Universal 'Franchise Collections' - American Graffitti, Conan, Smokey & The Bandit (1 Viewer)

[Keith Paynter]

These slipped under the radar, movie-only packs of



Smokey & The Bandit
Smokey & The Bandit II
Smokey & The Bandit III



American Graffitti
More American Graffitti



Conan The Barbarian
Conan The Destroyer

These are selling at local A&B Sound for under $18.00 CDN. All titles are (anamorphic?) Widescreen, and vary in DD configurations.

Also the Aiport Terminal Pack:



Airport
Airport 1975
Airport '77
The Concorde: Airport '79

Anybody had a chance to pick these up? They were released on Tuesday (1/20/04)

 

[BobG]

They're just repackagings of the existing dvds.

 

[Keith Paynter]

The Airport discs are new, formerly under the GoodTimes Banner, and Airport features DD and DTS 5.1 (all others are DD 2.0 mono)

All titles are anamorphic widescreen.

The Concern is - are the Airport & Smokey sets 4 & 3 disc? The Smokey Digipak was the same size as the Conan package I saw...

 

[TonyD]

the smokey's are not a repackage.

pt 1 is now anamorphic and pt 3 was never released before.
and all 3 are on 1 dvd.

 

[James_Garner]

Not by a long shot. I have the "Smokey Pack." It's all three movies on a single DVD-14, with "Smokey 1 (In a new anamorphic master) & 2 (also anamorphic)" on one side and "Smokey 3(oddly, non-anamorphic)" on the flip side. It's still worth seeking out for the anamorphic version of the first film.

The Airport pack will have anamorphic masters of all four films on two discs, with the original sporting DTS audio to boot.

 

[Yancy Berns]

No, these aren't re-packagings at all, and I really like them. They're good deals, good ways to get movies you wouldn't wanna pay twenty bucks for. The 'American Graffiti' disc is cool (one disc, with contents of the "AG" Signature Collection disc on side A and "More American Graffiti" on side B - both widescreen.)

See, I don't know if I like "AG2" enough to buy the version they put out last year. It's an interesting failure, but its the sequel to my favorite movie of all time. But when I think about it as simply a generous supplement that I can't sell off for four bucks at Amoeba... Hey, I kinda like that!

Don't like the packaging THAT much (especially in comparison to the old "AG" DVD)... But I'm really looking forward to the "Airport" disc... Four barely okay movies on one kickass tiny little disc!

So isn't it time we start speculating as to what FURTHER nifty little batches of "Franchise Collection" discs Uni can put together for us? The monster ones are gonna be part of this series, I think...

 

[TonyD]

anyone else wanna confirm on not being repackaged?


i think the airport set comes out 2/10.

i'll probably get that one.
i'm a sucker forthe 70's disaster movies.

i have the old dvdof the first airport.

 

[Andrew Radke]

Another "franchise collection" is being released on March 2nd. "The Flintstones Yabba Dabba 2-pack containing both feature length films on 1 disc.

I thought about picking this up but it appears to have the exact same extras as on the single disc releases which I recently purchased according to Universal's website.

As for the American Graffiti 2-pack, I'll definitely pick this up. First time I saw AG was about 3 years ago and I fell in love with it. Although the sequel wasn't AS good, I still enjoyed it as well.

 

[Matt Butler]

I might pick up Smokey for that price.

I loved the first one as a kid and the second one is a guilty pleasure.

 

[george kaplan]

Can anyone verify that Smokey & the Bandit actually looks better than the previous release? I'm a little leary of a dvd that puts 3 movies on one disc. I'm willing to upgrade for improved picture, but just because it's anamorphic doesn't mean it's an improvement in quality, especially if it's overcompressed.

 

[TheBat]

I made some screenshots from the conan 2 pack.. www.angelfire.com/ca4/sarahdouglasp2/conan2.html
They are mostly from the conan the destroyer movie.
JACOB

 

[greg_t]

Actually, as James stated above, only parts I and II are on the first side, part III is on the flip side. Part I is a little bit better than the previous non-anamaphoric version. I have an RP91 and use it's scaling on the non-anamaphoric version. I found that the new anamaphoric is indeed better, but it's not a night and day difference. Smokey II is the best looking of the bunch. Part III isn't that bad scaled on the 91. All three come with a dolby 2.0 track. The pursuit packs not that bad since it's three movies for around ~$15.

 

[Magnus T]

Look at the specs for Judgment Night:

http://www.dvdsoon.com/show-title-de...xml?uid=104929

I wonder if they are true. If so, it's mine! Cool movie.

 

[Rolando]

Can anyone confirm if the Conan pack Includes the Conan SE with added footage and Special Features (like commentary etc) or is it just a movie only release. and of course is Destroyer anamorphic. thanks.

 

[TheBat]

conan the barbarian includes most of the extras, and destroyer is not anamorphic.. it includes a trailer.

JACOB

 

[Mark_TS]

i would pick up the CONAN set, then be afraid to learn that DESTROYER is being given SE treatrment (I believe R3 has an SE)

 

[TheBat]

i am working to get a special edition of conan the destroyer released on dvd.. www.angelfire.com/ca4/sarahdouglas
for contact info for universal. Region 2/4 does have a special edition, which includes some featurettes, and commetnary.. but I am working to get the uncut version released.. to see the R rated version never released in theatres.

JACOB

 

[Matt Butler]

I picked up the Smokey 3 pack disc yesterday. It didnt come with an insert but it has a pouch for one. Also the second side (SBpt3) had markings all over it.

Im thinking about taking it back, but its not like im ever going to watch pt 3 and Im not sure if they came with inlays.

Any help or advise is appreciated.

Oh and I watched pt 1 last night and boy did it bring back memories!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

If this question hasn't already been answered....

Is Smokey & The Bandit remastered anamorphic?

 

[Matt Butler]

Ron,
Smokey 1 is indeed remastered anamorphic. It looks really good too.