Search - Sheena-Queen of the Jungle on DVD

Very disappointing picture and sound

Joe G | Cold Spring, NY USA | 09/22/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"As a huge fan of the Sheena TV series, and as the owner of all the episodes on VHS, I can't tell tell you how disappointed I was when viewing the two discs in this set. I would rate the picture quality as "fair to poor". Most of the episodes look like an COPY of an EP-recorded VHS tape, with a very soft and sometimes blurry picture. The picture quality of my SP-recorded VHS tapes is considerably better than the quality of these DVD's.

The sound quality is also below par, somewhat muffled, as opposed to crisp and clear. Wow, what a MAJOR disappointment!

Hopefully the release of 15 of these episodes on three DVD's from Alpha Video on September 25 will do justice to the picture and the sound of these wonderful episodes. Until then, I would advise you against purchasing this version.

"

Fun In the Jungle

Paul R. Schulman | New York City | 06/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jungle adventure stories have been popular for a long time. Usually the domain of the male e.g. Tarzan, Ramah of the Jungle...even George of the Jungle, Sheena entered the scene in a 1938 comic strip.

A beautiful, even voluptuous blonde, she added another element to the jungle adventure that young kids were attracted to naturally but post-pubescent boy perhaps with a hidden agenda.

In the 1994 documentary "Crumb", R. Crumb revealed that the 1955-56 TV series "Sheena-Queen of the Jungle" was key to his sexual awakening. Irish McCalla was the star of that series.

Now 16 episodes on 2 discs and comprising about 5 1/2 hours are available for the first time on DVD starring Irish (who went on to become a noted artist).

Perhaps not the greatest acting or plot-lines, but certainly not the worst. These shows have an endearing quality - campy and fun.
"

VERY DODGY PRODUCT

P. Wickham | Sydney, Terra Australis | 02/08/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This collection is not a good introduction to 1950s Sheena on DVD. There are only a few episodes of Irish McCalla's Sheena circulating widely - Eyes of the Idol, Forbidden Cargo, Magic Bag, The Rival Queen, The Sacred River, and maybe a few others. As far as I know, nearly all of the rest are in the possession of Larry Urbanski from Moviecraft.

Synergy Entertainment have used a few of these widely-circulating copies for their collection, which means these are the only ones in the set where you get the full-screen versions. All of the others have been cropped to remove the small MC logo from the Moviecraft VHS versions. They have also really cranked up the contrast to create some attempt at "remastering" the often faint, sometimes gauzy, images of the only surviving copies. In other words, in the opening sequence the episode title fills the screen completely and in all of the scenes of these cropped episodes a quarter of the screen is missing from the bottom and the sides.

These episodes are sometimes slowly-paced, frequently lacking in action, and have very questionable production values. However, they are good campy fun and they do warm the hearts of us boomers who used to run home from school for our weekly dose of the blonde jungle queen. As adults, there is a wonderful nostalgic joy, and quite a bit of blood-quickening delight, to be had from feasting our eyes on the stunningly beautiful Irish McCalla in her micro-mini, leopard-skin tunic. I dont want my long-legged blonde goddess cut off at the knees, thank you very much.

I haven't yet received my copy of the new Alpha Video set, but I do know this company is prone to cropping their movies to remove cable video logos. Considering that Moviecraft own the only surviving copies of a lot of these episodes you don't need to be Einstein to figure out how this company managed to put together fifteen episodes on a three-volume set.

By the way, I created the popular "Sheena Queen of the Jungle" web site and have written detailed analyses of every one of the surviving episodes, as well as a detailed biography of Irish McCalla. I've watched these charming episodes many times as part of my research and I can never help falling in love with Irish all over again each time I watch an episode. She deserves better than this and I am reasonably confident that one day Larry Urbanski, who knew Irish well, will put us all out of our misery. I do know he recently acquired a short 1-minute television trailer for the Sheena series on 16 mm film, which would make a wonderful bonus feature on the definitive Irish McCalla Sheena Collectors edition.

We all await Larry's efforts with bated breath."