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Best and worst places to buy serials
Topic Started: May 1 2014, 01:22 PM (2,904 Views)
CliffClaven
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I've been seeing "Cheezy Flicks" titles around. Any reports?
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The Batman
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I have a couple, no complaints, but the more diehards around here are not as forgiving of their output.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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moodyhound
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I have some Cheezy Flicks, I have done fine with them so far. I got my Monster and the Ape through them.
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LaneCarson
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In regards to Cheezy Flicks and whether their serial DVDs are of quality (or not), I am reposting an initial post to a thread which I began a few months back with the header: Jesse James Rides Again (1947)

"I’ve always retained a certain interest in the mastery efforts of others and thought I’d check out Cheezy Flicks rendition of this serial. I was well aware that they merely port VHS tapes onto DVD (a la AC Comics) but was nonetheless interested to see how well they were doing same.
I offer the following observations … I’ve always (across a decade) refrained from critiquing others’ mastery efforts and will again be observing same:
Disc One contains the first seven episodes mastered from an original (though obviously well viewed) VHS tape. In terms of its rendition: its in about the 480i to about 530i range (well short of the 1080p required of big screen TVs) - its been relensed (to remove tape lines which occur at the bottom if the screen) but does not appear to have undergone any digital restoration or enhancement.
The chapters on Disc One are complete and can be individually accessed … I mention this because things change on Disc Two.
On Disc Two there is no individual chapter access. Its just a continuous run of the remaining chapters of this 13 chapter serial. And it begins with Chapter Seven - yes, you get Chapter Seven twice: at the end of Disc One and again at the start of Disc Two. The chapters on Disc Two have been edited as well - there is no “Republic” Intro Card on any of the Disc Two episodes. Also that same Republic Card which closes out the last episode of the serial is also missing.
(I don’t know about you but I absolutely love that Republic Card - the music swells and (way back when) I always knew that I was in for an exciting, action-packed time …)
its missing on each of the Disc Two episodes.
Chapter 12 presents another issue - its 14:20 long instead of 13:17 - courtesy of a faulty (tape) original - at one point the source tape is actually rewound (fast-back) whilst the DVD is running. Yep, you get those familiar tape rewinding lines plus everybody moving backwards!
Just a few observations
Trev"

Perhaps the above comments will help with an assessment of the Cheezy Flicks output (albeit only with regard to Jesse James Rides Again)

Trev



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panzer the great & terrible
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I just watched the first chapter of G Men vs. the Back Dragon from Cheezy's Classic 1940's Action box set.

I hate to say this about the only DVD release of one of my favorite serials, but it's not good enough. Low contrast and muddy sound ruin it for me. I won't buy from them again.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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JazzGuyy
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LaneCarson
May 27 2014, 01:23 AM

Disc One contains the first seven episodes mastered from an original (though obviously well viewed) VHS tape. In terms of its rendition: its in about the 480i to about 530i range (well short of the 1080p required of big screen TVs) - its been relensed (to remove tape lines which occur at the bottom if the screen) but does not appear to have undergone any digital restoration or enhancement.




480 lines (for NTSC) is all that DVD is capable of. A well-mastered DVD can look quite good on a 1080p TV provided the TV or disc player does de-interlacing and upscaling well. Some of the Cheezy Flicks releases appear to be from LaserDisc originals.

NOTE: PAL DVDs can have up to 576 lines of native resolution and will often look better on a HDTV than NTSC discs but the trade-off can be picture flicker and the 4% speed-up, if the source is 24 frame per second film.
TANSTAAFL!
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The Batman
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LaneCarson
May 27 2014, 01:23 AM


On Disc Two there is no individual chapter access. Its just a continuous run of the remaining chapters of this 13 chapter serial. And it begins with Chapter Seven - yes, you get Chapter Seven twice: at the end of Disc One and again at the start of Disc Two.

The chapters on Disc Two have been edited as well - there is no “Republic” Intro Card on any of the Disc Two episodes. Also that same Republic Card which closes out the last episode of the serial is also missing.

Chapter 12 presents another issue - its 14:20 long instead of 13:17 - courtesy of a faulty (tape) original - at one point the source tape is actually rewound (fast-back) whilst the DVD is running. Yep, you get those familiar tape rewinding lines plus everybody moving backwards!



I have this release and don't recall any of these things. I'll have to pull it out and take another look.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Laughing Gravy
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Well, based on our recent discussion about western serials, I decided to stick my toe in the water, and I liked the first episode of Tex Granger, Midnight Rider o' the Plains well enough.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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williejg
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The last I heard, R. Orsack had stopped selling and closed his doors.

willie
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williejg
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Besides that, even if he was asking $30 per serial, we all paid that for the RHV releases in the 1990's, unless you were lucky enough to get in a preorder for new titles at around $25. I don't see what's so bad about that. We've all just been spoiled by bootleggers pricing and other companies like VCI and AC comics who frequently put their product on sale. And back in the old days R. Orsak's product was generally considered the best available. Of course, his product was VHS, and times have changed. The current best product is the DVD, if it's a new transfer from film and not just a dupe of an old VHS print.

willie
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Pa Stark
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Did anyone order Grood's release of THE SPIDER'S WEB? If so, could you PM me?
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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Sidekick
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The prices at Cheezy flicks website look very appealing. I may order some from them after I do a little bit of research on their quality.

Also, I just checked out the AC Comics website, but I couldn't find any mention of serials at all. Are they still selling them?
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The Batman
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I've had no issues with the quality of Cheezy Flicks' releases, but others have, so Caveat Emptor.





Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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williejg
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Hi Sidekick~ try Cultreto.com for the AC comics serials.

willie
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Sidekick
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Willie, thanks for the info. I had a look at cultretro.com and they have quite a large selection of serials, and a lot of them are ones that you don't see anywhere else.

My last order from amazon included Sky Raiders, and it was the first Alpha serial that I've got that is a DVD-R. All previous Alpha serials that I've ordered were true DVDs.

Does anyone know if AC Comics and Cheezy Flicks have true DVDs? Or are they also DVD-Rs?
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