Frankenstein: Complete Legacy Collection coming 9/13/16 (1 Viewer)

[The Obsolete Man]

My Frankenstein set arrived today. The box is thinner then I thought. I guess there aren't that many discs.

5 discs, but those cases can usually fit up to 6 discs, IIRC.

 

[Nelson Au]

Ah, 5 discs. I'll check it out this weekend. Thanks.

 

[Tony Bensley]

My Frankenstein set arrived today. The box is thinner then I thought. I guess there aren't that many discs.

I love the compactness of these sets, which for me, renders any minor inconvenience for having duplicate discs irrelevant, in terms of space!

The slipcovers are also a nice touch, and as you know having received these, much of the main lettering and some of the framing is raised, also!

CHEERS!

 

[Doug Otte]

That restriction came about at least a couple of years ago. If I was a non-Prime customer, I would be actively shopping for the best deal possible with other retailers. There are other options available if you just use them. Furthermore, I am a Prime member, but I still buy stuff from Best Buy, CDImports, Barnes & Noble and such. I received my Frankenstein and & Wolf Man boxsets from Best Buy, cheaper and sooner than if I purchased them from Amazon. I'm always searching for the best deal possible.

Those are all good points, Robert, and if I wasn't so lazy, I'd shop around too!

BTW, Amazon shipped my sets and they should arrive by Monday.

 

[revgen]

I watched Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman last night and I was floored by the quality of the transfer. Spectacular black and white cinematography. Yes, the grain is very fine and small in some places, notably darker scenes, but it still looks like film to me, not waxy at all. So far, I'm loving it.

 

[B-ROLL]

I love the compactness of these sets, which for me, renders any minor inconvenience for having duplicate discs irrelevant, in terms of space!

The slipcovers are also a nice touch, and as you know having received these, much of the main lettering and some of the framing is raised, also!

CHEERS!

They're IMHO much better than the Universal Classic Monsters bluray

set in terms packaging and while there is no booklet at least you don't have to feel like they only did a small amount of research for the one in the Monsters set - If one is to believe the article on Claude Rains - he didn't make a movie after 1960 ... I thought he was in Larry of Araby ...

That set was $97.99 at Costco ... whereas these are $26.99 a much better deal if only there weren't so many duplicates between the sets

 

[BobO'Link]

Reading all you guys comments about this set is weakening my resolve to not purchase *any* of the "Complete Legacy Collection" releases until the inevitable "Complete Universal Monsters" BR set comes out. Part of that resolve stems from my breaking down and purchasing the "Universal Monsters Essential Collection" BR set just 3 months ago. At least that BR set was only ~$21 (I purchased the region free UK set on sale) but I'd have just waited had I known the Legacy Collections were in the pipeline!

 

[Tony Bensley]

I love the compactness of these sets, which for me, renders any minor inconvenience for having duplicate discs irrelevant, in terms of space!

The slipcovers are also a nice touch, and as you know having received these, much of the main lettering and some of the framing is raised, also!

CHEERS!

They're IMHO much better than the Universal Classic Monsters bluray

set in terms packaging and while there is no booklet at least you don't have to feel like they only did a small amount of research for the one in the Monsters set - If one is to believe the article on Claude Rains - he didn't make a movie after 1960 ... I thought he was in Larry of Araby ...

That set was $97.99 at Costco ... whereas these are $26.99 a much better deal if only there weren't so many duplicates between the sets

At least the duplicates between the two sets are kept to a total of 2 discs, with the same combination of titles in both!

I'd really hate dealing with the duplicates in the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection DVD set, as they appear to be more of a mish-mash in that some of the duplicates are combined with differing titles from set to set!

The casing for the Universal Classic Monsters Essential Collection looks OK to me. Is it specifically stated in the booklet that Claude Rains retired from Films after 1960, or is that simply where his Filmography list stops? If it's the latter, I tend to take what often amounts to Filmography Highlight listings with a grain of salt, anyway! At any rate, Amazon Canada's current pricing for this set eliminated any possibility of my buying it.

Among any Legacy Blu-ray sets that remain to be issued, Dracula is the Universal Monster that I really want! However, I suspect that I may cave in, and order the standalone Blu-ray next month, which I could then combine with my remaining 2004 Dracula Legacy Flipper DVD for the time being!

CHEERS!

 

[B-ROLL]

At least the duplicates between the two sets are kept to a total of 2 discs, with the same combination of titles in both!

I'd really hate dealing with the duplicates in the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection DVD set, as they appear to be more of a mish-mash in that some of the duplicates are combined with differing titles from set to set!

The casing for the Universal Classic Monsters Essential Collection looks OK to me. Is it specifically stated in the booklet that Claude Rains retired from Films after 1960, or is that simply where his Filmography list stops? If it's the latter, I tend to take what often amounts to Filmography Highlight listings with a grain of salt, anyway! At any rate, Amazon Canada's current pricing for this set eliminated any possibility of my buying it.

Among any Legacy Blu-ray sets that remain to be issued, Dracula is the Universal Monster that I really want! However, I suspect that I may cave in, and order the standalone Blu-ray next month, which I could then combine with my remaining 2004 Dracula Legacy Flipper DVD for the time being!

CHEERS!

"Filmography" stops with Lost World

 

[Tony Bensley]

"Filmography" stops with Lost World

Claude Rain's last Cinematic appearance listed on IMDB.com is in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965) as King Herod.

CHEERS!

 

[aPhil]

They're IMHO much better than the Universal Classic Monsters bluray

set in terms packaging and while there is no booklet at least you don't have to feel like they only did a small amount of research for the one in the Monsters set - If one is to believe the article on Claude Rains - he didn't make a movie after 1960 ... I thought he was in Larry of Araby ...

That set was $97.99 at Costco ... whereas these are $26.99 a much better deal if only there weren't so many duplicates between the sets

I agree with you on the packaging:

The packaging on the 2012 USA Blu-ray release of the Universal Classic Monsters set
started to put a gummy residue on the edges of my discs --
And, no matter how you placed it (gravity-wise), the discs would begin to stick to the material
and they were hard to remove from the sleeve.
I have since placed them in an 8-disc flipper Blu-ray box so as not to allow further deterioration.

I ordered the Region Free UK set as a backup after it went down to only $29
and
it had much better packaging in order to preserve the discs
plus
I like the lobby card inserts.
I even purchased another one from the UK for my son.

I do like the packaging for the new Frankenstein & The Wolf Man Legacy Blu-rays.
Great stuff and perfect size.
No one should argue over storing duplicate discs with the small footprint of these 2 sets.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Just got this as a gift. Still skimming over the films, but Son of Frankenstein and The Ghost of Frankenstein look fantastic. I took some screencaps, even if they don't capture the detail as well. They have a terrific fine-grain appearance.

Son of Frankenstein:

The Ghost of Frankenstein:

 

[Craig Beam]

I agree with you on the packaging:

The packaging on the 2012 USA Blu-ray release of the Universal Classic Monsters set
started to put a gummy residue on the edges of my discs --
And, no matter how you placed it (gravity-wise), the discs would begin to stick to the material
and they were hard to remove from the sleeve.
I have since placed them in an 8-disc flipper Blu-ray box so as not to allow further deterioration.

Yeah, that damned glue debacle. It's a really ugly black mark on an otherwise amazing set (my Hitchcock set doesn't have this problem, even though it's from the same studio, came out around the same time, and has the same packaging design). After meticulously cleaning the discs, I now keep them inside thin vinyl sleeves (still inside the original package but bypassing the cardboard sleeve/glue traps entirely). Not ideal, but it works. I imagine we'll have all the Legacy sets in a few years, which will render this set obsolete.

 

[Patrick McCart]

A few more...

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man:

House of Frankenstein:

House of Dracula:

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I watched Son of Frankenstein the other night and it was spectacular.

 

[LeeBob]

I watched Son of Frankenstein the other night and it was spectacular.

I could not agree more. I think Son of Frankenstein is a vastly underappreciated film. I view Son as more of an absurdist farce - a dark comedy of sorts; The set designs are like nothing else in the series (before or after); the sets are akin to the work of Expressionist painters and are somewhat reminiscent of the Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari. Everything in the set design is completely over the top - the dinning room with two massive fireplaces, the bedroom with the head to head beds, the huge door knockers, the massive trap doors in the lab that Wolf Frankenstein can barely open. The deluge of rain and thunderclaps are equally over the top.

The use of light and shadows to fill the set backgrounds is equally impressive - I wonder if some of the later work by Ken Adams in the early James Bond films, particularly Dr. No was influenced by Son of Frankenstein.

And Lionel Atwell and Basil Rathbone both bring an insane energy to the scenes they share - the glances between the two as they banter back and forth are priceless. Rathbone plays Wolf Frankenstein like a deranged version of Groucho Marx on the edge of insanity.

For those that do not truly appreciate Son of Frankenstein; re-watch it as a farce; a dark parody of the genre rather than a straight sequel to the series - You may be surprised.

 

[Craig Beam]

Agree 100%. Son of Frankenstein is absolutely wonderful. So glad to finally have it in such great quality. Makes a great double feature with Young Frankenstein, for obvious reasons.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Like some others, I've always thought Son of Frankenstein is a fine film!

I haven't viewed any of these discs in their entirety, but I plan on devoting 1-2 days in watching all titles chronologically in the very near future. I'll probably watch the titles in two days with the first day spent watching Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. One after another! Then do the same thing the next day with the remaining titles.

 

[Alan Tully]

Was Son Of Frankenstein really considered for colour production? Looking at those marvellous expressionistic sets, it all looks like it was designed for b/w to me.

 

[TravisR]

Was Son Of Frankenstein really considered for colour production? Looking at those marvellous expressionistic sets, it all looks like it was designed for b/w to me.

I think the color was considered & dropped (probably due a combination of the extra cost of color film to the budget and the look of the B+W film) but that would have been before sets were built.