Electra
Woman & Dyna Girl
(2016 second remake/Sony DVD)/Gypsy
Colt (1954/MGM/Warner
Archive DVD)/LEGO Friends:
Always Together
(2016/Warner DVD)/Sesame
Street: Elmo's Favorite Stories
(2016/Warner DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C/C+/C+/C+ Extras: C/C-/D/C+ Main Programs:
C-/C/C+/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Gypsy
Colt
DVD is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Our
latest child-aimed releases are a mixed bag, but you should still
know about them if you deal with these releases and materials.
Chris
Marrs Piliero's Electra
Woman & Dyna Girl
(2016) is the second attempt to revive and remake the underrated,
classic Sid & Marty Krofft hit TV show, this time with a flat,
bored, tired, joyless script and unknowns Grace Helbig and Hannah
Hart taking over the title roles. Actually more depressing than the
fortunately-never-released-on-video first remake, this does not know
if it is a superhero launch, bad teen cable show with its smart-pants
dialogue or just a lite anger fest.
This
time, they not only fight crime in Los Angeles, they somehow land up
in Ohio! There was no script there either. With some enthusiasm and
risks, this would have been worth relaunching, but like other recent
Krofft relaunches, all we get is another joyless package deal. Sad.
Extras
include an audio commentary by the co-stars, Making
Of
featurette, Inside
Creative Masked Management
featurette and eight addition featurette clips on the telefilm.
Andrew
Marton's Gypsy
Colt
(1954) is one of MGM's entries into the all-child film market and not
a great one, sappy as it is. Still, the old and now-tired 'girl
(Donna Corcoran) and her horse' tale is at least tackled with
consistency and the studio was hoping for a quick buck on a low
budget. The film probably broke even, but I barely remember it and
it is not discussed much, though the likes of The
Wild One
(see the Blu-ray review elsewhere on this site) was having more
success on the big screen (though it is arguably not for all
children) so MGM was falling behind in the market a bit and TV had
arrived.
That
is why in part they pushed the color and future TV father Ward Bond
is also here. It is the kind of film that should still be on DVD and
its good Warner Archive has issued it, but the illicit appeals to
pity are more numerous than the cliches and outdoors shots
throughout. Maybe parents who might stoll be interested might want
to give it a look. Frances Dee also stars.
An
Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra.
LEGO
Friends: Always Together
(2016) is the latest in the new young adult series entry where the
female LEGO characters do not look like the toy namesakes at all,
again aimed at the Barbie/Bratz market and again, is just as good and
maybe better than their home video counterparts. This time, Olivia,
Mia, Stephanie, Emma and Andrea are taking a few trips in
separate-but-related episodes. This one runs only 66 minutes, so it
is a minimal, basic release. The writing is limited and offers
nothing new or distinct from the previous DVDs in the series, so they
are playing it very safe. OK at best, it is for fans only.
There
are no extras.
Sesame
Street: Elmo's Favorite Stories
(2016) is built around reading, which is more relevant and important
than ever, but as those who might know the classic TV show all too
well, their sly send-ups of legends and fairy tales has not dimmed
over the decades and this is a fun, solid entry. The main program is
about an hour and is just fine, plus encouraging reading that is not
internet chat is more important than ever before. Up to the high
quality standards of this DVD series, it is the best entry on the
list.
Extras
include the bonus show Elmo's
Musical Adventure
and the animated storybook Rise
and Shine!
Though
there are different formats and even eras going on here, the four DVD
presentations are about even in playback. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Dyna
is a generic HD shoot that looks poorer than the old analog NTSC
videotaping of the original 1970s TV show with far less form and
color, LEGO
is a good CGI presentation like the previous releases in that series
and Colt
was shot on Ansco 35mm color film stocks that MGM was trying out at
the time, then printed in 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor,
we can see what that version of the film looked like at its best.
Still, a restored print will be in order at some point. We sadly get
more than our share of worn and faded shots, even damaged clips, but
the color is so good when it is good that it is still able to compete
with the other releases here.
Elmo
is here in a 1.33 X 1 color transfer can show the age of any older
materials used (like analog
videotape flaws slight video noise, video banding or a little cross
color), but it also looks as good as any entry in this series.
Dyna
is the only title here to offer a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, but
the mix is badly laid out and turns out to be the worst sonic
performer here, while Colt
has consistent lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Elmo
has good, lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and LEGO
also has lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, but with some Pro Logic
surrounds.
To
order the
Gypsy
Colt
Warner Archive DVD, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
https://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo