The Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection - Due on 10/19/04 (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

What I'd like to see now, is pictures of the actual inside of the set just to see whether WB pressed up new discs with custom art or simply inserted the existing copies into the box.

 

[PaulP]

So we gain an isolated score in Any Given Sunday or was it always available? I should start collecting Oliver Stone DVDs now, which I have been meaning to do with this set, but no thanks, Warner.

 

[Matthew Marino]

There is a music only track on the current 2-disc Any Given Sunday.

 

[Dave H]

I just watched Wall Street tonight and it's really ashame Fox released such a bad transfer for Wall Street; it's overly dark, no picture depth, poor shadowing, excessive compression artifacts, etc.

 

[Chris PC]

Blast from the past...

I just bought this hunk o junk on impulse. It was "normally" on sale for $149 CDN but on sale for $49 CDN so I picked it up unaware of the contents. I already own Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July, which I can pass along, but my copies of the Doors and JFK will stay I guess.

Is there anything else in this set that differs? When you consider that I have:

Salvador, Wall Street, Talk Radio, U-Turn, Heaven and Earth and the original Natural Born Killers, its still worth $50.00 when you consider you are paying less than $10.00 a title...but just barely considering you lose the cover art. There is no comparison to the other collection because although the 2 disc sets are there, a few versions are different and Salvador and Platoon are missing, and the other box set is $162.00 vs $49.00.

Anyhow, are there any other differences? It appears that as is, all I am missing is the full version of Nixon and Any Given Sunday and NBK Director's Cut. Is NBK dc non-anamorphic?

Is the NBK in this set the same as the FULL SCREEN/WIDESCREEN - Oliver Stone Collection that you can get separately?

 

[Chad Ferguson]

NOt sure but I think they released a newer version of Born on the forth afterwards so if you own that keep it. Plus the new announcement of a 2 disc Platton is coming out. Nixon sold by itself has a DTS track. Adn the NBK Dc is not a warner release is not anamorphic. The one in the set is the theaterical version but a very sweet anamorphic transfer. Highly recommended set, one of the best directors ever.

 

[Chris PC]

Ok, so the set has the following dvd's that I didn't have before..

Heaven & Earth
Talk Radio
Wall Street
Salvador
U-turn
Natural Born Killers (is the version in this set available elsewhere?)
Nixon (basturdized with only disc 1 and dd instead of DTS?)
Any Given Sunday (only disc 1 of 2 disc set)
Oliver Stone's America
bonus dvd

The only Born on the fourth of July that I am aware of is the SE from 2004. I am keeping that. I have a born on the fourth of july but its identical to the one in the set. At least they are both DTS. I was not aware of the upcoming Platoon release. Considering I got the 6 above dvd's in the set, I suppose I didn't "waste" money in terms of dvd's per dollar, but the set is still so dumb. It has probably sat and rotted and that's why HMV bought them cheap and had them on sale. I shoulda researched first, but oh well...

Here is what I am going to do:

I am going to keep my Doors SE, Born on the 4rth of July SE, JFK 2 disc, and I may sell my Platoon for now. I will buy the Nixon version with DTS because I want it anyways, and I may pick up the Natural Born Killers DC just for completeness and to see the extra stuff. I don't think I want the second disc for Any Given Sunday. I haven't seen the dvd yet, so I will figure that out after I watch it. Whatever I end up doing, I will give all the duplicate discs I end with in the box set to a friend.

- - -

Ok, which version of Nixon do I need to find? It is not clear what versions are out there. I want the best one, preferably the 2 disc with DTS. I cannot find a 2 disc Nixon with DTS as the only one I am finding has DD in the specs. Is it just the regular Nixon that is DTS?

 

[Chris PC]

Ok, I have to add some potentially new info. Perhaps this set has been totally panned, but I just checked out the Nixon disc in this box set and it has two things that surprised me:

1) This version does in fact have 2 commentaries by Oliver Stone, listed as A and B, and not ONE commentary as previously mentioned.

2) Although the disc itself is labeled as DIGITAL SOUND - Dolby Digital, this version does in fact have the DTS soundtrack. I selected it and the DTS lights on my receiver came on and lo and behold, the dvd played with a DTS soundtrack.

Also...I don't know if its part of some satire in the presentation/treatment of the dvd menu, but most of the menu item's are almost illegible unless you adjust your display.

It says "disc 1" so it is not the single disc version which has DTS...I have yet to fire up my projector yet, I just used my small TV to navigate while trying the DTS soundtrack, so I cannot tell if this is anamorphic or not. I will check it out tonight.

Everywhere I look, the Nixon 2-disc set is described as having DD and no DTS, so this would be weird, unless there was a new Nixon set released around the same time, or the CE 2 disc set is also mis-labled and also in fact has a DTS soundtrack.

Does anybody have the individually packaged 2-disc directors cut of Nixon? How is it labeled and does it in fact have DTS or not?

 

[Chris PC]

nevermind...I think this is probably all old news..

Nixon has DTS but its non-anamorphic. It is just the same 1rst disc from the individually released CE directors cut which I found out is also (mis?)labled as DD only. Like this disc, it apparantly has DTS too. oh well...I cannot believe Nixon has DTS and is non-anamorphic..what a sham. Transfer is crappy too.

 

[Adam Santangelo]

I just grabbed this set last night at HMV, $49.99 CDN. For the price, I figured I couldn't go too far wrong.

I'm lucky in that the 3 titles I do already own - excluding the 2-disc JFK, which I'll keep - are the exact same editions as in the set; I'll give my old copies to friends. That aside, I'm getting 3 titles that I've always wanted to see for a price that's about the same as a rental. I'm getting a few lackluster releases of movies that I like, for a price at which it's hard to complain too much. I'm also getting the Castro and Israel documentaries, which I've wanted to see for a while, and the Oliver Stone's America disc, which looks like it might be relatively good, as these things go.

In short, the set's a nightmare for Stone completists and true video/audiophiles, but I think it's a nice deal for anyone else who might be interested... even if you just take out the discs you don't like and toss them in the garbage. Stone's not one of my absolute favourites, but there's not a movie in this set that doesn't interest me.

While most online retailers aren't yet reflecting a price drop, I did see on another board that Wal-Mart might've had the set for $38 USD and change.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

Reviews of the two Nixon commentary tracks made it seem as if the disc's producers just took one commentary and chopped it up to make two - each apparently has long silences.

 

[Chris PC]

Actually, I have not decided yet whether I keep my separate copies for the cover art, or give them away to save space. I could always scan and print the cover art and fold it into the set.

As far as this set goes, I am simply going to grab the best version of Nixon from another Region that I can find that is anamorphic, and also get the directors cut of NBK from the Region that has it anamorphic. Not sure I care enough about On Any Given Sunday to get the second disc. If a friend has it, perhaps I will borrow it.

If there are people out there who like these movies but don't have any, its an ok deal I guess. Especially for people who don't care for extra's.