Little House on the Prairie: The Complete Collection Blu Ray Review (Lionsgate)

Little House on the Prairie is a 1974 television series created by Blanche Hanalis (The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Young Pioneers, The Smith Family, Family Affair, and My Favorite Martian). It’s based on the book series “Little House” from author Laura Ingalls Wilder based on real life events. It was directed by lead actor Michael Landon (Bonanza, Killing Stone, US, Little House Years, Little House: The Last Farewell, and Highway to Heaven), William F. Claxton (Father Murphy, Half Past Midnight, Yancy Derringer, This is the Life, Night of the Lepus, and The Quiet Gun), Maury Dexter (House of the Damned and Django the Honorable Killer), Victor French (Little House: Look Back to Yesterday), Leo Penn (Ben Casey), and many others. It was produced by Kent McCray (Philip Marlowe, Little House Years, Little House: Look Back to Yesterday, Little House: The Last Farewell, Highway to Heaven, and Father Murphy). It was followed by a variety of television films which includes Little House Years, Little House: Look Back to Yesterday, Little House: The Last Farewell, Little House: Bless All the Dear Children, Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Beyond the Prairie II: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Continues. It follows the motivated Ingalls family which includes Charles (played by: Michael Landon from The Loneliest Runner), Laura (played by: Melissa Gilbert from Batman: The Animated Series), Caroline (played by: Karen Grassle from Wyatt Earp), Carrie (played by: Rachel Lindsay Greenbush from Little House Years and Sidney Greenbush from Sunshine), and Mary (played by: Melissa Sue Anderson from Happy Birthday to Me). Their fascinating simple life on a Minnesota farm is put to the test. A young pioneer family’s real struggle to build a brand new life for themselves on the American Frontier. So many different stories, issues, adventures, and overall experiences are shared while working so hard just to survive it all in the Midwest!!!! Little House on the Prairie is one of the greatest family television shows of all time. It has one of the best on screen father and daughter relationships that you’ll ever see. It’s well written and it handles so many different situations when it comes to living. TV veteran Michael Landon is excellent as father Charles Ingalls. He’s the dedicated leader of this family that does whatever he can to make it work for everyone. He will sacrifice himself to take care of the ones that he loves. It’s a unique look at a small screen dad because times are much more old-school compared to other stuff out there. He’s such a nice and good natured person that you really respect. Behind the scenes, he had full creative control for all kinds of things related to this drama. Melissa Gilbert is the highlight on Little House on the Prairie as Laura Ingalls. She’s really what it goes through. She’s in the center of it all. Her character developes so much over the years. This role is based on the true story of it’s original creator. It shows her as a young lady that’s just growing up to a woman before it’s all over. The rest of the original family which includes Karen Grassle, Melissa Sue Anderson, Rachel Lindsay Greenbush, and Sidney Greenbush all has their own qualities that stand out that separate them from each member of the household. Especially Melissa Sue Anderson, she goes through some drastic changes that only makes her stronger. This is all about family and coming together so all these roles are very important to their journey. They add some additional members of their group later on that includes Grace (played by: Wendi Turnbaugh and Brenda Turnbaugh from Little House Years), Albert (played by: Matthew Labyorteaux from Deadly Friend), James (played by: Jason Bateman from Ozark), and Cassandra (played by: Melissa Francis from Bad Dreams). It’s really cool to see the talented Jason Bateman very early in his career here. The rest of the cast includes Katherine MacGregor (The Student Nurses), Richard Bull (Mannix), Jonathan Gilbert (Little House: Look Back to Yesterday), Kevin Hagen (Yancy Derringer), Alison Arngrim (Life Interrupted), Dabbs Greer (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Dean Butler (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Victor French (Little House: The Last Farewell), Patrick Labyorteaux (Heathers), Allison Balson (The Hearse), Shannen Doherty (Beverly Hills 90210), Kyle Richards (Halloween), Jill Schoelen (Popcorn), Tracie Savage (Friday the 13th: Part 3), Richard Jaeckel (Grizzly), Geoffrey Lewis (The Devil’s Rejects), Ernest Borgnine (Escape from New York), Peter Billingsley (A Christmas Story), Burt Young (Rocky franchise), Sean Penn (Mystic River), Brion James (Blade Runner), M. Emmet Walsh (Blood Simple), Anne Ramsey (The Goonies), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters franchise), Madeleine Stowe (12 Monkeys), Vera Miles (Psycho), Johnny Cash, Louis Gossett Jr. (Jaws 3), and Melora Hardin (The Office). The Oleson family ate solid rivals for Ingalls. They always clash throughout the entire run. It all makes for some quality competition between the two factions. They are natural and organic heels, they are not over the top. Little House on the Prairie is very clean and wholesome. It usually keeps it light but it does take some risks at times especially for when it was made. It teaches some good morel lessons and it goes past some hard scenarios but the strength of family always wins. It stays positive for the most part and honestly anyone can watch it for something different so there’s plenty of variety. It’s not for everyone, I am curious how some modern day viewers would feel about it because it’s aged for sure. Regardless, it’s one of most memorable family dramas for the small screen. It was a major influence on so many future projects. I love that they included some of the television movies that came out after the series was over for this set. This franchise was so strong that it lived on so many years after not being on TV anymore besides it’s reruns. This is a must own for any fan of Little House on the Prairie, it’s loaded with additional material besides the 200+ episodes already included here, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and list the special features from Lionsgate! These 1080p (1.36:1) remastered transfers are actually uncensored and unedited so it’s nice to experience them how they are supposed to be without any changes. That’s such a rare thing when it comes to TV on home video these days especially the older stuff. I never experienced Little House on the Prairie like this before, it’s a massive upgrade compared to it’s original viewings from back in the day. I wasn’t expecting it to look this good. Everything is so sharp and very detailed for the visuals. It makes wonder what some of the other stuff would look like this if it got the HD treatment like this. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD 2.0, French: Dolby Digital 2.0, and Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks on all 45 discs for this huge set. It has it’s moments during it’s run that have a little more action but it’s not going to blow away your set up because it’s not that type of show for the audio. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the drama is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. Season 1 has the little over 14 minute “The Little House Phenomenon Part One: A Place in Television History”. It has the almost 2 minute “Original Screen Test” with Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert. Season 2 has the almost 16 minute “The Little House Phenomenon Part Two: In the Beginning”. Season 3 has the almost 19 minute “The Little House Phenomenon Part Three: Casting Walnut Grove”. Season 4 has the almost 17 minute “The Little House Phenomenon Part Four: A Day in the Life of “Little House”. Season 5 has the little over 15 minute “The Little House Phenomenon Part Five – Stories to Remember”. Season 6 has the little over 16 minute “The Little House Phenomenon Part Six – A Lasting Legacy”. So between these first 6 seasons is a very detailed documentary covering a good amount of this TV show. Season 8 has the best extras from out of all the seasons here. There’s two full length television movies that followed the series. 1983’s “Look Back to Yesterday” directed by Victor French. Besides the main cast, it includes Charles Cyphers (Halloween franchise), Shannen Doherty (Charmed), and Melora Hardin (Dirty Dancing). “The Last Farewell” directed by Michael Landon. It features Shannen Doherty (Heathers) and James Karen (The Return of the Living Dead franchise). Season 9 has the 1984 TV feature “Bless All the Dear the Children” directed by Victor French. Luckily, all of the previous home video special features are brought back for this complete series set. Don’t expect nothing new but the entire show plus all this bonus material will keep anyone busy for a very long time. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!