Search - The Complete Uncensored Private Snafu on DVD

The makers of this DVD have deliberately ruined it.

grundle2600 | Pittsburgh, PA | 11/22/1999

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I'm going to keep this review very brief. The cartoons on this DVD are pretty good. However, these cartoons are covered up by a "Bosko Video" logo. In my opinion, this logo ruins the DVD."

A Good Idea Ruined By Several Bad Ones

M. Phillips | Asheville, NC | 10/19/1999

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This video is almost a complete waste of time. The cartoon selections are good, but that's about all that's good. The problems are numerous. Firstly, the opening and end titles are cut from every cartoon, a completely pointless thing to do. It would be one thing if they were trying to save space, but they could have fit several times as many cartoons on the DVD, titles and all. Secondly, they've "remixed" the soundtrack into AC3 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. This is just about the silliest thing I can imagine. Don't be fooled. The original cartoons, being from the 30s and 40s, exist ONLY in mono. There is no way of making a mono soundtrack into stereo. They have simply added NEW sound effects and mixed them into stereo "around" the original mono soundtrack. The sounds are intermittent and distracting and do not go well with the mono soundtrack at all. They would have been far better off with a simple uncompressed mono soundtrack with no embellishments. Thirdly, the menu system is extremely awkward and does not allow you to skip through the cartoons with the track buttons. The player simply returns to the main menu after each cartoon. Lastly, the quality leaves much to be desired on most of the films. On "Scrap Happy Daffy," the quality is so bad, it's barely watchable. I understand that the film might of simply been in bad shape, but a little digital restoration would have been far more welcome than the silly "surround" sound effects.Why couldn't they simply focus their efforts into a digital video and audio restoration on these old films and present them in their original unedited and uncensored state? Instead they've wasted their time with silly sound effects and cut up the cartoons as well.Basically, this video's a bomb! Don't waste your time, just wait for MGM to release their Golden Age of Looney Tunes series on DVD. Their LD versions were far better than anything offered here."

Interesting example of wartime propaganda.

grundle2600 | 10/24/1999

(1 out of 5 stars)

"From a historical viewpoint, these cartoons are important. During World War II, the U.S. military tried to use racial stereotyping to encourage U.S. soldiers to think that it was OK to kill the enemy.The cartoons also give advice to soldiers such as don't accidentally dislcose military secrets to a woman that you might be involved with.Mel Blanc does the voice of Private Snafu, but he's really just recylcling his Bugs Bunny voice.The fact that this DVD contains ALL of the Private Snafu cartoons on one disc is an example of why DVD is better than VHS. The VHS version of this release requires two tapes.I also like the fact that the cartoons are shown in their original black and white versions. Putting out colorized verions would have been a big mistake.Overall, this is a pretty good DVD... except for one MAJOR problem. The problem is that all of the cartoons are covered up by a "Bosko Viedo" logo. I don't understand why the logo appears while the cartoons are playing. Were it not for this logo, this DVD would be a valuable addition to one's DVD collection, and I would probably give it three or four stars. But with the logo, I consider this DVD to be worthless, and so I am giving it only one star. I wish that I could get my money back. But since I already opened it, I am not allowed to return it. What a shame."

This DVD re-creates the TV watching experience.

M. Phillips | 10/10/1999

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I suggest that you avoid buying the DVD "Complete Uncensored Private Snafu." During World War II, Warner Bros made a series of cartoons featuring a character called Private Snafu. The cartoons were created for the specific purpose of being viewed by members of the U.S. military. Recently, all of these cartoons were released on this DVD. The cartoons are fine. The problem, however, is that when the cartoons are playing, there is an on-screen "Bosko Video" logo that appears on top of the cartoons. It's really no different than the kinds of logos that appear on broadcast TV. Except that this isn't broadcast TV. It's a DVD. I find it very ironic that a DVD which includes the words "Complete" and "Uncensored" in its title is, in fact, because of this logo, UNcomplete, and it IS censored. Were it not for this on-screen logo covering up the cartoons, I would give this DVD 4 stars. But, because the logo ruins the cartoons, I am giving the DVD only 1 star.If anybody from the video company that produced this DVD is reading this and wants to send me an email explaining why the logo appears on the cartoons, please do so. My email address is real."