Customer Reviews

Wildside [VHS]

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When I first saw Tom Greene talking about his show Wildside on CNN, I was jumping up and down, since it was the first time in God knows how long that a western was coming back on television. Even with the video camera shooting Greene on the set, I could see that this wasn't going to be any ordinary western series. The costumes, sets, even the chose of horses and props were unusual, and very authentic (I teach early American history). My only concern was that Greene was so young that I worried if the show itself would have the heart and sense of history that is so needed to make it work. After viewing the first hour, I had was not only worry-less, but overjoyed. I notice that there are many other reviews from viewers who are much more articulate than I could ever be, praising this series, and these tapes for sale. So let me just say that if you've come this far to read this review, I can not stress hard enough that if you ever buy ANY video of ANY show on sale here... this is the one. How many times have you bought a CD or a Video only to listen to it once, or watch it once, and then look around sheepishly to see if anyone is watching, since you realize you've been suckered, and you'll never watch or listen to it again? Well this time, your money (very reasonable for six hours of film!) will be very well spent. You will find yourself watching WILDSIDE over and over, finding more and more layers of character, plot, humor and action and symbolism each time you watch it. Make sure, by the way, to watch the episodes in order, since even though they are not serialized there is a real progression of plot and character, especially with the regulars. Oh, if only this could have stayed on the air as long as so many over-rated shows... think of the heights it would have achieved! Anyway, please read on to the other reviews for more detail, and in the meantime... buy this one! Really! And if nothing else, for the women, go gaga over J. Eddie Peck (if you're young, teens and 20's), and John DiAquino and William Smith (if you are more in the 30-something crowd); and for us guys, of all ages, there's Meg Ryan at her best, and a sweet redhead (whose name escapes me), as the most sexy "girl next door" undertaker you've ever met (and tell me, how many girl next door undertakers do you know! ). Wildside is that kind of show. And as "Annie Oakley" says in Wildside: "there's nothing I like more than to see a man with a gun in his hand and two balls in the air!". Bravo Tom Greene for giving us Wildside, and Bravo Disney for making it, and bringing it back in this neat-o box set! I'm buying a bunch to send to friends!

This boxed set contains all six fantastic episodes of the Disney/Touchstone Western TV melodrama Wildside. This fine series had the misfortune to air opposite Cosby & Magnum on Thursdays in 1985. This show had everything but a viable time slot - great stars,[William (Falconetti) Smith (a good guy here) Howard [Heat of the Night)Rollins, superstar Meg Ryan, John DiAquino, J.Eddie Peck and wrestler Terry Funk], fantastic stuntwork, great costumes and sets, exhilerating music and quirky dialogue. Who would have thought William Smith of biker flix, Laredo and blaxploitation could be funny, but he was here. (NOT F-Troop funny, Magnum PI funny) It's wonderful to have some high quality tapes rather than the worn-out set I taped on my VCR 15 years ago.

Wildside was the best, most lavishly produced, short-lived TV series ever to be used as an ABC sacrifice to the NBC Thursday night juggernaut which in 1985 was Cosby (doing battle with CBS's Magnum P.I.) This 3-box set contains all six action-filled, colorful episodes. I spent a fortune on internet auctions painfully acquiring the six one-episode tapes released back in the 80's. Then my cousin found and bought this set on Amazon. And this set has better quality! The series had the production values of top-notch western movies including impressive cinematography and stuntwork. See Meg Ryan just before she became a superstar. See William Smith 20 years after he costarred in Laredo in a more mature role in this much better Western. If you like westerns, you'll like Wildside.

And William Smith rides again. As always William Smith, Meg Ryan,Funk and the rest do an excellent job. This story should have done Tom Greene proud and would make an excellent plot for a comeback especially with the original cast. Gena

Wildside is a series that starts kind of slow. While there's some stuff to praise in the first episode (the bizarre opening sequence, the expanded supporting cast, the characterizations), the plot itself is so-so. Ditto for the second episode. The third episode, "Crimean of the Century" starts to aim for the bizarre mix that they would eventually achieve, a kind of Brisco County/Wild Wild West ambience. The fourth episode, with the death of a character's girlfriend Melissa, is where the show really takes off. Howard Rollins Jr. demonstrates why he used to be considered a major star, and why Meg Ryan became one. Even William Smith does surprisingly well for anyone familiar with the type of movie and performance he usually gets stuck with. "Buffalo Who?", the fifth episode, is almost as good, with Varges suffering a crisis of confidence while the team takes on a fake Buffalo Bill travelling show that is almost as good as they are. And the final episode, the appropriately named "Until the Fat Lady Sings", starts with another quirky opening (ballerinas, monkeys, gunfighters) and has some fun with what they obviously knew was the last episode (catch the end dialogue). Overall, Wildside starts slow, but it was clear that the folks on the show were having a fun time. It's a weird mix of a more traditional Western, the goofier fantasy Westerns like Wild Wild West and Brisco County, and the more characterization-driven ensemble series of the 80's.

If you love Westerns, Comedies, Love Stories, and Stick to your seat action then you definitely MUST see this set of videos. I've been waiting years to get this set....It's truly ashamed that the show was so short lived. I GIVE THESE GREAT STARS A THUMBS UP! I Love Them! Make Sure you See Terry Funk in All his Funny Glory!

Any Mini-Series that has a lovable undertaker, who looks like a red-head Ally McBeal and has lines like "Dying's not so bad... it's better than a sharp stick in the eye!"... is a Mini-Series worth owning! I knew nothing about Wildside, until I was looking around for older Meg Ryan videos and came across this. I bought it (you can't go wrong... six hours for about thirty dollars), and ended up spending the entire day watching and rewatching them. I'll be honest with you. I've never been a great fan of westerns, but I LOVE this! You will laugh, cry, cheer, boo and hiss, and jump up and down like a little kid on a "horsy". Now when did a film do THAT for you! I have no idea where this came from, but since Meg looks SOOOO young, it's obviously been a while ago, but I'm thankful it's come out on video. If the creator and producer of this series, Tom Greene is reading this... thank you, thank you, thank you! As for everyone else, buy this... it's a million times better than going to Disneyland (Disney made this, by the way), a lot cheaper, and you can re-visit it at all hours of the day or night (and don't think I haven't!

Tom Greene's "Wildside" totally takes its place as not only one of the top ten best Westerns of all times... but as one of the all time classics... a top ten in ANY category! I talk about Wildside as if it were a feature film, since when I first saw it on TV as a Mini-Series, I was totally taken by the depth of emotion, the smart dialogue, quirky, totally original characters, the humor, and best of all, the production values. I kept forgetting when talking to people about Wildside, that I didn't see it on the big screen... since everything about the six hours of delightful entertainment is larger than life... and so very cinematic. From the very first scene, all done without dialogue were "Hatchet's" gang blow up a safe at a bank... and show how totally mean they really are (you just have to watch what they do to the little boy's goldfish!), you know you're watching an intelligent, well-crafted piece of work that knows when to go for the laughs, when to go for the heart, and when to go for the throat! Many of the actors went on to superstardom... like Meg Ryan, and Howard Rollins and James Cromwell to name just a few that I remember, but honestly I don't think I've ever seen any of them do better work than right here. Especially Meg. There are also just great classic actors, like William Smith (playing a really wonderful good guy, which I don't think he's ever done then or since... and it's amazing how much he reminds me of "Hipshot Percussion" from the old "Rick O'Shay" western cartoon strip!) and Buck Taylor and Geoffrey Lewis, and that Indian from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"... and many great faces that you've seen now and then... all of them showing off the kinds of characterizations and acting ability that you just don't see in TV. I guess because they are all true hero's... with 3D backstories, and motivations that make everything they do totally understandable. One of the best of all the characters is played by actress Robin Hoff, who I haven't seen before or since, in one of the most brilliant parts I've ever seen on TV... playing the town's undertaker as if she was the head of the Varsity High School Cheerleading Squad! Total inspiration! And her love scenes in her funeral parlor with the sexy gaucho, played by John DiAquino, are pure genius! Anyone who has ideas of being an actor, a writer or a director should study Wildside... it doesn't get any better. Why this was only a Mini-Series is anyone's guess. I could see it on the air for as long as, let's say Gunsmoke or Bonanza. One other point... you don't have to be a western fan to love this show. Though in my opinion it's the most successful and faithful western every put on the small screen, it is more about people and situations than about guns and horses. There is one episode in which Howard Rollins is about to propose to the love-of-his-life, only to discover the next morning that she has died, and therefore so shocked with grief that he can not accept the fact that it was "natural causes", and instead goes off on an almost suicidal search for "the killer" (not realizing that the "killer" is simply life's fate). If ever there was a more magnificent tone-poem about love and grief and forgiveness and acceptance... I can't find it. The scene with Howard and Meg Ryan, where she tries to explain the realities of life to him is by far the most brilliant acted, directed and written moments of truth you will ever experience. And if you're not a babbling puddle of tears with a lump in your throat the size of Monument Valley at the end of that episode, where Howard says good-bye to his dead love, talking to the trees and stars... then you must be dead yourself! Am I going overboard with my praise? I don't think so. See for yourself. The test of a classic is one that once you start looking at it, you can't stop watching, and even if you have it on video, even if you've just seen it, if your "flipping around the TV, and it's on again, you sit and watch it, and can't STOP watching it (i.e.: "The Godfather I & 2). Wildside is such a piece. And once you've experienced it, you'll find that the characters all stay with you like great old friends (I espeically LOVE legendary wrestler Terry Funk as one of the "Wildside" five! Tell me if you've ever seen such a huggable teddy bear!)Special note should be paid also to the attention to detail and close-up work. And very special attention should be made to the art direction and to Ozzie Smith's camera work. Watch it and tell me when you've seen anything this good! Who ever re-packaged this should be commended, since it's been out of print for years. And these tapes are mint condition, so they obviously took the care to go back to the original negatives. My only complaint has to do with the packaging. It's a small thing, but they've put the opening of the three tapes (two episodes on each tape) on the bottom, not the side like other box sets, so when you pick up the box, they fall out! Someone wasn't thinking. Perhaps it was the same person who got the credits wrong on the box (though they are fine on the tapes themselves). But those are small complaints when you realize that they are back again for all to see!

One of the all time great classics of a Western. Not just for TV, but for movies as well. The makers of this delight obviously not only understand what makes for great entertainment, but also obviously truly love the time and place they are creating. And these days... that's VERY rare. For anyone who loves the classic western genre, or just loves great characters, storytelling and wonderfully unconventional adventure sagas..., Wildside is for you! It also has great humor and great heart. The coming of age scene in which old-time Brodie (William Smith), "teaches" his son the great lesson of life with his six-gun in a cold barn has to be one of the great moments on film. What a joy! Likewise the perfect scene of sexy gaucho, Varges giving the world's first "city slicker" the most amazing lesson in "gun control" you'll ever see! Likewise Varges' lovescenes with what has to be one of the most hysterically original characters EVER in a western... Miss Alice Freeze, a cheerleader-type undertaker, are a total delight. The other woman in the video... one of the main characters in fact, is none other than superstar Meg Ryan. I believe this is her first real project before she became an international star. She is used to beautiful effect in Wildside, and in several scenes, especially with equally as amazing Howard Rollins, she shows a talent, that frankly I haven't seen utilized since. Meg has fallen into that "Anyone Meets Sally" kind of movies, and as desirable as she is, I don't think her talents have been so totally utiltilized as well as right here in her first production! Being that this was a Mini-Series, I doubt that they had the budgets of such big disasters as "Wyatt Earp" or "Silverado"... however the production quality is far above those mega-budget misguided bombs. Somehow I keep thinking of the classic western features of the 1950's, and especially of the "Spaghetti Westerns", especially "Once Upon A Time In The West" (which I'm sure the very first scene in Wildside is purposely making a great tribute to), and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". What makes "Wildside" such a classic in my humble opinion is that, as I said, it understands what makes not only westerns great, but great movies in general... that is... movies with a strong story, and characters you care about. Lots of other soon-to-be great stars, including Oscar Nominated James Cromwell (in a terrific role as a fake Buffalo Bill) are peppered throughout, and in fact, the casting down to the smallest bit parts is flawless. I must warn you... the excellent production values, and well-defined characters will get under your skin, and you'll want more! Why there aren't any more of this "jewel of the west" is one of the great mysteries of life! I just thank Disney for putting this out in a terrific box set and at a great price (originally, they were selling this for over forty dollars PER TAPE, and that was SIX tapes, not three then... so this truly is a great bargin!).

And William Smith rides again. As always William Smith, Meg Ryan,Funk and the rest do an excellent job. This story should have done Tom Greene proud and would make an excellent plot for a comeback especially with the original cast. Gena