Another Hitchcock set from Universal....and NO BLU-Ray???

I feel your pain on this. . .why would they go to the trouble of putting together yet another package with these movies without releasing them on Blu-ray---especially since a couple of them are ALREADY on Blu? One of the most exasperating announcements I've heard. . .unless it's incomplete? Maybe? Please?

I am very upset about this. I went to Amazon and yes it is just dvd's. I already had my Birds on pre order in BD but this box set is a slap in the face to fans.

even criterion can't be arsed to put their Hitchcock on bluray. I guess he a poor seller?

I don't believe Criterion holds the rights to release Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious any more. Seems like MGM has those rights now.

 

Oh, were you thinking of The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps? Aren't they working on them? Seems like we got some sort of hint about them a few months ago. I suspect they need a lot of tender, loving care considering their age.

As to the DVDs, I really see no need for this release unless the previous editions of these five films have now gone out of print. And Rear Window, The Birds, and Vertigo just happen to be the Hitchcock classics many people are really waiting for.

As someone rightly pointed out The Birds has been announced on BD and I have had it on order since Oct last year from Amazon but like other Universal Rays from Universal there seems to have been a huge delay. Some have come thru recently. The reason never seems to revealed.

Not to nitpick but a rumor isn't an announcement.

Me,i'm just waiting for Vertigo.That's it.

Oh,and Rebecca (Joan Fontaine..sigh )

And The 39 steps.right.

I remember seeing this Premiere collection with tons of extras on each dvd.These would be phenomenal on Blu.

The link here lists all the synopses,but has the wrong one for the Laird Cregar Lodger from 1944.Pfff.

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/alfred-hitchcock-premiere-collection.html

Although that one is a terrific film also.
Edited by montrealfilmguy - 7/29/11 at 10:00am

Probably has to do with rights or film elements. The Lady Vanishes had a new HD transfer for its 2-disc reissue, but The 39 Steps hasn't been upgraded since its first DVD edition. The UK Blu isn't that great.

Criterion does have a lot of iTV (formerly Granada and Carlton) titles under license, but MGM also managed to get The Lodger, Young & Innocent, and Sabotage from the same library.

Um... Universal is aware of this neat format called blu-ray, right?

I'm seriously pissed.

I want To Catch A Thief a 2002 dvd which i have. Rebecca Criterion which i have. Foreign Correspondent from WB and the rest are Universal dvds Vertigo Rear Window Marnie The Trouble With Harry. I have been waiting for HD release's. I wish they could hand out a better Foreign Correspondent. I do not understand maybe will get To Catch a Thief. I have held off veiwing some titles for hope of release. I guess I might as well put them the blu ray player and enjoy them. I did that last weekend with Rear Window.

I also do not like this business of another version of Casablanca. I must check Amazon out to see if it is up for preorder. I have my BD version so why buy another???

I saw the Bits' update of this news story as well. Kind of just rolled my eyes...

Yeah. I would be buying the Hitchcock films if they would put them out on blu ray.

I am in for Rear Window, The Birds (October 2011 is the rumor that I have heard for this one) and Vertigo from the announced DVD set.

I really think at times the studios are really over saturating the market with dvd releases. It seems they release stuff over and over again on DVD!

In this case, I am very puzzled why there hasn't been more news on other Hitchcock films coming to blu ray. Universal has stated that they are working on more Hitchcock titles, but they have not stated which ones. Hopefully they will have an update soon.

Robert Harris has commented that all of the restoration work done in the 90's on several of the titles is not good enough for blu ray release.

Check out post #89...
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/294159/a-few-words-about-north-by-northwest-in-blu-ray/89

and post 93:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/294159/a-few-words-about-north-by-northwest-in-blu-ray/93

and i keep thinking all this nonsense about bluray slowly dying away keeps popping up
here and there if stuff like this keeps turning up right ?

I'm willing to bet some exec somewhere is even more nostalgic than i am,and is pushing right this minute for a laserdisc comeback ( With new and IMPROVED ROT !!! )

you know its not only universal, i am noticing a trend, repackage, bundel and push the dvd all over again, WB seems to be going that route as well, up comming Thin Man 4 film set.

 

Criterion and its Hitchcock box well i would love to see that if done corectly, but after criterion MGM/Fox released the premier collection that had some of those titles, and am uncertian if they still have those titles to release, the problem is so many good films, and work needed to present them corectly  

I agree with the broad consensus that said release is highly unnecessary. It will only create consumer confusion and frustration and detract from the inevitable Blu-Ray releases; releases I am certain many would be glad to pay a premium for.

Since when is The Birds considered "essential Hitchcock"?

Since 1963?

pretty much nailed it there

 

This seems like the right time to post this clip here for your enjoyment.

9 glorious minutes of Hitch on The Dick Cavett show from 1970 talking about mcguffins,Hitch and his confusion about a laxative commercial
but most fascinating is the training of all those birds.Stuff about Psycho near the end.
Hitch while being funny tries very hard to keep a poker face,but always ends up with a tiny mischievious smirk.

Among the Universal controlled films, Shadow of a Doubt is a million times better than The Birds. It is right up there with Rear Window, Strangers on a Train and Notorious in my book. Even Man Who Knew Too Much or Frenzy would have been better choices.

From a film scholar point of view you are probably correct that "The Birds" is a lesser Hitchcock film, but in terms of popularity, it is considered one of Hitch's most iconic titles, right up there with "Psycho" and "North by Northwest."

2012 marks Universal's 100th Anniversary. Film elements allowing, I imagine 2012 would be a good bet for high prestige films like Rear Window and Vertigo to make blu ray. As for this set, I am all for repackaging. As long as studios show some committment to bring fresh material out, I don't mind them trying to get more out of their classic library by rereleasing them in new packaging. Universal has not done much so far in 2011, but I hope they are saving new material for next year. I bet that it will release several classic blu rays in 2012.

Agreed. MGM did several new James Bond dvd sets. 2 sets of the Connery Bond's for sure. Saw set 2 at Target and all I could do was laugh...

I guess the DVD sets of older catalog films still sell well then?

To me it seems like they are just over saturating the market with releases.

I also agree with Dana that it adds to customer confusion as well.

on that last note,i'd like to add..

could someone fix it so we get one giant Evil dead box set with every extra features of every edition ever made.

And don't forget to add the Evil dead 30 min.short that helped raise the funding for the feature.Its in the
worst condition ever and unsalvageable but i still want it nonetheless.

thank you.

With Universal's Blu-Ray track record I'd rather wait for them to do the Hitchcock films right, rather than have them thrown out on disc now in waxy EE plagued reworkings of the masters from the red velvet boxed set.

Universal did a bang-up job with Psycho on Blu.

Its obvious that the cost of new HD transfers for the most popular Hitchcock movies is an issue as they need to put a lot of time/money into giving us something worth upgrading to! Sadly I think a lot of these will never see a BD release as most catalog releases from the 1950s-1970s just do not sell very well on BD as apart from us enthusiasts mainstream audiences will have little interest in upgrading..............

If the funds were there I think we would have seen or heard of it by now. NBNW is a great example of how Hitchcock should be treated on BD but even then I found a few minor compression issues on water especially overall though it was a terrific release.

If only Universal would sell all their Hitchcock library to WB I know WB would make more of an effort to make these happen. Universal are the next MGM until someone buys them or they go bust! No mega box office hits for many years (Jurassic Park1 was their last global megahit!!!) & obviously little income to fund BD restoration projects...............

I am disappointed with this news as well and it seems to me its an excuse to get rid of the already released DVD's by putting in a new box set. What is strange to me is that I found a press release which notes the bonus features for each film, each movie only gets one disc, but the strange thing is that the bonus features for Vertigo differ from the first disc from the Legacy DVD release which could mean to me at least the disc of Vertigo is either the first DVD or the Masterpiece DVD. The other thing is that Psycho doesn't include the making of Psycho documentary which rules out the original DVD but it could be either the Legacy DVD or the Masterpiece DVD. My whole point of it is that if Vertigo's disc is the one from The Masterpiece box set then it would include the original mono which the Legacy DVD didn't include. Still I would much rather this being a Blu-ray box set but since I don't own Vertigo, The Birds, and Rear Window and this seems to indicate that The Birds may not be coming to Blu-ray this year I may get it at the right price. Especially since the improved transfer of The Birds which was released with Masterpiece Box set has not been released individually and while the Bluray is on pre-order I'm starting to think we may not see any more Hitchcock on Blu-ray from Universal this year. I do believe Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Birds could be released on Blu-ray right now and look pretty good since the HD versions I have seen of all three look great and not overly processed unlike the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much which looked horribly waxy when I saw it in HD on Cinemax I believe. Here is a link to the press release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/from-universal-studios-home-entertainment--alfred-hitchcock-the-essentials-collection-limited-edition-126343623.html

I think I read that Uni was going through with restorations of the Hitchcock titles before releasing them on Blu ray. A few of them really looked bad on DVD. I'd rather them not rush anything out and take time in doing them correctly. The Birds was talked about for 2011 so I would guess we would hear about a release of it soon unless they feel it is not ready yet. I'd like Paramount to get off thier lazy asses and release To Catch a Thief though.