The Three Stooges - Goofs on the Loose (Colorized / Black & White)

Rating:
Summary: COLORIZATION BEFORE RESTORATION?
Review: I guess that it can all start with the wonderful line "Oh what is our world coming to?"...or at least the entertainment world?...at a time of bad music, tasteless and pointless big budget hollywood films, and lame reality tv shows, you would think the entertainment industry would would at least spare one of the perfect creations of entertainment history...that is, "The Three Stooges"...it is just utterly amazing that while so many wonderful classic films still wait to make their debut onto dvd, here is Columbia/Tri-Star colorizing the Three Stooges!? When I first read about this in the newspaper dvd review I thought it was a joke...well, it isn't...however, the fact that a bunch of people got together and decided to waste a bunch of time and money colorizing the Stooges is not what has got me angry...what does have me quite frustrated is a bit of a story that starts back about 12 or 13 years ago when I was a young kid watching Stooges shorts constantly on WPWR-UPN 50 (a local channel here in Chicago that used to play Stooges shorts all the time). I'll never forget watching and I'll never forget the first time I saw my all time favorite Stooges short, 1934's "PUNCH DRUNKS"...an episode in which Curly is recruited by promoter Moe to be a fighter because of his ability to become violently crazy whenever he hears the tune "pop goes the weasel", played by violinist Larry...Anyway, for you Stooges fans, you all know that at the end of the championship fight, after knocking out the champion, Curly then goes on in his rampage to knock out the referee, the Champ's corner men as well as his own, and then a bunch of other people (including Moe & Larry)...this of course happens because Curly got knocked onto and broke Larry's violin early in the fight, at which point Larry ended up having to drive a truck into the stadium that played "pop goes the weasel" continuously...what Larry forgot to notice was that unlike his violin (which he could control), the tune kept playing out of the truck speaker on and on after the fight was over and Curly continued in his hilarious & goofy madness...Anyway, I saw this footage when I was a kid so I know it exists or at least existed up until 12 years ago, and it is in my opinion arguably some of the best Stooges footage ever...but the big question is...Where is this footage on the "NEWLY REMASTERED AND RESTORED DVD?"...it's not there...and let me tell you why I'm not a bit surprised either...The reason the footage is gone is because Columbia so carelessly omitted it from it's early 1990's VHS release titled "A Plumbing We Will Go" as well as it's 1998 VHS & DVD releases of "The Curly Classics"... and I guess that Columbia either figured that footage unimportant or just too hard to track down...so, in turn, they decided to try and thrill a possible new generation of young fans with a mediocre-at-best colorized version from the so called "remastered and restored original negatives:..where then is that original footage from "Punch Drunks" in which Curly goes crazy after knocking out the Champ and knocks out everyone else? If you think I'm joking here go and watch any recent Columbia release of Punch Drunks...you'll notice that right after Curly knocks out the champ the scene then cuts immediately to a shot of Curly standing in the corner with Moe, Larry, and a bunch of bodies strewn about the ring...it's such a blatantly obvious cut that you would have to be blind to not see it...by the way, this is not to be confused with the footage from the much later Stooges short titled "Grips, Grunts, & Groans" in which Curly plays a similar goofy character (a wrestler) who goes crazy whenever he smells a certain women's perfume (I think was called "jiyacinth") and knocks everyone out in the wrestling arena at the end with a bell...I guess what this all comes down to is whether the people at Columbia have ever heard the terms "some things are better left undone" and "if it's not broken, don't fix it"...at the same time I wonder if they understand that when something is broken, you do have to fix it...basically meaning, the Stooges do not need to be seen in color, but they do need to be seen in their entirety, without scenes missing! Something Columbia has really overlooked...Anyway, I guess I would have been satisfied before I bought this dvd if Columbia had put a label inside the dvd case saying something like this "HELLO FAITHFUL THREE STOOGES FAN. THANK YOU FOR BUYING THIS PRODUCT AND LETTING US STEAL YOUR MONEY FOR A BUNCH OF STOOGES SHORTS YOU HAVE ALREADY BOUGHT ON DVD. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THE MEASLEY 4 SHORTS WE HAVE PROVIDED YOU WITH ON THIS $24.00 DVD... WE COULD HAVE EASILY RESTORED AND PLACED ON THIS DISC SEVERAL OF THE DOZENS OF STOOGES SHORTS THAT HAVE YET TO APPEAR IN DVD FORMAT, BUT WE FIGURED WE'D GIVE YOU JUST THE BARE MINIMUM...AND WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM IN THE COLOR VERSIONS WE HAVE PROVIDED EVEN THOUGH YOU WONT EVEN BOTHER WATCHING THEM, OUR HOPE IS TO TRY TO APPEAL TO NEW GENERATIONS OF POSSIBLE FANS WHOSE ONE-TRACK MINDS JUST WONT UNDERSTAND THE COMEDY OF THE 3 STOOGES UNLESS IT IS IN COLOR...SORRY THAT WE WEREN'T THINKING OF YOU, THE TRUE STOOGES FAN...WE ALSO HOPE YOU DONT MIND THAT THE VERSION OF "PUNCH DRUNKS" ON OUR DVD IS NOT COMPLETE AND IS MISSING ONE OF THE FUNNIEST SCENES IN STOOGE HISTORY DUE TO THE FOOTAGE BEING LOST OR DESTROYED...WE WE FELT IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO SPEND OUR TIME AND MONEY "COLORIZING" THE STOOGES, RATHER THAN RESTORE LOST FOOTAGE, OR ADD MORE SHORTS OR SPECIAL FEATURES SO YOU COULD GET MORE ENJOYMENT OUT OF THIS PRODUCT YOU JUST PAYED SO MUCH FOR...HOPE YOU ENJOYED OUR POOR SERVICE...HAVE A NICE DAY"....Anyway, in closing, I will simply say that I think the Stooges themselves would darn near roll over in their graves to find that priority had been placed on "colorizing" them instead of finding lost & misplaced footage...I only hope that Columbia/Tri-Star gets this message and others too before some other film company goes and does something insane like de-colorizing STAR WARS to appeal to people who don't like color tv...As for my fellow Stooge fans...thank you for reading...if any of you know where I can obtain a "truly uncut" version of 1934's punch drunks I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know...God Bless!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, incredible technology !
Review: I just received and watched these colorized shorts and can only congratulate the people that were brave enough to go ahead and provide us with this wonderful option.The results are magnificent, outstanding, mind blowing. AND... including the original B&W versions in the same disc just way too smart...! If you hate color just click away from it.
Fantastic, I can imagine this technology applied by historians, by scholars, to bring us all the restored film stock and video tape stock that could not be shot in color at the time because of cost, whatever.
One happy film fanatic.


Rating:
Summary: Annoying Toggle Icon
Review: It is a great idea to be able to toggle from black and white to color, but it would be much more enjoyable to watch if there wasn't the camera icon on the upper center screen throughout the whole DVD. I have two DVD players and both of them show this annoying icon and there is no way to get rid of it. Great idea for a Three Stooges DVD but not enjoyable to watch at all with that spot on the screen. I have done a little research on the net and found out that it does this on several models of DVD players.

Rating:
Summary: Columbia Pictures are STILL Screwing The Three Stooges
Review: Stooge fans must NOT support this product! It would be downright stupid of the consumer to keep purchasing the same shorts over and over again. Men in Black we already got, and don't need another one on DVD. Colorized version would be ok with me if it were included as a bonus feature on one short. There are so many shorts we all would prefer purchasing that are yet to be availabe . . like Cash and Carry, and Three Little Twirps. Columbia Pictures screwed the Stooges out of alot of their deserved riches, and now Columbia Pictures are screwing us. DO NOT BUY ANY DVDS THAT CONTAIN LESS THAN 5 SHORTS AND HAVE RE-RELEASED TITLES.

Rating:
Summary: It's too early to bitch!
Review: The damn things aren't even out yet. maybe the colorization isn't too bad this time! Even if it is, each DVD has the entire B&W original on it.

Rating:
Summary: Fewer shorts for more money!
Review: The real problem with these new Stooges releases is that Columbia has used the excuse of the colorization to present only four shorts, some of which have been released on other DVDs previously. Furthermore these retail for 24.99 while most others containing more shorts retail for 19.99 so we are asked to pay more for less. I bought both of them used for under $10 each and suggest you look for them used if you must have them. I have already seen many used copies in stores, probably because there are many disappointed buyers. Advantages of buying used: you'll pay less and Columbia won't make any money off the sale. The sad fact is that if these sell well enough this is all we can expect in the future.

As for the colorization: it may be the best I've seen, which is still pretty awful. Very unrealistic hues, jarring color combinations, unpleasant pastels. If you know anything about film you'll know that if the filmmakers had made these in color they would not have looked anything like this. What is the point of researching what the actual color of a prop was on Ebay (see the self-congratulatory featurette)? The props and costumes were chosen for how they would photograph in black and white. They would have done better to just try and make everything look as natural as possible.

I can't help thinking the choice of the stooges for launching this new colorization line is an odd one. If there is any B&W material that seems almost immune to the objections of people who won't watch black and white it's the stooges. My five-year-old daughter loves the stooges in black and white and so do many people who refuse to watch B&W movies.

In summary because of the colorization we get less entertainment.

But if you find color more important than laughs, this disc is for you.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Format
Review: The three Stooges are so funny and the short films presented on these dvds from Columbia Tristar are classics. Each film is presented in a beautifully restored black & white or new, color version. I know a lot of people will be thinking "colorized - I remember that from the 80s and it didn't look very good". Well in all fairness, a lot of time has passed since then; and the result of the new colorization process is absolutely no comparison whatsoever with the 80s disaster. The result is remarkable by all standards. Technically, the process used here is far superior to anything that has come before it. Gone is the limited pallet and the ghostly halo effect that would occur when characters or objects move abruptly. Earlier colorized movies also looked slightly out of focus and detail was lost. Here the images are crisp and clear and it is easy to imagine it had been filmed in color. Above all the color looks completely natural and doesn't distract you from the movie.

So, only the question of whether this process should be used at all remains. And this is a question that everyone has to answer for him or herself. These dvds give you the choice of watching the original black and white or the new color version. The viewer can do this at any moment during playback by pressing the angle button on the dvd remote. So many reviewers of these dvds take a puritanical stance preaching that it is some sort of crime to create a color version of a black and white film and encourage people to not watch it. How dare you tell me what I can watch, as I have already stated it is an individual, personal choice not a legal requirement! Well done Columbia for releasing these great films in this new format, I hope they are just the first of many.





Rating:
Summary: Leave the stooges alone!!!
Review: The three stooges are supposed to be in black and white. It's kinda what makes them unique. Aside from joe and curly joe this is the worst thing that has happened to the stooges! There's also only 4 episodes on this disc! Don't buy this!

Rating:
Summary: Why All The Negative Reviews?
Review: This hasn't come out yet and people are starting to make all sorts of negative comments. Maybe the Colorization looks good. You'll never know until you actually buy it and watch it. Until then, refrain from the negative comments. Columbia is working very hard on these shorts in order to give the shorts good restoration and good color. Watch it before making any sort of negative comments. And, let me remind you. EACH DVD HAS THE BLACK AND WHITE ORIGINALS ON IT!! So, stop complaining. If you hate the colorized version, don't watch it. Watch the black and white version. That's why Columbia provided both. If it costs too much, well too bad. Don't buy it, simple as that.

Rating:
Summary: Best of both .........
Review: Whether in B&W or Color, these are the clearest copies of the shorts that i've ever seen. If "colorizing & restoring" allows Sony Pictures to sell more of this title and makes it feasable (and profitable) for them to release more from the Three Stooges catalog ... then i'm all for it. I would only hope they continue with the shorts that have not been released on DVD before. If colorizing these shorts keeps the Stooges on top, when most other classic comedians and comedy teams are all but forgotten, I say bring it on. And maybe if the Studios were praised once in a while instead of constantly criticised, we would get more of the classics they have locked away.