The High Chaparral

Where can I get DVD's of this great show?

     While The High Chaparral has still not been released in the U.S., because of differences in patent requirements, they have been released in The Netherlands and Germany.

Your best option so far:

      Season One and Season Two have been released in beautiful re-mastered digital quality from ART-S Netherlands in region-free PAL format.  This is the version I have viewed and it is visually stunning, has great audio quality, and is uncut as far as I can tell.  To order these go to the Reunion Merchandise site.  They will play on most, but not all, U.S. players.  We hope if sales go well they will continue with the release of Season Three and Season Four.     

Another option:

      A German Company released all four seasons a couple years ago.  I have not viewed these, but have heard that there is more difficulty with compatibility with U.S. players than with the Netherlands set.  If your player plays them I understand they are also of high quality.

Don't even think about it:

       There have always been bootleg sets available on the internet that you can find for bargain prices.  Some of them even look semi-official, but there has still not been a legitimate release in the U.S.  What does that matter, you ask?  It means that not only are these copies illegal, but quality is notoriously poor.  These copies were nearly always recorded off live television which means most of them are edited down from their original length.  Sometimes whole scenes are missing.  Hallmark Channel, which used to run High Chaparral, had a couple episodes they refused to air, so those are hard to find in anything but much older, poorer quality recordings.  Save your money and get the actual, high-quality episodes the way they were originally intended to be seen. 

Still hoping . . . .

      Of course, we are all still looking forward to the day a complete re-mastered set becomes available in the U.S., but in the meantime at least we have some better options than we used to.
 

A note on VHS tapes . . .

       You may run across old copies of two episodes that were made available commercially on video tape years ago.  One is the double episode called "New Lion of Sonora", which is frequently available on auction sites or through other video outlets in its original commercial packaging.  The second, "Shadow of the Wind" is seen less often.  It is a black and white version of questionable origin that was part of a 7-pack of old television Westerns sold some years ago at Costco and elsewhere.  You can see a photo of the full set below, but it may end up on auction sites alone or with the set.  The one from The High Chaparral is last in the set with Leif Erickson's picture at the top.  The other tapes are for other television Westerns, all in black and white regardless of whether or not they were originally shot in color.  

 

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