Blu-ray Review Trigger, Jr. Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Josh Steinberg

Trigger, Jr. Blu-ray Review

Roy Rogers and his famous horse Trigger return to screen in the 1950 Republic production of Trigger, Jr., in glorious Trucolor. In the film, Roy and Trigger find themselves sidetracked after a storm. They come upon a local ranch, where both are immediately welcomed. However, when a dispute between the local ranchers and an evil posse results in Roy’s beloved horse being blinded, it’s up to a young boy and the excitable Trigger, Jr. to save the day.

[review]

 

[Steve...O]

Thanks, Josh! Sadly, no subtitles = no sale. Kino is regressing in this regard.

 

[RMajidi]

Boy, have you hit the ground running in your new role as official HTF Reviewer, Josh!

Always a treat reading your comments, and I’ll definitely pick up this Blu-ray and also share it with my father-in-law who is a Roy Rogers nut.

Shame about the lack of subtitles, as Steve also highlighted.

 

[moviepas]

I looked this film up and all listings say 68mins but is anything missing? Pity no trailer but... I think Roy made 19 Trucolor films and 2 are said to be only existing in black & white now. Hope they complete all the titles on Blu Ray.

 

[borisfw]

Great review. Can't wait to pick this up .

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I looked this film up and all listings say 68mins but is anything missing?

It seemed complete to me. It suppose it's possible that the film was cut somewhere along the way, but I think it's just as likely that the IMDB and other online sources didn't have complete accurate info.

 

[Bob Gu]

The last seventeen Roy Rogers Republic movies were all 67-68 minutes depending on rounding up or down. That would be the last twelve of the Trucolor films and Roy's last five movies, which were black and white.

Eight of those Trucolors were released on VHS by Republic Home Video in unrestored Trucolor but full length in the early 90s:

SUSANNA PASS, DOWN DAKOTA WAY, THE GOLDEN STALLION, BELLS OF CORONADO, TWILIGHT IN THE SIERRAS, TRIGGER JR., NORTH OF THE GREAT DIVIDE, and TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD.

A restored SUNSET IN THE WEST was released by RHV/Spelling in 1998. Along with a better re-release of TRIGGER JR.

In 2005 Lions Gate/Spelling released a restored BELLS OF CORONADO on DVD.

 

[mark-edk]

TRIGGER JR on the Republic VHS runs just shy of 67 minutes, about 66:48. I made a DVD transfer of it some time ago.

 

[haineshisway]

Can we stop this silliness about the running time? The imdb is incorrect. The film is complete.

 

[haineshisway]

This is a gorgeous transfer, BTW - fun film, of course. The color is so lovely and it's so nice to see those deep, rich BLUE skies looking as they should. The Beaver "reviewed" this - my favorite comment was that it has a "blue/teal" leaning - his favorite phrase. Perhaps someone here could explain to him that there is not an iota of teal anywhere in this transfer - just the proper blue and it ain't a leaning, it's just correct.

 

[warnerbro]

It looks absolutely stunning -- very sharp and bright. It's interesting that Trucolor is a misnomer. The only colors are orange, blue, and brown -- even green leaves are brownish gray. But it has a beautiful pastel look and is sharp as a razor. And this is how you do a commentary! This guy packs in every shred of information he can in an hour. Awesome! Give us more of these! I love Roy Rogers!

 

[Bob Gu]

Considering the history of the Roy Rogers films.... lost full-length running time versions and lost Trucolor versions, running time questions and discussions are not silly.

My understanding of two-color Trucolor is that the two colors are red and cyan/blue. Teal is sometimes described as a middle to dark range cyan.

 

[Vic Pardo]

I'd love to see a box set of Rogers' Trucolor films on Blu. I'd delay purchasing individual titles if there was a possibility. The downside, of course, is that it could never happen and the individual titles would all go out of print while I'm waiting.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For what it's worth, if you happened to purchase this (and Sunset In The West) now, I don't think you'd be disappointed! I too would be in favor of a box set, but I'm not sure how many of the Roy Rogers Trucolor films are restored and ready to go - but these have undoubtedly been a treat.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Great review, Josh. I'm looking forward to seeing this one!

Here's more information on the lost RR Trucolor titles: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/roy-rogers-in-trucolor

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Great review, Josh. I'm looking forward to seeing this one!

Thanks Bob - I think you're going to be really happy with it!

 

[John Hermes]

Another new nice release from Kino is Singing Guns with Vaughn Monroe, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond. I watched this on my projector last night. A great asset is the beautiful Ella Raines in color. The Trucolor in this Blu-ray is excellent.

 

[haineshisway]

By the time of this film, Trucolor was no longer a two-color process - it switched to three colors at the end of the 40s.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

The two-color SINGING GUNS began filming on October 17, 1949 and the first three-color Trucolor film - HONEYCHILE - went before the cameras on October 16, 1950.

 

[Interdimensional]

I've been meaning to check out one or other if not both of these titles to compare Trucolor to the Cinecolor process as represented by the two Randolph Scott films Kino released. It's a revelation how good these films can look, particularly when they can be sourced from digitally recombined separation elements. Some scenes work better than others, and while these are clearly inferior to 3-strip processes, on occasion the lighting and photography can be effective enough that one might be fooled, if only momentarily.

Kino are doing stellar work making these films available. Previous video masters often did a great disservice with early color features.

Great review, Josh. I'm looking forward to seeing this one!

Here's more information on the lost RR Trucolor titles: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/roy-rogers-in-trucolor

Another solid article; the section by Earl Blair makes for grim reading. It's a lucky thing those that did have survived, considering attitudes over the years and the amount of money involved.