Search - Ramar of the Jungle - Volume Five on DVD

Back to Africa

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 11/11/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After two volumes (3&4) of Indian adventures, volume 5 of Alpha Video's "Ramar of the Jungle" DVD series sees the return of Dr. Tom "Ramar" Reynolds (Jon Hall) and Professor Howard Ogden (Ray Montgomery) to the jungles of Africa, along with their native guide Willy-Willy (Nick Stewart). As always, Ramar's adventures make for an entertaining half hour.

The Ramar episodes were filmed in groups of 13 and feature different opening titles and local guides. The first series featured James Fairfax, as Charlie the Cockney guide, but none of these episodes have made it to DVD yet. Series two featured Victor Milan as the Indian guide Zahir and Alpha has released eight of these episodes on DVD. Series three and four both featured Willy-Willy and 12 of these episodes have been released to date. This release contains one episode from series 3 and three episodes from series 4. The more episodes that I see, the more that I've come to enjoy Nick Stewart's acting on this series . . . he plays the role of Willy-Willy with a twinkle in his eye.

The episodes on this DVD include "Zombie Terror," "White Man's Magic," "The Golden Tablet," and "The Flaming Mountain." The visual quality of this release is, to these eyes, somewhat better than volumes 3&4, but not quite as good as volumes 1&2. For Ramar collectors this release is, of course, a must but for casual viewers of the show or someone who wants just one DVD of the show, I recommend either volume 1 or 2.

My rating for this DVD is closer to *** & 1/2 and kudos to Alpha Video for their continuing commitment to this series (Volume 6 is expected to be released in December 2004).
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