ALPHA VS. VCI!!!!!
Added 5/19/2009
This serial itself deserves 5 stars, but the Alpha DVD deserves none. Besides the print quality, Alpha has marked the DVD with their logo during the credits. Unfortunately, while VCI has a great looking print, they have also added their logo to the film many times. Logo's do not belong on DVD's that the consumer is paying money for. I've noticed Alpha has their logo on DVD's put out in 2005-2006. I don't know if they still do this. 2004 and earlier DVD's have not had the logo. Regardless, I no longer purchase any Alpha DVD because of the logo issue.
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RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY-BUCK JONES
Added 2/22/2008
I now own "Riders Of Death Valley"-from the VCI version.It's great however what I don't like about VCI..as in the past..They show their "LOGO"on the screen every 5-mins.I hate it when I purchase a movie they haven't the right to do this.All dvd movies..I own Don't show any "LOGOS"during the movies.I guess VCI is bragging about.."RIDERS"! It's not a bad serial..but every time..the bad guys are chasing the good guys thru out the serial.And the good guys are not every out number.But to watch BUCK JONES is worth the money.He is funny,witty & great.Along with Pancho.So I might go ahead and buy this version.In the past..VCI never shown "LOGOS"So why now?
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Ridin' and Ridin' and Ridin'--For Fifteen Weeks
Added 5/24/2006
I managed to finish the Alpha release of RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY. It nearly finished me! If you have to have it, the VCI release is probably the better choice for sound and picture quality.
The 1941 serial, a Universal product, is alternately goofy and tedious, with no resemblance to a taut chapterplay like FLASH GORDON, released only five years earlier by the studio. Way too long at fifteen chapters, it nonetheless makes an effort to tell a story with recognizable characters--that is, characters with actual personalities, rare in the world of serials. Most of the actors, some of them well above average, seem to be enjoying themselves and the quirky script. Light humor is the order of the day among the Riders (good-guy vigilantes who are out to protect miners' interests against corrupt businessmen and their hired guns), with Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Leo Carillo playing a sagebrush version of the Bickersons, while Buck Jones throws in one wisecrack after another (often aimed at Carillo's fractured English). As Pancho, Leo Carillo plays a somewhat feistier version of the Pancho he would play alongside Duncan Renaldo in TV's THE CISCO KID. Watching that series as a child, I had no idea that Carillo had already used the line "Let's went!" seven thousand four hundred and sixty-seven times before--and all in this serial.
Among the heavies, Charles Bickford's Wolfe Reade stands out. A worthy villain--he even scares his own men. Bickford had appeared with Garbo in ANNA CHRISTIE a decade earlier and looks annoyed at having to gallop around in the tumbleweeds with Lon Chaney, Jr.
The town to which everyone repairs now and then is called Panamint, which sounds like something you might put on your toothbrush. Every establishing shot of the town shows the same horses clopping down the street and the same old timer sitting in the same spot, puffing on his pipe. Outside of town, the Riders really do seem to be in Death Valley (or on the moon). They ride up and down the most inhospitable-looking crags and outcroppings of rock imaginable; the horses have incredibly solid footing, as if they know that a stumble here would send them immediately to the glue factory. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief whenever they turned a corner and suddenly found themselves among the scrub and familiar boulders of Iverson Ranch, where it was finally safe for a cowboy to be shot from his horse.
This was the "million-dollar serial." They must have spent it on bullets.
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"The King of B-Westerns & Serials...VCI Entertainment ~ Riders of Death Valley (1941)"
Added 1/26/2006
VCI Entertainment and Universal Pictures present "Riders of Death Valley" (1941) (digitally remastered), 15 Chapters of vintage serial loaded with thrilling drama and high adventure sequences featuring heroes and villains Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Buck Jones, Charles Bickford, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Lon Chaney Jr, Noah Beery Jr. Glenn Strange and Roy Barcroft..there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there... It has more of everything with lots of action, hard riding chases and plenty of shootouts...Universal Pictures publicity department reportedly budgeted one million dollars for "Riders of Death Valley", this was an unheard dollar amount for any B-Western.
The "Riders" are a group of stout hearted men protecting local miners from the bad guys of the territory...Jim Benton and Tombstone head up the riders...at the other end of the story we have a pack of wolves lead by Wolf Reade, Kirby and Davis who control the town and want more, meaning gold and total power...Benton has part ownership in the "Lost Aztec Mine" along with Mary Morgan...can Benton fight off Wolf Reade and the other hyenas....each episode gets closer to the answer, watch this and relive those thrilling yesteryears of the Saturday Matinee.
Under director's Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor with screenplay by Sherman Lowe, George H Plympton and Basil Dickey...the cast include Dick Foran (Jim Benton), Leo Carrillo (Pancho Lopez), Buck Jones (Tombstone), Charles Bickford (Wolf Reade), Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (Borax Bill), Lon Chaney Jr (Butch - Henchman), Noah Beery Jr (Smokey), Jean Brooks (Mary Morgan), James Blaine (Joseph Kirby), Monte Blue (Rance Davis), Glenn Strange (Tex, sidekick toBenton), Roy Barcroft (Dirk - Henchman), Jack Rockwell (Trigger - Henchman)...a character veteran actor Edmund Cobb is cast as a good mine foreman who can't seem to keep Chaney locked up
B-Westerns fans all love and know Leo Carillo who virtually played the same character, better known as Pancho every week in the "Cisco Kid" television series...Dick Foran went on to costar in John Ford westerns...Glenn Strange played the "Frankinestein" monster in various horror films and then became Sam the bartender in the weekly "Gunsmoke" television series....Lon Chaney Jr also went the horror film trail as "The Wolf Man" aka Lyle Talbott...Buck Jones had been around westerns since 1918 would be cast in the "Rough Rider" series just prior to his tragic death in 1942, he was a legend and pioneer in the early B-Westerns...almost a class reunion of B-Western alumni...can't make a good Western without those veterans...don't miss one single episode that will keep you thrilled until the next chapter the following week.
CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc One) (1)
1. Death Marks the Trail
2. The Menacing Herd
3. The Plunge of Peril
4. Flaming Fury
5. The Avalanche of Doom
6. Blood and Gold
7. Death Rides the Storm
SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc One)
VCI's Photo Gallery::
1. The Lone Ranger "Heigh Yo, Silver" (Serial)
2. Roar of the Iron Horse (Jock O'Mahoney)
3. Fight with Kit Carson (Johnny Mack Brown)
4. Gordon of Ghost City (Buck Jones)
5. The Phantom Empire (Gene Autry)
6. Raiders of Ghost City (Dennis Moore)
7. Riders of Death Valley (stills)
8. The Miracle Rider (Tom Mix)
9. Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley)
10.Mystery Mountain (Ken Maynard)
VCI SERIAL TRAILERS: (Disc One)
1. Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran & Buck Jones)
2. Winners of the West (Dick Foran)
3. Raiders of Ghost City (Dennis Moore & Joe Sawyer)
BIOS: (Disc One)
1. Dick Foran
2. Buck Jones
3. Leo Carrillo
4. Noah Beery Jr
5. Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
6. Ford Beebe (Director)
7. Ray Taylor (Director)
CHAPTER TITLES (Disc Two) (2)
8. Descending Doom
9. Death Holds the Reins
10.Devouring Flames
11.The Fatal Blast
12.Thundering Doom
13.Bridge of Disaster
14.A Fight to the Death
15.The Harvest of Hate
VCI CliffHanger Promo: (Disc Two)
1. ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Bobby Jordan)
2. BUCK ROGERS (Buster Crabbe)
3. DICK TRACY & G Men (Ralph Byrd)
4. FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (Buster Crabbe)
5. JUNGLE GIRL (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
6. JUNGLE JIM (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)
7. MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN
8. THE MIRACLE RIDER (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)
9. THE PHANTOM (Tom Tyler)
10.SECRET AGENT X-9 (Lloyd Bridges)
11.ZANE GREYS 'KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED" (Allan Rocky Lane)
12.ZORRO'S CLIFFHANGER COLLECTION (John Carroll/Reed Hadley/George J. Lewis/Linda Stirling)
Own them now on DVD....if you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...if you enjoyed this serial check out the thrilling release from VCI Entertainment and Universal Pictures present "Winners of the West" (1940) (digitally remastered), 13 Chapters featuring heroes and villains Dick Foran, James Craig, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft and Charles Stevens....large scale Indian attacks and constant raids by badmen trying to steal locomotives from the railroad...loaded with non-stop action and boasts a cast of thousands...as always life threatening chapters with overturned wagons and railroad explosions.
And for the readers we have the complete account of "Roy Barcroft:King of the Badmen", which is the title of Bobby J. Copeland's book on the life and times of "Republic Pictures Number One Villain" both books published by Empire Publishing and available on Amazon.
Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...just the way we like 'em!
Total Time: 287 mins on 2 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8435 ~ (8/30/2005)
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Great Serial..Great Cast.
Added 1/6/2006
Can`t praise this enough. Great Serial with all the thrills and spills you expect. Wagons over cliffs, Thundering herds ect.And what a cast. Dick Foran who i can never get enough of. A DVD release of his movies are long overdue.The last appearance of the legendary Buck Jones although doubled by Rod Cameron and in some scenes it shows. Leo Carillo as Pancho ten years before he was Cisco`s side kick with wonderful lines like "Lets went" and "I theenk i hear footprints". Two Jr`s Noah Beery and Lon Chaney. Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as the wonderfully named Borax Bill. Charles Bickford as Wolf Reade one of the land grabbers and Glenn Strange in a rare clean shaven good guy role. Familiar cast of villians including Monte Blue who i will always remember as Unga Khan in Undersea Kingdom.
Universals first million-dollar production although visibly quite a lot of stock footage is used but thats not a problem everyone did that Gene Autry included. I had already seen a friends copy on video which was very faded and bad quality so naturally i was reluctant to buy it. After reading other reviews about the DVD transfer and quality i bought it and was glad i did. We are possibly seeing it now in better condition than it was seen all those years ago at the Saturday Matinees.
A fast thrilling ride from start to finish.
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