Mr. Moto Collection, Vol. 1 (Mr. Moto Takes A Chance / Mysterious Mr. Moto / Thank You Mr. Moto / Think Fast Mr. Moto) (4DVD)
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DVD details
Actor: Peter LorreBrand: Twentieth Century Fox
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Mr. Moto Collection, Vol. 1 (Mr. Moto Takes A Chance / Mysterious Mr. Moto / Thank You Mr. Moto / Think Fast Mr. Moto) (4DVD)
DVD Review: Essential for Lorre and early film noir fans
Summary: 5 Stars
The set (and its successor) are absolutely essential to all fans of 1930s early film noir and of Peter Lorre in particular.
For Lorre, this series, paired with Hitchcock's first (1934) "Man Who Knew Too Much," are the critical bridge from the child-murderer Beckert of Lang's "M" to Ugarte of "Casablanca" and Joel Cairo ("Maltese Falcon"). This is an actor supremely superior to his vehicle. The plots,
characters, effects, etc. of "Moto" are pretty much thin, silly
cardboard, with pacing so rushed you'd think that someone was charging by the frame. But above it all is Moto (Lorre), who watches, silky and silent, and lets others - and the audience - guess as to his motives and actions. Even in the closings, when he reveals his identity and all is well, there's still a hint of menace in that self-deprecating smile and courtly courtesy; you believe that this man actually has killed people in the process. Some try to compare "Moto" with "Charlie Chan"; "Moto" is far superior and far more adult.
Technically, the DVDs are superior. The restorations are excellent and the special features are few but nicely done. Marquand's writing is solid (if a bit "modified" for film). The predicatable problems are all in Direction: film noir was still in its infancy, and American directors hadn't yet learned to slow down and let the evil smile at us for a bit. Oriental stereotyping is still fairly evident, but less so than for
similar films (e.g., "Chan").
All told, an essential addition for all 1930s film and Peter Lorre lovers.
DVD Review: MOTO CLASSICS!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's great to finally have the Moto films out. They look great with interesting extras. No complaints.DVD Review: Just as I remembered
Summary: 5 Stars
As a teen I would stay up and watch the late night mystery movies that came on here and I enjoy them so much it didn't matter if I had seen it before. Mr. Moto was one of my favorites. This is in great condition and the quality is good highly recommend
LGW
DVD Review: International Man of Mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
In one of the documentaries that is a bonus feature to the Mr. Moto collections, the core difference between the two famous oriental detectives, Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, is set out plainly. Charlie Chan, a member of the Honolulu police department, is one of us. His speech patterns and aphorisms aside, he is an American who fights for the American ideals. Mr. Moto, on the other hand, is not. The Japanese detective works for an ill-defined "International Police" agency, and is a dangerous figure representing interests and ideals that are truly foreign. He is "the other", who does not work in the best interest of America, but only in the interests of justice.
To me, this is what makes Mr. Moto more compelling than Charlie Chan. Mr. Moto is not kind or sweet, and his intelligence is as deadly a weapon in his arsenal as his judo prowess. Unassuming and seemingly harmless, no matter what happens you can be assured that Mr. Moto has something up his sleeve and will always come out on top, even if he has to traipse over bodies to get there.
This "Mr. Moto Collection, vol 1", contains four of the eight Peter Lorre Mr. Moto films, released between 1937 and 1939. They are not in order, and this set has the first, second, fourth and fifth films. The remainder can be found on Mr. Moto Collection vol 2.
Think Fast Mr. Moto - The first film, directed by Norman Foster, sets the tone of the series, and is one of the best. Mr. Moto is a truly weird and dangerous character, who flings a man off a ship to his death without batting an eye. He battles an international smuggling operation out of Shanghai.
Thank You Mr. Moto - The second film, also by Foster, takes Mr. Moto to China in pursuit of a scroll painting that holds a secret map to the lost grave of Genghis Khan.
Mr. Moto Takes A Chance- The fourth film, again Foster, is a bit sillier as Mr. Moto goes on a jungle adventure in kingdom of Tong Moi in French Indochina. This one is pure pulp action of the kind that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was based on.
Mysterious Mr. Moto - The fifth film, and another Foster, gets Mr. Moto back into a familiar groove as he heads to London to confront an international League of Assassins.
The Mr. Moto film series are all b-movies, meaning that they were filmed using available sets from other movies in production at the time, and where cranked out at a steady pace. Like the James Bond film series, some are based on the original novels by John P. Marquand and some are stories created just for the film series. They catapulted Hungarian actor Peter Lorre from bit player to stardom. Although he feared the typecasting faced by Chan actor Warner Oland, this never happened and today Lorre is much better known for his roles in Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon than his humble roots as Japanese detective Kentaro Moto.
This is a fantastic collection of these almost-forgotten films. My only complaint is that, as each Mr. Moto film is quite short and rarely runs longer than an hour, there is no real need for four individual DVDs. They could have saved space by packaging them on two DVDs, in a double-disk container. It is nice having the original poster art for each disk, but the collection takes up way to much space on my shelf for the contents.
DVD Review: Mr. Moto-Vol. 01
Summary: 5 Stars
Fox, did a real good job on remastering these movies and If you like Mr. Moto, this is the set to buy.
Description of Mr. Moto Collection, Vol. 1 (Mr. Moto Takes A Chance / Mysterious Mr. Moto / Thank You Mr. Moto / Think Fast Mr. Moto) (4DVD)
Bonus Features: **Mr. Moto Wave 1 includes Mr. Moto Takes A Chance, Mysterious Mr. Moto, Thank You Mr. Moto and Think Fast, Mr. Moto.**All available for the first time on DVD plus The Mr. Moto Collection Volume One**
Episode Description: Disc 1: Mr. Moto Takes a Chance Disc 2: Mysterious Mr. Moto Disc 3: Thank You Mr. Moto Disc 4: Think Fast Mr. Moto
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