What are the chances that Universal will reissue their Best Of Hitchcock Collections? (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

It's been 3 whole years since their release and I'm just wondering if there's any possiblity that Universal might revisit these titles with newly remastered anamorphic transfers of some of the films and possibly some extra bonus features? These are some of my favorite films of all-time but I've held off on both sets in hope that they might be updated in the next year with definitive versions. Any idea?

 

[PaulP]

I have a lot of these, just got them recently, and they look great to me. Nice extras too. The only things I'd like them to revisit in this series is Psycho and Vertigo. It's painful not owning these favorite films of mine, but they're non-anamorphic...

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The non-anamorphic transfers for Psycho and Vertigo are better than the anamorphic transfer for "The Man Who Knew Too Much". There is a lot more to a good transfer than horizontal resolution, and I wouldn't deprive myself of two of Hitchcock's acknowledged masterpieces (or even two of the best Hitchcock film documentaries on DVD) because of that.

Addendum: Unless you own the laserdiscs already, and are holding out for a more substantial A/V upgrade. The "Psycho" SE laserdisc even has an isolated score that didn't make the DVD

Regards,

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

So it's worth an investment?

I would have assumed that some special edition sets might be in the works. Look at the Kubrick box sets and the Oliver Stone collections, etc.

Would these be a safe purchase?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Btw, this is totally off-topic but has anyone seen the R3 Korean set? It looks really classy and elegant and comes packaged in a foldind E.T. style book case but I think some of the featured films aren't presented in oar and lack a few of the extras seen in the R1 versions. I've looked everywhere for comparissons but can't seem to find listings at any retailer other than DVDHeaven and they've since misteriously dissapeared from that website too..

The only thing I can find is the individual cover art which seems to be a variant of the UK issues, but a little classier, imo:



I wish Universal's R1 DVD's were packaged like this.

 

[Joel C]

The US art is typically over-produced crap. I used to have the original, orange-covered Vertigo, and I wish I hadn't sold it now that I am looking to pick up the film again.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I wouldn't say "over-produced" as it probably took a good 10 minutes in Photoshop to make the current Vertigo cover, inclusive of scanning. I won't argue the "crap" part, though.

Regards,

 

[ArthurMy]

These all have extra features, so what sort of special edition are you waiting for. They're great sets. Will they ever do another and better transfer - maybe, someday, could be, who knows. But if you like or love Hitchcock why on earth would you have not picked up these sets?

 

[Craig Beam]

I'd be first in line for new anamorphic editions (especially VERTIGO, since it's my all time favorite film), but I'm more than pleased with the current versions. I bought them early on, so I have the original cover art for both. Man, what was Universal thinking with those ugly revisions? In fact, ALL the Universal Hitchcock titles have ugly covers! Or maybe those gorgeous new Warner covers have made me pickier...

 

[Josh Simpson]

Now that would be something to have.

I have a few of these already, but would love to get more, but man, I wish they were a little cheaper. Some of them still retail kinda high, and some are non-anamorphic. I still love these discs though and will eventually get the WB set, as well as more Universal discs.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I'd love to see Universal launch "The Ultimate Hitchcock" box set:

(All the original DVD's, unless noted)

Saboteur
Shadow of a Doubt
Rope
Rear Window
The Trouble With Harry
The Man Who Knew Too Much (remastered from Cinesite digital restoration)
Vertigo (remastered in 16x9, add DTS, add music-only track and "pieced-together" mono track)
Psycho (remastered in 16x9, add music-only track)
The Birds
Marnie
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot

Also, the 3 "enhanced" editions could be purchased separately. This would be a 14 disc set (or 15... Vertigo could probably be a 2-disc edition if DTS, music-only, and reconstructed mono tracks were added). A lower price would be nice, too. (I'd say $120 would be reasonable since that's what the Oliver Stone 14-disc set is going to be)

 

[Chris Cheese]

The Universal discs have been going through price drops in groups of four since last year and are now all available at a $20 MSRP. So you should be able to find any of them for under $15. I've been slowly picking them up myself as the price drops occurred. I wasn't willing to get a lot of them for $25 a piece, but for $14-15 I'm a bit more likely to bite. Still need to get a bunch of the Universal discs, but only a few of them are really great films (and they're all the ones that just had price drops, which I haven't gotten around to yet). The rest, I'll probably pick up eventually. What I still need (the top three are the ones I really want badly):

Saboteur
Rope
The Trouble With Harry
Marnie
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot

 

[Michael Elliott]

I've held off on buying these because Universal might do to these what they did with their Monster Classics. I'm hoping they'll just repackage them at some point. I also can't help but think PSYCHO will eventually get a Franchise Collection with a new anamorphic transfer of the first film along with the three sequels.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks, I'm holding off as well than. Hopefully we get a complete elaborate packaging re-issue of all of Hitchcock's Universal films in one definitive collection with appropriate anamorphic remastering, etc.

 

[ArthurMy]

Marco, you seem to be ignoring the fact that all these that should have anamorphic transfers DO have anamorphic transfers, save for Vertigo and Psycho. And again, if you are a Hitchcock fan I just don't comprehend why you wouldn't get these now (or in the past two years or however long they've been out). Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Frenzy, Family Plot, The Trouble With Harry, The Birds - all anamorphic, all available separately or in boxes, and most of them looking swell, and ALL of them with some sort of long documentary on them. Maybe they'll redo them, maybe they won't - certainly they'll get around to Psycho and Vertigo, but why not pick up the others, and most importantly, why not pick up the Academy ratio ones which all look excellent?

Sorry, people in this thread who say they're "holding off" are not Hitchcock fans, plain and simple.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Topaz is anamorphic? I thought sure the back cover just said "widescreen?" Is this an error? If it is anamorphic, I'll pick it up. I could be wrong, though.

"Sorry, people in this thread who say they're "holding off" are not Hitchcock fans, plain and simple. "

Regarding that quote, Arthur, I do have several of these already. I just have held off of a few because of the high retail prices. Since prices are dropping though, I will look harder for these.

 

[Josh Simpson]

www.deepdiscountdvd.com has the Universal discs for 13.99 each. good deal, plus free shipping if you aren't in a hurry.

 

[Steve...O]

I have the Universal sets and the films all look fine and have wonderful extras. From a content standpoint there really isn't much left to improve.

Yes, these were pricey when they came out, but they have been repriced downwards. I bought both sets at deepdiscount for about $100 each. Highway robbery compared to the $63 I paid for the Warner sets, but still a fair deal.

Steve

 

[PaulP]

I'm only holding out on Psycho and Vertigo. As great as these masterpieces are I can't buy an inferior product.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I'm holding out until I can get all of Hitchcock presents without hitting Ebay or buying multiple copies of a couple movies.