Search - M Squad - The Complete Series starring Lee Marvin - 15 DVD Box Set, Plus Bonus CD - The Music From M Squad on DVD

The Picture Quality's Been Murdered Too

Jim Harwood | 12/01/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"It's great that this series is out in a full 117 episode box set, but whoever is responsible for the video transfers obviously didn't know what they were doing. 16mm syndication prints were the source elements for the transfers and if they were professionally done they would look far better than they do here. It appears that someone ran these off on a home system of sorts as there is no control over contrast levels at all. Sometimes the episodes have completely blown out contrast and are murky in the extreme, other times there is no contrast at all, with everything appearing a milky gray color. The prints are dirty, with hairs often getting in the gate and the sound quality is like mud on some episodes. This show was originally shot on 35mm film and if a proper transfer had been done, it could have looked glorious. As-is, some episodes look like they came off of bad kinescopes, which isn't the case. Even using 16mm prints should have yielded much better results than this. I certainly hope the original elements survive on this show and hopefully someone will one day give this show a proper presentation. Until then, we're stuck with this mess. Yes, I'm glad to have the DVD collection, but it's obvious that every expense was spared in the making of it."

Great show but less than great picture quality

Yankee Mike | Brooklyn,NY | 11/29/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I started watching this series and as far as the stories go the series lives up to its billing. The problem is the picture quality. I've watched the first few episodes and spot checked some of the later ones. While the picture quality is passable its not much better than public domain copies of shows like Dragnet. Do not expect to see anywhere near the picture quality of shows on DVD like "The Untouchables". I realize that some of the episodes were donated by fans because they could not be found but the quality of the other episodes is not much better. Buy this set because of the stories and Lee Marvin. Just wish the picture quality had been better."

M Squad...Thank GOD!

J. Goodman | San Francisco, CA | 12/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, the quality of the episodes varies from not so good to totally watchable, and the sound is about the same on the scale of things, but I'm thrilled just to be able to take a few hours at a time and treat myself to a batch of M Squad's in any form! I had low expectations when I read about how this set came together, and thus far, after watching 5 discs, my expectations have been exceeded. I've not seen an episode I couldn't make sense out of and to be honest, watching these late at night on my cathode ray tube makes me feel like I'm a kid again watching something clandestine and forbidden, mostly due to the quality. It's like being out in the sticks and then after everyone has gone to bed a signal is being beamed into my living room thrusting me into a time warp where the signal comes over the air instead of a cable or satellite feed and if I aim the rabbit ears just right Frank Ballinger comes into focus and solves the heinous crime in question...and the music, and the black and white photography, and the Chicago exteriors and dingy interiors...I love this set and highly recommend it to any fan of Lee Marvin, hard-boiled crime procedurals, and noir milleu.....I'm happy to have it and if you have issues with pristine images versus down and dirty, then maybe you should stick with your Heroes and King Of Queens box sets and leave this one for the real fans! When I get to the end I'm going to start over as this set stays right by the TV Set at least until someone releases the complete Johnny Staccato series and then Marvin can alternate with Cassavetes....."

For What It Is Worth . . . . . . .

R. G. Bright | 12/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This box set has a few good and a few bad.

First the good. Yes, it does include all 117 episodes in chronological order from the first to the last. All three seasons. The bonus CD is great and I wouldn't ask for better.

Brief summary: M-SQUAD was a product of its time. Why people compare it to DRAGNET I have no idea. There is no comparison. The show features jazz music which PETER GUNN and SHOTGUN SLADE and MAN FROM UNCLE did. Jazzy music scores were a fad at the time. Lee Marvin makes the show shine. Without him, it would have been another cop program. The show is extremely violent. Heck, the opener has Marvin coming out of his car, being shot at and he fires back. Before the opening credits roll it's already featuring four gun shots. Critics complained in the early 1960s because of the violence. Heck, watch the one episode that opens with a family being killed off (women and children) when someone throws a live pineapple (grenade) into thier back yard!

Like a lot of 50s TV shows, the guests are occassionally impressive and a surprise. Angie Dickinson, Charles Bronson, Leonard Nimoy, Ed Nelson, DeForest Kelley, H. M. Wynant and even a young Burt Reynolds. Don't look up the cast list in advance - just watch them and be surprised when they appear on screen. Plenty of other supporting role characters would have been just as notable had they later hit the success the above did but you'll certainly see other familiar faces.

There is one episode in the second season that depicted Chicago cops in a bad light and that episode alone prompted the then-current mayor of Chicago to ban filming in the streets of Chicago. That ban would not be lifted until the early 1980s when they filmed THE BLUES BROTHERS. Yep, this show REALLY worth watching.

Now the bad news: these episodes were not from the original studio negatives. As pointed out in other reviews, they are certainly transfers from 16mm prints. Not that this is a bad thing, but instead of getting 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in picture quality you get 8.5 to 9.5 depending on the print. Some episodes are great, others are a bit washed out or too bright and a few are missing 1 or 2 minutes from the prints.

Still, it comes down to this or nothing. And the price cannot be beat for 117 episodes. I only give it four stars instead of five because of the occassional lack of good prints. Buy it today!"