Tales of Adventure - Collection 4 (1949 - 1953) - 25/09/2024 - Imprint Films

[DawnShadow]

From the golden age of the Republic serials, get set for atomic tales of invading aliens, invisible soldiers, mad scientists, and evil geniuses… one episode at a time!

The forerunner of today’s serialised television dramas, these weekly cliffhanger dramas kept cinemagoers returning for the next instalment. With high production values and superb special effects by Howard and Theodore Lydecker, this special collection also adds the re-edited Film Versions.

Loaded with brand NEW Special Features including Audio Commentaries and a Video Essay, plus a NEW 2024 feature documentary looking at the history and legacy of the Republic 40’s and 50’s sci-fi serials.

Be on the edge of your seat with cosmic thrills faster than light in these seven adventures:

King of The Rocket Men (1949) (HD) – worldwide first on Blu-ray
Flying Disc Man from Mars (1950) (HD)
The Invisible Monster (1950) (HD)
Radar Men From The Moon (1952) (HD)
Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) (SD)
Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) (SD) – worldwide first on Blu-ray
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953) (HD)
Limited Edition 8-Disc Hardbox. 1500 copies only.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

1080p High-definition presentation (except where noted as SD) on Blu-ray
Feature film versions of the serials:
Lost Planet Airmen (HD)
Missile Monsters (HD)
Slaves of the Invisible Monster (SD)
Retik, the Moon Menace (HD)
Satan’s Satellites (HD)
Doctor Satan’s Robot (SD)
NEW Audio Commentary on select episodes of Flying Disc Man From Mars by film historian Tom Weaver (2024)
NEW Audio Commentary on select episodes of The Invisible Monster by screenwriter and film historian Gary Gerani (2024)
NEW Audio Commentary on select episodes of Radar Men from the Moon by film historian Tom Weaver (2024)
NEW Audio Commentary on select episodes of Zombies of the Stratosphere by screenwriter and film historian Gary Gerani (2024)
NEW Audio Commentary on select episodes of Mysterious Doctor Satan by screenwriter and film historian Gary Gerani (2024)
NEW Feature Documentary on the Republic 40/50s sci-fi serials (2024)
NEW Video Essay by film historian Philippa Berry (2024)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 / 1.37:1
Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono

Pre-order : https://viavision.com.au/shop/tales-...ction-350-353/

[fred25_Ca]

I remember finding this set expensive when it was announced but I went back today to double check if it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered.

https://www.wowhd.co.uk/tales-of-adv.../9337369042909

287$ CAD to export (Australian and Canadian dollars are around the same). This is like two Arrow shawscope blu ray box set together. The price is absolutely insane! This should be between 80-100$ top, let alone nearly 300$. What are they thinking? Are all of these Tales of Adventures collections this ridiculously expensive? :/

Judging by how many people have written in this thread (nobody...), I guess that's why it's so damn expensive, nobody really cares about these old serials anymore and they must be hoping the few that do are rich or something.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

287$ CAD to export (Australian and Canadian dollars are around the same). This is like two Arrow shawscope blu ray box set together. The price is absolutely insane! This should be between 80-100$ top, let alone nearly 300$. What are they thinking? Are all of these Tales of Adventures collections this ridiculously expensive? :/

Judging by how many people have written in this thread (nobody...), I guess that's why it's so damn expensive, nobody really cares about these old serials anymore and they must be hoping the few that do are rich or something.

You’re shipping a large box half way round the world and WowHD are charging you ~$80 for the privilege. If I had to ship two Shawscope sets to me here I could easily see delivery costing £40 - especially if I wanted the box to arrive in good condition. I guess you can argue $209 is still a lot for a bunch of old serials, but locals can get it 20% off at a JB HiFi sale…not unreasonable. I think TOA 4 looks super cool and I’ll definitely be picking it up.

[PT Ryan]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

I remember finding this set expensive when it was announced but I went back today to double check if it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered.

https://www.wowhd.co.uk/tales-of-adv.../9337369042909

287$ CAD to export (Australian and Canadian dollars are around the same). This is like two Arrow shawscope blu ray box set together. The price is absolutely insane! This should be between 80-100$ top, let alone nearly 300$. What are they thinking? Are all of these Tales of Adventures collections this ridiculously expensive? :/

Judging by how many people have written in this thread (nobody...), I guess that's why it's so damn expensive, nobody really cares about these old serials anymore and they must be hoping the few that do are rich or something.

I care about these serials, and I love the work that's been put into this set. I can't think of any Australian Blu-Ray releases of vintage serials to date. In the past, we've been lucky to get any of them on DVD. Often in terrible grey market releases with poor masters and heavy compression.

Some of these serials haven't been available on physical media in Australia since the nineties at the most recent (so VHS).

It amuses me how often I see non-Australians on these forums complaining about how expensive it is to purchase our physical media (from resellers no less, not even the distributor). It's almost always more expensive for us to import American, British and yes, Canadian physical media than to wait for local releases - if they even get distributed here at all. We're expected to put up with it. What makes you guys so special in this regard?

Why not wait for a Blu-Ray release of these titles closer to home instead of expecting the Australian market to cater to you?

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by PT Ryan

I care about these serials, and I love the work that's been put into this set. I can't think of any Australian Blu-Ray releases of vintage serials to date. In the past, we've been lucky to get any of them on DVD. Often in terrible grey market releases with poor masters and heavy compression.

Some of these serials haven't been available on physical media in Australia since the nineties at the most recent (so VHS).

It amuses me how often I see non-Australians on these forums complaining about how expensive it is to purchase our physical media (from resellers no less, not even the distributor). It's almost always more expensive for us to import American, British and yes, Canadian physical media than to wait for local releases - if they even get distributed here at all. We're expected to put up with it. What makes you guys so special in this regard?

Why not wait for a Blu-Ray release of these titles closer to home instead of expecting the Australian market to cater to you?

I'm glad it amuses you. I mean, you'd think Australians would be happy people from outside Australia are interested in your products haha.
Although i'm pretty sure Imprint doesn't mind the international sales on their releases. :P

I've bought plenty of Umbrella and Imprint releases before for great price. Even if you remove the shipping costs, it still cost more than 200. That's more than 50$ it would cost me to buy a shawscope Arrow (150$ including shipping!) and those sets contains between 12 to 14 movies, big booklets, music cds and lavish packaging. And that's a set coming from an expensive label over here (Arrow).

It's fine to defend this release, it looks wonderful, the kind of stuff i've wanted someone to release for years now (and that I doubt any North American labels will release) and it's cool if people are willing to pay these prices for it but it's hard for me not to think this is massively overpriced, even without the exporting fees. But to each their own. :P

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

I've bought plenty of Umbrella and Imprint releases before for great price. Even if you remove the shipping costs, it still cost more than 200. That's more than 50$ it would cost me to buy a shawscope Arrow (150$ including shipping!) and those sets contains between 12 to 14 movies, big booklets, music cds and lavish packaging. And that's a set coming from an expensive label over here (Arrow).

How are you buying an Arrow Shawscope box including shipping for CAD$150? On the Arrow US site they’re USD$145/$150 unshipped.

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by lemonski

How are you buying an Arrow Shawscope box including shipping for CAD$150? On the Arrow US site they’re USD$145/$150 unshipped.

I got the first two for pre-orders for 150$ CAD on wowhd when they were both released. Just need a bit of patience when it comes to pre-orders.
Also, no idea how much you guys pay in the US since i'm in Canada but over here the CAD is worth pretty much the same as Australian dollars.

Anyway, haha i'm done here. I'm pretty jealous of anybody that doesn't think this is expensive and can easily afford it. Who knows, maybe it will go down significantly in price in the next year. I'm just hoping this isn't limited. Outside of the actual serials, the documentary sounds incredibly interesting and I'm kind of dying to watch it. Have fun!

[DefLeppard]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

I remember finding this set expensive when it was announced but I went back today to double check if it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered.

.

Current 3 volumes have costed me @ 80$ AUD each incl shipping through Jbhifi's BOGOF sale but Vol 4 can be slightly expensive if it is still around by next sale/ open to buy for international customers!

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by DefLeppard

Current 3 volumes have costed me @ 80$ AUD each incl shipping through Jbhifi's BOGOF sale but Vol 4 can be slightly expensive if it is still around by next sale/ open to buy for international customers!

Oh wow, that's a huge difference! Gives me hope, i'll just wait and see then, thanks!

[filmlover22]

I also think TOA 4 looks fantastic, but also agree it is overpriced, imho, even without shipping. Will wait to see if it goes on sale at JB Hi-fi or elsewhere before purchase.

[bigshot]

I got this in the mail and looked at the first disc. It’s very nice. Super clean print. There appears to be little to no digital clean up. There’s still a tiny bit of gate weave and some negative speckles here and there. I like that for this kind of thing. It gives it more of a filmic feel.

[Moleman]

I really want this, but really REALLY can't justify the price. Already have four of these on BD from Olive/Kino, two of the other three are SD. Basically I'd be buying "King of the Rocketmen" for $170. Hopefully Kino will pick that one up!

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by Moleman

I really want this, but really REALLY can't justify the price. Already have four of these on BD from Olive/Kino, two of the other three are SD. Basically I'd be buying "King of the Rocketmen" for $170. Hopefully Kino will pick that one up!

I am not aware of Kino releasing any of these. Is there a link? or are they all OOP now?

[DavidRoylance]

I asked the Insider about this many moons ago and sadly the Daredevils of the Red Circle disc sold so badly they didn't want to do any more of them.

Captain Marvel did better, but they put that down to the super hero name recognition.

Originally Posted by filmlover22

I am not aware of Kino releasing any of these. Is there a link? or are they all OOP now?

[filmlover22]

FYI - this is on sale at JB Hi now for 30% off. that is $146 AUD. which may be the lowest it could go for.

[DavidRoylance]

It is such a shame Zombies is in SD only. To have the 4 Rocket Man serials in HD would be my Golden Egg. That and all the Republic Zorros.

[filmlover22]

FYI - it seems JB HiFi fixed their phone number error to send to the US.

[Doomhunter]

Currently finishing off the first one I’ve watched in the set, Radar Men from the Moon, which is very good. Great fistfights, car chases, cliffhangers, gunfights, cool explosions and ray gun effects, treaded sci-fi tanks, excellent flying effects (both for humans and rockets). Not sure why this has a low rating on IMDb, unless prior viewers were watching inferior or cut versions. FYI, on the blu, there were only a couple of short sequences that looked to be pulled from a lesser source.

[The Hornets]

Remember these when on British TV as a child (at least some of them along with the likes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers). Got into them as my dad remembers seeing in Saturday morning children matinees at the cinema when he was a child, not on first run I should add

They all seem to have died a death here except Flash Gordon which has recently appeared on one of the nostalgia TV channels, but I guess that is the serial most would recognise the name.

Would love this boxset, just no way can I afford it.

[Trekkie313]

Right when I find out about these, Orbit is sold out of this one!