Product Description

Marshal Matt Dillon is responsible for keeping the law and respectability in Dodge City in this western action-drama. Gunsmoke captured the courage, character and spirit of the Western Frontier.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19048 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
• Released on: 2008-05-27
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 480 minutes

Amazon.com
Dodge City has a bad reputation. It’s "the wickedest, cruelest town in Kansas," some Wichita yokel notes in the episode, "Sweet and Sour." "No decent man could stand it more than a day." Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) is a decent man, but he’s got a reputation, too. Residents know not to mess with him. When he tells one alcohol-fueled miscreant to give up his gun in the episode, "Chester’s Murder," the man instantly complies, "Sure, I ain’t that drunk." But it’s not just his marksmanship that distinguishes Dillon. When a former Army officer shows up in Dodge angling for Dillon’s job in "The Man Who Would Be Marshal," Dillon demonstrates his keen grasp of human nature. Rather than arrest a rowdy sodbuster, he allows him to "blow off steam," explaining, "That’s his way of reminding himself he’s a man." But the psychological toll of the dark and bloody side of Dillon’s job is the focus of "Bloody Hands," one of the best episodes in this collection of season-concluding episodes. Dillon kills three bank robbers. It's self-defense, but that doesn’t stop the nightmares, and he resigns. It’s up to his trusty sidekick, Chester (Dennis Weaver) to appeal to his sense of justice. The bad guys, he pleads, "gotta be stopped, and that’s all." And stop 'em Dillon does in his own inimitable style. After punching one man, his friends complain, "You hit him with your fist. We don’t like it." Dillon coolly replies, "How do you know? You haven’t tried it yet" As another bad man remarks in "Cheap Labor," "That ain’t no way for a lawman to talk." Dillon still has a little to learn about women. In "Sweet and Sour," he insists that Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake), who becomes the co-owner of the Longbranch saloon, hire Rena, a pretty newcomer to town. "A pretty face will throw you any time," Kitty cautions. "Her kind spells nothing but trouble." Sure enough, four men are dead after Rena instigates fights over her. Gunsmoke set a new standard for the television western. Dillon is occasionally wrong, innocent people are killed, and not all episodes end with justice served or the expected happy ending. In one episode, a photographer (Sebastian "Mr. French" Cabot) sets up his camera in Dodge City. "It’s authenticity I’m after," he insists. In these half-hour black and white episodes, Gunsmoke achieved it. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Gunsmoke Season 2 Vol @
This is classic TV at its best. The transfers are beautiful, the sound is excellent and show, what can I say. This is television the way it was meant to be. I only hope they continue to produce this series until the end. I see so many vintage TV shows start off only to be pulled after one or two seasons. I for one will continue to buy these releases regardless of cost of how they are split up. Lets face it, the studios do not have to release these wonderful shows on DVD. It is just a little extra cash for them. So they can pull the plug anytime they wish. So fans, lets keep supporting the release of this and other great TV from the 50's and 60's.

It Keeps Getting Better
This show keeps getting better. I now have the complete set for season two and although I am not happy about the pricing, I refuse to protest the business practices of the company that packaged the best drama/adventure series ever created.
This season continues to depict the dark side of human nature and the unpredictability of life in the most honest manner I have ever seen on television. Matt Dillon, Chester Goode, Kitty Russell, and Doc Adams form a tight circle of friendship and battle against those who refuse to obey the laws of Dodge and not adhere to basic laws of decency. The brutality and depravity of human nature is on full display. Many of the episodes do not contain the traditional "feel good" endings, which I like because I think it adds to the shows intensity. Most importantly, Marshall Dillon, who is portrayed as a larger then life character, also exhibits weaknesses, doubts, and emotions like all of us. He is not perfect but you know he is doing his best to perform the almost impossible task of trying to maintain law and order on the wild frontier.

Season 2 climbed in the TV ratings to number 8. James Arness was nominated for Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series. This series is the best TV show I own and I thoroughly enjoy watching it with my kids. My biggest problem is that my 13 year old son and 11 year old daughter want to watch all the episodes right away. I need to limit the viewing so that we can get at least a months worth of enjoyment out of it.

If you don't like paying the high price for half a season, you can wait until season 3 arrives because like other companies, I think eventually they will package season 2 Vol 1 and Vol 2 into one set and reduce the price to around $[...]. This is what other companies are doing. The risk you run is not having the set available because it is sold out. My final recommendation: Buy it, buy it, buy it.

Rejoice! At least we have them on DVD!
I have to say I am happy to see another season volume of Gunsmoke being released on DVD. Yes, I agree with almost everyone: I wish that the studios would release these in complete season sets instead of vol. 1 and vol. 2 but I also think that we should be grateful to have these in complete seasons at all.

Gunsmoke is a great show that keeps you entertained for hours on end. I like to see the old shows where there is still right and wrong.

My only gripe with this set is that it is only a half of a season. If the studio has to release the series like this, why can't they release several sets at a time. At this rate, I probably won't get to see all of the seasons until I am retired! (And I'm not even out of college yet!)

Due to our economy right now, prices on everything are going up. I think the studios are trying to make everything they can off the fans of the old TV shows. It's true I don't like paying the price of 2 seasons for 1 but in the end, if you think about it, it is still a pretty reasonable price to pay for so many hours of wonderful, quality entertainment. I, for one, will buy the season volumes as long as they come out. Thanks Paramount and everyone else involved for at least making the show available to us fans.