Dick Tracy: RKO Pictures Collection (1945-47) VCI Entertainment 4k Restoration Blu-ray Review

When you think Dick Tracy most might think the comic strip or in this generation some may think of the colorful Warren Beatty film adaptions. But in the 1940s RKO acquired the rights to the amazing detective's adventures from creator Chester Gould all with the purpose to bring them to life of the big screen.

The four RKO Dick Tracy adventures fell into the public domain. But the copies you will find online or on DVD are less than stellar. Well, no more VCI Entertainment have restored all four of these films in 4K and have released them on Blu-ray!

Our Rating System:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend an evening.
*=You haven’t missed anything.

DICK TRACY DETECTIVE (1945) Tracy, in his inimitable fashion, brings to justice a psychotic, scar-faced, thug known as ''splitface'' who has been busy bumping off the members of a jury that once convicted him. After many intriguing and suspenseful situations, the criminal is tracked down by the master detective, Tracy, and his faithful side kick, Pat Patton. ***

DICK TRACY vs CUEBALL (1946) A braided cord is his only clue as Tracy searches desperately for a gang of jewel thieves. Following a trail of murder, violence and robbery, Tracy tracks down the bald-headed leader known as 'CueBall', who has a penchant for strangling his victims. ***

DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA (1947) Tracy must track down a murdering fiend called 'The Claw'. The tension builds to a shocking climax as Tracy solves one of his most difficult cases ever. ***

DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME (1947) Violence and armed conflict provides the background. Boris Karloff is great as the criminal, Gruesome, who can hold people in suspended animation with his nerve gas. ***

RKO’s four Dick Tracy films do a great job of bringing Chester Gould's characters to life. And while his characters are colorful, I think using the gritty darkness of the film noir brings a realism to these comic strip characters.

RKO produced these four films and the first two films star Morgan Conway as the iconic detective Dick Tracy. Than for the last two film Ralph Byrd returns to the role of Dick Tracy. Many may already know that he starred in four Dick Tracy serials at Republic and the Dick Tracy 50s TV series.

VCI Entertainment have restored these four films in 4K and transferred them to Blu-ray. The Conway films get there own disc, while the Byrd films get there own Blu-ray disc as well! They are presented in 1080p in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The audio is an English LPCM Audio 2.0. There is also the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

I have a DVD set of these four films and I compared them to this new restored version on Blu-ray! The quality of these new restorations hard to believe. It is almost miraculous how great these look in comparison to the public domain versions. The black and white noir picture is crisp, clean and sharp. Where the DVDs are are dull and filled with dirt and debris. The audio is crystal clear with no hiss or pops, where the DVDs have a lot of audio hiss.

It is so nice to see these RKO Dick Tracy films get restored and look as amazing as they do! Sometime when these when these films fall into the public domain they are just forgotten in time. I am glad VCI Entertainment rescued them from public domain trash and have given them a Blu-ray release they so richly deserve. VCI Entertainment added some really cool bonus features to this Blu-ray set as well. Take a look at what is included!

* Film Introductions for each film by Max Allan Collins (the man who took over the Dick Tracy comic strip after creator Chester Gould retired)
* Dick Tracy RKO Lobby cards and photo gallery
* 2 Dick Tracy Detective Commentaries #1 by Max Collins #2 by Jason Ney
* 2 Dick Tracy vs. Cueball Commentaries #1 by Max Collins #2 by Bernard M. Prokop, Associate Professor of English/Film Series Spon
* 2 Dick Tracy's Dilemma Commentaries #1 by Max Collins #2 by Toby Roan
* 2 Dick Tracy meets Gruesome Commentaries #1 by Max Collins #2 by Toby Roan
* Chapter 1 of the serials, Dick Tracy and Dick Tracy vs Crime
* 12-Page Collectible booklet: "Gruesome by Name: When Karloff met Dick Tracy" by Stephen Jacobs

An absolute gorgeous restoration of these four films is enough to makes this a must own. But when you put film intros by Max Collins, tons of audio commentaries with great information, a phono gallery and a booklet. VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual really went above and beyond. I could not be more excited about this release. It is so awesome to be able to put this amazing set next to the Warren Beatty film in my collection!

If you love classic RKO films or are a fans of Dick Tracy this new Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual is an absolute must own for your classic movie collection. Head over to Amazon or MVD Shop and order your copy today.