flapdoodle64 Considering the cultural milieu in which this show was produced and the budgetary and technological limitations involved, this is probably the 2nd greatest not-for-laughs super-hero TV program ever produced, second only to George Reeves' Superman program.(It is superior to Reeves in terms of production values.) Although mostly formulaic, the stories were tightly plotted and disciplined, delivering good super-hero type action with a little drama, and with every episode having at least some kind of hook or gimmick to add to the fun.There are occasional quips or smart remarks, but the show was played completely straight and the Hornet and Kato were never made to look silly or ridiculous. In fact, Our Heroes actually looked cooler than most traditional superheroes in their masks and business clothes, since tights do not translate well onto the screen.Every episode had at least 1 fight scene, many having 2 or more fights, and many of the fight scenes were truly excellent when compared with other shows of this period. Often the fights involve multiple foes and transpire in warehouses, with the Hornet's hat miraculously staying on throughout the fight...these things played out like the wonderful fight scenes in old Republic movie serials, where the stunt-men kept their hats on by means of spirit gum.Speaking of the fights, every episode features Bruce Lee doing some great martial arts moves, and usually you can hear him yelling as he delivers the blow, to great effect, I might add.Generally, the cast was competent to excellent, with Van Williams being an acceptable Britt Ried but a most excellent and badass Green Hornet...he definitely seems to get into his role of intimidating criminals, which is great fun to watch.Bruce Lee's acting skills were probably not fully developed at this time, nonetheless, his Kato is good enough and he had a good screen presence.Those who like their heroes to display a lot of angst and conflicted emotions, who like extended shots of characters staring off into nothingness with vague expressions upon their faces, perhaps with cloying music rising in the background, such as can be seen on more modern television shows, will not like the GH. Emotions are underplayed on this show. It is a matter of some debate as to why a show this well-produced was a ratings failure and only lasted 1 season. I blame it on 3 things: 1. This show was broadcast opposite 'The Wild, Wild, West' which had premiered 2 years earlier and was a fantastically HUGE hit with young males, the exact demographic GH's producers sought. Opposite WWW, GH never had a chance for good ratings.2. For some reason, this show has a cheap-looking opening credits sequence, with a kind of slide show presentation and the corny voice of Batman announcer (and GH executive producer Bill Dozier) narrating the whole thing. I think viewers might have seen the credits and thought they were in for another Batman...and Batman was already losing viewers when GH premiered in 1967.3. At 1/2 hour per show, there was not enough time to develop villains into really baroque pulp-fiction type characters, such as on Wild, Wild West, nor was there time to develop the Hornet's relationship with his buddy Kato or his sexy secretary Miss Case, nor was there time to have more complex plots. Improvement along any of these lines would have made the show more successful.But taken as it is, as a half hour of straightforward, honest, non-camp superhero fun, satisfying our need for tough yet fair heroes, the Green Hornet stands alone as a gleaming artifact, sufficient in itself, tantalizing for what it could have been.

DICK STEEL No, there wasn't any movie made of the Green Hornet, rather, this DVD is a combination of 3 of the television episodes put together. There wasn't any attempt to splice the movie into one long narrative, nor come up with original material like its sibling Batman series (also executive produced by William Dozier).Created by George Trendle, the story of the Green Hornet is similar to many other masked vigilantes created before, like Batman (very similar, with their characters wealthy background and the use of a sidekick), the Shadow, and The Lone Ranger. And who can forget that hypnotic and iconic theme song with its blaring trumpets and similarity to the flight of the bumblebee? Van Williams stars as the Green Hornet, aka Britt Reid, a wealthy man who runs the Sentinel newspaper as well as a television station. Like all rich folks with plenty of money and a deep sense of justice, he investigates crime as his alter ego, the Green Hornet, with his green mask, black hat, and the Hornet's sting, aside from his gun. Naturally, he has a sidekick known as Kato, kung-fu master extraordinaire, played by none other than the best in the business Bruce Lee.Of course the action sequences all belong to Lee, with his exhibition of martial arts. The Hornet himself fights with the usual fist-only punches like a boxer, but with Kato, the action is spiced up. And that is basically the appeal of The Green Hornet.In this DVD, the three stories are forgettable - the first deals with a club whose members develop their own agenda to rid crime, the second has aliens who want to take over and detonate a H-bomb, while the last deals with Chinese Triads. While the stories might seem ordinary, you'd still glued to the screen just to watch Lee in action.And if it's action you want, then it's action you'll get. Instead of sitting through the stories to glimpse the action, this Code 3 DVD has a "fight" menu for you to zoom in on the action sequences only. It's a pity though that there's no preview or description to describe what you're about to see.Also included in this DVD is a set of photo gallery, as well as a documentary of the Green Hornet's transport - the Black Beauty, as built by Dean Jefferies using a Chrysler Imperial.

rcj5365 "The Green Hornet" first started his long crime-fighting career-and remains to this day-an urban variation of the Western cowboy hero The Lone Ranger. In fact,the popular version of the "Green Hornet",a vigilante superhero,was first imagined by Lone Ranger originator George W. Trindle,and writer Fran Striker in the late 1930's,first appearing on radio,and later on during the 1940's made the transition from radio to theaters with two low budget but very popular multi-part serials which starred Gordon Jones as the heroic Britt Reid and Keye Luke as his ever devoted sidekick Kato. "The Green Hornet" being so very popular in the movies and on the radio made the leap into the comics too. Over the years the character has appeared in comic books series from publishers Holyoke to Harvey Comics,Dell Comics,and finally to coincide with the Gold Key in the 1960's,as part of the TV series,and most recently in DC Comics. As part of the story of The Green Hornet is concerned,the story genealogically speaking,was a man who was bent on fighting for justice and triumphs over the forces of evil. In fact,The Green Hornet,Daily Sentinal owner and millionaire Britt Reid,was the grand-nephew of John Reid,The Lone Ranger. More to the point,Britt modeled his life on his famous ancestor,right down to his life's mission,choice of sidekick and job-related gear. Instead of an Native American sidekick(Tonto),Britt Reid worked with another "ethnic" outsider,the Asian adversary and humble servant and sidekick Kato. Instead of a great white steed named Silver,Britt chased down criminals in a rolling black arsenal called The Black Beauty. Both heroes fought their criminals with masks and hats,to hide their secret identities. The Green Hornet's main nemesis was the mob and corruption,rather than rustlers,nefarious cowboys and Indians,but if you think about it his dedication to fighting crime was about the same as his grand-uncle's in which the setting was the mean streets of the big city instead of the wild west.Despite these variations,especially during the mid-1960's that "The Green Hornet" continued onward in popularity in the new format of the series created by William Dozier,who was executive producer of this series under his company Greenway Productions and produced through Twentieth Century-Fox Television. In the spring of 1966,after the runaway success of "Batman",every major television network at the time was looking to repeat the success of the Adam West-Burt Ward series which was a huge hit for ABC. Usually with the other silly or campy which consisted of shows like "Captain Nice and Mister Terrific",or for that manner the spy genre of "Get Smart",and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", Dozier was behind the brains of adapting "The Green Hornet" for television,though he also had the rights to create other projects for television,DC's Wonder Woman(which wasn't produced until the 1970's),and Dick Tracy. The TV series starred Van Williams as Britt Reid,and Bruce Lee as his loyal companion and fierce sidekick Kato. For the most part,the series was more serious than Dozier's "Batman",since most of the attention went toward Bruce Lee,who would go on to become one of the greatest International action stars of all time,due to this series. But the real star of "The Green Hornet" was a customized 1966 black Chrysler Imperial. As far as the villains were concerned,this was a show that did not have freaks who wore outrageous outfits,but some of the villains on the show were either counterfeiters,bootleggers,thieves, corrupt politicians,drug runners,crooked cops,and arsonists. For the most part this was basically your average "crime drama" with a kick. As far as the action were concern,the fight scenes were often brutal with Bruce Lee showing some of his breathtaking martial arts action,which was the best part of the entire show. The series also starred Wende Wagner,Lloyd Gough and Walter Brooke. Only 26 episodes were produced for ABC-TV which ran for one season from its premiere episode on September 9, 1966 and ended on March 17,1967. The show was on Friday nights and had some stiff competition against the fantastically inventive and popular,"The Wild,Wild West"(CBS,1965-1969), and also against the Ron Ely series "Tarzan"(NBC,1966-1969). It was preceded by the Irwin Allen action/science fiction series "The Time Tunnel"(ABC,1966-1967). In order to save the show and boost ratings,the two superheroes met on an "Batman" episode titled "A Piece Of The Action"(3/1/67),and its continuation "Batman's Satisfaction"(3/2/67)where The Green Hornet and Batman(along with Robin and Kato)take on a diabolical villain played by Roger C. Carmel. As the result of low-ratings,The Green Hornet was cancelled by ABC after just one season,but with the episodes it was rarely run or rarely seen in its original form in syndication,which is still rarely seen today but can be seen again through the advanced technology of video and DVD. Shortly after the demise of the series,the success of Bruce Lee proved phenomenal beyond belief. After his death in 1973,he was still quite popular,and a compilation film consisting of Green Hornet episodes was released here in the states to great acclaim. The films were released between 1973 and 1976. The second Green Hornet film called "Fury Of The Dragon",released in 1976 was a smash hit with audiences.In recent years,there has been talk of bringing the adventures of The Green Hornet to the big screen,and there is a feature film in the works directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Mewes as Britt Reid and Jet Li as Kato.

Brian Washington You often wonder why this show only was on for one season and how Batman outlived it. This has to be one of the best superhero shows to ever be shown on television and the thing that made it work was that it didn't rely on camp or the crazy quilt of villains that Batman did. Instead, it pretty much was, more or less, a straight crime drama with very little frills unlike other similarly themed shows that were on the air at the same time. Also, Van Williams and Bruce Lee showed that you can have good acting in a superhero show. Too bad that this show never really was given a chance to catch on. If given the time it deserved, it probably would have outlived Batman.