Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)That's the question you must ask yourself before buying this complete series set.
For a number of years I have seen the individual season sets available and while I've been tempted on several occasions to pick them up, something had always stopped me. Maybe I didn't consider myself a big enough Little House fan, or maybe I was a bit put off by some of the negative reviews I had read here about them, or maybe it was a little of both. But when I saw the complete series out together in one place, I couldn't resist temptation any longer.
I'll begin by saying that those people who have complaints because of audio/video quality and editing have legitimate gripes. If I were a Little House purist seeking complete, uncut, pristine episodes, I'd be more than a little disappointed, too. However, I'm not necessarily one of those people. Yes, some of the episodes obviously have been edited a bit, and some of the episodes show their age, but not all of the episodes show these traits! A great many of the programs appear to be in absolute pristine condition for this release. As far as I am concerned, even the worst episodes from an a/v standpoint were not enough to hinder my enjoyment of the stories, nor were any of the edits that were made. For the casual LHOTP fan who enjoyed the series growing up as I did, and wants to relive the stories, characters and places again, there is nothing here that is going to put you off.
Additionally, once you get into Season 5, the bonus interviews and special features included in the box set are quite interesting. Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) in particular provided some great insights into the show, and her audio commentaries on a number of the shows are often quite funny. There are no less than three discs of bonus material that provide a wealth of behind the scenes stories and interviews, not to mention all of the bonus goodies that was included on all of the individual season sets as well.
The biggest reason why I am giving the complete series set 4 stars, aside from the previously mentioned a/v and editing "issues", is that the pilot episode was not included. As far as I'm concerned, the pilot was as much a part of the series as the individual seasons were, and it's kind of a bummer that it has to be purchased separately in order to complete your collection. I'm also a little bit disappointed that the 3 hour "Little House Years" special from Season 6 has been omitted from this release, but seeing as though it is primarily a "flashback episode", and those "flashbacks" are already available in their complete episodes elsewhere in the box, I can understand that decision to a certain degree. My hope is that this show will see it's own release somewhere down the line, too.
Beyond that, I have never really been a fan of cardboard packaging for DVDs. As already noted elsewhere, the discs are very easy to scratch if you are not very careful. But with 60 DVDs to package together in this set, this is another decision I can understand in order to try and keep costs down as much as possible.
Bottom line: If you are a purist who needs a pristine, uncut LHOTP experience, by all means avoid this. You will not get your money's worth. But for my money, I have been enjoying revisiting these old stories and characters again. I haven't regretted making this purchase. If nothing else, it has given me something to occupy my time on these long Wisconsin winter nights when there hasn't been a whole lot to do.
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LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE:COMPLETE - DVD Movie
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