USHE Announcement: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[WilliamMcK]

I thought the Hitchcock blu-ray set was region free on both sides of the Atlantic? Anyway, I doubt the THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH looks any different regardless of which set was purchased. There's just a difference of opinion ... different levels of expectations, different monitor set ups, different tolerance levels. For me... I'm pleased enough with the disc (I have the U.S. set), but it seems to me that it's a fine transfer made from unrestored crappy elements... and I think that is the bone of contention. Should Universal have done a restoration? I think they should have, but unlike others I'm not losing sleep over it. I have much more difficulty accepting the restoration that was done on THE BIRDS. It seems to me when restoring a movie (or any work of art) the first rule of thumb should be the same as a physician: First, do no harm.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

I was very happy with my amazon UK experience. I love the UK set. It is perfect. I only paid about 120 bucks for it and it arrived in a week and the box was very well packed....

Mine arrived today and looks to be in great shape as far as I can tell (I can't open it until Xmas - argh)
I didn't suffer my package spending long in Croydon...
6 Dec 2012 01:00:00 PM Secaucus NJ Arrival Scan
3 Dec 2012 04:50:24 PM Croydon Departure Scan
3 Dec 2012 04:34:29 PM Croydon Shipment received by carrier
9 days to my door via DHL Global. Nothing to complain about here!

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Got the US set today at Costco for $129, which I rationalized by also saving the cost of a gift for my boss, who I will give my Velvet box DVDs to. He has the single disc Vertigo with the RAH commentary so I will get that from him and everyone is happy lol

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Moe Dickstein /t/321703/ushe-announcement-alfred-hitchcock-the-masterpiece-collection-blu-ray/1650#post_4014591
Got the US set today at Costco for $129, which I rationalized by also saving the cost of a gift for my boss, who I will give my Velvet box DVDs to. He has the single disc Vertigo with the RAH commentary so I will get that from him and everyone is happy lol

And at that price you're paying less than $10 a movie, so it's really a great deal.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Yeah that's why I did it but still hard to be too excited. The new sound mix on Vertigo was quite nice to have at last

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched Torn Curtain this afternoon. Softer than I would have liked, and I'm not sure if that was the original photography or part of a problematic transfer. (I did see the original theatrical release as a teen, but I have no memory of whether it was sharp or soft.)

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by MattH. /t/321703/ushe-announcement-alfred-hitchcock-the-masterpiece-collection-blu-ray/1650#post_4014866
I watched Torn Curtain this afternoon. Softer than I would have liked, and I'm not sure if that was the original photography or part of a problematic transfer. (I did see the original theatrical release as a teen, but I have no memory of whether it was sharp or soft.)

Substantially original photography, which was heavily filtered in close-ups.

 

[rsmithjr]

And at that price you're paying less than $10 a movie, so it's really a great deal.

Hmm.
Well, I have bought three sets now, two as gifts. I suppose you can say it is something of a bargain if you like.
I would have preferred to have Criterion quality for Criterion prices, however.

 

[Charles Smith]

Reed and Rich_D and I watched Torn Curtain on Reed's 120-inch screen, and -- please correct me if I'm forgetting something (it was a long evening!) -- but I don't think any of us had any complaints. I've also watched some of it on my plasma, and my feeling is that it's just fine. (I also happen to believe in choosing my battles carefully!)

 

[Reed Grele]

Reed and Rich_D and I watched Torn Curtain on Reed's 120-inch screen, and -- please correct me if I'm forgetting something (it was a long evening!)  -- but I don't think any of us had any complaints.  I've also watched some of it on my plasma, and my feeling is that it's just fine.  (I also happen to believe in choosing my battles carefully!)

Not only did Torn Curtain look fine, but I recall exclaiming several times during the film that the colors were practically jumping off the screen. One scene In particular was the multi colored scarf of the woman who was looking for a sponsor. Almost reminded me of 3 strip technicolor.
It was a long night, but I didn't nod off once!

 

[Matt Hough]

The set-up IS lengthy for Torn Curtain (as it was for The Birds), but once Newman goes to the Berlin Museum and Hitch indulges in that delicious cat and mouse shadowing, the picture picks up steam and is thoroughly entertaining and very suspenseful.

 

[Sumnernor]

I have bought the UK Hitchcock box. I would like to know - there was a film in which the name of one of someone was misspelled and was then corrected. Which film was that and what was the wrong spelling and then the correct spelling?

I have a (german) friend who might buy the German Hitchcock. box- Does anyone know how it is? I have the UK set which appears to be better than the US set. How is the German box?

The date of the US set was Oct10, the German Nov 1 and the UK Nov 12.

 

[rich_d]

The film with the misspellings is Frenzy and it has been corrected.
As far as Torn Curtain goes ... it's not the transfer that is the issue ... it's the film itself. I may be a big Hitchcock fan, but that doesn't mean I give him a free pass for his lessor efforts. The story is preposterous to the point of being bothersome, the chemistry between the leads non-apparent and the film's production values are not much better than an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

 

[Sumnernor]

Originally Posted by rich_d /t/321703/ushe-announcement-alfred-hitchcock-the-masterpiece-collection-blu-ray/1650#post_4015662
The film with the misspellings is Frenzy and it has been corrected.

You did not fully answer my question:

what was the wrong spelling and then the correct spelling?

I ask this because I want to be sure that it is ok with the German version.

I ask again if anyone is familar with the German version? Has it been corrected?

 

[Gary16]

You did not fully answer my question:
what was the wrong spelling and then the correct spelling?
I ask this because I want to be sure that it is ok with the German version.
I ask again if anyone is familar with the German version?  Has it been corrected?

No incorrect versions were released. The mistakes were caught in the test discs.

 

[ChristophM]

I have bought the UK Hitchcock box. I would like to know - there was a film in which the name of one of  someone was misspelled and was then corrected. Which film was that  and what was the wrong spelling and then the correct spelling?

As has been pointed out, the numerous mis-spellings and changed typography which Nick Wrigley spotted in his check disc of FRENZY were fixed before the release. You can see some of it on his blog http://enthusiasm.org/post/31104514441.

How is the German box?

One big big difference: the TOPAZ disc in the German box offers only the two-hour theatrical version. The UK set comes with the proper 143-minute cut, i.e. the UK disc is identical to the US disc (including the menus which are not symbol but text based)
The reason? A German dub exists only for the "short" version. Go figure...

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched Topaz tonight. The footage that had been added back in was clearly less sharp and clean than the original theatrical cut footage. Much of that looked marvelous.

I've had a curious history with Topaz. I was a teenager when it first came out, and I couldn't stand it. This extended edition now seems more of a piece than the theatrical cut did even though the pacing is very studied and deliberate and requires patience. Maybe I like it now because I'm older and have that patience that's required along with a desire to study what the director is doing more thoroughly than I did when younger when all I was looking for from a Hitchcock movie was some thrills and excitement. This is a much more intricate spy story that does eventually come full circle though it takes its time doing so. Not even near being a great film, but for those with 2 1/2 hours to spare, it's not a bad way to spend it.

 

[Sumnernor]

I have learned that there are 2 versions of Topaz. The "long" version is circa 2;22 long and is found on the Amazon.uk and Amazon,com sites as seen in the Hitchcock masterwork Collections. It can also be bought in England, and I assume in the USA, as a reguler DVD- The other version is, "the short version" is 120 minute and I have read this is the Theatrical version, This is on the Amazon-DE site and can also be bought in Germany with various languages such as English and German audio and subtitles. There are also other languages used with the short version. The long version has only English, Latin American Spanish and Canadian French. I bought from Amazon-GB in the year 2000 a Hitchcock box that had Topaz. Its length then was about 2:17. I don't understand why the "long" version does not have other languages. I assume that the short version is used for the rest of the world such as in Japan. I bought here in Munich the short version and will try to see what is added to make the long version. I also think that there be names for these 2 versions so that it is clear which version is used.

I also got from Amazon-UK on Nov 26 the Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection [Blu-ray] [1942] for circa 64 pounds (a black Friday deal) - this was not the limited edition. I have not looked at everything but am very happy with the results so far. When I finish looking at them, I will post my results. There are problems with the grain on "Marnie" (I've noticed many complaints on Amazon-DE) and some grain on "The Birds"- However "Family Plot" I have found NO PROBLEMS with the film. My 31" LCD TV is by Loewe. The company Loewe is considered quite good by the Germans. Is it possible there was an update of the Hitchcock films on Amazon-UK????

 

[Patrick Donahue]

Possibly a very stupid question but one that could greatly enhance my enjoyment of the set...
A majority of these titles are in Dolby 2.0 - is there anything I can do to either my player or receiver to get it to play through my center speaker only as opposed to the L&R speakers?

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Patrick Donahue /t/321703/ushe-announcement-alfred-hitchcock-the-masterpiece-collection-blu-ray/1650#post_4018505
Possibly a very stupid question but one that could greatly enhance my enjoyment of the set...
A majority of these titles are in Dolby 2.0 - is there anything I can do to either my player or receiver to get it to play through my center speaker only as opposed to the L&R speakers?

Some receivers allow you to program that you want Dolby Prologic to decode Dolby or DTS 2.0 tracks if they don't do it automatically.

When I had a receiver that didn't allow for this, I found that if I let the Blu-ray player decode the codec internally and pass the audio via PCM, it always came through my system into the center channel.