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John Ford at Fox: 21 disc set in December!!! (2007) (1 Viewer)

Tim Tucker

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I hope that means a mail-in offer similiar to how Fox released Sunrise. IMHO you can't have too many Randolph Scott films on DVD.

BTW, B&N sent my set out via UPS 3 Day Select. According to the tracking code, I should have it Thursday.

Package weight: 14.10 lbs! :eek:

I just hope it arrives undamaged.
 

Jay Gregory

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I suspect my wife is ignoring my numerous hints about it, so I think I'll be waiting until after the holidays before I can think about getting this incredible sounding set.
 

PaulP

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Sorry if this has been covered, but am I correct in thinking that the three smaller boxes do not contain all the films in the huge set? I know Lincoln's not included as it's the Criterion disc really, and that's fine. But are any other discs excluded?
 

Tim Tucker

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Yes, enough for a fourth set:

Seas Beneath (1931)
The World Moves On (1934)
The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
Wee Willie Winkie (1937)
Four Men and a Prayer (1938)
Tobacco Road (1941)

Plus Born Reckless (1930) and Pilgrimage (1933) are being released as a single separate from the three box sets.
 

Ruz-El

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The movies are good to right? I just blind bought this one :P I've seen "My Darling Clemintine", "How Green Was My Valley" and the John Wayne/Ford set Warner put out, I should be pretty safe in liking those to enjoying most of this right?

*crosses fingers!*
 

mogwai

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That's odd. I received mine today from B&N. It only took one day. Of course, I live in California, and it shipped out Monday from Reno, NV. Didn't have to travel too far. It was in perfect condition, too. The set was supported with two foam rectangles that were hollowed out and fit, snug, around the set. Hope that makes sense. It helped prevent the set from moving around. And this sucker is incredibly hefty.

It really is the most remarkable set I've ever owned. I have to applaud Fox for their effort. They really went all out.

You know it's special when the box you receive it in is marked "fragile" on the outside. I doubt I'll see that again.
 

John Hodson

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I'm a big fan, so no impartial opinions here, but yes, I'm pretty sure you will. Might be a wise choice to watch 'Becoming John Ford' first to put the films into context? If you don't like 'em, think what a fantastic door stop it'll make ;)

Oscar; mine's delayed too...

EDIT; scratch that; now SHIPPED. Feels like Christmas suddenly...
 

oscar_merkx

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and I live in Glasgow which is across the pond.

just received another email from B&N that it's left the warehouse.

keeping my fingers crossed
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Eric Peterson

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Mine was not due to arrive until tomorrow, but I just checked the tracking and it's out for delivery right now!!! :)

Good thing I took a snow day today!!
 

Tim Tucker

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It's great to hear that B&N went the extra mile in packing these. My membership has really paid for itself this year.

According to UPS, my set is out for delivery today.

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I see a visit to Shark Island in my near future.
 

Tim Tucker

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The package was waiting on my porch when I got home. B&N did a great packing job, surrounding the set in a foam latticework that thoroughly protected it. The set did have a couple of minor dings that look like they happened before it was boxed.

Having inspected it now, I am very impressed by what Fox did. My only complaint is those rubber hubs the DVDs are sitting on. I'm wondering about their durability... and how best to get the discs off of them.

Now to figure out where best to store this thing...
 

Tim Tucker

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The set is 13.5 inches wide, 13.5 inches high and 3.25 inches deep.

It will look very nice sitting on a shelf or a coffee table in your home theater.

But after considering this some more, I think this will be the first set where I will remove the DVDs and store them in 10 double slimline cases. As beautiful as it is, the binder holding the discs doesn't look that practical. Plus I'm concerned about how well it would protect the eight double-sided discs in the box.
 

Eric Peterson

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I received my set yesterday. When I saw the condition of the box sitting on my porch, I was alarmed and figured for sure that it was going to be tattered. Thankfully, B&N did an incredible job of packaging this set. It was completely surrounded by large foam blocks (similar to those used for shipping computers) which provided almost 2 inches of air space between the outer carton and the actual product. Although the box was tattered and torn in multiple places, I could find no damage to the actual set.

Here are a few comments on the physical aspects of the set:

Construction - The construction of the box is absolutely incredible. This really feels heavy duty and not like something that is going to eventually fall apart.
Discs & Holder - One of my concerns with this set from the earliest photos was the inclusion of double-sided discs in a binder. I looked at this closer and it appears that each page of the binder can touch the discs on the next page. This makes me quite nervous that some of the discs might be or will become damaged in the future. Why did Fox choose to use DS/SL discs instead of SS/DL discs? WB uses this format on all of their double features and to be honest, I thought that DS/SL discs had been retired.
Documentary - After first digging through the set, I thought that I was missing the documentary. I tore through the set again and found it resting in a cavity in the bottom of the box. You will have to remove all of the contents to find it.
Artwork - I am slightly disappointed that those who purchased the large box do not receive any of the artwork from the individual and smaller boxsets. This is not huge, but I was very impressed by this other artwork and would have enjoyed having it included in some form.
Book - This is a high quality book with nice glossy pages and photos. However, I was disappointed by the content. It consists primarily of stills from the films with a smattering of behind the scenes photos. Hopefully as I see more of the films in the set, my appreciation for this item will grow.
Inserts - There are a couple of inserts that consist of a movie titles and credits from the boxset printed on them. These are printed on a paper that is very similar to tracing paper. What are these for?
Program Repros - These are very high quality and I look forward to spending more time reviewing these in detail.


Last night I watched two of the discs starting with the documentary. I appreciate the fact that the documentary focused on Ford's years at FOX as most of the current documentaries focus on the films with Wayne. That said, I was slightly bored by the documentary itself. Maybe this is due to my lack of familiarity with the bulk of the films that it discussed. I will probably watch this again after I have seen more of the films. Including my viewing of "Prisoner of Shark Island" last night, I have seen a total of 6 films from this set.

Which brings me to "Prisoner of Shark Island". I was a little nervous at the outset when a discalaimer related to the condition of surviving materials came on the screen. My concern was quickly alleviated when the film began. I may not be as critical as many on this forum, but I was highly impressed by the picture quality of this disc. Aside from a few moments where frames seem to be missing, the picture was beautiful to watch. The missing frames that I speak of, all seemed to fall in non-dialogue moments, so they are of little concern. I enjoyed the film quite a bit, although it is very liberal in regards to it's historical accuracy.:)

I'm looking forward to seeing "The Iron Horse", "Four Sons", & "Judge Priest" soon.
 

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