Blossom – 10 Very Special Episodes + G.I. Joe – Countdown For Zartan + Horseland – The Complete Series + Native America: Voices From The Land + Postcards From Buster – The Complete First Season + Punky Brewster – Turn Your World Around + Ten Thousand Ways To Die – The Spaghetti Western Collection (Mill Creek DVD Sets)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D (Buster/Horseland: C-)     Episodes/Films: C

 

 

Once again, Mill Creek has issued another wave of DVD titles for various interests, including most that are of material previously issued.  We have included links on the titles we have covered in previous releases, even if they are not the same exact content.

 

Blossom – 10 Very Special Episodes is a briefer look at the show than this set:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8090/Blossom+%E2%80%93+Seasons+One

 

The idea is to build fans with a cheap release, but it is not my favorite show and this has less than that Season One set from Shout! Factory, who licensed this in part.

 

 

G.I Joe – Countdown For Zartan is just a few random episodes of the animated series, also issued by Shout! and this coverage includes a Blu-ray of the film:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10103/G.I.+Joe+%E2%80%93+Real+Americ

 

That feature is not in this set, but eight shows are, though I would think fans would want the larger sets.

 

 

Horseland – The Complete Series is more of the abbreviated DVD we covered here:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10119/Busytown+Mysteries+%E2%80%93

 

More is not better in this case, unless it is a young child who actually enjoys the show.  I would not be interested much at any age.

 

 

Native America: Voices From The Land is not a new documentary TV mini-series but a compilation of short films (usually intended as educational) about the Native American experience, though many have dated and some may be considered insensitive, but some offer fine footage you might not see anywhere else and go back to as early as the 1940s.  Iron Eye Cody hosts and narrates After The White Man Came (Cody is best known for the most successful public service announcement, which is an anti-littering campaign that remains a classic) and a few are even sponsored by a tobacco company!  Most are on film and with various quality, but this is one of the more interesting sets here.

 

 

Postcards From Buster – The Complete First Season is a show I have barely seen, but mixes limited animation and live action as the hit PBS show with the title character traveling around the world with his camera and is connected to the Arthur series.  It is charming and can be entertaining, but I felt it was somewhat limited in its results, though it is very child-safe and all.  Maybe it has just dated a bit too as Buster uses a low-def digital camcorder he can hold with his hand, but it has it moments.

 

 

Punky Brewster – Turn Your World Around is the second time Mill Creek has issued an abbreviated set of the show (via Shout! and Universal) and we did full coverage at this link:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4050/Punky+Brewster+%E2%80%93+Seaso

 

If you must, try the larger set.  Otherwise, skip it all.

 

 

That leaves Ten Thousand Ways To Die – The Spaghetti Western Collection, which offers eight lesser-known feature films: Beyond The Law (1968 with Lee Van Cleef and Antonio Sabato), Four Dollars Of Revenge (1965 with Robert Wood), the bizarre God’s Gun (1975 with Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance, Sybil Danning and a young Leif Garrett), Grand Duel (1974 with Lee Van Cleef), The Great Adventure (1975 with Jack Palance and Joan Collins!), His Name Was King (1971 with Klaus Kinski and Richard Harrison), It Can Be Done Amigo (1973 with Jack Palance and Bud Spencer), Jesse & Lester (1972 with Richard Harrison and Donald O'Brian), Johnny Yuma (1966 with Mark Damon and Lawrence Dobkin), The Last Gun (1982 with Cameron Mitchell), Now They Call Him Sacramento (1972 with Michael Forest) and Seven Guns For Timothy (1966 with Sean Flynn, Errol Flynn’s son).  All curios, none of them are great or memorable and some have hilarious title song with vocals.  For fans only. You’ll see why these are forgotten.

Most of the releases here have 1.33 X 1 image throughout with the Westerns offering some letterboxing here, mixed aspect ratios (TV prints have letterboxed or unsqueezed credits, then become pan and scan or tunnel vision, losing too much picture info) and color can be rough, as well as detail throughout all the sets.  Softness and aliasing errors are most common.        Some footage in the compilations gets a D.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also varied and rough throughout, including distortion and warping from older soundtracks to harsh digital playback in the newer releases.  The only extras are on the Buster and Horseland sets and they involve bonus episodes of other children’s shows Mill Creek offers.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo