Little
House On The Prairie: Season Seven
(1980 - 1981/NBC/Lionsgate DVD Set)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: D Episodes: B
I
grew up watching the beloved NBC series Little
House On The Prairie
and now am pleased with these new deluxe remastered edition sets that
have been coming out. The picture and sound have been restored and
all of the episodes are uncut and the complete original broadcast
length, which previously hasn't been available. (This review,
however, pertains to the DVD release which while the presentation is
great for the format, doesn't reach the heights of the Blu-rays and
this final season has not been issued that was for now.)
An
adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's series of Little
House
books, the story follows a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove,
Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. Throughout the 22 episodes in
this collection we go through a lot of drama, conflicts, and love as
the family grows with the times with valuable life lessons snuck in
for the audience.
The
show stars the late Michael Landon (who was also a director on many
of the episodes), and Karen Grassie as Charles and Caroline Ingalls
along with their three young daughters played by Melissa Sue
Anderson, Melissa Gilbert, and Lindsey Greenbush. Over the nine
seasons, we really get to see the family mature which is pretty
incredible in retrospect. A filmmaking technique that we also got
with films like Boyhood
and Harry
Potter,
which is seeing the cast mature over years to effectively show a
passage of time.
Presented
in standard definition with a full screen, 1.33:1 aspect ratio and a
lossy Dolby Digital English 2.0 Mono track, the show has been
restored to its proper ratio with a great new sound mix and improved
picture. French and Spanish tracks as well as closed captioning are
optional. Also included are the ultraviolet copies for your smart
phone or tablet.
Sadly,
no extras, which is odd because they have existed on past releases.
Aside from that, the series concludes here and that should keep fans
happy, though a Compete Series DVD set has also been issued
for those skipping the Blu-ray version.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
