Wholesale and Distribution Movie Reviews

If you are a Bowery Boys - East Side Kids fan, you know these low budget dramadies are entertaining. Unfortunately, the DVD issued by Gotham Distributors/Alpha Video is almost unwatchable. A Washed out picture and distorted soundtrack take away from the enjoyment of this movie.
HOWEVER, if you can find the PLATINUM DISC CORPORATION DVD, you will enjoy a sharp clear picture with excellent contrast and a crisp clear soundtrack worthy of DVD.

Before there were the Bowery Boys, there were the East Side Kids, and if you thought the Bowery Boys was a low budget series, wait until you catch the East Side Kids. Compared with the production values in the East Side Kids Series, the later Bowery Boys semeed like MGM.

A note of difference: though both were released by the same studio, Monogram, the 22 pictures of the East Side Kids were independently produced by Sam Katzman and his Banner Films company. Once the popularity of the series was established, the Boys wanted more money and so Katzman gladly turned the series over to Monogram, who renemd it "The Bowery Boys.For the 60 or so films that would come out, each was a money maker for this "B" studio and helped finance some of their stabs at "A" billing and the respect it brings.)For students of film, Katzman has a defined niche in history as one of the giants of the exploitation movie. Consider the title of this movie, "Bowery Blitzkreig." One would assume that somewhere along the line Nazis and other bad guys of WWII would be added.

Nope, this is a film about Golden Gloves boxing as Muggs (Leo Gorcey) fights the crooked racketeers of the game while still finding time to donate blood to pal Danny (Bobby Jordan), shot while resisting crime. The performances are nothing new: Gorcey and company simply honed their roles from their previous stint as the Dead End Kids for Warner Bros., but they are entertaining.

The transfer is not the greatest, but we must keep in mind that prints of this movie were probably treated with benign neglect at the best. (I wonder how many of the 22 movies actually survived.) Even so, the movie is clear with only a few glitches and actually lacks the darkness that distinguished most of the series on television.

All in all, it's a little slice of nostalgia (How many of us remember whiling away our Saturday or Sunday afternoons watching these on a local channel?) at just the right price.

This Monogram Picture of The East Side Kids is much slower than the later Bowery Boys incarnation. The last 15 minutes of this 64 minute movie is devoted to World War II patriotism. Nothing wrong with patriotism, this film just makes war look honorable. The beginning of the film aims at Muggs getting Kidnapped, but the bulk of the story is about the relationships between the gang members of The East Side Kids. Leo Gorcey's humorous banter is there for us to enjoy, and Huntz Hall is a scene stiller!
The FRONT ROW DVD is mastered from an original 16mm print, the sound is crisp and clear and the picture is sharp with good contrast. However the original print used in the transfer has many splices, at least four times a word of conversation is lost in a splice. Considering the "Poverty Row" aspects of Monogram Pictures I can accept this and enjoy the clear picture. The dark night scenes show some artifacting, but they are few and far between. Usually the picture is sharp and clear.

The story centers around Muggs and Bobby Jordan.Bobby fills in for Muggs at a boxing match and that's where the trouble starts. The film is fast, funny, and very entertaining. Huntz Hall and the rest of the gang are there too. Look for the scene with the dancing contest. It is very good! Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall put on a good and hillarious dance act! This film is a winner!

As much as I am a fan of Gordon Mitchell and Italian B-movies, it took me four tries to make it all the way through this dull and poorly presented movie. The movie itself is extremely cheesy, complete with dubbing that is poorly synced and often is incongruous with what is happening on screen. At one point a male servant dies in a battle, and afterward there is a scene where the bad guys find his corpse and say, "we found the body of one of the queen's slave girls(!)". There's some good fight scenes, some mostly stupid looking miniature special effects, but not enough of either to relieve the intense boredom of the overall film.

The DVD presentation doesn't help things any either. I find it impossible to believe that this was the best print left in all existence. It is extremely grainy, washed-out, and just plain bad-looking. The image is windowboxed since the sides of the screen look to be damages from the film being exposed to some sort of chemical build-up on one side. On the whole, it looks like it was left out in the sun for an extended period of time, with the only colors left being mostly ugly faded blues and browns. On top of this, the sound is out of sync which makes the dubbing look even worse than usual. Almost every sound comes about .5 seconds after the event takes place visually.

If they weren't going to go through the trouble of restoring a film, why bother putting it on DVD in favor of some other better movie in better quality?

Retromedia's release of "The Giant of Metropolis" is everything and more! Not only do you get a widescreen(!!) version of the film, but a trailer collection of sword and sandal favorites (the AIP Goliath movies, and others), and a fun interview with Gordon Mitchell.

The print quality of the movie is fair to good. The colors seem to go from rich to faded on and off throughout the film. The audio does suffer from some crackle as well. This film was poorly dubbed to begin with, so towards the end you will notice the audio track out of sync with the picture for a few minutes. But you just aren't going to find a better copy of this classic anywhere else.

To sum up the plot, a lone strongman (Gordon Mitchell) goes to the mysterious city of Metropolis to warn them that their scientific experiments will lead to their doom if they don't get on the same page with everyone else in the world! Great sets, strange characters and a surrealistic feel that can only be found in early 60's European fantasy films is all here!

If you liked SWV's "Goliath and the Dragon" or Trimark's "Adventures of Hercules" 4-pack release, you will certainly enjoy this sword and sandal rarity!

Dona Speir looks tough and unpleasant, like she's been out in the hot sun way too many years, and of her co-stars only Cynthia Brimhall has any appeal and we don't see enough of her. The Sidaris formula is worn out.

lots of beautiful playmates in the buff, cheesy acting and things going boom makes for another great andy sidaris girls and guns comic book type film!m a must for genre lovers!

Only get this if you have a child thats 5. YHIS DVD STINKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!my 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what [in the world] hamtaro rocks! its suposed to b for kindergardeners(did i spell that rite?)[...]i love it! me and my friends haf the gameboy games they r really fun..... but anyway, hamtaro is this spunky,cute hamster, who trys to solve problems and helps his hamster pals and his owner! its so cute!!!!!!!!!!

but, i wouldnt buy the dvds. just tape the episodes on cartoon network!

do not purchase this DVD. There is nothing new on it, it was a waste of money especially if you have previous videos.

No one is hatin' if I saw the back cover I would not have ordered it. DUHHHH

stop hatin'! it says exactly what the dvd contains on the back cover.

i enjoyed the fact that they have put his music on dvd; nothin' but classics.

if you love Hez. and co., this is a must have!

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both star together in this scary horror film! What more can you ask for! Very nice print of "Horror Express" with minimal cropping at a budget price by Alpha Video. This was a great late night cable flick I watched with my brother when we were, well, a little younger! Don't miss it!!!

...Frankly, for a budget title I was going to be happy if the picture was in synch with the dialogue. I was pleasantly surprised by a crisp picture with solid colors and blacks and only the occasional errant scratch or mark on the print. The dialogue and music, although two channel mono, was well delivered including the haunting "whistle" theme. As the picture was only a modest widescreen production (1:66:1) to begin with very little was lost by the full frame presentation. This is probably why I enjoyed the film on TV so much over the years. This DVD, although lacking any extras, delivered a print far superior to anything I have ever seen on TV or Cable for that matter and at a truly budget price. So make some popcorn and enjoy the show. Best Wishes, CAL

Get the Blue Planet series if you are serious about wanting the full experience. You will see repetition between this and Blue Planet.
Good for general interest. Some spectacular shots. Not enough fish. The Great Barrier Reef is especially disapointing if you wanted lots of underwater life although what's there is beautiful.

Each DVD tries to tell a story when I'd rather concentrate on the wildlife. Consider this if you want a light treatment and have a big screen TV to watch it on.

Specific species covered well: blue whale, great white shark. Hawaii pictures are beautiful.

Get the Blue Planet series if you are serious about wanting the full experience. You will see repetition between this and Blue Planet.

Good for general interest. Some spectacular shots. Not enough fish. The Great Barrier Reef is especially disapointing if you wanted lots of underwater life although what's there is beautiful.

Each DVD tries to tell a story when I'd rather concentrate on the wildlife. Consider this if you want a light treatment and have a big screen TV to watch it on.

Specific species covered well: blue whale, great white shark. Hawaii pictures are beautiful.

Jack Bruce can't seem to get a break. Here is an exciting and gifted performer who thrives in a live environment. Yet every attempt to show this has been met with poor to mediocre results from the Cream Farewell concert to this session. This was a terrific band that easily flowed from jazz to rock and could keep up with Jack's own virtuosity. But the production values are awful, and the song selections, other than the Cream and early solo material, are uninspiring. And the sound is pretty close to disasterous. It's also frustrating that the camerawork focuses mostly on the guitar player when I wanted to see Bruce's phenomenal fretwork, as well. And one last complaint - it's awfully short. And NSU was cut to shreds, as the encore. Considering there's nothing else out that documents Jack as a solo performer on DVD, it's still a "must-have" for devoted fans. But it will not be a saitsfying experience.

Jack Bruce has always been an important performer in the history of rock. While recent years have not found him in the strongest of settings (3 tours of duty in the Ringo All-Starrs oldies troupe), his legacy of great musicianship, songwriting and singing remain. There have been very few videos of this long-time great bassist made available, and it's interesting to see this old show appear on DVD after all these years.

This DVD dates from approximately 1980 (given the band line-up and set-list). The "Friends" are all top-notch players, as you can see from the editorial. Billy Cobham's claim to fame was in the high-octane "Mahavishnu Orchestra" with John McLaughlin in the 70s, one of the hottest jazz-rock ensembles of all time. Clem Clempson was an ex-Humble Pie member, but also delivered some outstanding session performances in the 70s and 80s. David Sancious continues to deliver solid work to this day, most recently with Eric Clapton, and provides both great keyboard and guitar work.

Bruce is in fine shape, bass-wise and vocally, on this show. His abilities are still at peak form, and the fine mix of Cream favorites as well as solo material makes for a great show.

The reason for the low star rating is that this might be one of the worst sounding concert DVD's I've heard. The instrument balances go in and out, Bruce's bass is tinny, and sonically this is terribly flat and lifeless (especially disappointing for the hot performance). While this is for a TV show, there are numerous examples of better sounding concert videos from this period, as well as earlier. Obviously the producers of this DVD had little to work with, but seem to have made no effort to tweak this in any way. So be forewarned that this isn't going to thrill your speakers and your ears.

Despite the frustrating sound quality, this is a great document to experience the outstanding musicianship of this rock legend. Since so few examples of Jack Bruce on video exist, and from lesser venues, this remains a worthy purchase to see why he's so respected to this day.

Typical Luke video, terrible angles, bad lighting. I wasted my time for you!

This DVD is off tha Hook..Plain and Simple