Ancient
Aliens: Season 20
(2024/DVD Set)/Kickboxer
4K
(1989/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray Steelbook/both Lionsgate)/Las
Vegas Hillbillys
(1966/MVD/VCI Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: C/B/B- Sound: B- (DVD: C+)
Extras: D/C+/C+ Main Programs: C/C-/C+
Up
next are a mix of cult items, most commercially successful on some
level, including a few we revisit now...
Ancient
Aliens: Season 20
(2024) tries to be amazing with its speculative themes, but at this
point, the only amazing thing to this writer is that it is still on
the air! It has been over a decade since we covered the series at
all and to give you an idea of the show's content, here are links to
some of our previous coverage...
Seasons
1 - 6
on DVD with links to other DVD and Blu-ray sets.
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13150/Ancient+Aliens:+The+Complete+Seasons+One+thr
Season
9 DVD
set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14542/Ancient+Aliens:+Season+9+(2016/History+Channe
This
is more of the same, with the only improvement being the video
cameras have slightly more definition, which you can see even on this
soft, old low-def format, but it is popular enough (one of the only
such shows on any subject) still being issued on disc. Needless to
say, its for fans only.
There
are no extras.
Mark
DiSalle & David Worth's Kickboxer
4K
(1989) is a surprisingly good-looking 4K presentation for a B-movie
that does not get better with age, but helped put Jean-Claude Van
Damme on the map and remains popular on home video, et al. Not a big
fan of the film by any means, here is what I said about the older
Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8773/Kickboxer+(1989/Lionsgate+Blu-ray
Except
for the fact that Van Damme can move and fight, there are nothing but
cliches and better cinematography than you've ever seen of this film
in 4K to bother with here, but he continues to be successful,
especially outside of the U.S. and that's the only reaosn anyone is
still seriously watching this. Too much of it is pedestrian,
condescending and flat. Van Damme has made better films. Maybe only
a few, but better films. Needless to say this if for fans only and
probably while supplies last. The packaging is better than the film.
Extras
include a Digital Copy and an admittedly amusing slipcover with an
amusing lenticular cover of the lead in action,
while the discs add the International Version of the Feature Film
(with no improvement in overall quality)
Arthur
C. Pierce's Las
Vegas Hillbillys
(1966) is part of the 'hickploitaiton' cycle that was a massive
success on TV with The
Beverly Hillbillies
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) along with its spin-offs (other
Filmways TV productions) and other feature films. Sometimes these
would be sleazy film and even with racy material, but many were
comedies like this one. This is a curio because it beings Jayne
Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren together, two of the largest sex
symbols of their time and of course, chest-wise. Then they are
joined by country/western singer Ferlin Husky (and not 'Huskey' as it
is printed at the top of the box art,) who sings some songs, but this
is no musical or very barely a backstage one.
Husky
has some big credits himself, landing two crossover hits on the
Billboard Hot 100 with ''Gone''
in 1957 and ''Wings
Of A Dove''
in 1960, both spending an amazing ten weeks on that magazine's
Country Singles chart, so he's more of a heavyweight than many might
know and not just some B-level singer or unknown. Thus, the rural
credibility is set when his character inherits a gambling casino and
gets the gal pair to help him run it. Too bad it looks cheaper on
the inside than the lit up sing on the outside.
The
opening scene has him driving and singing, with the car a cross
between the Monkeemobile, the Clampett jalopy from Beverly
Hillbillies
and a car spared from a smash-up derby for now. Eventually, they
intend to book all kinds of music talent to make the place a success,
but the 'comedy' comes first, we guess. A mixed film and surely a
curio, an odd one for sure, supporting appearances from Bill
Anderson, Sonny James, Del Reeves, Connie Smith, Roy Drusky and Wilma
Burgess may include some of the best footage of some of them ever
shot. For the curious, but worth a look if so, while Mansfield and
Van Doren would hardly ever work together again thanks to the
former's infamous death.
Extras
only include an Original Theatrical Trailer for Hillbillys
In a Haunted House
(but NOT this film; that is the sequel!) a Photo Gallery and a
Feature Length Audio Commentary by Robert Kelly.
Now
for playback performance. As noted above, the 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85
X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High
Definition image on Kickboxer
4K
looks far better than I expected, with impressive color and at times,
some solid depth of field. The original theatrical mono sound is
here again in the lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 form the older Blu-ray,
but it only goes so far and film film really shows its age here. The
picture is king here and it will never look better, unless you have
some kind of deluxe 35mm or 16mm mint color print with no fading.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on
Las
Vegas Hillbillys
is a nice improvement in color in particular from the old VCI DVD
from a good while ago, making this more fun and watchable, even if
you are not or turn out not to like the film. Yes, there is some
age-related damage, but it is impressive for its age and budget just
the same. The PCM 2.0 Mono is also an improvement over the old,
lossy Dolby Digital Mono on the old DVD, restored as well as
possible, this is likely the best this film will ever sound.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image in Ancient
Aliens
is on the soft side and annoyingly so at times, though viewers expect
a hodge podge of images by now akin to 'found footage' of some kind,
so this is the style to some extent, while the lossy Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo is better if not great and is just clear enough to hear it
all, believable or not.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
