Ben
10: The Complete Collection
(2006 - 2014/Cartoon Network/Warner DVD Set)/Lili
(1953/MGM*)/Wacky
Races: The Complete Series
(1968/Hanna Barbera/*both Warner Archive Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/B/B Sound: C+/C+/B- Extras: C+/C/B- Main Programs:
C+/B-/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Lili
and Wacky
Races
Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through their
Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Ben
10: The Complete Collection
(2006 - 2014) is not just a collection of one series, but all the
series in the franchise in a huge box set split by double
clam-shell-like cases. If you are a fan, you know the storylines,
but if not, we've covered several release son DVD of the show over
the last few decades and here are the links for more information:
Season
One
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5384/Ben+10+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+The+Co
Season
Three
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6675/Ben+10+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+The+Co
Race
Against Time
telefilm
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6912/Ben+10:+Race+Against+Time+(2008/Warner+DVD/Live
Alien
Force: Volume One
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7663/Ben+10+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+Alien+Fo
Alien
Force: Volume Three
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8383/Ben+10+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+Alien+Fo
Alien
Force: Volume Four
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9084/Ben+10+Alien+Force:+Vol+4+(Cartoon+Network/Warne
Alien
Force: Volume Five
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9277/Ben+10+Alien+Force:+Vol.+5+(Cartoon+Network/Warn
Omniverse:
Duel Of The Duplicates
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12752/Ben+10+Omniverse+-+Duel+Of+The+Duplicates+(201
Omniverse:
Galactic Monsters
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12979/Ben+10+Omniverse:+Galactic+Monsters+(2014/Cartoo
and
Ben 10
Versus The Universe
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15829/Ben+10+Versus+The+Universe+(2020*)/Steven+Unive
Well,
that covers much of it and the rest is for you to discover if you
become a huge fan of all the series. That people still talk about it
and buy it is an accomplishment in itself and mega-fans who already
own all the individual releases like those above will get this set,
but this is also for those who may have lost discs, or damaged discs
or a few who might find their discs are not playing as well as they
used to, typical of the DVD format all around. Hat's why doing such
sets is worth it.
Extras
repeat the previous DVD release and do not seem to delete any, like
some Warner DVD reissues recently have.
Charles
Walters' Lili
(1953) is a charming musical with Leslie Caron as the title orphan,
who lands up in a puppet act where the disgruntled puppeteer (who
secretly likes her,) talking to the puppets like they are not on
strings with someone behind them and she likes their resident
magician. An Oscar-winning hit in its time, it had broad family
appeal and could be said to influence more than a few TV shows and
other movies aimed at a child audience.
Caron
(Gigi,
Daddy
Long Legs,
An
American In Paris)
really is authentically charming here in one of her best and
best-known roles, backed by a solid budget, great cinematography,
fine production design, nice use of color, fine pace and supporting
cast that includes Mel Ferrer, Jean Pierre Aumont, Kurt Kasznar,
Amanda Blake and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Nicely done, its restoration and
rerelease is very welcome and that makes it another MGM classic
saved!
Extras
include the Original Theatrical
Trailer and three Technicolor MGM animated cartoon shorts in HD:
Impossible
Possum
(1954), Puppy
Tale
(1954), and Pecos
Pest
(1955).
Last
but not least, Wacky
Races: The Complete Series
(1968) was an ambitious gambit for Hanna Barbera do pull off at the
time. Before this series, team superhero shows (Frankenstein
Jr.,
Justice
League,
Teen
Titans,
Fantastic
Four)
were the shows that handled the most characters, but this one had a
few dozen characters and their vehicles racing for prizes, inspired
by a cycle of big Hollywood movies like The
Great Race
and Those
Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines,
as well as the international animated classic Speed
Racer.
Other
movies with cars (B-movie car race films, the Bond films,
Frankenheimer's Grand
Prix)
did not hurt the cause either, so do do this like this was a network
sports program was a smart move and the result was another hit for
the studio. It also launched two spinoffs for the Penelope Pitstop
and team of Dastardly & Mutley characters that were also hits.
Dastardly is the villain of the piece, trying to sabotage other's
fair chances of winning the race, only to have his schemes backfired
ala Wile E. Coyote. Each episode has two adventures and though they
are repetitive, they can also be very fun and amusing thanks to the
energy and impressive use of color and wit in the vehicles' creation
and some inspired moments. You can see why it has arrived on Blu-ray
in high definition. It deserves it!
Extras
repeat the extras form the old DVD set and include...
Rearview
Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races
featurette (20-minutes)
Spin-out
Spin-offs
featurette (10-minutes) showing the two hit spinoff from the show
a
Wacky
Facts Trivia Track
and
four decent audio commentary tracks featuring Iwao Takamoto, Earl
Kress and Jerry Eisenberg on the second Blu-ray disc.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition
image transfer on Lili
has been restored and very well with the film looking more like a
dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor version of the film than ever,
though sometimes color can be a little off or odd in small sections.
The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix sounds as good as
the film has pretty much ever sounded, though it does sound a little
more dated and limited than expected. Otherwise, a solid
presentation.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Wacky
Races
look OK in the repetitive opening credits, but when they are over,
the color really kicks in and looks great. Coming from 4K scans of
the the original camera negatives, proving once again the Hanna
Barbera archive is in better shape than expected, which is great news
for fans. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes sound good, slightly
boxy, but better than most of the 1960s shows we have heard form the
company's output to date and
The
1.33 X 1 image on the Ben
10
discs (plus anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Omniverse
episodes and Universe)
are the same transfers form all those previous releases, but look
fine for the format and what they are, yet some fans might want
Blu-ray upgrades, but is the show all HD? The lossy Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo is also as good as the older codec can deliver, but
sometimes, I wondered how much better these would sound in a lossless
format. Especially on the later 1.78 releases with lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 mixes.
To
order Lili
and/or the Wacky
Races
Warner Archive Blu-rays,
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
