THE GUNS OF WILL SONNETT and BRANDED (1 Viewer)

[Richard--W]

I want to buy the box-sets of THE GUNS OF WILL SONNETT (with Walter Brennan), and BRANDED (with Chuck Conners) but I've heard conflicting reports about the quality.

Does anyone here own either set?

How is the picture quality and sound quality?

Are the episodes complete or are they cut?

Is it true there's a station ID bug in the corner of some episodes?

Any episodes missing?

Do you recommend buying either set or avoiding?

Many thanks.

 

[Bob Hug]

I have both sets of BRANDED. Frankly, these are among the worst officially licensed TV shows on DVD that I've ever seen. For starters, all episodes included are the King World syndicated versions running a little over 22 minutes and, yes, the cuts are noticeable, even to this viewer who hadn't seen the series since its original run in the mid-1960s. The audio/visual quality is very VHS like; the episodes don't look like they were cleaned up at all for the DVD release, but do not include any ID bugs in the corner (the one exception being a bonus episode of THE RIFLEMAN in set 1). So with all of these negatives, is BRANDED worth getting? I bought it because I liked the show from my youth and wanted to see it again, and star Chuck Connors made for a great TV cowboy hero. The two sets of BRANDED do include all of the series' episodes run in broadcast order. The extras on set 1 consist of public domain episodes from shows that Connors appeared in, plus a biography. The extras on set 2 consist of a three-part interview with series creator Larry Cohen that's pretty entertaining. I'd say if you are a real fan of either of the series (I've heard that SONNETT is pretty much in the same shape as BRANDED) that these DVDs are probably going to be as good as they're going to get unless original negatives/master prints are ever found. As a casual buy, forget it . . . there are other Westerns that look far better than BRANDED. I was able to pick up both sets of BRANDED at DDD's last 20% off sale for around $34 and wouldn't pay anymore for it.

 

[Steve Phillips]

Both series are edited/cut versions. Avoid.

 

[Michael Alden]

The shows are good, but they are cut. Unfortunately unless you collect 16mm film, you'll never find them in any other form anywhere. The show changed hands so many times that I'm pretty sure no one even knows where the masters are anymore. It's not like a recent show where they just couldn't be bothered running them off the masters.