DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: Hammer Films Icons of Suspense Collection (1 Viewer)

[Richard Gallagher]

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

This is a really great Set, I've only watced two of the films so far, and the image is very good. I really liked the film Oliver Reed was in, These Are The Damned.

Is it really so hard for sony to do a case that can house the 3 discs without stacking them? Just throw in a flap to hold the discs. It isn't gonna cost that much more.

Still the set is really good, and with 6 films you can't go wrong. Definite purchase for Hammer fans.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Originally Posted by Powell&Pressburger

Is it really so hard for sony to do a case that can house the 3 discs without stacking them? Just throw in a flap to hold the discs. It isn't gonna cost that much more.

This is the first time I've seen Sony package discs this way. With any luck it will be the last!

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Barney Millers Season 3 had the same type of packaging. I know there are other releases from SONY like this, but so far I won these two.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Powell&Pressburger

Barney Millers Season 3 had the same type of packaging. I know there are other releases from SONY like this, but so far I won these two.

The Icons of Sci-Fi was packaged with two discs on one spindle. I went ahead a bought some cases that can hold two and four discs separately since I was afraid this was the way it was going to go. I guess it is.

 

[WadeM]

The image quality truely is excellent to these eyes.
As I stated elsewhere, I loved these films, and as stated in the review, "At a street price of less than $4.00 per film, it is hard to go wrong..."

My first impression of the stacked discs was negative, but I didn't have any issues removing the discs cleanly & smoothly, so it didn't affect me much.

At any rate, I can't thank Sony enough for releasing these!!

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Originally Posted by WadeM

The image quality truely is excellent to these eyes.

I hear some good-natured griping from the other reviewers because I have an easy job when it comes to critiquing PQ on the Sony releases. Sony almost always does a great job with their transfers, whether DVD or Blu-ray.

 

[WadeM]

Originally Posted by Richard Gallagher




I hear some good-natured griping from the other reviewers because I have an easy job when it comes to critiquing PQ on the Sony releases. Sony almost always does a great job with their transfers, whether DVD or Blu-ray.

Good point. Thinking of my Sony titles, they do seem to generally do a really good job with their transfers.

 

[Richard--W]

I appreciate these transfers and I appreciate the efforts Mike Schlesinger undertook to bring these films out. Mr. Schlesinger is in charge of the back catalog and repertory screenings at Columbia. He's a real fan of genre films and is largely responsible for the several box sets from Sony we've all enjoyed recently and in the last couple of years. Thank you, Mr. Schlesinger.

I wonder if I should buy the other two Hammer Films owned by Columbia, The Camp on Blood Island (1959) and Yesterday's Enemy (1960) from the U.K. Sony / Columbia released them as Exclusives through MovieMail. Is there a Region 1 release planned for either film before I get a year older, Mr. Schlesinger? Or should I buy them from the U.K.?


Richard

 

[MichaelEl]

Originally Posted by Powell&Pressburger

Is it really so hard for sony to do a case that can house the 3 discs without stacking them? Just throw in a flap to hold the discs. It isn't gonna cost that much more.

I doubt this method of packaging could really be all that damaging to the discs, given that blank CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are packaged the same way.

 

[cadavra]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

I appreciate these transfers and I appreciate the efforts Mike Schlesinger undertook to bring these films out. Mr. Schlesinger is in charge of the back catalog and repertory screenings at Columbia. He's a real fan of genre films and is largely responsible for the several box sets from Sony we've all enjoyed recently and in the last couple of years. Thank you, Mr. Schlesinger.

[COLOR= #0000ff]Thank you for the kind words, but as I've said before, I'm not in charge of anything. I'm merely a consultant. Grover Crisp and Rita Belda, among others, are just as important, if not more so, since they oversee the actual restorations. They deserve your kudos more than I do.

I don't think we're done with Hammer just yet, so if you can't be patient, hang on for a bit.

Mike S.
[/COLOR]

 

[Steve...O]

Hi Mike,

I agree with all the above comments with regards to the wonderful packages Sony has released recently. Kudos to you, Mr. Crisp and Ms. Belda and your teams.

Once the Hammers are done, are there any plans for some of the Columbia B series? The airings on TCM over the past several years showed how highly these are. I've also read that one of the noir festivals will be showing a bunch of newly restored Whistlers in 35mm this year.

Thank you.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Originally Posted by MichaelEl




I doubt this method of packaging could really be all that damaging to the discs, given that blank CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are packaged the same way.

The difference is that blank CD-Rs and DVD-Rs generally are stacked on spindles, and once you use them they presumably go into their own cases. When pressed discs get stacked in a keep case, it is awkward to handle them whenever you want to play one. The problem is not that they are likely to be damaged during packaging or shipping, but when taking them out to play them.

On the other hand, if this kind of packaging helps to make it possible to deliver excellent transfers at $4/movie, I can live with it.

 

[BethHarrison]

Originally Posted by Richard Gallagher

On the other hand, if this kind of packaging helps to make it possible to deliver excellent transfers at $4/movie, I can live with it.

When my copy of the set arrives I'm just going to put the discs into some DVD envelopes. You can get them at most department stores:

 

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by cadavra
[COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 255)]
I don't think we're done with Hammer just yet, so if you can't be patient, hang on for a bit.

Mike S.[/COLOR]

Might there be hope for Creatures the World Forgot, then?
Do you think it would help to change the title?
It had a different title during production, a more appropriate title, but I can't remember what.

 

[DeWilson]

Originally Posted by cadavra
[COLOR= #0000ff]

I don't think we're done with Hammer just yet, so if you can't be patient, hang on for a bit.

Mike S.
[/COLOR]

What's left for possible release?

 

[Alan Tully]

Originally Posted by DeWilson





What's left for possible release?

Two really good war movies; The Camp On Blood Island & Yesterdays Enemy, both have been released in the UK.

 

[Richard--W]

The rest of Columbia's Hammer holdings awaiting DVD release, so far as I can ascertain, are a mix of comedies, an espionage adventure, a couple of solid war films, a couple of period swashbucklers, and the ubiquitous Creatures the World Forgot:

1958 The Camp On Blood Island -- directed by Val Guest
1958 Further Up the Creek -- directed by Val Guest
1958 I Only Arsked! -- directed by Montgomery Tully
1959 Don't Panic Chaps! -- directed by George Pollock
1959 The Ugly Duckling -- directed by "Lance Comfort"
1959 Yesterday's Enemy -- directed by Val Guest
1961 Visa to Canton -- directed by Michael Carreras
1961 Watch It, Sailor! -- directed by Wolf Rilla
1961 A Weekend with LuLu -- John Paddy Carstairs
1963 The Scarlet Blade aka The Crimson Blade -- directed by John Gilling
1965 The Brigand of Kandahar -- directed by John Gilling
1971 Creatures the World Forgot -- directed by Don Chaffey

Sony / Columbia is releasing The Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), directed by the great Terence Fisher, on May 11.

Columbia may also have claim on some of Hammer's other small films.

That still leaves other unreleased Hammer Films in the hands of Fox, MGM, Universal, Warner Brothers, and other distributors.

 

[Marcel H.]

At their Columbia Classics page, they answered a Hammer-related question:
Q: Thanks for all the HAMMER FILM collections! I'm looking forward to the new suspense collection in April. I hope you are planning to release more HAMMER FILMS in the future - such as: Camp on Blood Island, Yesterday's Enemy, Sword of Sherwood

A : Thanks for the feedback! We love the Hammer Films, too. Good news! Sword of Sherwood Forest is set for release shortly, as well as other Robin Hood themed titles, including Bandit of Sherwood Forest, a beautiful 1950 Technicolor film with Cornel Wilde. We’ve heard from lots of fans that you want us to keep Hammer coming, and we are looking at ways to bring these to you. Although we do have rights to the three titles you mentioned, one thing to keep in mind is that Sony Pictures Entertainment does not have rights to all the Hammer Films historically released by Columbia Pictures, so there might be some fan favorites we won’t be releasing. Keep the suggestions coming.

 

[Richard--W]

All right then, since Sony / Columbia won't declare which Hammer films they own and which they don't, my suggestion is, release everything you've got by Hammer fast as you can, and if any Hammer Films are available to you now that you didn't release in the past, go ahead and release them now. Conditions at Hammer are such that Sony can probably get any kind of deal you want for the back catalog of uncommitted films.

Does Sony still own Creatures the World Forgot? The Brigand of Kandahar? The Scarlet Blade? Visa to Canton?