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The gangster classic, starring the legendary Robert
Stack, has long been revered as a television classic, and
it isn't hard to see why, with its intriguing plotlines
and characters. The latest DVD release of the series brings
together the first half of season two. ***
The four-disc set features all of the episodes from
the first half of the show's second season. Episodes included
are as follows: The Rusty Heller Story, Jack “Legs” Diamond,
Nicky, The Waxy Gordon Story, The Mark of Cain, A Seat on
the Fence, The Purple Gang, Kiss of the Death Girl, The
Larry Fay Story, The Otto Frick Story, The Tommy Karpeles
Story, The Big Train (two-parter), The Masterpiece, The
Organization, and the Jamaica Ginger story. ***
Where The Untouchables shines is in its characters and
plotlines. Robert Stack (Airplane!, Unsolved Mysteries)
is in fine form in this series, definitely putting on one
of his finest performances. Supporting cast members and
guest stars fare equally well, and contribute to the show's
overall greatness. The plots of the series were some of
the most gripping and entertaining of their day, and while
the show does show its age on more than a few occasions,
it's certainly still entertaining, and fun to watch. ***
My major complaint with this set is one I've had with
a plethora of Paramount's recent DVD releases - they've
opted to release HALF SEASON SETS instead of full-season
ones. When you consider that these sets (on average) retail
for about $40 each, that means that by the time all of the
seasons are out, if you buy each one, you'll have spent
over $300! Why can't Paramount take the hint and release
TV shows in complete season formats? ---
Image And Sound:
The show does show its age here, but Paramount did
make a good effort to make the black and white presentation
look as clear and clean as possible. It's not fantastic
picture quality, but I'm glad to see that some work went
into cleaning up the visuals. Audio is good, dialogue (which
is what most of the audio here is) is audible and easy to
understand.
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