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| From | "Chris Coyle" <ccoyle@sacoriver.net> |
| Subject | The Monkees Season One on DVD-review so far... |
| Date | Wed, 14 May 2003 12:47:25 -0400 |
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I have to say I'm more then happy with the work Rhino has put forth with this new box. First off..if you have yet to buy yourself a DVD player, what better reason to do it then now. Second..VHS is dead!! with this set, there's no other reason to own or want to ever look at the old VHS box except for a conversation piece and its booklet.
The package blows away any Monkees related release released thus far from Rhino. The DVD sleeves are housed in a record player box on the floating turntable . A booklet of liner notes of episode info is found underneath. It's a very clever looking piece and the enclosed 45 single sleeves ,housing the DVDs themselves, re-creating various picture sleeves from around the world in 1967 (Like "Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer") makes the package artwork perfect. The DVD themselves look like mini records, a nice nod to a vintage format I love so much!
I've test driven a few of the DVDs so far, mostly checking out the special features and tuning in to Mike's, Peter's and Rafelson's commentaries. Mike's commentaries beats them all out and he shows a side of himself many fans have disputed over and over again. He truly knows his stuff and loves this project. His little stories will keep you glued to his every word and wanting more. He's a pro at these commentaries. Peter's are much the same as you would expect. Funny how he disputes a few things you'll hear Mike say in his for "The Monkees On Tour" commentaries, like whether or not David Winters did the tour pre-production (as credited) Peter says no...Peter gets a kick out of the farm report and the stick in the hotel room. Good stuff!
I also found Bob Rafelson's to be very enlightening, and you start to remember what has made this show last and take a bow for the many of the original idea's that were made by all new comers to this type of medium. They had people like Rafelson (who directed his first piece of film w/ Monkee Vs Machine) and others going from commercials to working on a network TV show. This was, done on purpose along with getting co-actors who did their usual roles on the fringe of Hollywood. The young people taking over, doing it "outside" of the rules, so to speak. The other commentaries include director James Frawley, Bobby Hart, and Davy Jones.
The bonus Kellogg/Yardley Label commercials are nice, but I've got better quality of some of these clips in my own collection. Not sure why they didn't search around better then what they came up with. That Kellogg's commercial of Davy doing the flip flop w/ his cereal has been forever going around certainly in better quality then what is on the DVD. There are btw..at least 2 commercials that I never knew existed..nice! Where are the Kool Aid and Nerf Football commercials? Next box?
Now for the sound. This is where I only wished The Monkees were more important and worth the $$ for Rhino and Warner to want to give a little more in this department. They could've for one, taken more advantage of the various soundtracks and given the fans the alt syndicated soundtracks from the late 60's , when many of the original songs were replaced w/ the newer material off of the later albums like "Changes" and stuff like "Love To Love", "Apple, Peaces, Bananas and Pears", and "Steam Engine" which were not even released on record until the 80s. I remember these sound tracks the best, as they were the ones I knew in the late 70's and early 80s when I first saw the show. Then, how about some real 5.1 mixes, instead of these bogus electronic stereo simulated mixes given here. Even some stereo mixes, as an alternate choice would've been nice. Don't forget, a few alternate mixes creep up in these episodes, that have yet to find their way out on CD. Check out "Saturday's Child" in "Monkee Vs Machine" "This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day" in "Royal Flush" and "Take a Giant Step" in "The Chaperone".
The picture looks great and looking forward to Season Two, hopefully by Christmas.
Chris Coyle
http://www.coylepop.servemp3.com/
Original and cover pop! with sugar added....
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