From Amvest to Passport.

 Hello, it has been a while, well I thought I would pose an interesting theory,
       According to articles I've read, Passport Video a DVD company who released public domain (and non public domain, more on that later) centered documentaries on celebrities like The Marx Brothers, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, and was based out of North Hollywood, California, started, roughly, in 1989, shortly after the fall of Amvest Video, a fly-by-night organization that was created merely to distribute low-budget and low quality VHS tapes of cartoons, comedies, and documentaries and also at the same time avoid legal troubles as the founders were hot off of a lawsuit from Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. for infringing upon his creations "Alvin and the Chipmunks" as Amvest was founded as Audiofidelity records and they released a rather notorious knockoff of the Chipmunks entitled "The Happy Hamsters Sing Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits", with the main "Happy Hamster" used as the mascot for Amvest's "Kid Pics" VHS line.
       Amvest had a history of legal issues itself as, they released unlicensed and unauthorized sets of Disney cartoons under the aforementioned "Kid Pics" label and to add insult to injury, they had a rather sickening and perverted "Fan Club" that made promises that were not kept and gave out the "Fan's" (in this case a young child) information to a shady beauty pageant and cashed in on exploiting young children for financial gain.
       Amvest's legal troubles caught up with them and they went bankrupt in or around 1989. That same year, Passport Video was formed and  it doesn't help matters that producer and wife beater (lookit up) Dante J. Pugliese whose name appears in several Amvest productions, was also owner and executive producer of Passport, also, many titles originally distributed on VHS by Amvest were released on DVD by Passport (i.e. Grampa's Silly Scaries, Grampa's Monster Movies) and artwork from Amvest releases were later reused for Passport releases (100 Years of Comedy used for its cover art a painting of Laurel & Hardy used for an Amvest Video pack).
       I know it may seem like a coincidence , but as I learn more about Passport, the more its coming full circle that Amvest became Passport as the same heavy handed copyright infringement happened there (Passport was sued by the Elvis Presley estate for their "Definitive Elvis" set).

METROPOLIS - Various Madacy editions

These are various releases of Fritz Lang's seminal classic Metropolis from former music maven Madacy. Photos from ebay.

Hollywood Gold - Excelsior Edition

Hollywood Classics - Science Fiction Collection 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hollywood Classics - Collector's Edition

Second Hollywood Classics edition

Science Fiction - 10 VHS set.

Science Fiction set #2

Science Fiction set #3

METROPOLIS - 1998 Madacy (Hollywood Classics) Edition

The following are screenshots from one of the first DVDs of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, from Madacy Entertainment from 1998, It wasn't much but it was better than nothing, the music was ill fitting and could the film be any more off center, and what really baffles me is that Madacy repackaged this version more times than I can count, the print is derived from a 16mm reduction print from Thunderbird films, that is decent enough for low quality VHS but not good enough for high quality DVD. I usually don't cover DVDs, but I felt this one was worth mentioning since, again, it is one of a handful of Metropolis from Madacy, other variants found in next entry.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS - Woodhaven Entertainment (1999)

                               I close out Gulliver week with this interesting tape from Woodhaven Entertainment, I have three more tapes of Gulliver in my collection, however they are mostly the same transfers as discussed before, and I don't want this week getting boring. This VHS version of the film is mastered from a fair to good 35mm sharp film print, there is a problem with this print though as in the scene in which King Little calls upon the guards to kill Gulliver the picture drops out suddenly and then something weird happens, the screen goes bright red for one to two minutes then drops outat which point we join the film back in progress. I call reel change. The packaging looks, for a lack of a better term "Ghetto", Gulliver looks like he's wearing a leotard and his face looks like it just got ran over, it boggles my mind how anybody saw this artwork as sellable, it reminds me of those old, early 80's Transatlantic covers, gosh how terrible those were. Behold my friends, some of the worst VHS cover art of all time!!! At least this tape is in SP mode, its one saving grace.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS - Burbank Video (1993)

                           Finally a Gulliver tape that is NOT in EP mode. This Burbank/Video Treasures edition is quite good. It opens with a "Adjust Tracking" warning, but why it isn't in EP mode? The transfer used is the same 16mm second generation transfer used on the last two tapes I've done entries on. Not much to say about this tape, although I do like the packaging, I've heard from people that these companies put more effort and money into the packaging than the tapes themselves, ha, if that is the case than the first two tapes covered as part of Gulliver week are the cheapest and laziest editions out there.
                          One more entry to closeout Gulliver week tomorrow, and then it's onto "Madacy Week" where I discuss an ultra cool and ultra rare sci-fi box set I got at the Goodwill for only $4.00. Enjoy.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS - Metacom Video (1994)

                    Here is another Gulliver edition, this time from Metacom Video for their Family Adventure Theatre line, this is one of the worst Gulliver covers ever, but at least it uses an honest image on the cover of the bad quality you are getting, so brace yourself. The transfer is pretty much the same one used by Diamond Entertainment, which was discussed in the previous entry. And yet again the tape is duplicated in the much loved EP mode. Other than that there is not much to say about this edition.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS - Diamond Entertainment Corporation (1990)

                  Gulliver week continues with this tape from Diamond Entertainment Corporation, the cover is surprising as it actually credits Paramount Pictures, which most of these companies tended not to do, instead they slapped their name on it and fooled people into thinking that they made it. The cover also boasts the wonderful original poster art from 1939 and includes a 16mm first generation transfer of the original theatrical trailer at the end of the feature. The feature itself is also a decent transfer, I'm supposing of 16mm elements as well. The downside about this and many tapes of the era is that it is yet again duplicated in low quality EP mode, with massive amounts of color bleed throughout. I think it is rather disrespectful to present the film in such piss-poor quality, as it detracts from the enjoyment of an otherwise full color, and breathtaking animated feature. The description on the back cover is also a fun read and the image on the back cover must be a publicity still of some sort, where DEC may have gotten such a thing is unknown to me, but it is beautiful nonetheless.