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The Three Stooges - Merry Mavericks

The Three Stooges - Merry Mavericks

List Price: $19.94
Your Price: $17.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not classic Stooges material!
Review: As an avid Stooge fan I feel this release is not very funny. Main gripe is that some of the stories are repeated from other episodes. Of all of the footage that Columbia has surely they could have included some that is not repetitive, and also more funnier! If you're a fan of Curly then you will definitely be disappointed that he is only on one of these shorts, and even then it is not one of his best. Shemp was underappreciated and he can be hilarious, but again, the story lines are just not interesting. Another big complaint, and it describes the entire series that Columbia has issued so far, is that after each episode you have to go back to the main menu and choose another episode to view. In other words, you cannot watch each one in succession, which is ridiculous.

I commend Columbia for releasing this collection and hope they continue this series for a long time, as I enjoy this kind of humor, and the quality of other labels' Stooges DVD's is just horrible. I just wish that more careful planning is put into future editions, where hilarity is stressed and not just a theme.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not classic Stooges material!
Review: As an avid Stooge fan I feel this release is not very funny. Main gripe is that some of the stories are repeated from other episodes. Of all of the footage that Columbia has surely they could have included some that is not repetitive, and also more funnier! If you're a fan of Curly then you will definitely be disappointed that he is only on one of these shorts, and even then it is not one of his best. Shemp was underappreciated and he can be hilarious, but again, the story lines are just not interesting. Another big complaint, and it describes the entire series that Columbia has issued so far, is that after each episode you have to go back to the main menu and choose another episode to view. In other words, you cannot watch each one in succession, which is ridiculous.

I commend Columbia for releasing this collection and hope they continue this series for a long time, as I enjoy this kind of humor, and the quality of other labels' Stooges DVD's is just horrible. I just wish that more careful planning is put into future editions, where hilarity is stressed and not just a theme.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The four Stooges
Review: I say "the four Stooges" because this collection features Moe,Larry,Curly and Shemp. CACTUS MAKES PERFECT,the only short with Curly,is where the Stooges hunt for gold with their new invention,a "goldfinder",which is more like a standard metal dectector. In OUT WEST,the Stooges go out west primarily for the sake of Shemp's unhealthy leg. In PUNCHY COWPUNCHERS,the Stooges are sent to the Panhandle country to capture the Killer Dillons. In MERRY MAVERICKS,the Stooges are wanted for vagrancy just like in an earlier film with Curly,PHONY EXPRESS. In VAGABOND LOAFERS,a remake of another Curly short,A-PLUMBING WE WILL GO,the Stooges as plumbers wreck havoc,and during a couple's party. In DOPEY DICKS,the Stooges as private eyes,rescue a kidnapped beauty from a labrotory. Great support from Christine McIntyre who appeared in OW,VL,DD and PC. Curly was still alive,but terminally ill when his brother Shemp's shorts were made.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: finally, some hint that's it's a DVD!
Review: They finally did something nice for the DVD opening. There's a short series with still photos and sound effects that shows the boys "in action". They still should put many more shorts on one DVD, though. The ones that did make it are funny, of course. Shemp is a very underrated member of the team.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This DVD disc includes 1 curly short and 5 shemp shorts. The best epsiode in this disc is "Dopey Dicks", a very funny short. But the worst is Edward Bernds' remake of "Phony Express", which isn't funnier than the original at all. They should've released the original instead of the remake. There is also another thing I think is rather dumb, they should release episodes that are not seen on TV, but instead they come out with these bare-boned DVDs with most of the episodes we've seen on TV, but this one does include two shorts which are not shown on TV, which is a plus.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Howard, Fine, Howard, and Howard in the Old West.
Review: This dvd includes six shorts; 2 are not shown on AMC, 4 are westerns, and 5 Shemps to 1 Curly. The one Curly, Cactus Makes Perfect, is okay, but not a classic. The other 3 westerns; Out West (Shemp's second Columbia short), Punchy Cowpunchers, and Merry Mavericks, are all great. For some reason Stooges fans tend not to like the westerns as much, but I do. Dopey Dicks is a sure classic and worth the price of the dvd alone, and Vagabond Loafers is an excellent remake of A Plumbing We Will Go. All shorts are full screen. Maybe one of these days Sony will have enough confidence in the Shemp shorts that they will put out a dvd with them and not tack on a sub-par Curly-era effort.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great DVD!
Review: This is a great DVD. I don't mind the fact that there are five Shemp shorts and one Curly short. I like Shemp better.

CACTUS MAKES PERFECT (1942) is not a very great short, and this is it's third release. This is too slow paced and unfunny for me. I wonder why Columbia Tristar keeps releasing this one when they could be releasing some brand new shorts.

OUT WEST (1947) is an excellent short. I personally believe this is the best Stooge western short. This is quite possibly the best short on this DVD. I love this short. Highly recommended!

VAGABOND LOAFERS (1949)- I believe this is the strongest and funniest short on this DVD. I have to say this is my second favorite short next to HEAVENLY DAZE. This is a remake of Curly's classic A PLUMBING WE WILL GO. Shemp makes this short even better than the original. A MUST SEE! Shemp's maze of pipes is a highlight.

DOPEY DICKS (1950)- Another "top" Stooge short. This is an excellent short. There are many great moments while the Stooges are being chased thru the mansion. This is the best short here next to VAGABOND LOAFERS and OUT WEST.

PUNCHY COWPUNCHERS (1950) in a way, is too close to OUT WEST, but I like this anyway. I must say, this short must have the biggest supporting cast of all. There are some great moments and punches. This is a gem.

MERRY MAVERICKS (1951) on the other hand is horrible. This is a horrible remake of PHONY EXPRESS, which I wasn't fond of in the first place. Edward Bernds is usually a great director. Here, he makes the worst effort ever. This is quite possibly Shemp's worst.

A great DVD, worth adding to your collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing Shemp Collection
Review: Three Shemp Stooge shorts and one Curly short. There is a theme of the Wild West running through most of then apart from "Vagabond Loafers"... Loafers is a remake of "A Plumbing we will go" featuring plenty of stock footage & Shemp recreating Curly's fiasco in his own wonderful style. This is the strongest episode in the collection, in my opinion.

But overall, this is disappointing. The Wild West episodes aren't very funny, in fact, they're quite dull. Even Curly & Shemp can't liven up some dull scripts and stories. A couple of the stories are too similar and shouldn't have been on the same DVD. One of the stories has a long, tedious, drawn out scene where they are trying to get Larry out of a prison cell.

The other Shemp collection - Spook Louder -- is much better.


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