Green Hornet - Vol. 1

Rating:
Summary: The Green Hornet exists!!
Review: Despite what other reviewers may think, the original 26 episodes of The Green Hornet are still in syndication by 20th Century Fox Television. In recent years the series has run in the USA (on the ACTION Channel), Australia (Fx Channel) and in the UK (Bravo Channel).

Fox seem reluctant to release their old TV shows on DVD. Why?? Who knows??



Rating:
Summary: "Another Challenge for the DVD Fan"....
Review: First of all to set the record straight to correct a few common mistakes by reviewers here...This DVD is the first of 2 films originally released to theatres back in 1974 to cash in on BRUCE LEE's death in 1973, & the huge popularity of the film, "ENTER, THE DRAGON". FOX took 4+ episodes of their 1967 half-hour television series, THE GREEN HORNET, & chopped & spliced them together into a 90-minute mishmash, making fans think this was an all-new feature starring BRUCE. "THE GREEN HORNET", as titled, was released in some areas as part of a double bill with some AIP-style BlackSploitation vehicle in 1974(I was one who was dropped off on a saturday afternoon at a now long gone theatre at Beach 20th/Cornaga in Far Rockaway, NY, & sat through it almost twice while my mother was shopping for nearly 4 hours. I have no idea what the other film was except I remember an in-bed naked love scene, tons of cursing & shoot-ups, & being the only lone 10-year-old/kid in the theatre. Most likely it was something along the lines of BLACK CAESAR or SHAFT). About a year later, I saw all "5" PLANET OF THE APES films in this same theatre for a buck! What an amazing time to be a kid! I guess this first "Hornet" film did the job cashwise as the second film was released soon-after, titled: "FURY OF THE DRAGON", which sounds like an all-desperate last attempt title to "cover up" that this film is just more poorly-edited GREEN HORNET episodes, & not some newly discovered major unreleased feature of BRUCE LEE in all his glory like the newspaper ads made it seem.(FURY OF THE DRAGON is about to be released on DVD any day now here in the US,& has been on DVD for some time now in JAPAN & is also available in the UK). It would be great for the original "GH" series to be released on DVD(as well as the 1966 BATMAN TV series), yet it seems that TV shows that only lasted One Season(like the G.H.) & were not syndicated well, were considered flops & losers money-making-wise by the studios. If the show was never officially released on video & never syndicated on Cable or Network TV, these two DVD's of the 1974 films may be the only way we are going to see the 1967 GREEN HORNET for a long, long time. Hopefully not. FOX did such a great job of the 1966 BATMAN Feature film on DVD, that a BATMAN/GREEN HORNET DVD BOX would be amazing, & I am sure would sell very very well. This DVD, though, is very good. For a gooey gumbo of a cash-in, this film is presented here in excellant quality on the DVD, & includes a Widescreen matte(as theatrically released), which cuts the top & bottom off a bit, yet is interesting to see in this format. Being that I have about 10 grey market episodes of the Original series, to see it like this is a-plus, for the quality is far way-superior than any copies of the show available on the grey market. Actually, this is the closest & best way to see the 1967 GREEN HORNET for now. So I recommend this & the FURY DVD when released, to see a so-so representation, yet EXCELLANT audio/visual quality. Again, as someone else corrected here,...it is Producer WILLIAM DOZIER's voice who announces the opening narration..."ANOTHER CHALLENGE FOR THE GREEN HORNET"...Not Gary Owens. Also, it was Car Customizer DEAN JEFFREYS, not GEORGE BARRIS, who created & built the "BLACK BEAUTY" Car for the show. As someone else mentioned, it would be great to find episodes of other late 60's shows that BRUCE LEE appeared in, like LONGSTREET. Now that's a rare treat.

Rating:
Summary: Great tv series, terrible video/dvd release
Review: I have to echo the comment sof the last reviewer of this movie. First off, the editting of the bits and pieces of the episodes is terrible. The film jumps from one bit to the next with no apparent order. Secondly, the producer promote this product as being made from remastered prints. That's a laugh! The film looks like it was made to resemble an old Hong Kong martial arts film. The lighting was low and dark and the overall color had a yellosish quality. As for the audio, the editors tripped on this one to! There are scenes with Kato fighting where his yells and kicking sounds are conspicuously missing from the final edit. The Green Hornet is a great TV series! Once and for all, if the distributors of classic tv shows want to please the fans, release this and other great shows in the original broadcast format. Anything less is any insult to the fans!

Rating:
Summary: Great tv series, terrible video/dvd release
Review: I have to echo the comment sof the last reviewer of this movie. First off, the editting of the bits and pieces of the episodes is terrible. The film jumps from one bit to the next with no apparent order. Secondly, the producer promote this product as being made from remastered prints. That's a laugh! The film looks like it was made to resemble an old Hong Kong martial arts film. The lighting was low and dark and the overall color had a yellosish quality. As for the audio, the editors tripped on this one to! There are scenes with Kato fighting where his yells and kicking sounds are conspicuously missing from the final edit. The Green Hornet is a great TV series! Once and for all, if the distributors of classic tv shows want to please the fans, release this and other great shows in the original broadcast format. Anything less is any insult to the fans!

Rating:
Summary: Green Hornet Sting Of Excellence
Review: I loved it when I found this DVD. For many years I had watched the original campy Batman series and eagerly waited for the chance to see the cross-over Green Hornet episode. This DVD is what seems to be three or 4 episodes pasted together. Worthwhile to find, since so little can be found of the Green Hornet of DVD or VHS for that matter. A particular point of interest is the Black Beauty documentary. I think fans of all super hero/crime drama genre will enjoy this program.

Rating:
Summary: Green Hornet Sting Of Excellence
Review: I loved it when I found this DVD. For many years I had watched the original campy Batman series and eagerly waited for the chance to see the cross-over Green Hornet episode. This DVD is what seems to be three or 4 episodes pasted together. Worthwhile to find, since so little can be found of the Green Hornet of DVD or VHS for that matter. A particular point of interest is the Black Beauty documentary. I think fans of all super hero/crime drama genre will enjoy this program.

Rating:
Summary: THE BLACK BEAUTY......THE ULTIMATE BATTLE MACHINE
Review: RUMOUR HAS IT THIS FILM WAS NEVER RELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES UNTIL JUST RECENTLY.SINCE IT'S RELEASE IT SEEMS TO HAVE GONE OUT OF PRINT VERY QUICKLY AND COPIES ON DVD ARE HARD TO FIND.SO IT RAISES THE QUESTION,IF IT'S SO POPULAR WHY HASN'T ANYONE REVIEWED IT.WELL HERE IT IS THE 1974 CLASSIC THE GREEN HORNET,WITH VAN WILLIAMS AS THE GREEN HORNET AND BRUCE LEE AS KATO.JUST LIKE BATMAN AND ROBIN THIS CRIME FIGHTING DUO HAD NO SPECIAL POWERS.WHAT THEY DID HAVE WAS A LOT OF COOL GADGETS AND THE ULTIMATE BATTLE MACHINE THE BLACK BEAUTY,WHICH RIVALLED THE BATMOBILE.THIS FILM WAS RELEASED IN THEATERS AFTER BRUCE LEE'S UNTIMELY DEATH TO CAPITALIZE ON HIS FAME.THE MOVIE IS PRESENTED IN IT'S ORIGINAL THEATRICAL ASPECT RATIO OF 1:1.85 AND HAS BEEN RE-MASTERED FROM A NEW 35mm PRINT.THE PICTURE IS CLEAR AND THE SOUND IS GOOD ALTHOUGH IT'S ONLY DIGITAL DOLBY MONO WHICH IS A SHAME.THE CATCHY GREEN HORNET THEME SONG AND THE SPECTACULAR FIGHT SCENES SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN 5.1 DIGITAL TO BRING US THE BEST GREEN HORNET SOUND POSSIBLE.BRUCE LEE SHOWS OFF HIS HIGH KICKING AND FURIOUS FIGHTING ABILITY AND WHY HE WAS CHOSEN FOR KATO.THERE IS A BONUS FEATURE ON THE DESIGN AND RESTORATION OF THE BLACK BEAUTY AND A GREEN HORNET/BLACK BEAUTY PHOTO GALLERY.ALSO THERE IS A MENU GIVING QUICK ACCESS TO BRUCE LEE'S BEST FIGHT SCENES.IF YOU LIKED THE 1960'S BATMAN MOVIE YOUR SURE TO ENJOY THE GREEN HORNET.

Rating:
Summary: I Would Prefer More Episodes But This Is Good, Too!
Review: So much of my childhood that later influenced me as an adult-- Lost In Space, Batman, Land of the Lost, Land of the Giants, the Time Tunnel, The Six Million Dollar Man & Bionic Woman-- are the shows that I would love to see again on DVD or even video, but many of those shows has been lost or destroyed, or for some silly contractual reasons, may not ever be seen again.

While I am a little disappointed with the the 1974 compilation movie of the Green Hornet, I am very glad that at least some of that great television show has survived and is on DVD to bring me a blast from the past. I guess they do try to make up for the poor quality of the movie (as most compilation movies usually are), the creators of the DVD at allow us to choose which fight scene we would like to see as well as give us a detailed look at the Black Beauty and it's history.

I can only dream of the day when there'll be a DVD with more episodes of the Green Hornet on a DVD with the original titles and the opening and closing credits, but until that day comes, I'm glad to have at least this much to watch.

Rating:
Summary: The biggest scam to Bruce Lee fans since "Game Of Death"
Review: The fact that this is episodes of the TV series edited into a "movie" is insulting, but not the worst part. The fact that the cover blurbs make it sound like Bruce Lee made a series of "Green Hornet" movies, and never mentions the TV series, is also insulting, but again, not the worst part. The worst part is that they added black bars to the top and bottom of the screen in a lame attempt to make us think that it's in widescreen format. Did they think we wouldn't notice every time somebody's head disappeared off the top of the picture? Additionally, the editing looks like it was done with an axe. The only thing worse than a scam is a poorly-executed scam. Avoid this.

Rating:
Summary: 34 Years in the waiting...
Review: The year was 1966, September 9th 7:30 p.m.to be exact, and my brother and I and two other childhood friends are gathered around the TV for the very first episode of The Green Hornet ("The Silent Gun" 9/9/66). We were we all big Batman fans so this show by the same producer, William Dozier didn't let us down. Although it lacked the campy kitsch of Batman, The Green Hornet had a car equally fitted with gadgets and weapons i.e. two way TV communication, telephone, etc. all built by the same builder or the Batmobile (George Barris). While Batman had Robin the Green Hornet had Kato played by the late martial arts expert, Bruce Lee. The similarity ends there though as The Green Hornet featured much more realistic plots and story lines and is based on the popular radio dramas "The Green Hornet" created by George W. Trendle The full cast: Britt Reid/The Green Hornet-Van Williams, Kato: Bruce Lee,Lenore "Casey" Case: Wende Wagner,Mike Axford: Lloyd Gough, District Attorney F.P. Scanlon: Walter Brooke, Executive Producer: William Dozier,Music: Billy May,Theme: Rimsky-Korsakov's The Flight of the Bumble Bee,Theme Played by: Al Hirt, Music Conducted by: Lionel Newman,Director of Photography: Jack A. Marta,Art Directors: Jack Martin Smith,Gibson Holley, Film Editor: Noel Scott,Makeup Supervision: Ben Nye. 34 years after the first broadcasts and countless marginally adequate video release, come the first DVD issue of this classic Television show. Having recently viewed a few of the early episodes, it is amazing to see how well it holds up when held up to similar shows of that era. Die-Hard fans will thoroughly enjoy this and first time viewers will thrill to the similarities and dis-similarities of Batman. In the words of Gary Owens: "Another challenge for the Green Hornet, his aid Kato, and their rolling arsenal the Black Beauty. On Police records a wanted criminal, Green Hornet is really Britt Reid, owner- publisher of the Daily Sentinel, his duel identity known only to his secretary and the district attorney. And now, to protect the rights and lives of decent citizens, rides THE GREEN HORNET."