Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Series (1984-1994) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

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thanks for the heads up, was looking at possibly getting the Spanish release, but had heard that some day for night filters were missing and possibly it was not OAR, which made me hold off.

kind of curious to see what else MPI is going to add to this, considering this is one of their crown jewels

Hopefully MPI & ITV will be giving Us a true and proper presentation, looks like this fall is all Mystery with this and Poirot Series 13. It' been a great year for classic TV on blu!

The price is twice as much for the US copy. Only one episode has day for night issues. I didn't even notice it myself. The Spanish set is 45 euro right now. That is MUCH cheaper than $160.

The Spanish set is definitely correct original aspect ratio. It's an excellent transfer and Bigshot is right that only one episode has the day for night issue. I can live with that ... and Jeremy Brett is every inch Sherlock Holmes, as essential as old Basil.

AnthonyClarke said:

and Jeremy Brett is every inch Sherlock Holmes, as essential as old Basil.

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Ditto. Basil Rathbone is still my favorite Holmes, but Jeremy Brett runs a very close second.

Cosco has some of the individual series sets (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Return of Sherlock Holmes, Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, and Feature Films) available now - over two months ahead of the Amazon Sept 30 release date, and - at $22.99 each - considerably less than the current Amazon pre-order price of between $44 and $53, depending on the set. Those were the four in stock at my local Costco - the remaining two (Casebook and Memoirs) may also be available.

I picked up the individual sets from Costco (all except Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes which they apparently are not carrying). The quality is really good. MPI has really done a great job remastering these for high definition. The last time I saw them was when Netflix had them for streaming and the difference between the standard definition transfers and these new Blu-rays is night and day. The PCM sound is, for the most part, mono. Some episodes seemed to have a pseudo-stereo effect but I don't believe they are true stereo.

I bet the Spanish region free blu-rays are identical

It will be interesting to hear about the day-for-night issue at the beginning of the boat chase in The Sign of Four. I have the Spanish Blu-ray set and the Region 1 and Region 2 DVD sets that were remastered. The remastered DVD sets were were a vast improvement over the original execrable DVD releases. I assumed the new Blu-rays were probably based on the same masters as the DVDs. However, the region 2 DVD does not exhibit the day-for-night issue that the Spanish Blu-ray does.

David_B_K said:

It will be interesting to hear about the day-for-night issue at the beginning of the boat chase in The Sign of Four. I have the Spanish Blu-ray set and the Region 1 and Region 2 DVD sets that were remastered. The remastered DVD sets were were a vast improvement over the original execrable DVD releases. I assumed the new Blu-rays were probably based on the same masters as the DVDs. However, the region 2 DVD does not exhibit the day-for-night issue that the Spanish Blu-ray does.

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I don't know how its supposed to be, but on this new Blu-ray the boat sequence starts out in broad daylight, and it appears that during the long chase it gets dark so they flip on the searchlights. Are you saying that the entire sequence is supposed to appear to be nighttime? If that is the case then the new Blu-ray does not correct that.

If that's the case, then the Spanish set is identical ..and hugely cheaper!

Mark, on the remastered DVD, the boat chase begins in fog during the evening. When the Baker Street Irregular signals that the boat is embarking, and Emrys James as the inspector says something like ‘I see him!', it is supposed to, be foggy with the light fading. The visibility is very poor, and then it is nighttime. On the Spanish Blu-ray, it is as you describe - bright daylight, then abruptly night.The scene works either way, so the abrupt shift is no deal breaker, IMO.

AnthonyClarke said:

If that's the case, then the Spanish set is identical ..and hugely cheaper!

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That's a bingo

Does anyone have a link handy for the Spanish set?

Spanish set is missing the extras?

I haven't looked at every disc but I've so far not noted any extras nor do the cases list any.
In Blu ray forum someone lists the extras as:
FF Collection - No special featuresCasebook - Commentary on The Disappearance of Lady Francis, Daytime Live with Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, Sherlock Museum ShortReturn - Elementary...-Interview with E. Hardwicke, Director commentary on The Priory SchoolAdventures - Vintage Sherlock series promo

Not that many really.
And several viewers report that they prefer the overall cleaner look of the Spanish release to the US set.
But on that score, I guess the debate will never end .....