The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 4: 1943

xraffle · **Reply #25 on:** August 06, 2008, 02:48:15 PM

Quote from: Dunrobin on August 06, 2008, 02:42:45 PM

LOL! That was news to me - I don't remember anyone mentioning that before (although it could just be the senility kicking in.)

The only themed DVDs that have a "Play all" feature are: Stooges At Work, Stooges And The Law, and the four colorized DVDs. All the others don't have them.

locoboymakesgood · **Reply #26 on:** August 07, 2008, 01:57:40 AM

Quote from: Dunrobin on August 06, 2008, 02:42:45 PM

LOL! That was news to me - I don't remember anyone mentioning that before (although it could just be the senility kicking in.)

They couldn't fit a "Play All" feature on them yet they found enough time to put in pointless animations on some of the latter discs (most namely the slot machine disc intro, as well as the slot machine animation going from short to short or turning subtitles on or off!).

I have all of the old discs.. including the colorized ones. I had no other way to catch the boys. Meh.

xraffle · **Reply #27 on:** August 07, 2008, 07:23:40 AM

Quote from: locoboymakesgood on August 07, 2008, 01:57:40 AM

They couldn't fit a "Play All" feature on them yet they found enough time to put in pointless animations on some of the latter discs (most namely the slot machine disc intro, as well as the slot machine animation going from short to short or turning subtitles on or off!).

Yeah, I know. What's funny is that on the older DVDs, if you look at the back cover under "Special Features," it says Animated Menus. I guess they thought by adding the slot machines, it would make the menus look nicer, but they didn't realize how annoying it was. I pop in the DVD to watch an episode, but no wait...I have to wait for the slot machine to finish first. Not to mention that there's two of them. As soon as you watch the DVD, the Columbia logo comes up. If that's not annoying enough, the slot machine appears after that. Then finally we get to the main menu. Now, we have to go to Episode Selections. We now have another slot machine to wait for.

shemps#1 · **Reply #28 on:** August 07, 2008, 09:41:15 AM

I think those themed discs, and namely the public taking a big steamy shit on them, are one of the main reasons why we are getting the chronological sets now. They were overpriced (especially as time went on and they cut down the number of shorts per disc, by the time they went to the colorized shorts they were expecting $25 for four shorts), most didn't have a "Play All" feature (which comes in handy when you want small children to shut up and leave you alone, and the presentation was quite poor. Sometimes you had a better print of a short on VHS than what they were offering on DVD. So the haphazard way they put those DVDs together, the collective yawn of the public, and the huge popularity of TV series chronoligical sets are the main factors as to why we are finally getting this set.

Dunrobin · **Reply #29 on:** August 07, 2008, 09:47:33 AM

I agree, and let's not forget those bootleg chronological sets that were selling like hotcakes on eBay. I'm sure that the popularity of those sets had a hand in convincing people at Sony that that is what Stooges fans want.

Whatever the motivating factors were, I'm just glad that they finally got it right, and that they are releasing the volumes at a good speed. As I've said before, I'm going to buy the entire set, Bessers included.

xraffle · **Reply #30 on:** August 07, 2008, 10:52:30 AM

Quote from: Dunrobin on August 07, 2008, 09:47:33 AM

I agree, and let's not forget those bootleg chronological sets that were selling like hotcakes on eBay. I'm sure that the popularity of those sets had a hand in convincing people at Sony that that is what Stooges fans want.

Yeah, Sony definitely heard us somehow because when I bought Volumes 1 and 2, they both had a sticker on the shrink wrap that said "All-new Fan Requested Set." So, finally after all these years, Sony realized that this is what us fans want.

Lefty · **Reply #31 on:** August 07, 2008, 03:03:00 PM

A couple of interesting points, like the ones from the crab/spider/turtle that Moe was eating in "A Pain in the Pullman:"

1. How does one find the time even to use the "play all" feature of DVD's? The way the Phillies are playing today, 20 or so Stooges shorts might have been better viewing anyway.

B. This year, Sony released Volume 2 one day after Memorial Day, but Volume 3 will be 6 days before Labor Day and Volume 4 will be six days before Columbus Day. That should help me catch up a bit on them on those 3-day weekends. Next up is "We Want Our Mummy," in full, not the 7:28 disaster of channel ## here. And yes, I intend to buy all of the shorts should they be released, even Joe, even.

Sadistic Stooge · **Reply #32 on:** August 07, 2008, 03:03:12 PM

Yeah that should be for every thing , ask the fans 1st

xraffle · **Reply #33 on:** August 07, 2008, 03:10:25 PM

Quote from: Lefty on August 07, 2008, 03:03:00 PM

1. How does one find the time even to use the "play all" feature of DVD's?

Yeah, I know. That's why I never use it. I usually don't watch that many episodes at once. Whenever I'm in the mood, I pop in the DVD in the player and select two or three shorts that I feel like watching at the moment. Never once have I used the "Play All" feature. But Shemps#1 brings up a good point. You'll need that feature when you want the kids to shut up.

Dunrobin · **Reply #34 on:** August 07, 2008, 03:20:47 PM

Quote from: Lefty on August 07, 2008, 03:03:00 PM

How does one find the time even to use the "play all" feature of DVD's? The way the Phillies are playing today, 20 or so Stooges shorts might have been better viewing anyway.

Hell, I use it nearly every time I watch one of the new DVDs. I like to put one of the discs in and let it play through while I am programming. (I have my primary computer set up at my chair in the living room, so I can watch TV and work/play on the computer at the same time.)

Of course, I don't necessarily watch the shorts for every minute, either. I generally just listen to the shorts while I'm working; since I've seen each of them literally dozens (if not hundreds) of times over the years, I know what is going on without looking up.

metaldams · **Reply #35 on:** August 07, 2008, 03:51:46 PM

I believe there was also some kind of change in who was running Sony's DVD department (or overall structure, perhaps), if my memory serves correct. I also like classic horror films (as if my avatar didn't give it away), and Boris Karloff did six films for Columbia. Years ago two of them were released by Sony as single DVD's priced around $20 - $25 a piece. Since, the other four films have come out on one set for around the same price. I think Sony in general has gotten better, and fortunately, us Stooge fans are reaping the rewards.

For the entire DVD industry, I think Warner Brothers set the standard. Their sets are always extremely well done and sell well, so I think other companies may have noticed.

AmalgamatedMoron · **Reply #36 on:** August 07, 2008, 11:14:01 PM

I'm just curious if Sony has pursued any legal action against these bootleggers. There are several internet companies selling Stooges DVD's, complete sets with all 190 shorts, far beyond the 4 legal public domain shorts (I'm thinking here of internet sites that sell certain classic movies and TV shows on DVD, like TheClassicTheater.com, TheVintageTheater.com, or TheOldTimeTheater.com. I even found an individual who has a good YouTube channel I've seen who also set up a site selling the complete Stooges collection on DVD - thecurtisfiles.com. These people certainly aren't hiding their activity).

I unwittingly purchased one of theses sets a couple years ago. I paid about a hundred bucks for it and was very disappointed. I wasn't expecting exceptionally high quality recordings, but what I got was atrocious. The video quality of many of the shorts made them unwatchable, and the audio on some was so low I had to max out the volume on the TV. On others the recording gain was set so high that I had to turn the volume down to almost nothing or it was terribly distorted. And to add insult to injury, disc number 13 was labeled correctly, but when I put it in to watch it, it was the 80's cartoon SilverHawks!

I called the company who I purchased the set from and complained. They said they would send information on how and where to return the merchandise, but never did. They did however refund my credit card which is all I cared about. This made me wonder if they are so concerned about not being reported for their illegal activity that they give refunds on their bootleg material without giving their customers any hassle about returns.

I'd be surprised if such a large company like Sony, with a lot of capital and a big team of lawyers behind them, wouldn't shut this activity down. Especially when these companies are doing it quite out in the open. A simple Google search for Stooges DVD's will pull up dozens of sites selling bootleg Stooge material. I hope these new Sony sets put these jackasses out of business. The boys definitely deserve better!

xraffle · **Reply #37 on:** August 10, 2008, 06:40:25 PM

I find it so strange that the Volume 4 release date is less than two months away and we still haven't gotten a cover art yet. What is taking Sony so long?

Stooges#1 · **Reply #38 on:** August 11, 2008, 02:43:43 AM

Quote from: xraffle on August 10, 2008, 06:40:25 PM

I find it so strange that the Volume 4 release date is less than two months away and we still haven't gotten a cover art yet. What is taking Sony so long?

I agree, though the main thing is to have the release date i'd still love to see the cover art. It shouldnt be too long now before we get it.

locoboymakesgood · **Reply #39 on:** August 11, 2008, 07:39:24 PM

Apparently the cover art is up on Sony's password protected press site.

Dunno yet, I fall in to the "pull" category.

xraffle · **Reply #40 on:** August 11, 2008, 07:45:19 PM

Quote from: locoboymakesgood on August 11, 2008, 07:39:24 PM

Apparently the cover art is up on Sony's password protected press site.

Dunno yet, I fall in to the "pull" category.

Well, if anyone here has the password, please post the cover art. I'm so anxious. What's the color going to be?

BeAStooge · **Reply #41 on:** August 12, 2008, 11:35:23 AM

Image courtesy of TCM.com

This may not be final... right margin shows 1940-1942 images from Vol. 3's box art.

[attachment deleted by admin]

xraffle · **Reply #42 on:** August 12, 2008, 12:16:45 PM

Yeah, this just looks like a draft because of the Vol. 3 images, but it's nice to see this though as we have an idea of what the cover art will look like. Now we know that the color is purple. Thanks for posting it.

curlysdame · **Reply #43 on:** August 12, 2008, 03:59:18 PM

Cool! I thoght it might be purple, since they already used red, blue and green. Keep em coming, Sony!

BeAStooge · **Reply #44 on:** August 12, 2008, 06:38:28 PM

Updated... final version

Images courtesy of DVDEmpire

Stooges#1 · **Reply #45 on:** August 12, 2008, 06:53:58 PM

Very nice! I like that artwork.

xraffle · **Reply #46 on:** August 12, 2008, 07:09:19 PM

This is getting exciting. It's hard to believe that I'm already looking forward to Volume 4 when Volume 3 hasn't even come out yet. This DVD set will be the last set to feature a healthy Curly.

locoboymakesgood · **Reply #47 on:** August 12, 2008, 07:20:32 PM

I'm digging the artwork, too. Man I can NOT wait!!!!

curlysdame · **Reply #48 on:** August 12, 2008, 07:22:03 PM

Thanks for the update, BeAStooge. Oh my god, I can't wait!!!

FineBari3 · **Reply #49 on:** August 12, 2008, 08:21:47 PM

Purple is my favorite color, and I LOVE black and purple together!

Coooool.

The Three Stooges Collection Vol. 4: 1943 - 1945 Press Release

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