Route 66: Season 1, Vol. 2 (1960)

Route 66

Very good series from the early 60's for those who have wondered what was over the next hill or around the bend.The shows
were good at keeping your attention. June 18, 2008

THANKS FOR THE MEMORY

THESE WERE GREAT TO REVIEW ONCE AGAIN,BROUGHT TO MIND WHY I LIKED SO MUCH,MARTY AND GEORGE WERE SUPER TOGETHER AND THE STORIES WELL WRITTEN, WHERES"DID YOU EVER RIDE THE WAVES IN OKLAHOMA" June 18, 2008

Great Series, and the Cropping is Fine

I'm not sure I understand the controversy on the cropping. Basically, the series was filmed in 35mm, which is 3:2. The standard TV is 4:3. They tried to adapt the film to 16:9, or HD widescreen. The 3:2 is 16:10.6, so there's too much picture at 16:9. They are not stretching anything. They simple centered the vertical area in each scene. So, as they admit, sometimes heads are chopped. But, given the 35mm frame, it is not natural on a 4:3 either. The video is excellent, to me, and what they did was the proper thing to do with the quality film they had.

That aside, this is a great drama, real stories, good acting. There is a lot of range to the stories. The opener is about an emotionally spent crop duster. It's a little overdone, but interesting. There is a great episode about a fighter with Ed Asner and Darren McGavin. Many of the shows are basic, about faith, hope, and charity. The one about the school in New Mexico is almost astonishing.

It's a little bit of work to watch drama from this period, but it may outshine the present focus on large doses of sex, violence, and extreme mental disorder.

The endings in this show are kind of abrupt. The story is resolved and the two guys hop in the car. That's probably more honest, for a show about drifters. This was a serious road trip. The pair is always taking on other people's problems. They even joke about it, at times. But there is always some kind of emotional situation that has to be resolved, and they are stuck resolving it. In some cases these are very serious bits of drama, some truly bad people. But it's also a fairly hopeful world where there is a sense that getting involved is still reasonable.

So there is a lot to this show and I think people should accept the decision on the video sizing. It's not really the point May 31, 2008

Stupidity beyond understanding

Okay, I know that there are a lot of clueless individuals putting out DVDs nowadays, but this Volume 2 release boggles the mind. The first volume was nicely done. Obviously, this series is going to be purchased by fans and collectors. Why would anyone, even if they for some demented reason desired a cropped 16:9 image, want the first volume one way and the second volume the other? This is absolutely nutso, but what steams me is that you have no warning until you put the first disk into your dvd player, see the widescreen video, and say, "What the heck?!" And so:

1. You are stuck with something you don't want because you can't return an opened DVD.

2. You can't stand the thing, so what do you do with it?

3. Your season one collection of Route 66 includes only the first half of the season, and you don't know if they'll ever release the second half in full screen, so you have a ridiculously incomplete collection.

4. Now I hear that these people are releasing the entire first season in one set. Will it be full screen or butchered? And if it is full screen, now they're telling me that I have to buy both halves twice!

To quote Granny Clampett, "Pity-ful, just pity-ful!" March 20, 2008

route 66, a ride to oblivion

I was looking forward to buying the new volume of season I, but after reading the majority of reviews on its release, I am not too sure. The reviews basically said they were pleased with the better audio but are abhorred at the video. Changing the format to a cheap lackluster version of letterbox for digital screens. Ah, for your info. Digital is coming next year and some people will get a converter or their cable will change them over to the new presentation. This is as bad as T. Turner colorizing vintage films because his hatred of B/W films. Let's have as it was, gents. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't busted, don't fix it. March 13, 2008

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