Customer Reviews

Louis L'Amour: Hondo and the Apaches/The Man Called Noon

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This DVD did not appear on Louis L'Amour Official Web Site for a long time and I understand why now : so vintaged - [It does appear now at last!!! sept 2008].The stories are as good as any Louis always delivered :
1. Hondo And The Apaches, with Ralph Traeger(1967) and
2. The Man Called Noon (1972), with Richard Crenna.
And I bought it thinking of Crossfire Trail, wih Tom Selleck, or The Quick and The Dead ,with Sam Elliott, with the usual expectations of a fine western.
But the video is technically rather poor. You'll have to be a real he fan and pay the modest price asked if you want to enjoy it.

An other DVD is available starring John Wayne as "Hondo" and is worth seeing [5 stars] and buying .The Duke is his usual self and the video is excellent.

The movies look like a transfer from bad copies of a 8mm or 16mm home movies to DVD done by someone on their home computer. They obviously didn't have capability or access to do a quality film digitization from a good source -- shakey image, poor cropping, heavily interlaced, with some ghosting in scenes. The movies were heavily compressed to fit two titles on one DVD which makes the video quality even worse. "Extras" are on Louis L'Amour and Richard Crenna. They consist of seven sparse screens of cut and paste text lifted from the web. None of the other actors or filmmakers are listed.

Worst this title was purchased for a public library. Some patrons have complained that the disk refuses to play correctly.

I bought this DVD solely for HONDO AND THE APACHES. I was a fan of the series around 1994 when TNT was airing it regularly. When they pulled it I missed it until this DVD came out. Boy was I sorry I bought it.

The DVD looks like it was mastered from an old film print, maybe even an old VHS tape due to some of the print damage that looks like video-tape "snow" rather than damage to an old film print. On top of that, it should be 85 minutes long, and is only a mere 72 minutes. The quality of the other film, THE MAN CALLED NOON, is no better. I'm used to cheap budget DVDs, but when parts of the movie are missing, I have to complain.

I enjoyed both movies, and you can't beat the price. It's true the extras aren't much, and the quality of the video and sound aren't comparable to modern technology, but what do you expect for $7. If you like Westerns, you'll probably like this disk. If you like Louis L'Amour, you might love it.

I enjoyed both movies, and you can't beat the price. It's true the extras aren't much, and the quality of the video and sound aren't comparable to modern technology, but what do you expect for $6. If you like Westerns, you'll probably like this disk. If you like Louis L'Amour, you might love it.

I expected to get a good quality movie in the Louis L'Amour-Hondo and the Apaches/The Man Called Noon. I was sadly disappointed in not only the very poor video but in 26 minutes of The Man Called Noon instead of a movie I got a poorly produced cut of it.

This film has an error in the fight scene at the ranch. The film stops & then returns to the start: MOST ANNOYING. Otherwise 4 stars

If you are a Louis L'Amour fan these are a treat: to see Hondo come alive
was nice. The acting was actually better in the one "A Man called Noon"
with Richard Crenna in a early role. The Apaches in the second movie are a little more believable than in most movies about them. Anyone who likes historical westerns will enjoy both of these.

I have seen cheap VHS copies with better transfer quality. It appears that a poor quality Video Tape was used as the source.

I did not read the other reviews of this DVD when I purchased it. I wish I had. To call it a poor copy of a well used VHS tape that was rescued from the trash would be a compliment. I have purchased DVD's for a $1 that had a better picture and audio quality than this one.

The Man Called Noon runs for 27 minutes and research shows that it is a 98 minute movie. Will be asking to return for a refund.Louis L'Amour: Hondo and the Apaches/The Man Called Noon