Louis L’Amour Collection (The Sacketts/Conager/Catlow/Warner Bros. DVD set)
Picture:
C+ (Conager: C) Sound: C+ Extras: C- Main Programs: C+
Warner
has reissued some of their Louis L’Amour productions on DVD as The Louis
L’Amour collection, though we only had a chance to look at the one theatrical
feature film in the set before, Catlow:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8680/Catlow+(1971/Warner+DVD)
That leaves
two TV productions that are not bad, with The
Sacketts being the better and more elaborate. A tale involving a battle between two
families while the title family does what it can to survive is a TV mini-series
that is not bad. The cast includes Tom
Selleck, Jeff Osterhage, Sam Elliott, Glenn Ford, Ben Johnson, Mercedes
McCambridge, Gilbert Roland, John Vernon, Jack Elam, Ruth Roman, L.Q. Jones,
Slim Pickens, Paul Kosko, James Gammon and Ana Alicia. It is made for Western fans, but is rich
enough that anyone would enjoy it.
Conager was co-written by its co-stars
Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross with Jeffrey M. Meyer, delivering the typical
story of a family trying to survive violent Native American tribes on the one
side and greedy land thieves (including the kind backed by big money) on the
other. Smart enough to be under two
hours, it also stars James Gammon, Barry Corbin, Paul Kosko, Gavan O’Herlihy
and Buck Taylor. Genre fans will enjoy
it too.
The 1.33
X 1 image is good on Sacketts, but
weak on Conager, which looks like a
filmed production finished on old analog videotape. Both have some money in them and can look
good. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on
the TV productions are simple at best and can have some good sound moments, but
don’t expect much in the way of great fidelity.
Extras are only on Catlow and
that is only a trailer while the disc offers the same picture and sound quality
as the older DVD.
- Nicholas Sheffo
