Baa Baa Black Sheep - Volume 1
by Robert Conrad, Alex Beaton, Jackie Cooper, Philip DeGuere, Edward Dein
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dirk Blocker, Jeff MacKay, John Larroquette, Robert Conrad, Robert GintyDirector: Alex Beaton, Edward Dein, Jackie Cooper, Philip DeGuere, Robert Conrad
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 584 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Product features:
- Includes from the NBC News Archives: Interviews with Major Gregory Boyington
- Color/Double Sided
- Region 1
Movie Reviews of Baa Baa Black Sheep - Volume 1
Movie Review: "Baa Baa" looks sharp and even has an extra!
Summary: 5 Stars
Major "Pappy" Boyington (Robert Conrad) commanded the Black Sheep Squadron during World War II in the Pacific and fought the war his own way taking a team of misfits and turning them into a stellar flying fighting unit. While the TV series about Boyington had little to do with the real heroes that fought in World War II, it made for exciting TV in the 70's.
There are the expected analog artifacts visible particularly during the sequences involving stock footage (which got used quite a bit during the series). Also, some of the footage shot for the pilot and early episodes were recycled to cut costs where possible and, again, these bits of film betray the age of the series much more so than the episodes shot for each individual episode. Universal does a nice job with the picture there's the expected amount of grain for a vintage series. The flesh tones are solid although a bit on the warm side (but that's the way I remember the series when I watched it originally and even in syndication). Color is good throughout and the image is generally quite sharp although there are bits where the images are a bit soft. Audio is presented in the original mono without any embellishments. The mono sound is a bit muddy at times but the dialog is clear throughout most of the episodes. Compare the dirty footage from the pilot episode (granted it's an old videotape of the series pilot) to the digitally cleaned up footage here and you'll see that Universal has done a pretty decent job of cleaning up the show (even the stock footage looks better than I expected in many cases). Color matching is off during some of the stock footage but that was the case with the original series.
A 1976 interview from "The Today Show" featuring Boyington and Robert Conrad is the only extras included here. It's a fascinating glimpse into the past and it's also fun to hear Boyington reminisce about his squad and see his reaction to the footage from the pilot episode. The videotape this is drawn from is in pretty poor shape with a blurry image and indistinct colors. There's also an interview from 1959 featuring Boyington after the release of his book. Curiously, the 1976 segment is presented before the 1959 segment. Together the interviews run about 8 minutes and the latter segment was filmed in black & white. Each episode has the "highlights" trailer that preceded each episode showing key dramatic scenes
No commentary tracks which is a pity. Given that James Whitmore Jr. went on to become a director, it would have been interesting to hear his take on shooting the series. I never realized till much, much later that John Larroquette was a member of the cast during its two season run. Larroquette could also have provided an interesting commentary track as well. A retrospective featurette on the surviving cast members would also have been fun just to catch up with them and have them reflect on the difficult history of the series (it was cancelled and brought back retooled with a new title "The Black Sheep Squardron" during 1977-78).The pilots who flew the planes could provide some hair raising stories about the series I'm sure.
Considering the popularity of this series in syndication, I was rather surprised to see that there were only 37 episodes produced. I never realized there were so few done. Picture and sound quality are quite good while the extras are minimal they do include two vintage interviews one featuring Robert Conrad and Boyington and the other done just after Boyington's original book was published in 1959.
Summary of Baa Baa Black Sheep - Volume 1
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