The New Maverick just doesn't cut it . . . no matter what deck you're using.
The rest of the film concerns a shipment of Gatling guns heisted from a train and a $25,000 reward that's offered for their return. Naturally, the Maverick boys want in, but sideplots intrude rather than enhance or support the main narrative. What's supposed to be a fun diversion--Ben trying to get money from his Bret that he thinks he's owed--feels just like unrelated filler. It doesn't feel natural. In fact, nothing does. Even veteran character actor Eugene Roche, who plays bad-guy Judge Crupper, can't make the lines that were written for him seem believable. Everyone is off their game, and it's all because off the script and uninspired direction by Hy Averback.
It's a strictly by-the-numbers Western that smacks of TV, stretched thin as cattle on a long drive. The bad guys aren't bad enough, the action isn't active enough, the peril isn't perilous enough, and the jokes just aren't funny enough.
Video:
"The New Maverick" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Colors are decent and there's not as much grain as we normally see in 1970s TV shows, which means somebody thought this had enough of a chance of success to use quality film stock. With just a slight graininess throughout and natural-looking colors, the video is in better shape than the script. It's mostly in color, with a brief black-and-white montage from the old show clumsily inserted.
Audio:
Nothing special here--just a Dolby Digital Mono. There's a little scratchiness to the sound, and the music is intercut at a louder volume, but otherwise it's a functional soundtrack that doesn't draw attention to itself.
Extras:
There are no extras.
Bottom Line:
I can't say that a failed TV pilot has no business being marketed on DVD, because a lot of pilots failed because of factors totally unrelated to their content . . . or else the cigar-chomping studio brass just didn't "get it." As a matter of fact, I'd love it if someone came out with the John Astin Western comedy "Evil Roy Slade," which was also a failed pilot. But "The New Maverick" just doesn't cut it . . . no matter what deck you're using.
It's a strictly by-the-numbers Western that smacks of TV, stretched thin as cattle on a long drive. The bad guys aren't bad enough, the action isn't active enough, the peril isn't perilous enough, and the jokes just aren't funny enough.
Video:
"The New Maverick" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Colors are decent and there's not as much grain as we normally see in 1970s TV shows, which means somebody thought this had enough of a chance of success to use quality film stock. With just a slight graininess throughout and natural-looking colors, the video is in better shape than the script. It's mostly in color, with a brief black-and-white montage from the old show clumsily inserted.
Audio:
Nothing special here--just a Dolby Digital Mono. There's a little scratchiness to the sound, and the music is intercut at a louder volume, but otherwise it's a functional soundtrack that doesn't draw attention to itself.
Extras:
There are no extras.
Bottom Line:
I can't say that a failed TV pilot has no business being marketed on DVD, because a lot of pilots failed because of factors totally unrelated to their content . . . or else the cigar-chomping studio brass just didn't "get it." As a matter of fact, I'd love it if someone came out with the John Astin Western comedy "Evil Roy Slade," which was also a failed pilot. But "The New Maverick" just doesn't cut it . . . no matter what deck you're using.
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[release]23796[/release]