Not Rated

Running Time: 523 minutes

Starring: James Arness, Milburn Stone, Dennis Weaver, Amanda Blake

Studio: Paramount

Retail Price: $34.99

Features: Sponsor Spots

Specs: 1.33:1 Full Screen, English Mono, English Closed Captions, Episode Selections, Chapters (6 Chapters per episode), Three-Disc Set

Released: May 26th, 2009

"Gunsmoke" has definitely seen better days. This second volume of the third season has its fare share of dirt, scratches and blemishes. The episodes are very grainy, too. Given the age of the series though, it's to be expected. Still, there is some noise that distracts. On the positive side though, detail looks pretty good. These are fine to watch if you go in with the right expectations, but it doesn't mean the flaws aren't annoying at times. 

The English Mono tracks don't amount to much either. Everything can be heard — the galloping of horses and birds chirping outside, the music and the dialogue — and it is rather audible and clean. But this is mono, as the show was presented, so of course everything is pretty limited. For what its worth through, fidelity is pretty good. In all, expectations for these tracks are met. 

English closed captions are available through your television. 

"Gunsmoke" fans will probably want to continune building their collections, but for more casual fans of the series, there is not much here to warrant a purchase. The sponsor spots are fun if short, but the episode presentations don't offer much. For die-hard fans of the series only.