Topic: Did someone say "Stooge DVD sets?!"

[ThumpTheShoes]

Someone might want to start a thread on this in general discussion, since I'm still too new to do so. There's a bit of news over at hometheaterforum.com, posted by Aaron Silverman, their resident Sony DVD reviewer:

"This just in from the Sony marketing crew:

Quote:
We are planning to release a series of Three Stooges boxed sets next year, potentially summer or fall 2007. The sets will include sequential B&W shorts encompassing two year periods. We also plan to produce added value material for the first set.

OK, so it's a year off, and possibly without a lot of extra features, but ya can't beat "sequential black & white!!

You heard it here first, kids!"

link:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=204913

The news is on about page two in the thread listed above. My apologies if this message seems a little broken up-- I'm still in a state of shock!

-thumptheshoes

[Dunrobin]

That is great news, Thump!  (I split your post off so it can be it's own thread.)

The first question in my mind was, "Will they be smart enough to include a "Play All" option on the DVD menus?"   

[JazzBill]

Is something similar to how they did Keaton asking too much ?

[Shempaholic]

For years I've put off buying any Stooges DVDs in anticipation of sets like these. I recently finally gave up and started getting some of the DVDs, and last week I broke down and bought one of the bootleg sets of all 190 shorts. I'll buy the new ones anyway though. Maybe now Columbia will finally start treating the Stooges with the respect they deserve.

[xraffle]

That is still a long wait. However, it's kind of late for Columbia to release this. They waited so long that I bought a bootleg set and I'm not shelling out more money for another set.

[Dunrobin]

Actually, guys, it's looks like it is Sony (Columbia's parent company) that is taking over and planning to make these releases, not Columbia.  Considering the quality of Sony DVDs compared to Columbia's, that's probably a good thing.  AND it seems that the shorts are going to be packaged sequentially, like the bootleg sets offered on eBay (only in two-year sets.)  I suspect somebody at Sony finally noticed those, and realized that Columbia was completely screwing up what could easily be a very profitable series.

Patience is a virtue.   

[ThumpTheShoes]

I have the bootleg set, as well as the official DVD releases and numerous VHS's. However, I will have no problem plunking down the dough just to have all the films in a pristine condition.
I don't know if the bootlegs have changed or improved in the last two years but, I gotta tell ya', my set had some grungy looking copies of the later shorts. Through trading, I have managed to replace many of the bad looking shorts for good ones, but I'd rather have official releases. It looks like Sony will make that possible now.

I will rest easier once I see an official release schedule but, for now, I am content. At least there's still news of some kind in Stoogeland.

-ThumpTheShoes

[BeAStooge]

... it's looks like it is Sony (Columbia's parent company) that is taking over and planning to make these releases, not Columbia. 

I suspect somebody at Sony finally noticed those, and realized that Columbia was completely screwing up what could easily be a very profitable series.

There is no change from one company to another. It's the same home video division since Sony bought Columbia in 1989... this is just the latest of several name changes over the years, e.g., from Columbia Home Entertainement, to Columbia Tri-Star Home Entertainment, to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE).

Two years ago, Sony announced its intention to phase the Columbia name from its home video packaging. They've been using the SPHE divisional logo for some time now. Last year, Sony acquired the MGM/UA library... in about five years, you will probably also see that logo disappear in favor of whatever SPHE is calling itself by that time.

[xraffle]

There is no change from one company to another. It's the same home video division since Sony bought Columbia in 1989... this is just the latest of several name changes over the years, e.g., from Columbia Home Entertainement, to Columbia Tri-Star Home Entertainment, to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE).

Two years ago, Sony announced its intention to phase the Columbia name from its home video packaging. They've been using the SPHE divisional logo for some time now. Last year, Sony acquired the MGM/UA library... in about five years, you will probably also see that logo disappear in favor of whatever SPHE is calling itself by that time.

I guess if this new DVD collection is coming out, I don't think the quality will be as good as we think. There were several shorts on the previous DVD releases that had inferior prints. So, there could be a chance that this problem might occur in this new DVD collection.

[Bangsmith]

If they indeed release those, it will be sort of a slap in the face to all of us who bought the existing DVDs AND that world-famous bootleg set! They should have done that to begin with.

[JazzBill]

Most of my collection is on VHS tapes that I started taping back in the AMC days. Then I started taping off the local station here in Chicago. Even though I have managed to get all 190 shorts, it is a pretty rag-tag collection. Some of the tapes will be OK on one of my VCR's but skip on another one. I was just giving some serious thought about buying some bootlegs, but now I think I will wait and see what Sony is going to come out with. If they give the same kind of effort that they gave to the Keaton shorts, it will be worth the wait. ( But pricey )

[Pilsner Panther]

I'm just going to bide my time and see what Sony comes up with. If the packaging of these new issues is on the same quality level as the Buster Keaton set, that'll be fine with me, and I'll buy them.

Since I bought almost all of the Columbia VCR tapes when they were still available, I've stuck with those, and the only Stooges DVD's I've bought are "The Three Stooges: The Early Years," "Soup To Nuts," and "Stooges, The Men Behind The Mayhem." For a while, I was thinking of having my tapes transferred to DVD, but I just never got around to it. I've never bought any bootlegs because the picture and sound quality of films is important to me, and with bootlegs, who knows what the condition of the source material or the transfer quality is?

Talk about bad corporate decisions— Sony/Columbia lost a huge amount of revenue by not issuing high-quality Stooges DVD collections to begin with, preferably in chronological order, starting with "Woman Haters" and going on all the way through the last Shemps made while Shemp was still alive. Maybe a Besser set, too, for historical completeness, but I doubt it would have been a big seller. As the Stooges largely disappeared from local TV a few years back, Sony would have sold a ton of those sets. Too late now...

Old saying: "All things come to he who waits."

 

[Curley91]

I'm really happy to hear that Sony is finally releasing some box sets with the stooges.  I am curious, however, if they will release all 190 shorts. 

[trigger]

Amen,

I have just dropped $98 for the Columbia 12-pack, then bought the remaining 5 or so additional DVD's from Columbia for a roughly 60% collection?  Now I have to wait a year and start over?  I'll bet SONY is going to gouge the consumer again too.  The 2-year box sets will not be cheap.

[Pilsner Panther]

Amen,

I have just dropped $98 for the Columbia 12-pack, then bought the remaining 5 or so additional DVD's from Columbia for a roughly 60% collection?  Now I have to wait a year and start over?  I'll bet SONY is going to gouge the consumer again too.  The 2-year box sets will not be cheap.

Oh, it's a gouge all right. The record companies (including, you'll never guess, Sony) have been doing the same thing for years and years now. The classic jazz albums of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, and other jazz immortals have been repackaged and "improved" dozens of times since the CD was first introduced in the late 70's. Always, "improved" in some way, just like laundry detergent.

Not that I expect anything else to result from corporate "thinking," but at least the music and the films have been kept available. Still, making unlimited amounts of money from the work of long-dead entertainers (most of whom were severely underpaid in the first place, including the Stooges), strikes me as, well, immoral.

End of sermon... and it's not even Sunday!

 

[xraffle]

I'm just going to bide my time and see what Sony comes up with. If the packaging of these new issues is on the same quality level as the Buster Keaton set, that'll be fine with me, and I'll buy them.

Since I bought almost all of the Columbia VCR tapes when they were still available, I've stuck with those, and the only Stooges DVD's I've bought are "The Three Stooges: The Early Years," "Soup To Nuts," and "Stooges, The Men Behind The Mayhem." For a while, I was thinking of having my tapes transferred to DVD, but I just never got around to it. I've never bought any bootlegs because the picture and sound quality of films is important to me, and with bootlegs, who knows what the condition of the source material or the transfer quality is?

I have almost all of the Columbia VCR tapes. Some of the shorts on those videos have poor quality. Some examples are: Three Smart Saps, Monkey Businessmen, Higher Than A Kite, Back From The Front, All The World's A Stooge, and a few others. There are also a number of shorts with poor quality on the DVDs. This proves that Sony/Columbia doesn't work hard enough to make sure that the best possible elements are used. Therefore, I won't be a bit a surprised if some shorts have poor quality on this new DVD collection they are planning to release.

[locoboymakesgood]

So 2 year sets...

1934 - 1959 = 25 years / 2 = 12.5 sets

Okay, so I'm going to guess they'll package one set with three years.. maybe 1934 with '35 and '36 since there aren't a substantial amount of shorts in the first year to make it a nice 12 sets. However, will these be released all at once? Or are we talking a huge break inbetween? I don't feel like waiting until DVD is a dead format to buy all these sets. Anyone think they'll simultaneously release these on Blu-ray, or no?

[trigger]

OK, now it IS Sunday so you and I can both preach if we want to.
But seriously, what's the consensus on the 8-DVD (40 episode) boxed-sets that Amazon.com is offering.  There are 3 volumes for a total of 120 episodes.  Some of the Amazon reviews are damming but they mostly complain about the packaging which isn't THAT important to me.  Some reviews of them also say you can't index to the next episode and also they have lots of skips, hang-ups, video and audio problems.  Is this true or are these reviews written by a Columbia/SONY mole?!?!?!?!?!?!?

There were a couple great reviews too so I don't know who to believe.  I went ahead and ordered Volume-2 last night and I can't wait to check it out.  Are volumes 1 or 3 worse?  Better?  What do the real stooge fans out there say?

Buying the official Columbia 12-pack only ignited a long-dormant stooge-fan inside of me and now I want to see ALL the episodes that I saw 30 years ago.  What great memories - what great lines (that I still use today - much to my wife's dismay!).

[xraffle]

OK, now it IS Sunday so you and I can both preach if we want to.
But seriously, what's the consensus on the 8-DVD (40 episode) boxed-sets that Amazon.com is offering.  There are 3 volumes for a total of 120 episodes.  Some of the Amazon reviews are damming but they mostly complain about the packaging which isn't THAT important to me.  Some reviews of them also say you can't index to the next episode and also they have lots of skips, hang-ups, video and audio problems.  Is this true or are these reviews written by a Columbia/SONY mole?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Those aren't official Sony/Columbia DVDs. Those are also bootlegs.

[trigger]

I'm sorry that I was not clear.  I know full well they are bootlegs but I wondered what you guys think of the quality of each of the 3 volumes.  Are any volumes worse quality than others?  Did the company work out the bugs over time?  If you get the shrink-wrapped ones were they better quality? 

Let's see.......... Columbia wants $18 for 5 shorts and these bootlegs are about $22 for 40 shorts....hmmmmmmmmmmm.  Even thought the quality and packaging of the 3-volume bootlegs are fair, this seems so cost-effective It seems like the way to go.

thanks

[ThumpTheShoes]

The set that I got over two years ago has 190 shorts on 40 discs. I snagged the set for a song, thinking that no other Stooges films would be released. Now, here's the rotten truth based on what I got:

Most of the Curlys are in pretty good to fine shape, as they are the most accessible, obviously. There are some from VHS, television, and laserdisc.

The Shemp shorts are a mixed bag of DVD, tape, and television sources. These shorts, particularly the last Shemps, vary from perfect to blurry, super blurry, and blurry with audio speedup from PAL source conversion.

The Joes are, sadly, nearly unwatchable. These shorts suffer from artifacts that come from poor television reception (imagine watching a pay television channel that has an intermittent scrambled picture) and just really poor quality VHS copies.

Several shorts suffer from an almost non-existant bitrate (1.5!), excessive audio hum/buzzing and tape hiss. There are dropouts on the VHS sourced ones and, occasionally, text like "PICTURE ENHANCEMENT" may flash on the screen due to lousy capture methods.

Here's two screen shots to show how bad the "boots" can look!
"Pardon My Backfire" - This effect goes on for more than two minutes in five shorts

"No Dough Boys" - DVD's don't have tracking issues!


If, if, if IF... the short films on the upcoming boxed sets look as good (or nearly as good) as the B&W versions on the colorized sets then I truly believe the cost of the sets will be justified. I have the "boots", all official Sony releases so far, and I've spent a great deal of time trading and tracking down good looking copies of the rare shorts. I will be buying the boxed sets and, frankly, I can't wait to get my grubby protuberances on them!
-Thump

[xraffle]

I noticed that audio speedup issue in some shorts, especially in "Booty and the Beast." However, that didn't bother me much since those shorts are uncut and uninterrupted. That was just enough to please me.

I did notice that problem in "Pardon My Backfire." This problem also occurs in Slaphappy Sleuths, Horsing Around and Guns A Poppin. There could be more, but that's all I can think of from the top of my head. The reason why this occurs is because these shorts were recorded from the Family Channel and some edits had to be spliced in from inferior prints that the person had available. That shaky effect that happens was not from the video source, but from the capturing. I also convert VHS to DVD and that shaky problem happens when you capture from certain VHS tapes, particularly old ones. It's strange, but I don't know why it happens.

That screen shot thing is a pretty good idea. Since I have the bootleg set and most of the Sony/Columbia DVDs, I can also post some screen shots if anyone is curious how the quality is on certain shorts.

[Bangsmith]

OK, now it IS Sunday so you and I can both preach if we want to.
But seriously, what's the consensus on the 8-DVD (40 episode) boxed-sets that Amazon.com is offering.  There are 3 volumes for a total of 120 episodes.  Some of the Amazon reviews are damming but they mostly complain about the packaging which isn't THAT important to me.  Some reviews of them also say you can't index to the next episode and also they have lots of skips, hang-ups, video and audio problems.  Is this true or are these reviews written by a Columbia/SONY mole?!?!?!?!?!?!?

There were a couple great reviews too so I don't know who to believe.  I went ahead and ordered Volume-2 last night and I can't wait to check it out.  Are volumes 1 or 3 worse?  Better?  What do the real stooge fans out there say?

Buying the official Columbia 12-pack only ignited a long-dormant stooge-fan inside of me and now I want to see ALL the episodes that I saw 30 years ago.  What great memories - what great lines (that I still use today - much to my wife's dismay!).

A couple of those reviews are from me. I reviewed the first two volumes, and my main complaint was that the seller passes these off as legitimate releases. I bought mine on Ebay, but the seller was honest about what it was. Those "Amazon" sets must have some popularity, as those links at the bottom of this page are for those very same sets!!

The set that I got over two years ago has 190 shorts on 40 discs. I snagged the set for a song, thinking that no other Stooges films would be released. Now, here's the rotten truth based on what I got:

Most of the Curlys are in pretty good to fine shape, as they are the most accessible, obviously. There are some from VHS, television, and laserdisc.

The Shemp shorts are a mixed bag of DVD, tape, and television sources. These shorts, particularly the last Shemps, vary from perfect to blurry, super blurry, and blurry with audio speedup from PAL source conversion.

The Joes are, sadly, nearly unwatchable. These shorts suffer from artifacts that come from poor television reception (imagine watching a pay television channel that has an intermittent scrambled picture) and just really poor quality VHS copies.

Several shorts suffer from an almost non-existant bitrate (1.5!), excessive audio hum/buzzing and tape hiss. There are dropouts on the VHS sourced ones and, occasionally, text like "PICTURE ENHANCEMENT" may flash on the screen due to lousy capture methods.

Here's two screen shots to show how bad the "boots" can look!
"Pardon My Backfire" - This effect goes on for more than two minutes in five shorts

"No Dough Boys" - DVD's don't have tracking issues!


If, if, if IF... the short films on the upcoming boxed sets look as good (or nearly as good) as the B&W versions on the colorized sets then I truly believe the cost of the sets will be justified. I have the "boots", all official Sony releases so far, and I've spent a great deal of time trading and tracking down good looking copies of the rare shorts. I will be buying the boxed sets and, frankly, I can't wait to get my grubby protuberances on them!
-Thump

My set is not quite as bad as that, although some shorts do have that "video calibration" message, probably because the source VHS was shitty. The only episode that is atrocious in my set is "Space Ship Sappy", which is barely viewable.

[xraffle]

On my 40 disc set, "Space Ship Sappy" wasn't too bad, although it was a bit on the blurry side.

Here is a screen shot of how it looks.

[Bangsmith]

That is MUCH better than it looks on mine! You can barely make out the scenery that was used during the amazon/lizard scenes!