The High Chaparral Season 1 – Coming 8/28/18 (1 Viewer)

[John Hermes]

On the first disc, the shows look really excellent with the exception of episode three which looks like 16mm. I haven't checked the other discs but it may be one of these series with hit and miss quality. You can't beat the price for a full season though.

***UPDATE*** I checked the rest of the episodes and just the one in Disc One appears to be 16mm. The rest are sharp, clean (and look to my eyes new scans) 35mm with excellent color. You won't be disappointed!!

 

[Dan McW]

Good news, John. Are the episode run times in the 50:00-51:00 range?

 

[John Hermes]

Good news, John. Are the episode run times in the 50:00-51:00 range?

I just put in Disc Two and checked and they are all between 50 and 51 minutes in length. I assume the other discs would be the same. The good news continues.

 

[Dan McW]

I just put in Disc Two and checked and they are all between 50 and 51 minutes in length. I assume the other discs would be the same. The good news continues.

Thanks!

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Yes, thanks for the updates on the set's quality, John! Anyone else - Doug, I'm looking at you! -
feel free to chime in.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I normally just jump in and binge watch a disc at a time. Since I am not sure if Shout! will continue, I am trying to parcel these out so I can savor the series. I do not think the set was remastered (at least not like Gunsmoke, Mannix, Perry Mason, Mission:Impossible), but it does look mighty good. The show is appropriately dusty and the colors are very vibrant on the first two episodes I have viewed (originally aired as a 2 hour pilot). I was pleased to see the run time around 50-51 minutes as I believe that is correct. The first disc has five episodes on it, but the shows did not seem to suffer due to this.

Note: I realize it is television, but these eps. did bring out something I have never noticed before. The frontier women all had fine looking manicures. Just a small anomaly .

I am really pleased with how this series looks so far. Next one I view will be the third episode that has already been mentioned as looking rough. Will try to post as I view these. Jeff, hope this helps.

 

[John Hermes]

I normally just jump in and binge watch a disc at a time. Since I am not sure if Shout! will continue, I am trying to parcel these out so I can savor the series. I do not think the set was remastered (at least not like Gunsmoke, Mannix, Perry Mason, Mission:Impossible), but it does look mighty good. The show is appropriately dusty and the colors are very vibrant on the first two episodes I have viewed (originally aired as a 2 hour pilot). I was pleased to see the run time around 50-51 minutes as I believe that is correct. The first disc has five episodes on it, but the shows did not seem to suffer due to this.

Note: I realize it is television, but these eps. did bring out something I have never noticed before. The frontier women all had fine looking manicures. Just a small anomaly .

I am really pleased with how this series looks so far. Next one I view will be the third episode that has already been mentioned as looking rough. Will try to post as I view these. Jeff, hope this helps.

I believe The High Chaparral episodes are remastered but with five episodes per disc the bitrate will not be as high as on Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I normally just jump in and binge watch a disc at a time. Since I am not sure if Shout! will continue, I am trying to parcel these out so I can savor the series. I do not think the set was remastered (at least not like Gunsmoke, Mannix, Perry Mason, Mission:Impossible), but it does look mighty good. The show is appropriately dusty and the colors are very vibrant on the first two episodes I have viewed (originally aired as a 2 hour pilot). I was pleased to see the run time around 50-51 minutes as I believe that is correct. The first disc has five episodes on it, but the shows did not seem to suffer due to this.

Note: I realize it is television, but these eps. did bring out something I have never noticed before. The frontier women all had fine looking manicures. Just a small anomaly .

I am really pleased with how this series looks so far. Next one I view will be the third episode that has already been mentioned as looking rough. Will try to post as I view these. Jeff, hope this helps.

Thanks a bunch, Doug - that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for! Between John H.'s review and yours, it sounds like this is a good set. And that price point (less than $16 for a whole season of 28 episodes) is very affordable. At that price, hopefully western fans will come through and buy enough sets to motivate Shout! to release more. I'll be doing my part shortly...

And yes, besides the manicures on the actresses in these westerns, I always get a kick out of their perfectly-coiffed hair. Lots of hairdressers out on the ranch, apparently...

 

[Flashgear]

These are beautiful fully remastered HD transfers. I just got Shout!'s S1 of High Chaparral. I only paid a little over $14 US for this, a great value for this beautiful set!

Episode 3 does represent a strange anomaly though...as John has mentioned, episode 3, The Ghost of Chaparral, begins with what appears to be a more faded 16 mm look...but strangely, at the 17:46 mark, it transitions to the beautiful HD quality right through to the end of the runtime. All the other episodes I checked are likewise the beautiful HD transfers with vibrant color.

Here are some screen caps I took from my Shout set...Leif Erickson in Survival...

Survival, (Jan. 14, 1968)...Linda Cristal and Rodolfo Acosta...

Mark Slade and Henry Darrow...

Cameron Mitchell...

Leo Gordon and Ted Gehring in Gold is Where You Leave It (Jan, 21, 1968)...

Guest star Jack Lord in The Kinsman (Jan. 28, 1968)...

 

[Flashgear]

For me, among many high points in season one of High Chaparral, this is one of the greatest...Barbara Luna in The Firing Wall (Dec. 31, 1967)...Wow! This will be among the photos I start my heart with, first thing in the morning, ha, ha...screen caps I took from this episode on the newly released Shout! set...

Less interestingly, Fernando Lamas is also in this episode...I didn't bother to take a screen cap of him, ha, ha...

 

[Jeff Flugel]

For me, among many high points in season one of High Chaparral, this is one of the greatest...Barbara Luna in The Firing Wall (Dec. 31, 1967)...Wow! This will be among the photos I start my heart with, first thing in the morning, ha, ha...screen caps I took from this episode on the newly released Shout! set...
View attachment 49220
View attachment 49221
View attachment 49222

Less interestingly, Fernando Lamas is also in this episode...I didn't bother to take a screen cap of him, ha, ha...

Yowsa!! Barbara Luna, what a stunner! Yep, that'll get the ol' ticker pumping quite nicely, Randall!

Seriously, thanks for the screencaps. The transfers do look great, bright, colorful and nicely-detailed. Will buy this set with confidence.

 

[Flashgear]

You're welcome Jeff! And this is Barbara Luna the same year she did Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror"...and her Invaders episode...what a hot little bundle she was, one of the dream girls of our youth...

This set is an incredible bargain, I pre-ordered it on Amazon Canada, and by the time it shipped it was $18.78 Canadian, which is currently a little over $14. I don't know why the price point on this set is so low, but I hope Shout sells plenty of them, especially at Walmart and other bigger retailers. Hoping for them to release the rest, which I will buy even though I have a R2 complete series edition. I of course prefer to have it in R1 NTSC.

I haven't checked out the bonus features yet, an interview with Don Collier and the documentary, How the West Was Shown...very impressed that Shout also went the extra mile to include bonus features.

Watching the beautiful Arizona scenery at Old Tucson, Coronado National Forest, Santa Rita, Nogales, Cochise Stronghold Canyon and the Oro Valley is wonderful...makes me wish that Rawhide had filmed at least one season in color...although that same scenery still looks stunning in remastered HD B+W...

 

[RBailey]

Barbara Luna was also married to Doug McClure (one of his 5 marriages). I recall one of the times Burt Reynolds guest-hosted "The Tonight Show". One of Burt's guests was Doug and Burt said they were going to have all of Doug's wives on the show but sadly, the bus broke down on the way to the studio. Funny!

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Barbara Luna was also married to Doug McClure (one of his 5 marriages). I recall one of the times Burt Reynolds guest-hosted "The Tonight Show". One of Burt's guests was Doug and Burt said they were going to have all of Doug's wives on the show but sadly, the bus broke down on the way to the studio. Funny!

Funny, for sure, but I think ol' Doug had the last laugh. No slouch he, being married to a world class hottie like Ms. Luna (still can't get over those bee-YOO-tiful shots of her above).

 

[JamesSmith]

Just checking. Can somebody tell me what are some of the best "comical" episodes of HC? I remember they had some excellent stories. There was the one with the prohibitionist lady who smashed down the saloon, and the one with Buck and Manuelito trying to purchase some lake filled property when there was a drought coming. Comedy hijinks ensued.

Any others that come to mind?

James

 

[Rick Thompson]

Funny, for sure, but I think ol' Doug had the last laugh. No slouch he, being married to a world class hottie like Ms. Luna (still can't get over those bee-YOO-tiful shots of her above).

Almost 20 years earlier, Barbara Luna played one of Emile de Becque's children (namely, Ngana) in the original cast of South Pacific. She and Michael De Leon (as Jerome) sing "Dites-Moi" on the 1949 cast album.

 

[Flashgear]

Just checking. Can somebody tell me what are some of the best "comical" episodes of HC? I remember they had some excellent stories. There was the one with the prohibitionist lady who smashed down the saloon, and the one with Buck and Manuelito trying to purchase some lake filled property when there was a drought coming. Comedy hijinks ensued.

Any others that come to mind?

James

It's in the eye of the beholder, but I think there's at least 3, and maybe 4, good comedic episodes in season one...

A Quiet Day in Tucson
The Widow From Red Rock
Champion of the Western World
A Joyful Noise

I can't remember which episode it was, but there's a great scene where Buck (Cameron Mitchell) gets duded up into his finery for a dress up formal dinner...Don Collier's reaction is painfully stifled laughter, much to Victoria's (Linda Cristal's ) chagrin...and the camera slowly pans up Cameron Mitchell's body, starting at his pigeon toes, ha, ha...he has a truly awkward formal ensemble going...and his hair slicked down and parted at the middle!

 

[GMBurns]

Holy Toledo Batman! I just got around to placing my order for season 1, and now I see that Shout is releasing season 2 of High Chaparral on December 11. I love it when they do that!

 

[JamesSmith]

Holy Toledo Batman! I just got around to placing my order for season 1, and now I see that Shout is releasing season 2 of High Chaparral on December 11. I love it when they do that!

Same here. I thought it would be about a year before Shout would release second year, now it's only three-four months. Wish CBS would release Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza at this speed. It's a bit of good news.

James

 

[JamesSmith]

It's in the eye of the beholder, but I think there's at least 3, and maybe 4, good comedic episodes in season one...

A Quiet Day in Tucson
The Widow From Red Rock
Champion of the Western World
A Joyful Noise

I can't remember which episode it was, but there's a great scene where Buck (Cameron Mitchell) gets duded up into his finery for a dress up formal dinner...Don Collier's reaction is painfully stifled laughter, much to Victoria's (Linda Cristal's ) chagrin...and the camera slowly pans up Cameron Mitchell's body, starting at his pigeon toes, ha, ha...he has a truly awkward formal ensemble going...and his hair slicked down and parted at the middle!

Do you remember any others? The scene where the women in town broke down that saloon was the comic high point for me. Both Bonanza and High Chapparal did some fine hilarious episodes, there are times I would think the comical episodes were better than the dramas.

Jamas