Crane, Barry

Mission Impossible - The Fourth TV Season

The head of the "Impossible Missions Force" a top-secret government group of operatives starts a tape recorder and finds out about his latest assignment. Throughout most of the series they would have to stop some petty dictator or powerful bad guy from whatever evil plot they had against the U.S. or Democracy in general. The elaborate use of electronic gadgetry masters of disguise and detailed plans that require split-second timing made this tv show an "on the edge of your seater"!System Requirements:Running Time: 1314 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097361326344 Manufacturer No: 132634

Foil the invasion of a democratic country? No problem. Rescue members of a royal family from their would-be usurper? Piece of cake. Replace the irreplaceable Martin Landau and thrice-Emmy-winner Barbara Bain, who departed Mission after its third season? Now that's impossible! But in this classic series' fourth season, the veteran and rookie members of the Impossible Mission Force still put on a good show. The most prominent new addition to the IMF dossier is Leonard Nimoy as Paris, magician and master of disguise. Lee "Catwoman" Meriwether appears in several episodes as Tracey. Other guest stars make less of an impression; Alexandra Hay makes her only appearance on the show in the season opener as Lynn, who, in the course of an elaborate plot to shatter an alliance between two would-be dictators is caught, strip-searched, and thrown into prison (she disappears mid-episode and is never seen again; viewers never do get to see her sprung). An unintentionally hilarious moment that would have made Mad magazine proud comes in the three-parter, "The Falcon," in which IMF leader Jim Phelps' (Peter Graves) dossier of agents at his disposal includes the eponymous trained animal! Lending Mission: Impossible its international intrigue are the villains from such exotic sounding countries as Nueva Tierra. Great character actors, including John "Dean Wormer" Vernon, Harold Gould and Pernell Roberts portray accented bad guys to the hilt. Each bafflingly complex mission unfolds precisely to plan. Everything must go like clockwork, and usually does, even a lame bit in "The Falcon" in which strongman Willy (Peter Lupus) disguised as a peasant, delays a priest from a coronation by transporting him via horse-driven cart in a roundabout route. Like the previous season's "The Exchange," one mission hits closer to home. In "Death Squad" electronics expert Barney (Greg Morris) is arrested by a brutal and corrupt police chief who also happens to be the brother of the man who was killed while attacking Barney's girlfriend (Cicely Tyson, by the way). Mission: Impossible has yet to self-destruct, but this season doesn't exactly deliver on Paris's promise to his audience to deliver "excitement you haven't seen before." We have seen this before, but watching the IMF in episode after episode pull off the impossible is still smart and suspenseful fun. --Donald Liebenson

Mission Impossible - The Second TV Season

Forty years before it hit the big screen via a glossy Tom Cruise remake the classic 1960s television series MISSION IMPOSSIBLE captivated audiences with its tense and stylish thrill ride through Cold War espionage. Following the globetrotting exploits of a covert taskforce of government spies--team leader James Phelps (Peter Graves who replaced the debut season's Steven Hill) master of disguise Rollin Hand (Martin Landau) electronics expert Barney Collier (Greg Morris) tough guy Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus) and femme fatale Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain)--the series distinguished itself with intricate plotting high-tech gadgetry inventive cinematography and of course an indelible theme song. Smart and iconic the vintage series is resurrected in this collection of episodes from the second season.Runtime: 1254 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097360709148 Manufacturer No: 070914

The classic Impossible Missions Force lineup made its debut in Mission: Impossible's sophomore season (1967-1968), which is preserved in this essential set for classic TV fans. Gone was Steven Hill as Dan Briggs, and in his place the supremely confident and smooth Peter Graves as new team leader Jim Phelps, whom most viewers identify with the series. Carrying out the missions assigned from a pre-recorded voice on the self-destroying tape recorder was magician and master of disguise Rollin Hand (Martin Landau, who moved up from guest star to regular cast member with this season), top model Cinnamon Carter (Landau's real-life spouse Barbara Bain, who won three Emmys for her work on the show), electronics genius Barney Collier (Greg Morris), and all-purpose strong man Willie Armitage (body builder-turned-actor Peter Lupus). Among the 25 adventures carried out in this seven-disc set: "The Seal," in which the IMF uses a trained cat to assist in the recovery from an important statue from thief Darren McGavin; "The Town," with Phelps discovering that Communists have overrun an entire hamlet; and "The Slave," in which the team tangle with a Middle Eastern slavery ring. Guest stars include Anthony Zerbe, Paul Winfield, Fritz Weaver, and Sid Haig, but it's the team itself that shines the brightest, especially Landau and Bain, who exude the breezy charm of the series itself (though both would depart the show by the following season). Sadly, the second season set includes no extras. -- Paul Gaita

Kung Fu - The Complete Third Season

He is a man of peace in a violent land. He is Kwai Chang Caine schooled in the spirit-mind-body ways of the Shaolin priesthood by the blind avuncular Master Po and the stern yet loving Master Kan. Caine speaks softly but he hits hard. He lives humbly yet knows great contentment. He is the Old West's most unusual hero.System Requirements:Running Time 1221 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 012569681477 Manufacturer No: 68147

While it may not rank with Richard Kimble's fateful meeting with the One-Armed Man in the series finale of The Fugitive, Caine's reunion with his long-lost brother, Danny, brings Kung Fu, to quote the title of the four-episode story arc's conclusion, "Full Circle." The series' rich iconography and episodes featuring returning characters may make this final season heady going for newcomers. But those who have faithfully followed Caine (David Carradine in his iconic role) on his nomadic adventures will be richly rewarded with some of the series' best episodes. The season begins with a stellar two-parter, "Blood of the Dragon," in which Caine seeks the truth about his grandfather's murder, while Imperial assassins are dispatched to kill Caine. The venerable Patricia Neal guest-stars as the grandfather's iron-willed, cold-hearted former lover. Eddie Albert also stars as a doctor who sides with Caine. Other memorable guest stars this season include William Shatner broguing it up, Scotty-style, as a sea captain who arrives with an Imperial pardon for Caine (but at what cost?) in "A Small Beheading." Barbara Hershey portrays an aspiring Shoalin priest in the two-parter, "Besieged." In "The Brothers Caine," a pre-Airplane Leslie Nielsen is a ruthless magnate who puts a $10,000 price on Danny's head, making for an awkward reunion when Danny thinks that Caine is a bounty hunter. David's father, John, returns as blind preacher Serenity Johnson in "Ambush."

This season was distinguished by innovative episodes set in China during Caine's "Grasshopper" tutelage. In "The Demon God," the youth, poisoned by a prince, experiences mystical visions of his older, wandering self, who is stung by a scorpion. In "The Thief of Chendo," young Caine's Master imagines an adventure for the aspiring priest. Two Carradine commentaries, and a near-hour long chronicle of Carradine's 30-years-on visit to a Shoalin monastery in China (an incredible journey that ends with Carradine's soulful rendition of "America the Beautiful") help to give Kung Fu a worthy DVD send-off. --Donald Liebenson

Kung Fu - The Complete Series Collection

David Carradine stars as a Buddhist monk and hunted man who wanders the American West in the 1870s fighting intolerance and injustice with his mastery of an ancient form of high combat known as Kung Fu. System Requirements:Running Time: 999 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 085391165378 Manufacturer No: 1000025495

Kung Fu - The Complete Second Season

He is a man of peace in a violent land. He is Kwai Chang Caine schooled in the spirit-mind-body wasy of the Shaolin priesthood by the blind avuncular Master Po and the stern yet loving Master Kan. He is the Old West's most unusual hero. SEASON 2 GUEST STARS INCLUDE HARRISON FORD DON JOHNSON SLIM PICKENS GILBERT ROLAND TINA LOUISE JOHN CARRADINE BENSON FONG AND MORE!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 085393343422

The Incredible Hulk - Original Television Premiere

Universal's Incredible Hulk DVD will satisfy fans of the CBS television series by offering the two-hour 1978 pilot, as well as the feature-length second-season opener, "Married," and a commentary track by series creator Kenneth Johnson. In bringing the Hulk to TV, Johnson decided to focus on its human alter ego, scientist Bruce Banner (here renamed David), rather than its rampages. In the pilot, Banner (Bill Bixby) is haunted by the death of his wife and unleashes his untapped rage in the form of a monstrous creature (Lou Ferrigno) after experimenting with radiation. And in "Married," Banner falls for a researcher (Mariette Hartley in an Emmy-winning performance) who attempts to cure his "hulk-outs." Johnson's solid scripting and direction and fine performances from the leads made the series a critical and audience favorite during its network run, and the DVD--deceptive cover art aside (which features images from the 2003 Hulk theatrical feature)--should again please longtime fans and novice viewers alike. --Paul Gaita

S.W.A.T. - The Complete First Season

From producer Aaron Spelling (TV's "Charlie's Angels" and "Starsky and Hutch") comes one of the toughest action-packed crime-fighting shows of them all: S.W.A.T. Spun off from "The Rookies" and fueled by its signature hit theme song S.W.A.T. chronicled the covert missions of the LAPD's Special Weapons and Tactics unit an elite five-man force tackling situations too dangerous for even the police to handle. The show introduced a new breed of hard-as-nails cops to audiences: Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson (Steve Forrest Spies Like Us Mommie Dearest) Officer Jim Street (Robert Urich TV's "Vega$" "Spencer for Hire") Sgt. "Deacon"Kay (Rod Perry) Officer Dominic Luca (Mark Shera TV's "Barnaby Jones") and Officer T.J. McCabe (James Coleman).Now remastered and on DVD for the first time relive all those tense showdowns and standoffs during S.W.A.T.'s 13-episode debut season as that infamous black van rolls around the mean streets of L.A. delivering justice the hard way.System Requirements:Starring: Steve Forrest Rod Perry Robert Urich and Mark Shera. Running Time: 564 Min. (Total) Color. Copyright 2003 VPD Inc.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 043396003460 Manufacturer No: 00346

Tough but not swaggering, serious but not solemn, S.W.A.T. won over its 1970s television audience with several unexpectedly interesting elements: A degree of storytelling sophistication; visually exciting, guerrilla-like street violence; and a subtle but determined fascination with the psyches of the show's five principal characters. To a non-viewer, S.W.A.T. looked like a fatuously reassuring, law-and-order shill in the aftermath of the Vietnam war and Watergate. In reality, creator-producer Robert Hammer (a Peabody Award winner for the 1979 POW TV drama, When Hell Was in Session) managed to make an ideal, mid-'70s Aaron Spelling cop show with an extra emphasis on the human factor in peacekeeping.

Spun off from an earlier Spelling series, The Rookies, S.W.A.T. was the story of Special Weapons and Tactics, an elite branch of the Los Angeles Police Department assigned the most critical cases of urban violence in an American era of cult terrorism, snipers, assassinations, traumatized war veterans, and organized crime. Considering what the S.W.A.T. team is up against in every episode--shooters with sophisticated weaponry, psychotic revolutionaries, vulnerable takeover targets (nuclear reactors, etc.)--one might have expected the show to be swallowed up in gadgetry and fancy police protocol for extreme emergencies. But from the pilot (technically, a two-hour Rookies episode not included in this set) on, S.W.A.T. was clearly much more interested in the way team leader Lieutenant Dan "Hondo" Harrelson (Steve Forrest), Sergeant David "Deacon" Kay (Rod Perry), and officers Street (Robert Urich), Luca (Mark Shera), and McCabe (James Coleman) tried to understand the modern world even while keeping its meanest tendencies in check.

Inventive stories with occasional twists and appealing guest stars (James Keach, Cameron Mitchell, Annette O'Toole) keep one glued to the 13 episodes contained here. Among the best: "A Coven of Killers," starring Sal Mineo as a Charles Manson-like monster; "Jungle War," featuring Mitchell as a career cop and war vet facing an emotional breakdown; and "The Bravo Enigma," an apocalyptic tale of a curiously likable hit man (Christopher George) unknowingly spreading a plague through L.A. --Tom Keogh

Kung Fu - The Complete First Three Seasons

Kung Fu Pilot (TV Premiere DVD)

Kung Fu - The Complete First and Second Seasons

Kung Fu: The Complete First SeasonHe is a man of peace in a violent land. He is Kwai Chang Caine schooled in the spirit-mind-body ways of the Shaolin priesthood by the blind avuncular Master Po and the stern yet loving Master Kan. Caine speaks softly but hits hard. He lives humbly yet knows great contentment. He is the Old West's most unusual hero. But hero is not a word Caine would use. He would simply say "I am a man."Kung Fu: The Complete Second Season SHe is a man of peace in a violent land. He is Kwai Chang Caine schooled in the spirit-mind-body wasy of the Shaolin priesthood by the blind avuncular Master Po and the stern yet loving Master Kan. He is the Old West's most unusual hero. SEASON 2 GUEST STARS INCLUDE HARRISON FORD DON JOHNSON SLIM PICKENS GILBERT ROLAND TINA LOUISE JOHN CARRADINE BENSON FONG AND MORE!System Requirements:Running Time: 2007 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 012569682863