Rating: Summary: I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE GRIPES ARE ABOUT Review: I've read reviews here, some positive, some negative, and after buying my own set of DVDs and viewing them I find they are Excellent Quality....sight and sound. The color is beautiful, the audio is great....so maybe its the quality of each individual's DVD player or the television set, etc. I agree that chapter selections should be included in the discs. That way people can select the scene they want, especially if they have to stop watching in the middle for some reason or another. I don't mind the 'series opening' not included in the beginning of every episode but I do mind not knowing who the guest stars are!! I have had to go to episode guides on the Little HOuse websites to find out that information, but, again, I can live with that. The series is heartwarming and only the truly cynical will scoff at this. They just don't make quality programs like this anymore. Little House, along with The Waltons and Touched By an Angel is television at its best. Most of the episodes are top rate and I give five stars to the series premiere "A Harvest of Friends", "Country Girls', "If I Should Wake Before I Die", "Town Party, Country Party", "School Mom", "The Raccoon", "The Voice of Tinker Jones", "The Award", "Family Quarrel", "Money Crop", "Survival" and "Founders Day". The only mediocre episodes I find are the ones that feature Mr. Edwards (Victor French). This is just a matter of personal taste, but I find the episodes that he appears in prominently, the weakest of the episodes. "To See the World" is the prime example. I give it only two stars. The Ingalls are barely featured as it is the story of a young boy named Johnny Johnson (featured in an earlier episode as Laura's first crush) who decides to leave his father and "see the world". Mr. Edwards naturally goes along with him to keep an eye on him. I know French and Landon were great friends but I find French's 'scruffiness' and 'over the top' acting a bit hard to take. This episode is probably the weakest of the bunch. But compared to today's television it is outstanding. I have now bought Season Two and will buy Seasons 3 and 4 in due time. I hope they release all the seasons because this is classic television with heartwarming stories, edifying and uplifting!! Enjoy!!
Rating: Summary: Episode Names Review: I really love watching the show on TV and I am so happy that they have them on DVD! Just for the people who wanted to know the names of the first episodes here they are (I'm just a little fanatic!)1. Harvest of Friends 2. Country Girls 3. The 100 mile walk 4. Mr. Edwards Homecomming 5. The love of Johnny Johnson 6. If i should wake before i die 7. Town Party - Country Party 8. The Lord is my Shepard (2 part episode) 9. Ma's Holiday 10. School Mom 11. The voice of Tinker Jones 12. The Raccoon 13. The Award 14. Christmas at Plum Creek 15. Doctors Lady 16. Family Quarrel 17. Circus Man 18. Plague 19. Child of Pai 20. Money Crop 21. Survival 22. To see the world 23. Founders Day I can't wait for the next DVD's (3-9)
Rating: Summary: Great series! Review: this is America how like it (along with "The Waltons"). I grew up with those two series when I was young and lived behind the Iron Curtain. I'd love to buy them on DVD in Germany soon.
Rating: Summary: I grew up with the Ingalls. Review: First, like many here, this is one of my top favorite shows. I feel like I've grown up with the Ingalls family and really care about them as characters in these stories. Many of these episodes give me a special feeling that can often bring tears to my eyes (Just hearing the music can do that). You'll have to buy the pilot episode separately but it's worth the money. The first 2 episodes (Harvest of Friends and Country Girls) are a magnificent start! The Ingalls settle in and we get to meet some of the most enduring characters to ever appear on TV. I was about to list my other favorites of the first season but the list is too long. :) Highlights are The Racoon, a 2-parter called The Lord Is My Shepard, Christmas At Plum Creek, Plague, Child In Pain, Money Crop, Survival and Founder's Day. I'm glad to have these in DVD form so that they will last forever. Now with that out of the way, I cannot in good conscience give this set a *****/***** like I'd like to. At first glance all looks great with this set...beautiful packaging (I wish they had included a set of cards with the pictures on the packaging). But after watching each episode I've discovered the problems mentioned from other buyers. The image and sound quality varies from episode to episode. Even ones with a sharp picture can have problems with jagged edges. Every time the outside of the schoolhouse/church is shown I cringe a little bit. It looks like it needs its horizonal hold adjusted. But this isn't fatal. Many look fine reguardless. And most others are acceptable while a few just look bad at first...but close up shots of the characters are always sharp. Many have what looks like a sheet of grain across them (I saw a similar effect in some of my Monty Python episodes so I figure its just the age of the program). I would've paid more money for a proper cleanup job on some of these episodes and anamorphic transfers for all. Little House is one of the best offerings in American television, ever. It deserves the best it can be. I think many problems are probably less noticable on a regular TV (I use a 19" monitor so problems show very well). One big grevance is the fact that the packaging says these are uncut. This is not true. Uncut means that we get each episode with the teaser at the beginning, the original opening credits, the episode and then previews for the next, then closing credits for that episode. Again, this program deserves to be presented in it's original complete form (which is what we all thought we were buying). The opening credits do not play at the beginning of each episode (at least on every player I've tried). By "uncut" I guess they mean that none of the program has been edited out to make room for commercials...so for that this company has done what they advertised. I did notice some odd time-compression signs. Not as bad as trying to watch The Waltons on TVLand. I wonder if it's just an error they made when processing these digitally. Anyway, it didn't distract from my enjoyment. I had no difficulty with the quiz. I tried it twice and it worked perfectly. Well designed questions. The cast bios were very incomplete. What's there isn't bad. If these are ever re-released in a better form I will ebay these and buy the newer versions. I'm crossing my fingers. But, still, kudos to this company for putting this series on DVD. Not bad, just should be better. I have seasons 2 & 3 to watch next and I can't wait! I gave this set ***/***** instead of **/***** because the price is right!
Rating: Summary: It was a great show but NOT the DVD Review: I can only assume people giving this DVD set a high rating are doing so for the emotional value they put on the Little House Show. The DVD set for Season One and Two are Horrible. 1) - Unlike what another has said the color is washed out terrible in some episodes. 2) - Video quality is average to poor. 3) - The sound track is OK to poor. 4) - Show openers are gone for a single common show opening clip. 5) - There are NO chapters. If you click next on your remote you end the episode. This is unheard of in DVD. 6) - There are NO extras... this is unheard of on DVD. If you own a bunch of VHS tapes with kiddy finger prints all over your 27 inch TV screen then you may be fine with this. But if you own a nice television and are familiar with DVD quality and standards then this set and Season two both lack. Things improve slightly in Season three where chapter points are added to the episodes & video and audio quality improves slightly. People really should tell the objective truth when rating a product. All too often folks get on here and just VOTE for their favorite show with no regard to the fact others are reading these ratings to see HOW the product stands up. Just because you loved the Ingles growing up doesn't mean the studio should get a pass on delivering a weak product. How will that force them to do better next time? If you truly LOVED Little House as we did then you should be OUTRAGED when it is presented so poorly.
Rating: Summary: What A Shame.... Review: I'm serious - I could have done a better job transferring VHS tapes to DVD on my home computer than this! These are hands down the WORST video and audio mastering jobs I've ever seen. The bitrate on these DVD's is horrible, the sound quality is horrible; the video is seriously on par with an average VHS tape. I don't know WHAT they did to the audio - but Charles sounds like Mickey Mouse half the time it's mixed so badly. The only way some of these reviewers could be remotely happy about these is if they are so emotionally attached to the show that they are blinded to the reality of how shoddily and quickly these were thrown together. The only thing that saves this is that the shows are so great. What a shame they were "re-mastered" by people who obviously don't give one ounce of care into what they're doing other than churning these out as quickly as possible.
Rating: Summary: In a Nutshell - Covers ALL DVDs in the Series Review: In a nutshell, the video and sound do leave much to be desired. Sometimes episodes contain inexcusably bad scene transitions and sound. The only things that save the DVD series are: 1. The show itself is so good. 2. If you don't get these DVDs, you don't get the series. So, buy the DVD expecting to enjoy the show but be prepared to groan at some horrible quality at times. During those times just remember it is this or nothing.
Rating: Summary: We love little house! Review: I think that the Little House episodes are wonderful! They're so much fun to watch and a million times better than all of that garbage on tv now. Everyone enjoys these! We watch the episodes all of the time and have yet to be tired of these. LHOTP has to be my favorite series of all times... and that goes for the other people in my family and my friends who have seven children. The 2 year old loves them, the 15 year old loves them, and so does EVERYONE in between. For those of you complaining about no extras, they've put them in, and there now is chapter selection. So buy the set! Because once you're done with the first season... you'll want to keep going! This DVD may not be the best, but i found NO problem with it... the SHOW is what's keeping me watching it. I love it!
Rating: Summary: Great series! Review: this is America how like it (along with "The Waltons"). I grew up with those two series when I was young and lived behind the Iron Curtain. I'd love to buy them on DVD in Germany soon.
Rating: Summary: If you want integrity, look to the Waltons, not Pa Ingalls Review: I'm not even going to bother to make comparisons to Laura Ingalls Wlider's classic fact-based "Little House" book series, which every child (and many adults) should read... Obviously, a TV series cant be expected to live up to that, and I wont hold it that standard. But Michael Landon's vehicle, starring/produced/usually written & directed by him, used to make me cringe, and it still does. One of the most manipulative programs in the history of the medium, "Little House" didn't start out QUITE as bad as it quickly became, but it was never as wholesome as reputation would have it..."twisted" is more like it. The early episodes showed Landon had some talent (he did some writing and directing in his later years on "Bonanza" where he proved to have skill) and the music score by David Rose and cinematography are lush by small screen stadards, but the relationships on the show are just bogus, the emotions overwrought and insincere... I've got nothing against tears, but in every scene? For a decade? I dont call warm and human storytelling "sappy" or "syrupy" instantly, but in the case of "Little House..." the adjectives just apply. And it gets even worse after the first year or two. For the uninitiated: be warned!!
|