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Category | Comedy | None | |
Rating | |||
Year Released | 1936 - 1949 | ||
Running Time | 65:23 Minutes
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RSDL/Flipper | No/No |
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Start Up | Menu | ||
Region | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Director | |
Distributor |
MRA Entertainment |
Starring | Moe Howard
Larry Fine Curly Howard Shemp Howard |
Case | Super Jewel | ||
RPI | $39.95 | Music |
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Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame (NTSC) | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 384 Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.37:1 |
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Macrovision | Yes | Smoking | No |
Subtitles | None | Annoying Product Placement | No |
Action In or After Credits | No |
The transfer is presented Full Frame and is not 16x9 Enhanced.
The transfer is variably sharp, but various parts thereof are consistently indistinct and blurred. The shadow detail is non-existent, but this is acceptable since there is nothing in the material itself that requires any shadow detail. Low-level noise didn't appear to be a problem in the transfer, but the lack of resolution made it rather hard to tell, especially combined with the general graininess of the transfer.
The colour saturation was dull, even by monochrome standards, but it was consistent.
MPEG artefacts were not found in the transfer, which is one slight advantage of having a sixty-five minute disc. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of some major image wobble, particularly during the opening credits. The wobble and misalignment during the opening credits makes it impossible to read the smaller print, which made determining the date of these episodes a real challenge. Thankfully, there was no aliasing to compound the problem. Film artefacts were abundant, with all sorts of black and white marks, as well as lines and scratches on the print, being visible at all times. Surely a little effort to clean up the source material wasn't too much to ask?
There is only one soundtrack on this DVD: the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. The dialogue is easy to hear, but understanding it is another matter entirely, as much of the dialogue consists of shouting and screaming, which is not at all well-handled. The limited frequency and fidelity of the source material makes matters even worse, with what probably sounded like a mild shriek on set coming out like the screech of a chainsaw on this DVD. A large amount of low frequency hiss is present throughout the soundtrack, which also makes it quite difficult to listen to.
Audio sync is something of a problem for the most part, not because of the DVD, but because of the way in which the soundtrack was recorded, with sound effects seemingly half a second out of sync with the on-screen action a lot of the time.
The score music was pretty much unremarkable, and usually lost under the low frequency hiss when it was present. It was generally restricted to the credits, which made it somewhat more tolerable.
Being that this is a mono soundtrack, there was no activity from the surround channels at all. The subwoofer was also silent from start to finish.
The video quality is dreadful.
The audio quality is intolerable.
The extras are non-existent.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
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DVD | Toshiba SD-2109, using S-video output |
Display | Samsung CS-823AMF (80 cm), 16:9 mode/4:3 mode, using composite and S-video inputs |
Audio Decoder | Built In (Amplifier) |
Amplification | Sony STR-DE835 |
Speakers | Panasonic S-J1500D Front Speakers, Philips PH931SSS Rear Speakers, Philips FB206WC Centre Speaker, JBL Digital 10 Active Subwoofer |