Blu-ray Review Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Matt Hough

Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Review

The Reader’s Digest adaptations of two Mark Twain classics – Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn – may not match one another in quality, but both offer tuneful versions of the familiar stories that fans of the songwriters or the original author won’t want to miss.

[review]

 

[Steve...O]

Thanks, Matt! It's been decades since I've seen Tom Sawyer and your review and RAH's comments have left no doubt that I'll be picking this up.

Kudos to our own Bruce K (haineshisway) for being an integral part of this release. I'll be sure to listen to him and Brother Sherman on their commentary.

 

[Matt Hough]

Thanks, Matt! It's been decades since I've seen Tom Sawyer and your review and RAH's comments have left no doubt that I'll be picking this up.

Kudos to our own Bruce K (haineshisway) for being an integral part of this release. I'll be sure to listen to him and Brother Sherman on their commentary.

Bruce's commentary track is very informative and enjoyable. He and Richard Sherman have a great camaraderie.

 

[Radioman970]

Nice! 2 dvd upgrades in one! wishlisting!

 

[MatthewA]

Arthur P. Jacobs died during the production of Huckleberry Finn, so that affected the production.

It's nice to know Twilight Time did them justice, even going so far as to include isolated scores (though sadly they've claimed for years they can't find one for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). And it makes me all the more sad that the Shermans' Disney live-action musicals (Millionaire, Family Band, and Summer Magic) will likely only be bare-bones Disney Movie Club affairs when they reach Blu-ray.

Just out of curiosity, Matt, how do these compare to the Disney live-action adaptations from the 1990s? I remember in that case the Huck Finn film was the superior of the two.

 

[Matt Hough]

Just out of curiosity, Matt, how do these compare to the Disney live-action adaptations from the 1990s? I remember in that case the Huck Finn film was the superior of the two.

I don't believe I saw either one. If I did, I've completely forgotten them.

 

[Mark-P]

Nice! 2 dvd upgrades in one! wishlisting!

What? You actually bought the pan-and-scan DVDs, James? After owning the widescreen laserdiscs, there was no way I could buy the severely cropped DVDs.

 

[Radioman970]

What? You actually bought the pan-and-scan DVDs, James? After owning the widescreen laserdiscs, there was no way I could buy the severely cropped DVDs.

Even worst I thought it was a TV movie!!! At least I'll get this amazing upgrade for the first time.

 

[moviepas]

I still have those laserdiscs and should have these upgrades this week. Jackie Cooper was Tom Sawyer at Paramount in 1930 but never seen it. Of course Mickey Rooney did Huck 10 years later at MGM. I would certainly like to see the Technicolor Sawyer(1938) on Blu Ray(have the Laser). I had a friend, since passed, who told me it was his favourite and first color film back home as a youth in Lemberg/Ukraine in 1938/39. That's the one they switched the roles the two female child actresses were to play before the film was made.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I love the 1938 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I have it on videotape but would dearly love a Blu-ray upgrade.

 

[ahollis]

Same here. The 1938 Sawyer is my favorite version.

 

[moviepas]

I have just got this Bu Ray and I could not play it. Unusual and I have only a handful I have had trouble with in that format. My copy went tick tick for a few seconds, went to menu with no indicator against PLAY then another PLAY screen appeared above with the saying PLAY with overture. I reinserted and got the same and then I saw an indicator beside both PLAY screens. I clicked and I got the MGM Logo and then it went off and the logo flicked back again but went no further. I gave up and contacted SAE and I await their answer. State Fair played thru perfectly. Woody Allen Sex gave a short tick sound then did not go any further but it played in the Blu Recorder Drive in my computer. I then went on to a British Blu ray of Mrs Brown series and settled for that and all was well there and ran it thru. Any one have any problems like this? I do have countless Blu rays going back to the early days and only a couple of those never played but I have playable copies now of those early Fox birds.

 

[MatthewA]

Thank God the days of pan-and-scan only DVDs of widescreen musicals are OVER.

 

[haineshisway]

I have just got this Bu Ray and I could not play it. Unusual and I have only a handful I have had trouble with in that format. My copy went tick tick for a few seconds, went to menu with no indicator against PLAY then another PLAY screen appeared above with the saying PLAY with overture. I reinserted and got the same and then I saw an indicator beside both PLAY screens. I clicked and I got the MGM Logo and then it went off and the logo flicked back again but went no further. I gave up and contacted SAE and I await their answer. State Fair played thru perfectly. Woody Allen Sex gave a short tick sound then did not go any further but it played in the Blu Recorder Drive in my computer. I then went on to a British Blu ray of Mrs Brown series and settled for that and all was well there and ran it thru. Any one have any problems like this? I do have countless Blu rays going back to the early days and only a couple of those never played but I have playable copies now of those early Fox birds.

If they're working on your blu recorder drive, do you need a firmware upgrade for your player?

 

[B-ROLL]

I have just got this Bu Ray and I could not play it. Unusual and I have only a handful I have had trouble with in that format. My copy went tick tick for a few seconds, went to menu with no indicator against PLAY then another PLAY screen appeared above with the saying PLAY with overture. I reinserted and got the same and then I saw an indicator beside both PLAY screens. I clicked and I got the MGM Logo and then it went off and the logo flicked back again but went no further. I gave up and contacted SAE and I await their answer. State Fair played thru perfectly. Woody Allen Sex gave a short tick sound then did not go any further but it played in the Blu Recorder Drive in my computer. I then went on to a British Blu ray of Mrs Brown series and settled for that and all was well there and ran it thru. Any one have any problems like this? I do have countless Blu rays going back to the early days and only a couple of those never played but I have playable copies now of those early Fox birds.

To answer your initial question, I am not having problems with the disc in my Sony Disc player ...

It sounds like a firmware issue ...

 

[moviepas]

Thanks for the responses. Outside of also trouble with the w

 

[moviepas]

Try again!!! Thanks for the responses. Apart from the Woody Allen being troublesome as mentioned all the TT/SAE titles have played no trouble but I will take them to friend this week and play them there and see what happens. My machine is a few years old now and the supplier, one of Australia's richest on-line retailers now, does not do upgrades. On the older Panasonic Blu Ray Recorder I still have and not used for years I was unable to access the music only track but I had other sources to use.

I will report back when I find the problem.

 

[moviepas]

Re my discs. I went to a friend's home and he only has a Pioneer Blu Ray Record Drive in his computer, which I got for him a year or so ago. He has no shelf Blu Ray player. Anyway Tom Sawyer played in that drive OK so it is down to the shelf one I have and I need to see about a later model, regardless that all other SAE/TT Blus play. Never heard from SAE on the matter.

 

[PMF]

Just snagged this one - with less than 50 remaining - due only to the interests of hearing Bruce Kimmel's interview.
Well, ain't that a switch; as I deemed the bonus materials as being the main attraction, whilst the actual film(s) to merely a supplement. Hopefully, though, I'll warm up to this "Tom Sawyer" with a different perspective and appreciation than my memories of it as a teen. Either way, it's a win-win; and I look forward to hearing the rapport of The Sherman Brothers with our own haineshisway.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I just ordered it; I saw it in theaters in the early 70s (had no idea a Huckleberry Finn sequel existed until this disc was announced). I remember the Tom Sawyer movie being a Big Deal to us second graders. We all saw it.