The '70s Dimension

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Fantastic collection of old commercials + cool arty shorts, 2007-12-27
Not all the commercials are from the 1970's (Crisco ad looks like it was from the early 60's), but it's a fun watch for (with the exception of 1 or 2 commercials, i.e. the VD commercial) the whole family. It's amazing what psychology was used to sell products in the pre-cynical age from which these ads were culled. I bought this as a gift for somebody else, but after having viewed it, I may have to buy it for myself. The 3 short films, especially "Thine Inward-Looking Eyes", are genius, weirdly-juxtaposed clips that are extremely entertaining.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

You had to be there. If you weren't, approach with caution, 2006-06-24
Filmmakers Matt McCormick and Morgan Currie should have returned to the dumpster behind that Portland, Oregon television station where they found this collection to see if the station dumped more material from LATER in the 70's as well. A better titling here would have been The Early 70s Dimension. br / br /This collection, fascinating as it is, appears to date mostly from about 1973. The 70's really weren't the 70's until at LEAST 1976 or so. From then on, the Me Decade was in full swing, and the television commercials started to show a little more pizzaz than those on display here. br / br /What IS here is not without interest, but there's just something dull about that 'tween era that fell between the 60's and mid 70's, and these spots--67 in total--reflect that conservative, suburban blandness that hadn't yet been changed by the fallout from watergate, the oil crisis, disco, the American bicentennial and so on. To the untrained ear, it sounds like every single one of these commercials that features a narrator uses the SAME narrator. Well, we do get to hear Ernie Anderson on one lonely ABC promo spot for Starsky and Hutch. br / br /Others here have done an decent overview of the types of commercials included in the set. In addition are six short, avant garde films that utilize additional advertising and PSA footage not found in the collection. These run the gamut from pretentious to pretentious, and, not unexpectedly, don't really say much about an era for which there just isn't much to say in the first place. Of most interest is Damon Packard's "Toast 'ems" which features plentiful snippets of his oafy pal Sage Stallone (Sly's kid) goofing around in front of the camera (guess this is the best work he could land post-Daylight). These are the kind of films that, at best, play underground film fests or are part of "installations" in art galleries, and as such, those not so attuned might find them monotonous. br / br /Overall, this is recommended largely for anyone who lived through the era (I did, but I was only 4 in 1973, so most of this stuff had little impact then, less now). The quality of the clips is generally quite good considering their age, but you just keep hoping that eventually they'll make their way to 1976, 1977, 1978, and so on. There's just so much more to the 70's Dimension once you enter the second half of the decade. One only wishes that Portland station had thrown out more stuff than they did, or that McCormick and Currie had chosen to go dumpster-diving on a different day.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Another Gem Overlooked by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts, 2006-03-30
The "70s Remix" part of this DVD gets my vote for 'Best' Picture of the year. "Thine Inward Looking Eyes" invokes suspense, humor, pathos and satisfaction without a hint of dialogue. The cleverly-edited short subjects, such as "Mark Roth" and "Toastem Pop-Ups" display more creative versatility than "Walk the Line," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crash" put together. For those of us who appreciate film as art, "The 70s Dimension" delivers, in a spectrum of browns, ochres and avocado greens, a delightful and refreshing retrospective of a doubleknit polyester plaid jacket culture where merchandise could be purchased with cigarette pack coupons; where your "good shape" ensures your status as a "mind sticker".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Needs a sequel!, 2006-01-31
First of all, this is an excellent quality DVD, considering these commercials were scavenged from a dumpster at Portland's ABC affiliate. But over 90% of these appear to be from 1971-1973. The ABC fall announcement of Starsky and Hutch and Charlie's Angel's advertising the Schick Speed Styler appear to be from about 1976, and several others such as Crisco shortening, the Color Crossfire Antena, and Jacobsen Lawn Mower appear to be from the mid-1960's. Nice selection for sure, but too Nixon era, before the bicentenial and disco. These were my favorites: br / br /1. Old Gold cigarettes. For "independent people". Probably a way to justify the reason the cigarette was never popular to begin with. br / br /2. LM cigarettes. The ultimate relaxation cigarette. The people on the commercial all look too old, healthy, or thoroughly clean and decent to be smokers. br / br /3. The one with a 50-something woman advertising window treatments. The commercial itself is not that interesting, but the woman's bright red suit, half-horn glasses, and teased hair are downright scary. Looked like a 70's elementary school teacher, the disciplinarian you were scared of. br / br /4. The military ones advertising the Marine reserves guaranteeing you a beautiful girl, expensive sports car, and good life, and the Air Force catering itself to females more than any other branch (which I agree). br / br /4. The two at the begining and end of the DVD justifying hot dogs as wholesome and nutritious because each weiner has 10% of your daily protein needs and they're USDA inspected by professionals br / br /5. The famous "Keep America Beautiful" one. The stoic Indian looking into the camera and shedding a single glycerin tear scared me when I was little and seemed so out of character. br / br /Anyway, if the filmmakers could take commercials from about 1975 to 1980, it would be wonderful. Hopefully they read this review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Ah the 70's!, 2005-09-12
Finally somebody is not only wise enough, but has the resources (meaning the actual footage) to release this cannon of 70's commercials and PSA's. This is by no means the authoratative history of television commercials in the 1970's, but it is a really good start. It's really great how the producers of this disc separated the commercials into general categories (appliances, furniture, health beauty, etc.) to select from on the DVD menu. There are many random and insignificant commercials and PSA's scattered among many classic ones as well (such as the anti-littering campaign with the crying indian). I think my favorite things were the network broadcast logos and such for ABC, sports, after-school specials, etc. The sounds and visuals really brought back childhood memories. The only drag in my opinion is the fact that in the notes it says that they uncovered hours and hours of footage, however only a mere smattering is available here. One would hope that they would release additional volumes. However, I also get the idea that perhaps this was the best of what they found. And while there is plenty of good stuff here, the fact that there are some things here that aren't so good, makes me think that everything remotely good is on this disc. That being said, I would still love to see the rest. The additional elements on the disc are some "art films" edited together from random commercials that I don't believe appear anywhere on this disc. These are interesting but probably too bizarre for most of the general public. I'm sure the people that made them had fun though. Bottom line, not a flawless collection, but the best one I've ever seen. Enjoy. br / br /