Genius Press Release: The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

Is this confirmed or just speculation on your part? If confirmed, can you please provide a link? Or are you just talking about the old Black Hawk prints?

 

[Randy Korstick]

I'm referring to the 12-13 blackhawk prints used in the set but apparently there are others with poor video quality in this set as well from reviews in this thread.
I don't have a link on the blackhawk films or proof other than they closed down in 1985 and they released their VHS copies of the Little Rascals in the early 80's. So its easy to put 2 and 2 together as to where the blackhawk films originated from and from all the reviews it appears no remastering was done to their prints they just used the old 16mm VHS masters from the early 80's.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Then that makes this release even more sloppy and careless because RHI/Cabin Fever was behind the Laserdisc releases of the same 80 shorts that featured Leonard Maltin, Great prints and all original film titles so they already had the right prints available they just used inferior ones on many that they had superior ones of in their possesion. Unforgivable...
Someone needs to buy Laurel and Hardy from them quick.

 

[Ethan Riley]

To create an outstanding dvd product, you have to have extensive knowledge of the films you wish to release, you have to have access to more than one extant print of these films, and you have to know the difference between Donald and Mickey (Haines and Daniels, that is). RHi/Genius doesn't have any of these.

What we really have here is a fairly good product. I just know going in, however, that hardcore Our Gangers are not going to be wholly satisfied with it. There's too many errors and inferior prints. (Hang onto those Cabin Fever tapes, guys). However, this particular set is inexpensive and I think more passive fans would be happy with it. I also point out that the prints are all at least acceptable; I haven't found one truly crummy print as of yet. Just don't expect this to be part of the Criterion Collection, okay?

Since the set is inexpensive, what we should do with it is give it to children as a Christmas present; they'd go as wild over the Rascals as us old folk did back in the day.

 

[WadeM]

So, basically, I just should hold onto my Cabin Fever VHS tapes & return this?
And maybe convert my VHS tapes to DVD?

 

[Joe Lugoff]

After reading all the pros and cons here -- and I don't know what I'd do without the HTF! -- I think the cons win, and I'll only get this set if I find it really cheap some day. What a sickening disappointment!

We have an expression in my family about people who only have "one job to do," and screw it up. Who are these people who are assigned to these projects and get so much wrong?

It would be great if they re-do it and fix all the errors -- but it's unlikely they'll get it right even the second time around. It's clear their quality control is grade F.

 

[Robbie^Blackmon]

Do that and, while you're doing it, crank the DVNR to the max and you'll get just about what you'd get from this set (albeit, your copies would be more complete).

DVNR and gate weave do not work well together! Many scenes, especially closeups, feature image "tearing" and smearing, where parts of the image may seem to float and wobble-- even the titles on some of the shorts seem to float in circles over the background.. The closeups are the worst, though, as folks' noses, eyes, foreheads and such all wobble around so strangely-- it's like "Videodrome"! Lol! Or, a Hunter S. Thompson nightmare!

Watch carefully during "Lazy Days" and you will find evidence of horizontal, analog tape dropouts..

Yeah, I'm kinda one of those dolts that says, "Meh! The set's okay.. Better than nothing!" But, don't get me wrong: I'm not fooled by the suggestion that these shorts have been through some fantastic, new restoration. I know better, and so do those folks (in ever growing numbers) who are disappointed with the set for all its problems.

And, brother, does it have 'em.. And how!

 

[Michael Elliott]

We go from two great reviews (including The Digital Bits) to this thing being a complete BOMB. I was going Netflix from day 1 anyways.

At least the silents are in better hands.

 

[wh5916]

I've taken a look at several of the shorts with Blackhawk title cards..."Feed 'em and Weep," "A Tough Winter", "Hide and Shriek" "The Awful Tooth," and "Came the Brawn." The shorts themselves appear to be sourced from 35mm material--very clean and sharp, and a noticeable lack of grain. If those prints are 16mm, it's 16mm as I've never seen it before.

I pulled out a Cabin Fever DVD containing "Hide and Shriek," which includes the original opening, and could see little difference in the short itself from a visual standpoint.

I'm not defending Genius Entertainment for this--my heart sank when seeing the first Blackhawk title card...but it's not the total disaster that I had initially feared. There's enough to like about the set otherwise, and it is a pleasure to have the entire Hal Roach talkie years in one package. Bottom line--I won't be returning the set to amazon.com in spite of this unexpected disappointment.

 

[David Allen]

Isn't this the same company that dumps $1 colorized P.D. DVD's on Target and WalMart every Xmas? Why would you suddenly expect quality from them?

 

[Michael Elliott]

I don't think HRI does this unless it's the PD L&Hs.

 

[Steve...O]

This post at the Little Rascals site says there are at least two additional Blackhawk prints not previously reported ("Anniversary Troubles" and "Little Papa"). This brings the total to at least 15. Blackhawk was indeed a great company. That's not the issue; the issue is that the use of their prints wasn't necessary. Better material is known to exist.

My set is still in the Amazon mailer as I ponder what to do. This was easily my most anticipated release of the year and I was all primed to nominate it as "Set of the Year" at the year HTF awards. This has shifted over to the "Biggest Missed Opportunity" category.

The wrong prints being used for 15 shorts may not have been a deal breaker by itself, but the growing list of problems with out of synch audio, poor prints on certain shorts, and the sloppy editing on the liner notes has created a great sense of disappointment. This really is a personal judgement call for each HTF member to decide for themselves whether or not to keep this.

Genius may only be the distributor but its still their name on the product and they need to stand behind their release and explain why there are so many issues that are leaving the OUR GANG fans upset. Has anyone who has contacted Genius gotten a response? I haven't although it's only been 3 days.

Thanks to all who have posted their comments, both pro and con. That's what makes HTF such a valuable resource. The fact that there are such stong feelings on both sides speaks well of how popular these shorts still are and how much their fans want them to be treated with the care they deserve.

Steve

 

[David Weicker]

I've been reading this thread for a few days now.

Yes, I'm disappointed that apparently this isn't all that was promised. But I haven't gotten my set yet, so I'm reserving judgement.

HOWEVER, I do have a problem with the severe negativity in most of the posts. Only a few posters have actually seen the product. From the people who have seen it, there is a mixed reaction - some people have found problems, others have seen improvement.

Only one person has posted who has compared the new set to the Cabin Fever set, and they reported no difference in visual quality. As for the other reported problems - sound sync, scratches, etc, has anyone bothered to see if these same problems were on the Cabin Fever stories?

As for the Blackhawk source problem, we don't actually know what the source was. What we do know is that Blackhawk sold 16mm films. I haven't been able to find out, and no one has reported, what Blackhawk's source was. They may have had 35mm prints as their originals. Maybe they didn't. The point is, we don't know, and for people to automatically assume that everything they owned was in 16mm is like assuming that since I bought a pan-and-scan movie on VHS in the 80's from Paramount, all Paramount had in their vault was a VHS pan-and-scan print.

I just wish we had more true facts, and less hatred and rumormongering

OK. I've ranted enough.

David

 

[Chas_Michael]

We need a short by short comparison between this and the old Cabin Fever DVD box set.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Not only that, he's married to Jane Powell! BTW, the real Scotty Beckett (who played Jane's brother in A Date With Judy) died a suicide in 1968:

Scotty Beckett - Biography

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I've complained about the out-of-synch audio on A LAD AN' A LAMP, and the audio was fine on the old Cabin Fever edition. Someone else said that CHOO-CHOO looked poor on the new set, but had been cleaned up on the old Cabin Fever edition.

 

[wh5916]

I've compared one Cabin Fever release, "Hide and Shriek," to the new set. This is a short that opens with the Blackhawk tite on the new set, though the original "The End" closing card remains intact. Both had the sharp, clean look that I've come to expect from 35mm transfers, though to my ears the audio on the Cabin Fever version had less noise.

Some may be expecting a bit too much, as the Cabin Fever releases that I have can't be described as pristine. There are plenty of scratches, and noise is present in the soundtracks. Given the age and sloppy treatment of the source material over the years, it's a miracle that many of these look as good as they do now.

Someone in this thread was very disappointed in "Choo-Choo" on the new set, so I pulled it last night to take a look. Personally, I was pleased. It was a 35mm transfer, with the original title cards, with gorgeous sharp images and perfect contrast. There was evidence of persistent scratches on the original negative, especially during the second reel, which the previous poster did take issue with.

I haven't seen the Cabin Fever version of "Choo-Choo," but it wouldn't surprise me if it suffered from the same issues. I have, though, seen the Cabin Fever ad featuring a before/after clip from this short on their VHS releases. The version on the new set looks much more like the "after restoration" than the "before restoration" comparison that is seen in that ad.

Again, I'm not excusing the title card replacement...it's the last thing I was expecting from this set, and it was a major disappointment. However, the set is not the total disaster that some would have you believe...and I'm at least happy that the music which accompanied the original title cards is still intact on the shorts that I've viewed so far...right down, oddly, to the MGM lion roar at the start of one of them.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

I'm waiting for DVD Beaver to do a screenshot comparison at least. No sense rushing out to buy this, it will be around for years in the secondary market anyway.

 

[Mark Y]

Actually, the Criterion DVD W.C. Fields: Six Short Films has UM&M TV titles on most of the Paramount shorts (some end title cards are blacked out completely) and a print of "The Dentist" which has fully restored original Paramount titles, but is the altered Raymond Rohauer version with added music (cut in from some compilation feature film that included the kitchen scene).

So maybe this is Criterion-worthy!

 

[buttmunker]

I wonder what reason they gave Scotty Beckett when they replaced him with Alfalfa Switzer as Spanky's official "chum" in '36, other than, "well, we have a hard-on for Alfalfa, so out-- you-- go!"