Featured TV on DVD Review: Rawhide: The Complete Collection

May 10, 2015

Rawhide: The Complete Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD

I recently reviewed the MacGyver Megaset and my opinion of Megasets remains the same. There's little point in going over the series, other than giving the basics. The real question is whether or not it is worth upgrading for those who bought the original releases? Or is it worth picking up for those who skipped them the first time around?

The Show

The show is one of the classic Westerns from the Golden Age of TV Westerns. It follows a group of cowboys who drive cattle from the big ranches in the West to the cities where they are sold. Heading up this group is Gil Favor (played by Eric Fleming, who sadly passed away shortly after the series ended). His second in command, or Ramrod, is Rowdy Yates, (played by Clint Eastwood, in his first big role). The pair, along with assorted other wranglers, drovers and, of course, a cook, travel with the herd meeting new people along the way and getting involved in various troubles. I've seen a few of the previous releases and it has aged pretty well. Most Westerns seem at least a little dated now, but this one still works, partially because it didn't deal with some of the most egregious clichés. There are not nearly as many uncomfortable stereotypes; in fact, the show actually deals with racism in a more progressive way.

The Extras

Sadly, there's not a lot of extras on this massive Megaset and nothing new from the old discs. In fact, the discs even have Season 2, Vol. 1, etc. on them. That leads me to believe they are just the original discs reprinted. There are promos and some text-based information here, but that's it for extras. There are also no subtitles, while the video is a little banged up at times. It is especially true of the B-roll footage. Granted, the show first aired more than 50 years ago, so it looks great for its age.

As for the price, this 59-disc has a list price of $163 and costs $104 on Amazon.com. By comparison, the individual releases cost about $15 to $20 each, so this release is less than half the price of the original DVDs. That's a great deal for fans who waited. It's also frustrating for fans who didn't.

The Verdict

Rawhide is the show that made Clint Eastwood a star, even though he wasn't technically the star. The Complete Collection has nothing new and the video isn't great, but for fans of the show in particular or the genre in general, it is worth picking up.


- Submitted by:

Filed under: Video Review, Clint Eastwood