What's currently the most prized item/s in your DVD collection and why ? (1 Viewer)

[Ron-P]

Edward Scissorhands
Why: Favorite fantasy / fairytale film, favorite director, best music score ever to grace a film, favorite actor, favorite actress.

 

[Arman]

Francois Truffaut's Adventure of Antoine Doinel

 

[Mark Wielgosz]

Akira - Limited Tin Edition: Sure there's no 5.1 for the original Japanese track, but it's OOP and has a nice collection of extras.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Platinum Editions: My favorite anime series with a much-needed facelift.

Star Wars Trilogy: The best the Trilogy has ever looked (that's until it's released in HD) along with one of the best film-related documentaries around.

Brazil - Criterion Collection: A great set, despite the lack of a 16x9 transfer.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Extended Editions: Comprehensive? Well, duh.

Ed Wood - Recalled Version: It's great when one can purchase a film a year before it's officially released.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

spinal tap criterion collection or little shop of horrors oop, because you cant get them anywhere, and because they are now valuable.

as for normal dvds, i'd have to say boogie nights platinum edition because of the film and extras, and rushmore criterion, that's the disc that got me hooked on the only company i know of that just releases good films (most of the time).

CJ

 

[Keith Paynter]

The following home-made DVD LD transfers (not bootleg purchases):

Laurel & Hardy - Pardon Us (long cut)
Laurel & Hardy - Way Out West
Laurel & Hardy - Sons Of The Desert
Laurel & Hardy - Our Relations
Star Wars Definitive Collection
This Is Spinal Tap (Criterion with both commentaries!)
The Phantom Of The Opera (original 24fps Image 'Silent Classics' disc, tinting removed and color Bal Masque footage replaced by correct 1929 matching b&w footage & titles - recovered synchronized music by the late Lee Erwin from 16mm source)
Metropolis (80's Image/PSO Moroder version)
Silent Movie
Rocky Horror P/S - audience participation track mixed DD to rear surround (as opposed to Dolby Surround front on auth. DVD or analog R-ch on LD)
Harold Lloyd - Safety Last & Why Worry (Time/Life series 16mm transfers)
Pink Floyd - The Wall (w/Alan Parker commentary)
Pink Floyd - P*U*L*S*E
Imagine: John Lennon

The real deals:

Wicker Man (box)
Criterions (Brazil/Time Bandits/M/Seven Samurai-1st pressing restoration demo/MP Life Of Brian/Spartacus)
Devil's Advocate (1st pressing)
Toy Story Toy Box
Walt Disney Treasures - On The Front Lines
Abel Gance's Napoleon (R4 PAL)
Big Trouble In Little China (2 Disc) - contest prize from Ron!
Dances with Wolves (Theatrical - DTS)
The Abyss (Import-DD soundtrack; Canadian has English Dolby Surround and French Dolby Surround)
Stop Making Sense


...and I curse the loss of the original LSOH when my wholesaler made the recall and I obliged. ("You see? You see?!? Your stupid minds!! Stupid!! Stupid!!")

I'll go now...:b

 

[streeter]

-Mondo Cane collection
-Art of Buster Keaton collection
-Candy LE Tin (#2,499 out of 16,000)
-Field of Dreams (signed at an SNL after-party by Ray Liotta)
-Caddyshack (signed by Chevy Chase and Brian Doyle-Murray)
-the Disney Treasures tins
-Treasures from the American Film Archives box
-The Wicker Man LE wooden box
-Shadow of the Vampire (signed by Cary Elwes and Eddie Izzard)
-Charlie Chaplin box set (Modern Times, The Great Dictator, City Lights, Gold Rush)* plus all the other Image Chaplin discs
-Man With No Name Trilogy (GB&U signed by Eli Wallach)
-Fantasia Anthology (signed by Roy Disney)
-Psycho (signed by the late Janet Leigh)
-The Educational Archives LE Lunchbox
-Fons Rademakers box (region 2, 12 movies)
-Let Sleeping Corpses Lie LE tin (#89 out of 5,000)

Other than that my favorites are basically my favorite movies, but that would be an entirely different thread.

*after reading Patrick McCart's earlier post. I had thought about selling these and "upgrading" to the newer special editions from Warners. Now I know better - thanks Patrick!

 

[Dane Marvin]

My Criterions. Had 65, but I am weeding them down to just the essentials for me (mainly because I need money for a car). Some will never leave me, such as:

Wrong Men & Notorious Women: Five Hitchcock Thrillers (OOP)
Spartacus
The Blob
The Third Man
Sullivan's Travels
The Lady Eve
My Man Godfrey
Brief Encounter
A Night to Remember

When all 5 of the definitive seasons of The Twilight Zone are released, then they will be the gems of my collection. No, not rare or OOP or anything like that: just a great, great show and loaded with extras.

 

[MatS]

what part of Stanley Kubrick and collection don't you understand

 

[Paul D G]

I am considering prized to mean, for me, discs I'm not lending out no matter who asks:

- Little Shop of Horrors (recalled version)
- Koyaanisqatsi (limited edition open matte)
- Robocop Critereon
- Beatles 4disc set

-paul

 

[Artur Meinild]

Lord of the Rings, all 3 extended edition gift sets (plus 3 theatrical edition w. custom cover), because:
They are the best and most encompassing movies ever made (extended cuts).
They are the best and most comprehensive DVD's ever made (best documentaries, commentaries etc).
The Argonath statues provide natural bookends to the collection, which is cool.
The Lord of the Rings saga on DVD is 18 discs (+3 extra discs in the giftsets).
I had been waiting for this since I read the books for the first time, and now it is real.

(Disney Treasures - Silly Symphonies and Disney Treasures - Front Lines are runner ups, and so are the Ultimate Matrix Collection.)

 

[Harold Wazzu]

Very nice!

 

[MikeEckman]

I prize my collection as a whole, but if I had to pick something, it would probably be my Season 1-7 of Star Trek: TNG. I just love seeing those 7 silvery boxes sitting atop my shelf.

I don't watch much TV, so I dont have many TV sets, but TNG was one of my favorite shows of all time.

 

[Tim Robbins]

My pride and joy is probably Ben Hur pan&scan...just kidding.

Actually the pride of my collection is probably my limited edition tin of Hellraiser. To this date I have never seen another one.

Tim

 

[TommyT]

I'm always very fussy about what DVDs I actually buy so I value just about all of 'em! But my favorites would have to be:

Re-Animator, Elite Millennium Ed - A totally blind buy, I'd never seen the film before I bought it & it's become one of my favorite films.

OOP Criterions: Silence/Lambs (courtesy of the great folks at Kim's Video, NYC), RoboCop (stumbled on it in Media Play).

Brazil, Criterion - One of the 1st I ever bought.

The Last Temptation of Christ, Criterion - Simply because the "Religious WRONG" hates it!! Not a bad film either...

Memento, Limited Ed - Has probably the most brilliant easter egg ever.

Terminator 2: Ultimate Ed - The 2nd most brilliant egg ever!

Fight Club 2 disc - Happy I got this one before they stripped it down!

 

[Jeff Adkins]

My most-prized stuff would be things that I can't just run down to Circuit City or Fry's and purchase:

-R3 NTSC Uncut Eyes Wide Shut...I have no interest in the studio-altered US release

-The German Laurel & Hardy discs which are superior to any other versions, including the 3M Laserdiscs

-R2 French MK2 Truffaut releases which are anamorphic and with tons of extras. Most of these are only available from lousy Fox Lorber releases in the states

-R2 French Fist Of Legend which is uncut, anamorphic and although doesn't have English subs, I made my own legal backup and added English subs to it. Far better than Disney's dubbed, hack-job

-R2 Japanese Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Uncut). I made my own legal backup where I made the subtitles only come on during the Japanese dialogue.

-R2 Dutch Ichi The Killer, far superior transfer to the R1 Media Blasters release.

-R2 Japanese Lost Highway. While not anamorphic, it looks damn good and is in DD 5.1.

-R2 UK release of Delicatessen. A fantastic DVD with good extras and a nice anamorphic transfer

-DEI release of Hum Dil De Chuuke Sanaam. My favorite Bollywod film and only the DEI version has a good transfer

-R3 NTSC Paramount Korea box set of Twin Peaks Season One. Includes the entire series remastered including the pilot.

-R2 NTSC Paramount Japan release of Evita. It's anamorphic.

-R0 NTSC Starmax Korea releas of Pulp Fiction. Has a stunning anamorphic transfer which is light years better than the Miramax Collector's Edition.

-R2 UK versions of Jean De Florette and Manon Of The Spring. Anamorphic and much better than those awful MGM versions released here.

-The German box set of the early Hitchcock films. None have ever looked better and the quality is stunning. The Lady Vanishes even looks better than the Criterion. Young And Innocent and Sabotage look fantastic also.

-UK Version of Monsoon Wedding. It's anamorphic.

-UK Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls

-French release of Star Crash. A cheesy sci-fi film, but a guilty pleasure.

-Anchor Bay's original release of Take The Money And Run. It's OAR and the current release is Fullscreen only.

and my most recent prize: UK release of Neighbors with Akroyd/Belushi. It's anamorphic and looks very nice. I've wanted this film forever.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Easily, my favorite would have to be my copy of Titanic that I had signed by TITANIC historians Charles Haas and Jack Eaton. Two fine gentleman that I had the great pleasure of speaking with also.

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial Ultimate Gift Set. One of my all time treasured films in a set that does it justice in many ways.

Three O'Clock High. My second favorite comedy of the 80's (next to Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and one that I have watched many times over. It's not the most spectacular dvd release, but I treasure it all the same.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This is the movie that put many a bad idea in my head on how to skip school convincingly. :b He was my idol back then!

Predator SE. When I heard that R2 had it and we didn't, I threw a fit, and now we have it, but more importantly, I have it! Just one bad-ass film that IMO is one of the staples of the 80's action genre along with my next pick...

Die Hard. I can recite every line from this film, and the audio can still bring the roof down, or OFF, in this film's case! I actually treasure all three of the Die Hard films just the same, I can't separate them in my mind.

And speaking of John McTeirnan...

The Hunt for Red October SE. One of my favorite of the turn-the-screws-until-sweating-bullets variety of thrillers. The new transfer and DTS track make this a treasure.

Gremlins SE. Because of the commentary with the cast and director, plus, 'Gizmo' is one of my all time favorite creatures ever designed for a film.

Halloween: 2 Disc Limited Edition AND the Halloween: 2 Disc Divimax dvd's. Between the two, I can't think of a finer well of information on this classic. And now, with the recent tragic passing of Debra Hill, they have taken on something more, they are a testiment to how great a writer she was.

Almost done, I promise.

Sledge Hammer! The Complete First Season If you love Police Squad but aren't familliar with this show, and you like to laugh, A LOT, grab this up, you no good, yogurt eatin' creep!

Back to the Future Trilogy. For the simple reason that it is the ultimate symbol of my resolve. I swore when it was released 2 and half years ago that I wouldn't even touch it until the framing errors were fixed and released in stores. I finally picked it up a month ago and all was fine with the OAR's. I feel really good about this release because, well, Universal failed to nab me in the mess they made.

A few new treasures...

Of course, The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy. Considering that just a few month before the release of The Fellowship of the Ring I hadn't even heard of this story...ever, it was quite a journey for me to experience this story on such an epic scale! By far, three of the greatest films of all time! And the dvd's? Forget about it, you can't do any better than this.

Dawn of the Dead Unrated Directors Cut (2004). Loved the film in theaters and anxiously awaited the dvd, when it got here, I watched it 3 times in the first week alone. Kick-ass, rip-roaring horror!

The Incredibles. Just bought it last week and watched it twice so far. This film is truly unbelievable, in every sense of the freakin word! By far the most fun i've had watching a movie since the original Toy Story, just grand entertainment.

Collateral. Again, just picked it up and have watched it 3 times so far. This and Heat are two of my favorite Micheal Mann films. Tom Cruise is just down right looney!

Whew! Done.

 

[Adam_R]

Spinal Tap Criterion - Great movie, rare disc.

Rush in Rio - It's so great to finally have a live DVD from my favorite band.

Looney Tunes Golden Collections - Thanks god for these.

 

[Brian York]

Because they're OOP/Not Replacable
* Little Shop of Horrors, with the alternate ending
* The Original Seven Samurai, with the restoration demo
* Akira Limited Tin Edition
* The Ultimate Toy Story

Because They're Jammed with features:
* The Ultimate Toy Story
* LOTR: EE - All three. Wish ALL the Studios did Extended Editions like New Line

Because I LOVE them for whatever reason:
* The Original Seven Samurai, with the restoration demo - Kurasawa rocks!
* Star Wars IV-VI, Original Theatrical Versions - Yes, they're unofficial. GEORGE won't cooperate....
* Ghost in the Shell: SE - Love the animation and concept behind the story
* The Fifth Element: Superbit- for both the picture and sound (...and Lee-Loo...)
* Casablanca - My favorite move....and a pretty nice release on DVD

 

[Ben__Tyler]

Can any readers please mention what was the actual footage on the Little Shop of Horrors withdrawn DVD, why was it
placed on it (if it got withdrawn) and whether a new
collectors edition DVD of the film, will have the footage and other deleted scenes included.

Plus what other DVD's have had additional footage included, only to be withdrawn.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm surprised I haven't seen what is perhaps my most prized DVD brought up yet:

Sunrise

That DVD does not leave my sight. It does not get loaned out to friends. If a roommate wants to watch it, they're gonna watch it in my room. Not taking any chances with it. It's a beautiful, beautiful film, the extras are fantastic, the price tag was right (free!-what more do you want?). It's just a shame that you can't walk into any store and buy a copy.

Also on the list:
-The Fantasia Anthology
-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
-The Walt Disney Treasures tins
-Spartacus: Criterion Collection
-Lost Horizon

All great sets, with fantastic extras to compliment some of the best film and animation work ever done.

And, of course, all of my Joss Whedon TV show DVDs and all of my Aaron Sorkin TV show DVDs. Some of the best writing for television ever, just quality shows that are completely successful in creating their own worlds (whether based in the realm of possibility or not). Those shows mean to me what Twin Peaks means to my parents - and speaking of Twin Peaks, I'm glad to have that too.

There are very few DVDs in my collection that I wish I didn't have, or at least don't see a need to have. That would be an interesting thread.