Dick Tracy: RKO Pictures Collection (1945 - 1947/VCI set*)/Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K (2024/Warner Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Scooby Doo! And The: Witch's Ghost (1999) + Alien Invaders (2000/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza (1966/Radiance/*both MVD)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/X/B/B- Sound: B-/B+/B-/B- Extras: B/B-/C/C+ Main Programs: C+/C+/C/C+

PLEASE NOTE: The Scooby Doo! Blu-ray double feature is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

Dick Tracy: RKO Pictures Collection (1945 - 1947) includes all four films the studio made of the classic police comic strip detective including Dick Tracy - Detective (1945), Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946), Dick Tracy's Dilemma and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (aka Vs. The Gruesome Gang, both 1947). Not as kinetic as the previous serial Republic did in 1937 (reviewed elsewhere on this site, hope we get a Blu-ray of that soon) and have twice reviewed these films on DVD, starting with the Roan Group DVD set:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4315/Dick+Tracy+Collection+Box+Set+(Roan+Group+wit

...and VCI's reissue because fans like these films so much:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8003/Dick+Tracy+-+RKO+Classic+Collection+(VCI+DVD

To say the improvements in picture and sound impress is a little bit of an understatement, especially since we liked the image quality on the DVDs as much as we could for the format. However, this replaces them, no matter their previous flaws or good qualities with nice Video Black, detail, depth and are much more enjoyable as a result.

Not bad, the first film sets things up well, Cueball has its moments, Dilemma is about as good, then Boris Karloff shows up for what would be the final film as Gruesome and they quit while they were on top as the last two films got finished around the same time. Karloff's presence alone on the set is enough for his fans to want to get it, but those curious and those who like Tracy will be very happy with what has been done here.

Extras include a nicely illustrated booklet on the film including informative text, illustrations and a solid essay by Stephen Jacobs, while the discs add the previous on-camera introductions by Tracy veteran Max Allan Collins, audio commentary tracks on all four films, including one on all four by Collins that even offers more on the history of the comic strip itself, but plenty on the films, plus second ones on each film including Detective (Jason Ney,) Cueball (Bernard M. Prokop) and Toby Roan on the rest. We also get a new RKO Lobby Card and Photo Gallery with posters and promo stills from the films, all making this the most deluxe home video release of any Dick Tracy films to date.

George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K (2024) is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road from nine years ago already, which we reviewed in a 3D/2D/DVD set here:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13732/Broken+Horses+(2014/Sony+DVD)/The+Hunger

And in 4K with the previous, original trilogy of Mel Gibson films here:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16022/Eye+Of+The+Devil+(1966)/Mad+Love+(1935/both

Like Solo: A Star Wars Story, the makers hope to expand the story of the character that was so popular in the last film, but for the latter part of it, they wanted to still have Charlize Theron and use digital de-aging technology to make her look younger. As this posts, 99% of the attempts to do this have been awful (Scorsese' The Irishman the sole, semi-success, if that) and they passed on Theron to her (and many others) disappointment. Instead, Anya Taylor-Joy takes over for the latter bulk of the film and Alyla Browne as Furiosa in the early part of the story.

Essentially, we see the young lady still happy before the apocalypse, how things go bad and she lands up eventually (spoilers, unless you saw Fury Road) getting kidnapped and all the madness that follows. More drama than any entry since Thunderdome, it still has plenty of action and Chris Hemsworth shows up as a new character that he is decent as, but it is very, very easy to get lost if you have not seen Fury Road before and unless you are a big fan, especially recently.

It reminded me of the much more belated sequel, Jack Nicholson's The Two Jakes (1990) 16 years after Polanski's Chinatown (1974) where it is very easy to get lost unless you saw the classic before it. Adding to this is its length, which is about two and a half hours, which is ambitious and shows the makers wanted to be as thorough as possible in telling the story. However, I liked Fury Road so much, it is still my favorite of the series and even I has to think about it and recall it more than expected.

The result is a solid film with some of the best filmmaking in the genre of the last few years, bad as they have been, but it can be too trying for most and that is why it was soft at the worldwide box office and any more films in the series are on hold despite plans for another.

I also have to add that the ending and end credits were awkward and did not help the situation either, but any fan of these films should still see it. I just recommend seeing Fury Road again just before viewing to get the most out of it and still, I missed Theron as good as the other gals are here.

Extras include Digital Movie Code, while the disc adds five Making Of featurettes: Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa, Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus, Furiosa: Stowaway to Nowhere and Metal Beasts & Holy Motor. The first one runs about an hour, followed by the rest at 20 minutes average, but watch them after the film.

Next up is another double feature of previously issued straight-to-video/animated telefilms featuring TV animation's favorite detective dog. Scooby Doo! And The Witch's Ghost (1999) and Scooby Doo! And The Alien Invaders (2000) are now on Blu-ray, to the surprise of fans, but they'll be happy enough as the quality is better than they'll ever see and hear it, plus its not just a basic set. We previously reviewed Alien Invaders on DVD as part of a different Scooby double feature here:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6626/Scooby+Doo+Double+Feature:+Alien+Invaders/Zo

So Witch's Ghost is more in line with how the show sends up horror films and TV shows all the time and might be a little more in the franchise's element, but it still is the usual formula. However, these still have some life in them versus the most resent such entities and are fine for kids or fans of the gang. We'll see what other older such titles get this upgraded treatment down the line.

Extras include Promotional Trailers and ''Making Of'' featurettes for both films, while Witch's Ghost gets an odd Music Video with a remake of the classic TV theme song.

And that leaves us with Tai Kato's Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza (1966) has the title character (Kinnosuke Nakamura) just trying to have a life of freedom in Japan, but loves gambling. When the latter goes wrong, the gangster organization he owes has him kill someone, but when he has to protect that man's wife and son. However, the organization wants them dead too, so he decides he has no choice but to take them all on and fight back.

By now, we've seen this in the genre, et al, but this is when it was a little more original and this is well made and more serious than many of its imitators. There is still an uneven sense of things to me, but it is worth a look for anyone interested and was more a key film in its time. Even without being told that, you can get a sense of that with the pace it has, though expect more than the usual amount of blood. Now you can see for yourself.

Extras include an excellent interview with film critic Koushi Ueno about the film's place in genre cinema history

• A visual essay on star Kinnosuke Nakamura by Japanese cinema expert Robin Gatto

• New and improved English subtitle translation

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow

• and a Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing by scholar Ivo Smits and a newly translated archival review.

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Furiosa is the best-performer here, though some of the other films here still look really good, an Ultra HD shoot that tries its best to match the previous films in the series and especially Fury Road. Sometimes this is not as good as others and along with some visual effects that are off in spots, I wished the film had tried variants of the post-Apocalyptic look that happened between the good, healthy days and Fury Road, but we really don't. The lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) is also well done, though nothing stood out for me, it is very consistent and of course, has the best sound off all the entries covered here.

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image transfers on the Tracy films can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the films, including the then-exceptional DVD sets, coming from the surviving 35mm negatives. Add the PCM 2.0 Mono making the films sound better than ever and than they likely ever will and it is an ace of a set. Warner owns most of the RKO catalog, but not these, so its nice they get the same high quality treatment you'd get from a similar RKO release of the time from Warner Archive.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on the Scooby films are a slight revelation for those used to the passive quality of these straight-to-video releases, looking better than anyone could have expected them to, especially after the credits with lower-definition digital credits over the better animation. That holds them back, then when they are finished, the programs really look good, even better than the Scooby Zombie Blu-ray set we just reviewed elsewhere on this site. They may not match the great color on the early shows, but this is much more like it. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes can be a little boxy or uneven, so only expect so much, but these too are as good as they will ever sound. Alien Invaders was painfully too soft on that older DVD.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 full color, digital High Definition image transfer on Tokijiro can show the age of the materials used, with the anamorphic lenses age and limits showing, being an older lens format (Toei Scope, probably Kowa lenses) not used hardly at all anymore. Color is consistent, if sometimes slightly muted, but has been restored the best it can be. Hard to tell if it was shot on Fuji, Kodak or another color stock. The Japanese PCM 2.0 Mono has also been resorted and is the best this film will ever sound.

To order the Scooby Doo! Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases at:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20

- Nicholas Sheffo