NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: VCI Blu-ray (April 2023): VCI have transferred Ford Beebe + Ray Taylor's The Green Hornet 1940 13-epsiode Serial to Blu-ray. VCI came out with this on DVD in 2009. It was generally regarded positively accessing the original 35mm film elements. There was another SD-transfer in 2016 by a 'Starry Night Publishing'. We have reviewed many serials at DVDBeaver including Flying Disc Man From Mars, Adventures of Captain Marvel, Jungle Girl, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Panther Girl of the Kongo, The Invisible Monster, Flash Gordon: Conquers the Universe...

I would say the image quality by comparison for The Green Hornet is in the middle. Olive Films produced a few serials on Blu-ray that were inconsistent - some excellent - some very pale. This 1080P The Green Hornet transfer - over two dual-layered discs seems a fair replication of the elements - with the second reel of Chapter 9 unable to be obtained from 35mm (see below.) No damage and the overall HD presentation was pleasing. 

NOTE: We have added 74 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, VCI use a linear PCM dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. The Green Hornet Serial has explosions and crashes often with stock footage and the depth is unremarkable. There is stock music credited to the likes of Hans J. Salter (Man in the Shadow, Man Without a Star, The Killer that Stalked New York, The Strange Door, Cover Up, Man Without a Star, Scarlet Street, The Land Unknown, The War Lord, The Mole People, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) - Frank Skinner (The Appaloosa, Madame X, Magnificent Obsession, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, All That Heaven Allows, Thunder Bay) - David Raksin (Night Tide, Forever Amber, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Day After, Separate Tables, Laura, Bigger Than Life, The Big Combo) - Franz Waxman (Bride of Frankenstein, Untamed, Rebecca, Dark Passage, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard etc.), and others sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the uncompressed transfer. VCI offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The VCI Blu-ray repeat the 2009 DVD supplements the with 8-minute "I Am the Green Hornet" by Clifford Weimar - an audio presentation focusing on the history of the serial's development. There are also the same two 1/2 hour Green Hornet Radio episodes; 1939's "The Parking Lot Racket" and 1940's "The Highway That Graft Wrote". There is also a trivia and photo gallery that runs shy of 7-minutes and the package has an 8-page liner notes leaflet with photos/illustrations and an essay by Martin Grams Jr. (The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion Pictures, Comics and Television) and Terry Salomonson.

Ford Beebe + Ray Taylor's The Green Hornet Serial was based on the radio series. It offers a non super-powered hero, akin to Batman, with a speedy, futuristic, car, a few gadgets (mostly invented by Kato) and a barely disclosed secret identity as a wealthy young man. It's pretty fun with the typical 'cliff-hanger' chapter conclusions. It's so great to drift back in time to such innocent entertainment. There's over 4 hours of it here. The VCI Blu-ray has no new supplements, but the old ones have value, and it will appeal to those who like vintage adventures with a vigilante crime fighter and his sidekick. Recommended to fans of serials.

Gary Tooze