Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)(Updated) Series on a whole: 5 stars++. Stories on this particular set: 4-1/2 stars. Video quality: 3-1/2 stars. Extras: 4 stars.
Why would I call this the "Best series in the history of television"? ...because it's BIG in heart and soul, the characters and stories have TREMENDOUS depth, and it's not bogged down by the politics of your typical western, or typical show for that matter. The storylines could go anywhere, and focus on anyone, or anything. There didn't have to be a villain of the week, a murder, etc. Come to think of it, this is one of the most "murder-less" westerns I have ever seen. If people died, it was more from life's hardships in the 1800's than from anything else. It may not have ended anywhere near as well as it came in, but when you look back at the series on a whole, I would still rank this as being the best of all TV series, and for a number of reasons.
The appeal of this series is much broader than most people give it credit for. The show wasn't just for little girls, as anyone looking at the cover of one of the Little House books might conclude. It was more a show about how to deal with the unexpected, with changes in life, and how to get along with your neighbors. There are life lessons to be learned here for everyone, from little girls to old men.
I doubt that we will ever again see a show quite like this, which so graciously teaches the lost values that we need in times like these. Network TV has become a desolate wasteland of high-tech crime scene dramas, court case TV, reality TV, infomercials, talk shows, extreme sports, and news programs. You will be hard-pressed to find much of a heart or soul in any of them, mainly just a lot of computer "gee-whiz" wizardry, and for the most part a waste of time in general. Meanwhile, Little House delivers both heart AND soul, so much so in the subtle ways that it influences you, that you can't help but walk away a better person afterwards.
Even if they did bring a show like this back (and they`ve tried), it would be EXTREMELY difficult to match the production values you will find here without a sky-high budget. Not to mention, many of the best character actors once employed by Hollywood, (many of whom appeared on Little House), are now long since dead.
SPOILERS FOLLOW... About this particular set... After Season 9 ended, a deal was inked to conclude the "Little House on the Prairie" series with the final three tele-movies contained here, the UNOFFICIAL "Season 10", which wraps up the series in a very peculiar and jaw-dropping way, literally going out with a BANG!!
Whether or not anyone likes the idea of the town being blown to smithereens in the end, or with the direction the series took in it's later years, Michael Landon and crew continued to crank-out very touching, emotionally-charged episodes to the bitter end. Casting, acting, directing, writing, set design, and the beautiful, harmonious music composed by the late David Rose all remained high-quality throughout the series. I can't say enough about the fine acting and music though, as well as the town layout - all First Class! Well... There were a few less than stellar casting decisions near the end of the run, but nothing worth spoiling the series over.
The final three films are somewhat of a mixed bag, and leave you with mixed emotions. I probably would have wrote them a bit differently if it were up to me, but they are still VERY MUCH worth the price of admission. The saddest, and my choice as the best of the three would be the first one, "Look Back To Yesterday", which will likely produce a few tears (video and sound quality is very good to excellent). As for "Bless All The Dear Children", the story is somewhat uneven and seems to drag in the middle, however the ending is quite good, and redeems any flaws. In all honesty though, I can't figure out why on earth they felt the need to tell this particular story as one of the last three of all time (video quality is good to very good). "The Last Farewell"... What can I say?... Does anybody really want to see the town get blown-up?? Michael Landon has always told stories about overcoming great adversity, and carrying on, but I feel that he took things a little too far here, maybe for no other reason than simply because he could. Not the best note for the series to go out on, but a very dramatic exit nonetheless, and once again it may bring you to tears. The video quality on this one, which I would have expected to be great, being the final installment, was actually the WORST of the three. The print that Imavision used for the transfer was surprisingly not the greatest. It was fairly dark, and the colors were faded. A real disappointment, as I expected something better for what I paid. Concerning the extras, the interviews of the two Melissa's were quite well done. I was hoping for more extras though.
A few odds & ends and closing comments... If I had any say with the powers that be, I would NOT have destroyed the exterior town setting at the Big Sky Movie Ranch (a big chunk of the ranch was recently sold to developers), and rather would have tried to preserve it as a museum/tour/theme park/resort, for all to enjoy in the years that followed. Not a chance of that happening now of course, after the final episode, plus the land around the shooting location is being developed like mad. Very poor decisions in the end by those responsible.
I would also like to add that while MANY of the episodes from Season box sets 1 through 3 were drop-dead GORGEOUSLY restored, I would like to see some kind of effort put into restoring the remainder of the series, which was very much a disappointing (to say the least!) "hit and miss" restoration effort, even if I have to pay for them all over again for the improved versions in another release of some kind. The series was THAT GOOD!!
Question: Why has there never been a music CD compilation of David Rose's best work from this series? They can put out a 4-disc collection of the original one-season Battlestar Galactica, but nothing for David Rose's Little House work?? ...someone who is considered to be the best in the business??
R.I.P., Little House, and thanks to all involved for putting on such a fine show. You have created a masterpiece that will be enjoyed for generations to come. Now if only Imavision or somebody else would restore the episodes that so desperately need it from the original 35mm prints, like they did with several of the early episodes, then we would really have something special.
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Little House on the Prairie - Special Edition Movie Boxed Set (Look Back to Yesterday / Bless All the Dear Children / The Last Farewell) (1983)
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