Elvira:
Mistress Of The Dark 4K
(1988/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray*)/I
Love Lucy: The Complete Series
(1951 - 1960/Paramount/CBS Blu-ray Box Set)/The
Kung-Fu Instructor
(1979/88 Films Blu-ray/*both MVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: X/B/B Sound: B- Extras:
C/A-/C Main Programs: C/A-/C+
Now
for a wide variety of comedy, including
an all-time TV classic and some genre curiosities...
James
Signorelli's Elvira:
Mistress Of The Dark 4K
(1988) is
a good-looking 4K upgrade of the previous Arrow Blu-ray of the same
title we reviewed at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15719/Day+Of+The+Panther+/+Strike+Of+The+Panther
I
like Cassandra Harris and think she has been fun as the title
character, including hosting many a B-movie (we covered three DVD
releases there of elsewhere on this site) and she is fun to watch,
even when the material falls flat. Fans like the coverage by my
fellow critic shows what those who like it basically think, but it is
now a curio (she has retired the character) and it is nice to have a
35mm film record of her work as the genre icon. Otherwise, it is for
fans only, but those curious might enjoy it for one sitting at least.
Extras
repeat the previous release, so fans will be happy nothing is missing
in the upgrade.
I
Love Lucy: The Complete Series
(1951 - 1960) finally arrives as a full Blu-ray box set (finally!)
after the first two seasons were issued that way in 2014 and 2015
respectively. Loaded with the same extras from the older, very
popular DVD sets, they are using the same HD masters as the old DVD
sets, but they are good ones. Here is our coverage of the whole
series previously on the site:
Season
One
Blu-ray (with link to coverage of first six DVD season sets)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12755/The+Andy+Griffith+Show:+Season+1+(1960+-+1
Season
Two
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13695/A+La+Mala+(2015/Lionsgate+DVD)/The+Encore
Season
Seven, Eight
and Nine
DVDs
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5328/I+Love+Lucy+%E2%80%93+The+Complete+Seven
As
always, the show remains funny and gets funnier whether you watch it
all the time or wait a while and and revisit it is funny because you
might forget the jokes or how well they were timed and worked so well
with the writing and talent at hand.
Extras
repeat all the previous sets, including alternate, original cuts of
the many episodes, the latter seasons are the hour-long Lucy
Desi Comedy Hour
shows and the show was treated with a ton of pro-fans, show -loving
extras only matched by the likes of Star
Trek
and Doctor
Who.
Still one of the most successful TV shows of all time, one of the
most influential and (after The
Honeymooners
and radio's Duffy's
Tavern)
invented the television situation comedy, taking its cues from a few
older comedy feature films as well.
Yes,
it is nine of the most important seasons of any TV show ever and
somehow, someway, it only gets better with time. Of course, Lucy
brought Vivian Vance with her to The
Lucy Show
(one of the greatest comedy teams of all time!) and Lucy continued
her reign as the queen of TV and TV comedy, so the laughs did not end
here (Desi started his own production company with shows like The
Mothers-In-Law)
and comedy was a permanent part of the TV landscape henceforth. I
Love Lucy
is absolutely how it got there.
Sun
Chung's The
Kung-Fu Instructor
(1979) is one of the earliest films in the Hong Kong genre to start
introducing more humor before it got out of control as Ti Lung plays
a master of the fighting art, hired by one clan to get the edge over
another. With shades of Kurosawa's Yojimbo
(again) and Leone's A
Fistful Of Dollars,
the film has its moments, but it is still too derivative and mixed,
though fans might like what the makers did here.
It
also plays like one of the last of a great set of films from the
cycle before not only the comedy kicked in too much, but the films in
general lost their energy, spirit and were just not as fun without
trying so hard. The fighting and athletic talent is king here, but I
do also like the costumes, use of color and some of the sets, so this
is better than many of the same films from the period. Now restored,
you can see for yourself.
Extras
include a Reversible Cover and four Lobby Cards, while the disc adds
an Original Theatrical Trailer and a Stills Gallery.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image is a pleasantly colorful upgrade from the regular Blu-ray disc
with more warmth and depth, making it even more watchable and
bringing out Harris' camera friendly qualities all the more. I was
surprised by this, while the PCM 2.0 Stereo repeats the simple, solid
sound of the original theatrical sound of the film as issued in
Dolby's older Dolby System analog A-type noise reduction format. The
film will never look or sound better than it does here.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1, black & white, digital High Definition image
transfers on Lucy do not show the age of the materials used as
much as you might expect, but this is far superior a transfer to all
previous releases of the shows on any older video format and is in
line with the higher quality of the first two season Blu-ray sets
repeated here. The quality subtly improves as the seasons go on,
shot on 35mm film because Lucy and Desi wanted their grandchildren to
be able to see their work at a time when live and kinescope was the
cheaper option for TV production. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes on all the episodes
range from sometimes aged and boxy to very nice, clean and clear
depending on the episode, but is as good as TV audio gets for the
time. Outside of the best film prints of various episodes in mint
shape, this is the best way to take in the series now. Glad all the
shows are finally
available this way. We'll see if The
Lucy Show is the next up
for such treatment. The restoration of the series (see our reviews
of the Second,
Third,
Fourth
and Sixth
seasons on DVD) were impressive enough, so we'll see.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer in Kung-Fu
Instructor can show the age of the materials used, good color,
but better definition than expected for films from this cycle, period
and studio, so that is another nice surprise. The Mandarin PCM 2.0
Mono is as good as the sound will ever be for this older theatrical
monophonic film and the combination is a pleasant watch fans will in
particular, love. The English dub PCM 2.0 Mono track is not as
convincing or good.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
