<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Four classic Don Knotts comedies from the late 1960s
Review: Don Knotts is a national treasure, one of the most naturally gifted comic actors the world has ever seen. As big a Don Knotts fan as I have always been, and as many times as I have seen all of the old episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, I had actually never seen any of Knotts' classic comedies from the late 1960s. This Reluctant Hero Pack has helped alleviate this problem. Sure, I could have spent four times as much money and acquired each of these four films on individual DVDs, but frugality is one of the many small-town American virtues Don Knotts' characters usually embodied. These films have been compressed so that they will all fit on one double-sided DVD, but there is nothing wrong with the picture quality of this disk whatsoever. It's not like you're missing out on any special features on the individual offerings, either; unfortunately, there are also next to no special features on this Reluctant Hero pack - all you get are three of the four films' trailers. Still, what matters are the films themselves, and you're guaranteed to have over six and a half hours of unadulterated laughter with these four Don Knotts classics.
The four films included here are not necessarily Don Knotts' best four movies, but each of them is hilarious. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken puts Don Knotts inside a haunted house overnight. Remember how funny that haunted house episode of The Andy Griffith Show was? Well, this film is even funnier. It also features the lovely Joan Staley as the object of affection of Knotts' character. His character, by the way, is a truly reluctant hero, one whose heroics and honesty are put to an extreme test. Then you have The Reluctant Astronaut, which I consider to be the funniest of the four films included here. Knotts plays a grown man who goes off - very reluctantly - to become an astronaut - despite the fact that he is terrified of heights. Once he gets to Houston, he finds out his job is actually that of a janitor rather than a spaceman, and he is forced to live a lie because he is afraid to admit the truth to his proud father. Just when everything falls apart for him, though, he gets the chance to put everything right - if he can muster up the courage to answer the heroic call.
The Shakiest Gun in the West pits Knotts in the role of a newly graduated dentist who goes West to spread oral hygiene along the frontier. Along the way, he finds himself suddenly married to a mysterious redhead with all sorts of secrets. Despite his obvious weaknesses in the gun-fighting department (they call this film The Shakiest Gun in the West for a reason), he finds himself celebrated as a fierce Indian-killer and hero of the West. At the time, he doesn't realize how undeserving he is of the respect he garners, but he does get the chance to prove himself a true hero in the end.
The last of the four films included here, The Love God, is unlike any other Don Knotts film. This was a film way ahead of its time, as it addresses issues of sexual behavior and censorship head-on in an hysterically satirical manner. Knotts plays a timid publisher of a bird magazine who somehow ends up becoming famous as the country's premier playboy and smut peddler, the very standard bearer of the forces of the sexual revolution. This film has garnered a retroactive PG-13 rating, so it is not quite the true family film that the three other movies are, but there is nothing here that the most sheltered five-year-old hasn't already seen and heard in this day and age.
Why am I even trying to give a quick description of these films? This is, after all, Don Knotts we're talking about, so you know good and well these movies are basically guaranteed to be hilarious. Don't deny yourself - especially at this price - of the enjoyment of four classic films from one of America's funniest and most beloved comic actors.
Rating: 
Summary: strange...
Review: I don't really understand this one - it's 4 don knotts movies, all of which are available on their own discs, all stuck on one disc (2 on one side, 2 on the other). Why did they bother? The packaging is fair, but the compression is obvious. If you like these movies, just buy them on their own seperate discs.Strange.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Don Knotts value pack
Review: If you're willing to give up nicer packaging and picture discs on these four titles this "Franchise Collection" is an excellent choice. Two discs contain the four Don Knotts movies listed above on "flipper" style discs.Note though that although owned by Universal like the films in this collection it does not include the excellent "How To Frame a Figg" which will have to be purchused seperate in order to complete your Universal Don Knotts Collection as well as Warner Brothers excellent "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" release which is packed with some of the best and most kitschy special features I've ever seen on a disc.
Rating:
Summary: AAArgh!! Packaging!!
Review: If your buying this for the kids, the cardboard slipcase and paper insert may last twenty minutes and the single "flipper" disc is already doomed for failure.
Poor packaging Universal!
The price is great, but I would've gladly paid a few dollars more to see a plastic case and at least two discs.
No problems with the films, features or trailers themselves, although I would've switched "The Love God" with "How to Fram a Figg" just to keep everything on the same level.
I guess I don't understand Universals thinking and who they were trying to "target " with this!?! If you're buying this for yourself, skip this one and buy the individual dvd's...you deserve better.
Rating:
Summary: UNDERRATED COMIC GENIUS!!
Review: IN MY OPINION DON KNOTTS IS A COMIC GENIUS AND HIS HILARITY UNDERRATED.THE HERO PACK IS A STEAL AT AMAZON'S PRICE,BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE INCLUDED THE LOVE GOD IN THE MIX.HOW TO FRAME A FIGG OR THE INCREDIBLE MR LIMPET WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER SUITED.AS FOR THE MOVIES THEMSELVES,THE PICTURE IS CLEAR AND THE SOUND IS CRISP.I DON'T CARE FOR THE PACKAGING AND PREFER A SINGLE MOVIE PER DISC FOR BETTER COMPRESSION.YOU CAN BUY THE HERO PACK AT A FRACTION OF WHAT YOU WOULD SPEND FOR THE INDIVIDUAL MOVIES,BUT EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT.I HAVE SOME OF THE SAME TILES ON SINGLE DISC'S AND THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT UNIVERSAL HAS RE-RELEASED THESE MOVIES AGAIN AND NOT BOTHERED TO INCLUDE ANY COMMENTARY OR INTERVIEWS WITH DON KNOTTS WHILE HE IS STILL LIVING.A FEW WORDS FROM THIS COMIC LEGEND WOULD BE NICE.ALL IN ALL THESE MOVIES ARE PURE FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AND HOPEFULLY WILL INSPIRE A NEW LEGION OF DON KNOTTS FANS.
Rating:
Summary: Don't be reluctant about grabbing up the Don!
Review: This DVD is a true bargain compiling 4 of Don Knotts' most popular films onto one nicely priced disc! This DVD collects 4 of the 5 films that Knotts made in the 60s where he had the lead role (the exception being 1964's "The Incredible Mr. Limpet"). The DVD is a flip disc with two films on each side. Side A has "The Ghost & Mr. Chicken" and "The Reluctant Astronaut", while side B has "The Shakiest Gun in the West" and "The Love God?". Another great aspect is that these films are in chronological order of original release from 1966-1969. In other words, these 4 films were released back to back. For those that are fans of Knotts' films or the live action Disney films of the 60s & 70s, these will be a rare treat to own. Great fun, exceptable for the entire family (with the possible exception of "The Love God?" which contains some mild adult humor, obviously tame by today's standard, but still maybe inappropriate for some ages). Knotts plays almost the same character in every film and just as the title of the set implies, he is at first reluctant, then the hero. For those unfamiliar with the films, here are some very brief plots:
Side A
The Ghost & Mr. Chicken (1966) - Knotts is Luther Heggs, a local wanna be reporter who stays a night in the local haunted house on a dare. After Arthur witnesses some spooky happenings, no one believes him, including his boss George Beckett (Dick Sargent). It's up to Arthur to prove to the town that the old house has a ghost. Considered to be one of Knott's most successful films.
The Reluctant Astronaut (1967) - Knotts stars as Roy Fleming, employee at the local carnival where he dresses up as an astronaut. After his Dad sends his application to NASA, Roy is actually contacted, but to be a janitor! Luckily Major Fred Gifford (Leslie Nielsen with dark hair!) gives him a big chance to take a test flight into space. Classic stuff.
Side B
The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) - from the same director as Mr. Chicken, Knotts plays Dr. Jesse W. Heywood, a nervous dentist who you'd think would be the last guy to get involved with gun selling bad guys. Along the way he meets a beautiful sharpshooting outlaw, Penelope 'Bad Penny' Cushings (Barbara Rhodes). You might call this film a precursor to the Apple Dumpling Gang films where Knotts starred alongside Tim Conway.
The Love God? (1969) - definitely the most unique in the bunch because of it's subject matter. Knotts plays Abner Audubon Peacock, owner of Peacock Magazine for bird watchers. Abner himself is a bird watcher and is on the verge of losing his magazine when a second party offers to help him keep publishing it. While Abner is away collecting photos for his return issue, he arrives home to find his magazine is being used to publish pornography! For me this was the most enjoyable only because I had never seen it and watching Knotts within the context of the subject was hilarious. Again the humor is mostly for young adults and older here, the film was actually rerated PG-13 while all three other films are NR or G ratings.
I highly recommend the set to fans of the genre or style. For Don Knotts fans it's a no brainer. 4 great films on one low priced DVD. I can tell you all four films look and sound great. Also recommended with Don Knotts:
The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
Gus (1976)
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
Private Eyes (1981) - My personal favorite!
Rating:
Summary: Great bargain with minor snags
Review: This set is bargain-and-a-half for anyone who grew up watching these silly but charming comedies on Saturday afternoon TV. For a ridiculously low price, you get 4 films with astonishingly good quality picture and sound (sound is mono but the video transfers are bright, colorful and sharp as a tack). True, they are all on a single "flipper" disc, but for this price it's a small qualm at best. The only thing I would mention to parents buying these for their children (which I assume many of you are), is the 4th film in this set, "The Sex God", is a PG-13 rated sex comedy made in 1969, and as such is a strange inclusion in a set of movies more-or-less made for children. It's pretty tame by modern standards (and not terribly funny either), but all the same I doubt you'd want your 8-yr old watching it. Still, a killer bargain on films I wanted, but didn't want to spend 20$ apiece for. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great bargain with minor snags
Review: We have all enjoyed Don Knotts and his comedy over the years, whether it be as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, or his feature films. Universal provides a wonderful way to get most of his movies he made for Universal at a great price, The Reluctant Hero Pack. Four movies are included in this set. The first is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, where Knotts plays a bumbly typesetter who takes on a bet to spend the night in the town haunted house. Second is The Reluctant Astronaut where he plays a thirty-something man who still lives at home with his father who has great hopes for him as an astronaut. Knotts gets hired with NASA, but not as an astronaut! Third is The Shakiest Gun in the West where Knotts plays a dentist who wants to take his modern dentistry practice from the East to the West. When he arrives in the West, he meets a beautiful woman who dupes him into marrying her. Finally there is The Love God where Knotts plays a magazine owner of a bird-watch magazine who hires partners to save it financially but secretly want to turn it into a "gentlemen's" magazine. All of Knott's films are hilarious and worth owning for that moment when you want to have a good laugh. Especially since you never see any of these films on tv! All four movies are in anamorphic widescreen and presented in outstanding color, however there are no extras other than the trailers. When I purchased this set, I expected to have four dvd's in their own keep cases, but that is not how this is set up. This set is one box that slides into another cardboard case. There is only one disc with two movies on one side and two movies on the other, which accounts for much of the discount. The bad thing about double-sided discs are that you are constantly making sure no dust or prints appear on the side that is exposed (side-up) in the case when the disc is handled. The good thing about double-sided discs in this case, is that it takes up less room on your shelf and saves you time of changing discs one at a time. I should also mention that Knotts made a fifth and final film for Universal, entitled How to Frame a Figg. It is available for purchase on dvd, but is not included in this set. With all of this considered, I am pleased to have all four movies in widescreen and dvd crystal clear at a great price, and I think you will be too. Now we can put our vhs copies away and enjoy 21st Century technology!
<< 1 >>
|
