56 replies to this topic

[TheSaint]

Doublenought gave me the heads up on this upcoming box set, featuring all 4 Dean Martin as Matt Helm films in a box set due for release on December 6th. I've bounced around the 'net looking for info on whether there will be any bells & whistles. No word on that yet but, I did find out that it was originally slated for an August release. I also hope that Sony uses the correct Silencers print. The initial release used a tv print, so some scenes were missing.

[doublenoughtspy]

Unfortunately the cover arts sucks, to put it bluntly.

[TheSaint]

The ironic thing about the head shot of Dino they used for the cover is not from any of the Helm films.

[Napoleon Solo]

Just curious -- what scenes are missing from The Silencers DVD already out?

[TheSaint]

Not sure-I hadn't picked it up when another Dean Martin as Matt Helm fan told me he had watched it and realized it was a tv print. He didn't go into specifics.

[Napoleon Solo]

I have The Silencers on both VHS and DVD. The tape, I think, may be a TV print. The DVD seems to be uncut. The latter has a plug for Murderers' Row after the end titles while the VHS release did not.

[Mona Lovesit]

Any more details on this set, please?

I will most likely get it, with or without the extras.

[trs007]

Can anyone verify if ALL the movies are in widescreen. Seems to me, the way I am viewing the different sites, is that THE SILENCERS will be widescreen and the other three will be pull fram (pan n' scan). Anyone?

[TheSaint]

No idea on the specifications yet but, I did order it from Deepdiscountdvd.com. $24 for the set. I'll post all details when I get it.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I recieved this yesterday, and it's a really basic package.

No extra features (except the inclusion of Matt Helm trailers), but all 4 movies are in anamorphic with a nice clean print. There are 4 discs (1 movie per disc) with 2 to a slimline DVD case. The 2 cases in a box package is no thicker than a 2-disc special edition of any of the latest movies around today like Batman Begins, etc.

For a 2005 package though, I just wonder why they are showing a trailer for Charlies Angels: Full Throttle.

However, even without all extras I have not seen these moviers in a very long time so I'm still going to enjoy watching them.

[TheSaint]

I figured it would be bare bones. Well, if this set sells well, or if Paramount picks up the option Dreamworks had on the Helm films, maybe then Sony will dive into the Columbia archives for some bonus material & re-release the set. We should all live that long.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I'll scream if they now come out with a special edition boxed set.

[TheSaint]

It wouldn't bother me, so long as a re-release delivered the goods! One can always pass on the previous set to a fellow fan.

[Blofeld's Cat]

True, I guess. I'd also get it just for the extras.

This is the back cover of the box...
 Loungeback.jpg   422.36KB   119 downloads

And the two DVD covers...
 Silencers_Murdersrow.jpg   739.79KB   107 downloads
 Ambushers_WreckingCrew.jpg   768.84KB   95 downloads

[Napoleon Solo]

I ended buying this boxed set. The films are definitely uncut. Each has a plug in the end titles for the following film (with The Wrecking Crew having a plug for the never-made "The Ravagers"). These plugs are usually edited out of TV prints.

There also are some scenes I've never seen in any television print, particularly in The Wrecking Crew. That's not to say they're necessarily great, but it's interesting to find something that's new to you.

Here's how they list the plugs for upcoming films:

End title of The Silencers:

Coming up next
--------------
Matt Helm Meets Lovey Kravesit in
----------------------------------
Murderers' Row
---------------------------------
(this doesn't really make sense because the two clearly have met in the movie you've just seen



End title of Murderers' Row:

Coming up next
-----------------------
Dean Martin as Matt Helm in
-----------------------------
The Ambushers


End title of The Ambushers

Next in View...
----------------------
The Necking Crew
------------------
The "N" of Necking Crew is crossed out and we then see...
----------------------
The Wrecking Crew


(for some reason this plug usually gets through


End title of The Wrecking Crew:

Coming up Next

The Ravagers

[TheSaint]

Just got this. Hard to believe someone actually got paid to design the sleeve & box art. The Silencers print was excellent, though. Looking forward to seeing the other prints. God, I forget how hot Daliah Lavi looked in this film.

[TheSaint]

Murderers' Row looked very good, as well. That Ironhead guy is almost a Jaws precursor, especially with the magnet bit. There's a trailer for The Ambushers on this disc.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I like Stella Stevens' Gail Hendrix character from The Silencers. She's not only gorgeous but extremely funny. In many ways, her character is a precursor to Britt Ekland's Goodnight.

[Napoleon Solo]

I like Stella Stevens' Gail Hendrix character from The Silencers. She's not only gorgeous but extremely funny. In many ways, her character is a precursor to Britt Ekland's Goodnight.

I think Irving Allen & Co. essentially made Sharon Tate's Freya Carlsson character in The Wrecking Crew into a new version of Stella Stevens. Both have red hair (interesting since Stella Stevens was known primarily as a blonde) and are bumbling.

[TheSaint]

Her name is Hendricks in the book. I wonder why the spelling change?

[trs007]

Anyone buy this set yet and can confirm that all movies in the set are widescreen??? I had read earlier some would be fullframe. Anyone?

[TheSaint]

They are all widescreen.

[Blofeld's Cat]

As a matter of interest, why would three of them be listed as "NOT RATED"?

[TheSaint]

Maybe because they weren't? Not every film was rated.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Maybe because they weren't? Not every film was rated.

The only one rated (PG) is The Wrecking Crew, so I'm just curious as to why only that particular movie. The others don't seem any more or less PG than it.

[Napoleon Solo]

Maybe because they weren't? Not every film was rated.

The only one rated (PG) is The Wrecking Crew, so I'm just curious as to why only that particular movie. The others don't seem any more or less PG than it.

There wasn't a ratings system prior to The Wrecking Crew. I think the ratings system began in 1968. The first three films are simply unrated because there were no ratings.

[TheSaint]

Watched "The Ambushers" Friday. Great print, and they included a trailer for "Murderers' Row" on it. There's also a trailer for Charlie's Angels 2 on this & the Murderers' Row dvd. Sony sure does have a hard on for a film that failed at the box office.

[TheSaint]

Watched the final Dino Matt Helm film, "The Wrecking Crew", this past Friday. Another great print, and this one includes the same trailers for "Murderers' Row", "The Ambushers",
and, of course, "Charlie's Angels 2". No trailers for "The Silencers" or "Wrecking Crew". Pathetic.

This was the first time I ever saw the graphic for "Coming Up Next...The Ravagers".

[HENRY]

Sorry to disparage, but the Matt Helm Lounge DVD set that was recently issued is not genuinely in widescreen.

Although it is nice to have all the movies available on DVD in one low cost package, they are substandard. The prints are O.K., but nothing special. The Ambushers seems to be worst off with faded colors. All of the movies are grainier than they should be. But the biggest problem is that they are the 4:3 aspect prints with black bands superimposed on the top and bottom of the screen to make it appear widescreen. Once again, sorry, but it's true.

TheSaint:I merged this thread into my Matt Helm Lounge thread as it covers similar ground.

Edited by TheSaint, 25 January 2006 - 06:51 AM.

[Napoleon Solo]

Watched the final Dino Matt Helm film, "The Wrecking Crew", this past Friday. Another great print, and this one includes the same trailers for "Murderers' Row", "The Ambushers",
and, of course, "Charlie's Angels 2". No trailers for "The Silencers" or "Wrecking Crew". Pathetic.

This was the first time I ever saw the graphic for "Coming Up Next...The Ravagers".

I saw it once when the movie was shown on a local televison station. The Helm movies shared one thing with the Bond films -- the plugs for upcoming titles got edited out when they had their showings on network television (The Silencers and Murderers' Row on ABC, The Ambushers and The Wrecking Crew on CBS).

Once when A&E's Biography did a show on Dean Martin, they showed a clip of the trailer from The Silencers. Dino is on the circular bed with the various female extras (strippers from the title sequence, women at the Slaygirl Club, etc.). He says something about he had planned on playing Hamlet but decided to do The Silencers instead. Or some such.