Mel Brooks Titles to be Released INDIVIDUALLY! (1 Viewer)

I just read on DavisDVD.com that 7 of the titles contained within the "Mel Brooks Collection" boxed set will be released individually as of September 5th. These titles are:

History of the World: Part 1
Young Frankenstein
Robin Hood: Men In Tights
The Twelve Chairs
High Anxiety
Silent Movie
To Be Or Not To Be

I am ecstatic about this news since I've been wanting "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" ever since I started purchasing DVDs. Since the news item states that these individual releases will be identical to those in the boxed set, I'm assuming that "Young Frankenstein" will be the upgraded anamorphic version. This is indeed great news.

Nice, I would pick up History of the World and Robin Hood.

Great, now if they will release Altman's A WEDDING individually.

Same here, along with the animorphic Young Frankenstein

Finally! How many years has 20th Century Fox been making dvds? Finally, I can pick up Robin Hood: Men in Tights AND an anamorphic Young Frankenstein.

Awesome!

I wonder if there will still be non-anamorphic Yf's mixed in like the boxset had.

Great news indeed! As a director, Mel Brooks is hit and miss and I didn't want to spring for the box set for duds like 12 Chairs or Robin Hood that I'd never watch. Fortunately, I will now be able to get the roses (History Of The World Part 1, Silent Movie, To Be Or Not Be and High Anxiety) without the weeds.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN will finally be mine!!! I still want to see HIGH ANXIETY...

Me too! RH: MIT is the ONLY catalog title left on my "Must Own" list that hasn't been released yet (individually). And now that's about to end.

Pair this with a widescreen release of Ace Ventura and this fall will see two things I have been waiting years for.

Good news indeed.
History of the World and Young Frankinstein are on my short list.

Is this still a go for all these titles? FHE, from DVD Times, only announced Robin Hood: Men in Tights and To Be or Not To Be for September 5th. Are they being staggered for some reason?

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=61883

I went out to find Robin Hood: Men in Tights and I couldn't find it here in Corpus Christi. None in Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, even the local grocery store, which has a great selection. I'm really surprised as I know many friends who really enjoy the movie.

People are finding annie YFs out there.

Thought I'd bring back this moribund thread to mention an unexpected Christmas treat I found tonight. Like others I had no interest in the Brooks boxed set because while I love some of his films, others leave me cold, and I already owned good editions of most of the ones I loved - except for Young Frankenstein. I still had the first DVD release, a port of the old letterboxed LD transfer. Good, but not terrific on my HD TV. (Especially since I have to jump through hoops to get a non-anamorphic widescreen disc to play properly zoomed with my combination of equipment, which has the settings optimized for moving between 4:3 and anamorphic widescreen material seemlessly.) I wanted to pull the film out when Peter Boyle passed away, but that just reminded me of my determination to track down an individual anamorphic disc. On-line sources either didn't indicate which version they were selling or had ambiguous information and I didn't feel like waiting for a shipment and then having to deal with a return if I didn't get what I wanted. Those local brick and mortar stores that carried the title at all were all the old letterbox version.

I was in Wal-Mart tongiht, picking up some last-minute stocking stuffers, and flipping through the $4.99 discount bin when I came across a copy of YF. I was sure it had to be the old version, but flipped the box around anyway and checked. The box said "anamorphic", which I don't believe any of the earlier pressing did. Anyway for $4.99 I could always give it away if it wasn't the newer disc.

Just came home and popped the disc into the Sony changer and, lo and behold! YF in glorious anamorphic black and white. And for less than the price of a fast food lunch. I'm happy. (Also grabbed The Iron Giant Special Edition for my great nephew and the underrated cult classic Eddie and the Cruisers for myself. )

Happy Holidays!

Joe

Wow, great deal, Joe! I still haven't picked up the newer version (and gave my old one away). I was having trouble finding it. Maybe I'll stoip by Walmart soon!

Well, I double-checked my receipt and it turns out the YF rang up at $9.44 - which means it was either in the wrong bin or I forgot which bargain bin I pulled it from. Either way it is still a great price and the movie looks just gorgeous. I'm watching it again this morning with the Brooks commentary and I'm still blown away by how closely Brooks and his team have matched the look of the original Universal film and Bride while still lighting things well enough for the comedy to play.

This is my favorite Brooks film, the one I think has the most heart and is the most affectionate of his send-ups. I suspect the fact that the idea and the original story work were done by Gene Wilder has a lot to do with this. I think both men did their very best work together. They seem to feed off one another in such a way that whole is greater than the sum of its part. I think YF is even better as a film than Blazing Saddles, my other favorite Brooks opus.

Regards,

Joe

Bad news, though, Joseph DeMartino--the framing on the anamorphic disc is wrong; it has been zoomed in/cropped on all sides. Still a great title to own (I'm happy I do), but not yet perfect.

Sounds like a great price to me. I've only seen it a Borders, and it didn't say anything on the back about it being animorphic, so I figured it was the older version. A shame about the cropping, since I feel my HDTV already gives me a bit too much overscan, but I'll take it anyway.

Joe, this is my favorite Brooks film as well. Most of the others I don't even find funny.... except for High Anxiety, as a Hitchcock fan, I've always loved that one as well.

I thought the framing looked a little bit off, more a true 1.77:1 than the 1.85:1 that it should be. The top of the castle in the first long shot seemed clipped just a bit. Still, the difference between 1.85:1 and 1.77:1 is so small, and the gain in resolution (especialy up-converted on a 720p HDTV) is so great vs. the letterboxed version that I can't complain too much. Especially at this price. Somewhere down the line when I'm ready to invest in a hi-res player I'll insist on a perfect 1.85:1 HD-DVD or Blu Ray disc, but in the meantime, I'm happy.

Regards,

Joe

BTW, for anyone who wants to make sure they're getting the right version, the individual anamorphic disc has a blue sky behind the castle, in place of the yellowish sky of the original non-anamorph, and has portraits of Terri Garr, Peter Boyle and Madeline Khan (in full Bride) make-up) across the bottom, where the haywagon appeared on the original. The back cover clearly says "Widescreen Anamorphic".

Regards,

Joe