for something i could use. What a waste of money!!!
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89 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very Disappointed, November 22, 2004
This review is from: The Little Rascals Collection (DVD)
Like the reviewer before me, I too was very disappointed in this dvd. The clips that have sound are terrible. Most of the clips were from the silent film era, and the players were unfamiliar to me. There was one clip with Alfalfa and Spanky that was fun to watch, but the majority of these clips was awful. No effort was put into digitally re-mastering and transfering the picture and sound. I could have done just as good of a job transfering these clips using just a VCR and a DVR. Don't waste your money on buying this disc. It is a shame, because with a little effort these clips could of had much better quality and it would have been more fun to watch these vintage clips.
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Feeble Homage, November 28, 2005
This review is from: The Little Rascals Collection (DVD)
The Little Rascals collection is a set of 5 DVDs with a few shorts on each DVD, the fifth disk with an extra from the 50s and a documentary about child stars. This set was poorly put together, the shorts included are quite random, and buying this set would be a waste of money.
Each disk opens with a montage of some of the characters. First there is Alfalfa, then Buckwheat, Spanky, Darla, Porky, Mickey, Stymie, then Fatty- oh wait, no that is Joe Cobb only they didn't know his real name, then Farina, and last Phil MacMahon- WHO you may be asking? Phil MacMahon, the kid who got bitten by the love bug in a song number in Our Gang Follies of 1938. Still don't know him? Maybe that is because he wasn't a regular cast member and should never have been featured like he was in this collection.
Disk One features the shorts Dogs of War and Derby Day. Dogs of War is a silent film featuring the gang running loose on the Hal Roach lot; it is one of my favorite shorts from the series. However, it seems that they ripped off the Cabin Fever print and added a worse score. Derby Day also seems to be lifted from the Cabin Fever series. It is a silent film about the gang visiting the horse races. The films themselves are very good.
Disk Two features a rarer silent film called Stage Fright. It is a film about a show put on about Marc Anthony by the kids in front of their parents. It is a total disaster. Just like in Reunion in Rhythm, one kid wants to go out on stage and recite poetry. The film has been seriously cut; there are no opening credits and the short is much shorter than the usual film length. The print is washed out and new title cards have been inserted. The music is much more childish than normal silent Rascals scores, but it works. There are sound effects too. Sundown Limited is a great short about the gang building their own train. It is a very cute film; Farina is especially funny in it. The train that the kids build would have been the envy of all the children in the neighborhood. The print is washed out and the music sounds just like Grapevine Video's soundtracks. The film titled The Pirates in this set is really called The Buccaneers. It is also a cute film about the kids trying to build their own ship. When it sinks, they find a real one to destroy. This short has also been cut; there is no opener for it either. It is a bad print and has kiddie music attached to it.
Disk Three opens with Mary Queen of Tots. It is a really enjoyable film where Mary receives toys that look like the gang. She dreams they come to life, and when she wakes up, she finds the gang and believes they are her dolls come to life. This print is really bad especially considering there is a better print available on another cheaply made DVD set. It is funny that the music is the same on this set as on that one though. The Fourth Alarm is a film about the kids becoming junior fire fighters. The print on this one is not bad at all. The last film is School's Out, a talkie featuring a different cast. It is a film featuring Miss Crabtree, the new teacher. The picture is good; it seems to be the one from Cabin Fever.
Disk Four begins with Bear Shooters. This is a less than great film. The print is great; it is the one from Cabin Fever. Our Gang Follies of 1938 is a great film, very funny, long, and exciting. It features the later talkie cast. Waldo's Last Stand is a film from the later MGM years, a lesser film that seems forced. It was also released in a 5 part Rascals set.
Disk Five is the extra features DVD. It starts out with a segment from the You Asked For It television show. On it, some of the silent gang are reunited. Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon, Farina Hoskins, Johnny Downs, and Mickey Daniels are featured. The documentary called Kid Stuff really doesn't have a whole lot of information about the gang although Jackie Cooper is mentioned and Butch Bond does an interview. Other child stars like Jackie Coogan, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Roddy McDowall, and Ron Howard are focused on as well.
The films in this collection are films that have lapsed into the public domain. Many of them have been available cheaply for years. The only reason a fan might want to see this collection, the same reason I bothered, was to see the rarer silent films. However, the rest of the set is trash.
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