The High Chaparral in Region 2 (1 Viewer)

[silverking]

I’ve recently picked up the official release of season 1 from Germany & thought I would pass on my views in case anyone here is interested in getting it. It is, of course, region 2, so you would need suitably compatible equipment to view it.You should also take into account Pal speed-up if it bothers you. There are 28 episodes spread over 7 discs. The packaging leaves much to be desired.It is fold out style in a slipcase. Unfortunately there are only 6 hubs with cheap plastic clips so one hub has to take an extra disc. This is not very secure & there is a strong chance the disc will become loose, particularly in transit. Why some of these companies cannot supply adequate packaging defeats me. Zero points for packaging then. Menus are in German, there is a language option for the original soundtrack or dubbed German. No subtitles. Play All or ‘select an episode’ option. Individual titles are in both languages on the menu. All titles & credits on the discs are as original English. I was concerned these episodes might be the cut versions? This series was highly popular here in the UK & repeated on BBC right through to the early 90’s, latterly in an afternoon slot. Many of these I taped. Problem was, due to the slot, Auntie BBC decided to trim scenes they thought might be too intense for the afternoon audience. This mostly involved odd shots of bloodstained wounds, dead Indians, stabbings etc. A few years later a number of episodes surfaced on Granada + a satellite/cable channel. These were all remastered so picture quality was excellent; however a couple of minutes were removed, presumably to fit running times. Thus I had two VHS versions, both with different cuts! I dug out my whiskery old tapes & compared. (I should mention I only checked the first 3 episodes + a few random others which I knew had cuts.) Happy to say we seem to have the full uncut versions on the discs. Unusually on the first episode there is a prologue which I had not seen before, this is of lesser quality & in German. There is a note on the menu (in German) explaining that they wanted to present the full version but a print of this segment in English could not be found. It lasts about a minute before reverting to English. I don’t know if there are other examples of this anywhere but not on the parts I checked. Picture quality is the restored version & looks very nice indeed. If you have any of the German ‘Bonanza’ sets it is comparable. The set can be ordered from Amazon De (Amazon Germany). If you already have an Amazon account you should not need to enter all your details again as it will pick it up. If you struggle with German, go to the Amazon German site, click on “Hilfe” at the top right of the home page & scroll down. You will come to a section “Information for English Speaking Customers” (In English) which tells you all you need to know. Apart from the packaging I would recommend. As far as I know there are no plans for a US release. By all accounts S2 will be coming out later this year. Chris

 

[bosque]

Many thanks, Chris. This show was an old favourite back in the 60s. I am a little worried that watching it again after all this time (40 years) what seemed to be innovative while also retaining the loved western "themes" would now appear hackneyed, but I must give the show a shot !


I noticed recently that UK HMV shops are stocking invidual episodes of High Chaparall under episode titles in bold on the front cover of a series of Region 2 DVDs. It's only when you venture as far as the back cover that a plot description tells you the story is set on the High Chaparall, oddly hiding the fact that it is a TV show.


It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has sampled the UK discs !

 

[DeWilson]

Originally Posted by bosque

I noticed recently that UK HMV shops are stocking invidual episodes of High Chaparall under episode titles in bold on the front cover of a series of Region 2 DVDs. It's only when you venture as far as the back cover that a plot description tells you the story is set on the High Chaparall, oddly hiding the fact that it is a TV show.


It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has sampled the UK discs !

I wonder if these are available at Amazon UK ?

 

[bosque]

To my embarassment I find I am confusing High Chaparall with Stuart Whitman's 1967 TV series Cimarron Strip, apologies to silverking (can't locate an apologetic smilie !).

 

[silverking]

No apologies necessary Robert.


Yes 'Cimarron Strip' all 23 episodes have been released in the UK as individual titles.


They are available at Amazon & all other outlets. Each episode is relatively inexpensive, equivalent of 6 or 7 dollars, but mounts up to be very expensive if you wish to purchase them all.


Pic quality appears to the same as the VHS copies some years back with no restoration or remastering of any kind. This is a shame as it was an impressively photographed series & would benefit from some kind of restoration.


I doubt the distributors have any clue about it being a TV series, the only concession to this being a note on the case "As seen on TV".