A Few Words About A few words about... The Mel Brooks Collection (1 Viewer)

[Eric Peterson]

Well, at least I didn't jump the gun and sell my old copies. The only two that I really need are YF & BS, and I already have both.

Thanks for saving me some money Fox!:frowning:

 

[Haggai]

What in the wide, wide world of sports is goin' on here?!

None of the press releases indicated this, and as I mentioned, the listing for Blazing Saddles includes extras that are only on the 30th anniversary disc. Fox really needs to get their act together here.

 

[Andrew Radke]

Couldn't have said it better myself. I initially intended on getting this set since I own none of these films. The only three I really wanted in the set are "Men In Tights", "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein". But since the 30th anniversary edition of BS can be found in most cheap bins around here, $90 (CDN) is a lot of money to spend on a set when I really only want a couple of movies from it. They really need to release "Men In Tights" individually. Then I can just buy the few titles I actually want individually.

 

[soop.spoon]

That's so lame. If I'm going to spend that much scratch on a box set, I assume I'll be getting the best available transfers for each film. I guess I'll just wait for the individual releases. PASS.

I'm quite puzzled how Mr. Harris can highly recommend this set.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Who is our HTF Fox reviewer? I wonder if they have their copy.

 

[Robert Harris]

My perspective on recommending DVDs or not, especially when dealing with a set, is not based upon anything like Blazing Saddles, which in this situation, I consider an extra.

This perspective may not be common, but it also is not going to be unique.

We'll not go as far back as 16 or 35mm prints of films for home theatre, but we do need to consider value in terms of laser discs.

Lasers of the four titles new to DVD would street for $80 to $100.

Between anamorphic upgrades and new titles to DVD, I'm seeing absolute value.

Blazing Saddles, which is a film that most anyone who loves Mr. Brooks' work already owns from WB, simply doesn't come into the equation.

RAH

 

[Matt Czyz]

Mr. Harris, can you confirm your anamorphic Young Frankenstein, though? Colin is very trustworthy in my book (as are you, which makes this discrepancy even more confusing than it already is).

 

[Bradley-E]

I don't mind that Blazing Saddles is not the 30th Aniv. Edition because I already own it. Just having an Anamorphic Young Frankenstein plus the rest of the titles make it worth buying.

 

[Paul McElligott]

Can we get some confirmation one way or the other?

 

[Michael Elliott]

I had "news" to come here and post but it seems the cat's already out of the bag. My friend got his hands on the set early and told me that his YF was the same as the old disc. He bought his copy in Lexington, KY.

Hopefully some of the older discs just found their way into the set. Fox just released PLANET OF THE APES and I think they all got new transfers.

I'm really wanting SILENT MOVIE but I think I'll cancel my pre-order if anyone else confirms.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I have a delivery from Fox that I was not home to
receive yesterday. If the DVD set is enclosed I'll
have your answer in a few hours.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

But have you actually checked the Young Frankenstein DVD to confirm your copy IS anamorphic? Yeah, it makes this claim on the case, but I can state 100% that the DVD in my copy is NOT anamorphic.

I even checked the date of the files on the DVD: October 1998! Either the "Mel Brooks Collection" does NOT include a new transfer of YF or somehow I got a copy of the old disc. I'm trying to figure out which is correct - if there's a problem solely with my set, I want to get it fixed...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

HERE IS THE DEFINITIVE ANSWER

The set just arrived.

The DVD of Young Frankenstein included in the
set is the newer version. It includes the Making
of Young Frankenstein documentary. It is anamorphic.
It is playing in anamorphic widescreen across my
display. The DVD box also notes an anamorphic transfer.

But here's something odd...

I pulled out the original 1998 Special Edition of Young
Frankenstein and that seems to be anamorphic 1.85:1
on my 57" display, but running it on the computer
through POWER DVD it doesn't look to be anamorphic.
I'm wondering if my DVD player is accidentally blowing
up the image.

I suppose Warner made what they felt was the best
deal they could. In order to license Blazing
Saddles for this set, they gave the studio the
original release rather than the 30th Anniversary
Edition. So, hold on to those newer discs from Warner.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Ron,

Thanks so much for your update.

I assume the disc art is different on the two YF releases?

Also is HotW P1 OK?

Also, if you have the new YF in the PC you should be able to check the date stamp for the files on the disc. I assume they should be 2005 or 2006.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

So the definitive answer isn't definitive. :frowning:

Ron, please check the dates of the files on the YF DVD. Mine states they were mastered in 1998. If that's what yours say as well, then we both have the old non-anamorphic transfer.

As for what the box says, those specs are often wrong. History of the World claims to have a stereo soundtrack but it doesn't. History IS anamorphic, though.

One thing's clear: Fox sat on these transfers for quite some time. I checked the dates for Robin Hood: MIT and those were mastered in June 2002! I'd bet the other new to DVD transfers are similarly old. Not that this means they'll be BAD, of course, but I can't help but wonder why it took Fox four years to release the titles. Obviously it's not to add supplements since the discs for the new-to-DVD movies are as bare-bones as they come...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

BTW, what documentary is this? "Making Frankensense of YF - the show that was on the old DVD as well? Or is there supposed to be something new on the 2006 DVD? Mine is identical to the old one...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Colin,

Let me answer your questions best I can because
I have a bit of confusion here to add...

First of all, the box for YF states anamorphic 1.85:1

The disc has a 2006 TCFHE copyright stamped below
the Fox logo beneath the YF title.

Now...

I watched the original 1998 release of YF on my
widescreen 57" display and it played anamorphic as
the image filled the entire width of the display.

However, running it through POWERDVD on my computer
the NEW release had a wider aspect ratio than the
1998 release. So, the best answer I can give you
is that the new YF is anamorphic, but I'm confused
as to why the 1998 version looks anamorphic on my
widescreen set.

Perhaps you can shed some light on that.


That was my mistake. I simply read the back
covers of the 1998 and 2006 versions. If you read
the back of the original 1998 release it makes
absolutely no mention of the documentary while the
new release specifically does.

Here are two screen caps I took using POWERDVD.
The first is of the 1998 version and the second
is the new 2006 edition.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Looking at the two screenshots, they appear to be different transfers.

I'm guessing some of the sets ended up with the older version? This happened at Anchor Bay once before so I guess it's possible.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Well that at least shows a 16:9 transfer is out there. Thanks Ron!

It blows that Colin got a mixed up copy. I hope mine isn't mixed up as well.

 

[Ted Kontos]

Ron,

I don't know what you're using for a display, but my 46" Toshiba will automatically adjust the AR when a non-anamorphic disc is played, provided that the proper "flag" is encoded on the DVD. Movies such as YF and the original Office Space "fill the screen" automatically. Perhaps that's what's occurring in this case?

Ted