Kojak
Collection (1973, 1985,
1987/Universal/Umbrella Import PAL DVD Set)/Sleepy
Hollow: The Complete Fourth Season
(2016 - 2017/Final Season/Fox DVD Set)/The
Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson: Johnny and Friends (1972
- 1992/Time Life DVD Set)/Vikings:
Season Four, Volume Two
(2017/MGM Blu-ray Set)
Picture:
C+/B-/C+/B+ Sound: C+/B-/C+/B+ Extras: D/C/C+/B Episodes:
C+/C/B/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Kojak
Import DVD set is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can only play on Blu-ray and DVD players
that can handle the PAL DVD format and can
be ordered from the link below.
Here
is yet more of our TV coverage, all old favorites, classic and
recent...
The
Kojak Collection
might sound like every season of the Telly Savalas TV show or maybe a
big set of episodes from it, but it is instead, the first three TV
movies with Savalas as the famous hit detective. The series was
actually launched by a great TV movie, then the character was revived
with Savalas in seven more telefilms long after his original series
was cancelled. All eight films were issued in DVD in the U.S. at
this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11416/Californication+%E2%80%93+The+Fourth+Season
This
set starts with the still-amazing original TV movie The
Marcus-Nelson Murders
which remains a TV movie classic and then adds The
Belarus File
(1985) and The
Price Of Justice
(1987), which are less edgy, less realistic and no where near as good
as the first film or original series, though Savalas is able to
transform back into what became his signature role despite a
remarkable big screen movie career that was international and wide
ranging, including playing Blofeld in the 1969 James Bond film On
Her Majesty's Secret Service
and in the underrated Horror masterwork Horror
Express
(both reviewed elsewhere on this site).
All
were shot on 35mm film and the 1.33 X 1 transfers and lossy Dolby
Digital 2.0 sound (Mono on the original film, Stereo on the revivals)
are as good as the U.S. edition, though the image quality might be a
bit better here. As Universal starts to get their older shows out on
Blu-ray themselves or via other companies (for better or worse
quality wise like Knight
Rider,
Miami
Vice,
Quantum
Leap
and in Europe, Columbo),
this series and its telefilms should all be major Blu-ray candidates.
The best way to handle it would be to include the original telefilm
here with the first season of the show, then the rest of the
telefilms with the final season of the show.
We'll
see, but this is the best way pretty much outside of a good film
print to see The
Marcus-Nelson Murders
until then, which deserves some extras on its own, though there are
none nowhere on this set. Otherwise, a decent set for what you get.
Sleepy
Hollow: The Complete Fourth Season
The
Len Wiseman (Underworld)-produced
Fox TV series, Sleepy
Hollow,
returns in its final season as a swift cancelation from the network.
An unusual spin on the classic story and placing the headless
horseman and Icabod Crane into the modern ages, the show has had some
interesting moments over the years, but has lost significant speed in
its later seasons.
The
series stars Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Lyndie Greenwood, Orlando
Jones, and John Noble to name a few. The show centers on Ichabod
Crane (Mison) who wakes up 250 years into the present day, thanks to
a spell that was placed upon him in the past. In this season,
Icabod's current ally Abbie is dead and he must help free the
President, reconcile his relationship with his son (aka The Horseman
of War) and maybe even become an American citizen in the process.
This goofy season is all over the map and is evident quickly that its
missing some of its former spark.
13
Episodes span four DVDs and include Columbia,
In Plain Sight, Heads of State, The People v Ichabod Crane, Blood
From A Stone, Homecoming, Loco Parentis, Sick Burn, Child's Play,
Insatiable, The Way of the Gun, Tomorrow,
and the series finale Freedom.
Presented
uncut and commercial-free, even though the transfer is on standard
definition, it's still better than the original television broadcast.
Presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix,
the show looks fine for the format, but a Blu-ray set would have been
nice.
Special
Features...
Deleted
Scenes
The
review for Season
3 can
be found here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14692/Sleepy+Hollow:+The+Complete+Third+Season+(2
The
Tonight Show: Johnny & Friends
The
latest set of themed releases of Johnny Carson's megahit Tonight
Show
is dubbed Johnny
and Friends
and the final set includes 10 different best friends, though four of
them have already been issued and we covered them as follows...
Steve
Martin, Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14971/The+Gumball+Rally+(1976/First+Artists/Warner+A
Jerry
Seinfeld
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14714/Boy,+Did+I+Get+A+Wrong+Number!+(1966/Unite
Each
friend has his own DVD, so that means the new set has six more
friends in Burt Reynolds (who was always crossing the line with
Carson), Jim Fowler (who brought dozens of exotic animals to the
show), Jay Leno, David Letterman (his two closest successors), Don
Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield. For the remaining new discs, here
are the guests joining Johnny and the Friend from each DVD...
Burt
Reynolds: Susan Sarandon, Ren Woods, Dom DeLuise, Dr. Joyce Brothers
Jim
Fowler: Bob Hope, Steve Martin, David Horowitz, Tom Hanks, Lauren
Bacall
Jay
Leno: Lucille Ball, Joey Heatherton, Erma Bombeck, Racquel Welch,
Jeleel White
David
Letterman: James Garner, Ellen Burstyn, Clint Eastwood, Bob Hope and
B.B. King (8/30/91; show #2 on the disc) with one of the funniest
Mighty Carson Art Players skits ever!
Don
Rickles: Jon Byner, Buddy Rich, Cathy Rich (the only discs here with
two episodes, as a third was pushed aside for a special video clip.)
Rodney
Dangerfield: Dyan Cannon, Jim Fowler and a partly incomplete episode
with James Mason, where Mason has to deal with Dangerfield gone wild!
There's
also the occasional turn of Carson as Carnac, the mystic who can see
answers before he reads questions sealed in unmarked envelopes. The
result is another great set that will keep you highly entertained for
hours with some really hilarious moments and a few howlers to boot.
The
1.33 X 1 image again looks really good color-wise and where the flaws
are more than unusual, we get smart explanation disclaimers. Being
an older video production, we still get analog videotape flaws like
video noise, video banding, telecine flicker on some film
clips/commercials, tape scratching, cross color, some faded color,
tiny dropouts and even a little tape damage. Otherwise, they've been
remastered as well as possible. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and
later Stereo is abut as good as it can be, though I wonder how much
more a lossless presentation could deliver.
The
only extra are the commercials you have the option to watch and
again, I highly recommend them as you watch because they offer many
surprises more than worth your time.
Vikings:
Season 4, Volume 2
Vikings
is the quintessential show for history buffs who love stories centers
around Viking soldiers and the dangerous world they live in. This
show is shot beautifully and features a fantastical and brutal look
into an alternate hyper-realistic fantasy world. The hit show stars
Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, Clive Standen, Jessalyn Gilsig,
Gustaf Skarsgard, and John Kavanagh. Since this season was twenty
total episodes in length, it's been split into two volumes on home
video. We didn't cover the first volume of this fourth season, but
did cover most of the previous seasons (links below).
The
series centers around the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok (Fimmel): the
greatest hero of his age and tells the saga of Ragnar's band of
Viking brothers and his family as he rises to become King of the
Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies
the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods: legend has it that he
was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors and it
shows in his fierce commitment to battle and leadership.
Episodes
in this season include The
Outisider, The Vision, Two Journeys, In the Uncertain Hour Before the
Morning, All His Angels, Crossings, The Great Army, Revenge, On the
Eve,
and The
Reckoning.
Blowing
away the original broadcast in every way possible, this Blu-ray set
is a must own for fans of the series as it features extended and
unrated versions of the episodes, commercial free of course.
Presenting the show in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 1.78 X 1 and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 track,
the Blu-ray brings a more cinematic experience of the show as
originally intended by the filmmakers. No digital UV copy.
Special
Features:
Extended
International Versions of Every Episode (Blu-ray Exclusive)
Extended/Director's/Unrated
Episodes
Deleted
Scenes
Behind
the Scenes - The Queen & the Shieldmaiden
(explore the beloved and powerful women within this world.)
Behind
the Scenes - King, Valhalla and the Legacy of Ragnar Lothbrok
(Follow a stunt player as he is outfitted, coached through fight
moves, and ultimately plays his death in battle before the cameras).
We
have reviewed past seasons of the show elsewhere on this site...
Season
1
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12400/The+Girl+From+U.N.C.L.E.:+The+Complete+Serie
Season
3
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13827/Vikings:+The+Complete+Third+Season+(2015/MG
If
you are fan of Gladiator,
Game
of Thrones,
or the 300
franchise, then you will want to give this series a look.
To
order the
Umbrella import Kojak
DVD set, go to this link for it and hard to find releases at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
James Lockhart & Nicholas
Sheffo (Kojak,
Carson)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
