Topic: The Complete A&C Universal Collection

[BeAStooge]

From Home Theatre Forum...

Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection
Released on DVD 10/28/08

This high-end gift set will include the following:

- All 28 Universal films - first time available together in one collection*
- Includes IT AIN'T HAY (1943) - available to own for the first time ever
- Digitally remastered for optimum picture quality
- 15 single-sided discs
- Highly collectible trunk packaging
- Exclusive book "Abbott & Costello: The Universal Story"
- 6 audio commentaries
- Bonus disc includes THE WORLD OF ABBOTT & COSTELLO (1965), ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET JERRY SEINFELD (1994) and ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE MONSTERS (2000)
- 20 original theatrical trailers
- Production notes on all 28 films
- Retail price is set at $119.98

Titles include: ONE NIGHT IN THE TROPICS (1940), BUCK PRIVATES (1941), IN THE NAVY (1941), HOLD THAT GHOST (1941), KEEP 'EM FLYING (1941), RIDE 'EM COWBOY (1942), PARDON MY SARONG (1942), WHO DONE IT? (1942), IT AIN'T HAY (1943), HIT THE ICE (1943), IN SOCIETY (1944), HERE COME THE CO-EDS (1945), THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (1945), LITTLE GIANT (1946), THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (1946), BUCK PRIVATES COME HOME (1947), THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP (1947), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948), MEXICAN HAYRIDE (1948), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF (1949), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION (1950), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (1951), COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN (1951), LOST IN ALASKA (1952), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS (1953), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1953), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KEYSTONE KOPS (1955), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955)

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[falsealarms]

Talk about an attractive look.

 

[xraffle]

$120!! Wow! That's a lot of money. Any chance Universal will sell "It Ain't Hay" separately?

[Dunrobin]

$120!! Wow! That's a lot of money. Any chance Universal will sell "It Ain't Hay" separately?

For 28 movies?  That's only $4.28 per movie, ya cheapskate!   

I'll probably buy this as a Christmas present for my brother.  He's always been a big A&C fan, from watching them on TV every Sunday morning when he was a kid.  He's got most of the movies on VHS, but he'd love to have the entire collection on DVD so that makes one Xmas present figured out already.   

[xraffle]

For 28 movies?  That's only $4.28 per movie, ya cheapskate!   

I bought the older 4 volume release at $19.99 each. That totals up to $79.96 for 27 movies (one movie less because it didn't include "It Ain't Hay") So, I paid $2.96 per movie.

I wish Universal would sell these individually as well because many of us bought the older release and just need "It Ain't Hay." But it's business. So, it's very unlikely that these movies will be offered separately.

[Dunrobin]

I was just razzing ya, but I do think that the new set is a decent deal if you don't already have the earlier releases, especially considering that these are supposed to be remastered.

[archiezappa]

This looks to be an awesome set.  I almost bought the older set last year, but decided to get the two Martin & Lewis sets.  Now I'm glad I waited.  This definitely looks superior to the previous version.  Hey Abbott!!!

[Justin T]

WOW, now that looks excellent!

I'm glad I only bought the first volume of the prevous DVD sets. I may either save up for
this puppy or ask for it as a Christmas gift.

Not only do I get all their movies, but also It Ain't Hay as well. Very nice bonus material
also.

[Sadistic Stooge]

Wow , what a nice set !!!! but way to high in price . maybe after X-mas

[metaldams]

I'm sure the book is cool, and I really want to see IT AIN'T HAY, but as someone who owns all four of the previous volumes....I'll pass.

[Sadistic Stooge]

I found this site selling for a little less

http://www.classicflix.com/abbott-costello-complete-universal-pictures-collection-p-7801.html

who knows when it gets on amazon it will be way less ..

[Sadistic Stooge]

I found this site selling for a little less

http://www.classicflix.com/abbott-costello-complete-universal-pictures-collection-p-7801.html

who knows when it gets on amazon it will be way less ..

wow! I was looking around on the link to the site I found for the A&C collection and they have a load of classic dvds . Its like the TCM store but better .

[locoboymakesgood]

This new set isn't going to have the films all crammed. The older releases were double-sided discs so the compression was awful. Not to mention, a lot of players had problems playing the discs so they froze.

I've never actually seen an A&C film. I watched the show occasionally in the late 90s on TV Land and enjoyed it.

The set will be 20% off during Deep Discount's Annual sale in November, so maybe I will give it a shot.

Anyone think I'll like it?

[xraffle]

This new set isn't going to have the films all crammed. The older releases were double-sided discs so the compression was awful. Not to mention, a lot of players had problems playing the discs so they froze.

Why do people keep thinking that the older releases had heavy compression?

Let me try to specify this as best as I can. Each volume of the older DVDs contained 2 dual-layered, double sided discs. The discs were double-sided, but each side had two layers of data. So, each disc had a total of four layers. Each layer contained one movie. This is what caused the freezing problems. One layer holds about two hours of video and the A&C films were short, so that's plenty of space.

This new set will also be dual-layered, but will be single sided this time. So, it will have only two layers per disc. This new set will have two movies per disc, one for each layer. Therefore, this new release has the same exact compression as the older release, but they probably restored the movies and cleaned it up this time, just like what Sony is doing with the stooges. Also, since these discs aren't double-sided, they shouldn't have any freezing issues.

[metaldams]

I've had no problems with my A&C sets freezing, HOWEVER, I did have a problem with my DRACULA LEGACY COLLECTION set during SON OF DRACULA, which was also double sided.  I have also heard these double sided jobs have caused trouble for others.  Since so far, I've had no problems with my A&C sets, I see no reason to spend $120 for one film.  For you people who don't have the old sets, pick this up if you're interested, but be warned lots of A&C films have what I like to call "padding," which is musical numbers and dumb romance plots.  This stops around the mid - late 40's, though.  Still, Bud and Lou themselves are funny, just be prepared to skip scenes.  For you people who have the old sets and want to buy this anyway, well, it's your money. 

I never picked up the ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD and LOST IN A HAREM double feature, but since I saw the former on TCM and really liked it (thought it was one of their better ones, actually), I probably should for only $10.  Much better deal than one film for $120.

[xraffle]

I've had no problems with my A&C sets freezing, HOWEVER, I did have a problem with my DRACULA LEGACY COLLECTION set during SON OF DRACULA, which was also double sided.  I have also heard these double sided jobs have caused trouble for others.  Since so far, I've had no problems with my A&C sets, I see no reason to spend $120 for one film.  For you people who don't have the old sets, pick this up if you're interested, but be warned lots of A&C films have what I like to call "padding," which is musical numbers and dumb romance plots.  This stops around the mid - late 40's, though.  Still, Bud and Lou themselves are funny, just be prepared to skip scenes.  For you people who have the old sets and want to buy this anyway, well, it's your money. 

I never picked up the ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD and LOST IN A HAREM double feature, but since I saw the former on TCM and really liked it (thought it was one of their better ones, actually), I probably should for only $10.  Much better deal than one film for $120.

I've never had any problems with freezing myself. It took me a while to buy those volumes because of the stories I kept hearing, but I finally decided to take the risk and I'm glad I did. I also bought "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Season 1 on DVD which had 39 episodes on 3 double-sided discs. I never had any problems with those either.

I still have yet to buy the A&C In Hollywood/Lost In A Harem DVD. The main reason I was reason why I never bought that is because I'm patiently waiting for a set of all their MGM films which will also include "Rio Rita" and the others.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that considers those musical number as "padding." That's one thing that I never liked about The Marx Brothers. Their style of comedy is excellent, but a lot of their movies are full musical numbers. But for some reason, the musical numbers in "Duck Soup" never bothered me. Those I enjoyed. But with the other movies, I have to keep skipping them.

[metaldams]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that considers those musical number as "padding." That's one thing that I never liked about The Marx Brothers. Their style of comedy is excellent, but a lot of their movies are full musical numbers. But for some reason, the musical numbers is "Duck Soup" never bothered me. Those I enjoyed. But with the other movies, I have to keep skipping them.

Just about all the Paramount Marx Brothers films have good musical numbers because they're comic and/or chariming in tone.  "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" aside, it's the MGM features that have the bad musical numbers.   

[xraffle]

Just about all the Paramount Marx Brothers films have good musical numbers because they're comic and/or chariming in tone.  "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" aside, it's the MGM features that have the bad musical numbers.   

Oh yeah, that's right. It was the MGM ones I was thinking such as: At The Circus, The Big Store, and A Day At The Races. You're right, the Paramount ones were fine. A lot of those were very entertaining such as Hooray For Captain Spaulding and I'm Against It. Though, there were some musical numbers in "The Cocoanuts" that I wasn't crazy about. Speaking of "The Cocoanuts," that movie could use one hell of a restoration. That film is so beat up.

[metaldams]

Oh yeah, that's right. It was the MGM ones I was thinking such as: At The Circus, The Big Store, and A Day At The Races. You're right, the Paramount ones were fine. A lot of those were very entertaining such as Hooray For Captain Spaulding and I'm Against It. Though, there were some musical numbers in "The Cocoanuts" that I wasn't crazy about. Speaking of "The Cocoanuts," that movie could use one hell of a restoration. That film is so beat up.

The COCOANUTS is a talking film from 1929.  If you restore it, it'll still look beat up.    It's been awhile since I've seen it, but I thought those films were restored for the Paramount set?  I could be wrong.  Those first talkies in general are really awkward looking, and to think the public ate them up over the later silents, which were far superior.

[archiezappa]

I never picked up the ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD and LOST IN A HAREM double feature, but since I saw the former on TCM and really liked it (thought it was one of their better ones, actually), I probably should for only $10.  Much better deal than one film for $120.

I bought the box set called "Classic Comedy Teams Collection" on DVD which includes both of those Abbott & Costello movies, plus two Laurel & Hardy movies and two Three Stooges movies.  I love it.  Great set.  I would highly recommend it.

[locoboymakesgood]

The COCOANUTS is a talking film from 1929.  If you restore it, it'll still look beat up.    It's been awhile since I've seen it, but I thought those films were restored for the Paramount set?  I could be wrong.  Those first talkies in general are really awkward looking, and to think the public ate them up over the later silents, which were far superior.

They were.

The print of Cocoanuts on the Universal set looks great.

[xraffle]

Loco: Are you talking about the The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection DVD set? I don't have that set. I've always wanted it but I've heard bad things about it. I heard the prints were very similar to the ones used on the older VHS release.

Here are some reviews I found at Amazon:

Unfortunately, we're left with prints that are several generations removed from the original negatives which means that these will probably never look perfect. Could they look better? Absolutely as there's been minimal effort to clean them up and none of them look as if there has been an effort to restore them.

"Restoration? Well, Universal never used that word in their description, and they certainly didn't do it."

"The films themselves are badly in need of restoration, with some choppiness and dirty prints (especially on COCOANUTS and ANIMAL CRACKERS). This will, undoubtedly, have to come from outside Universal."

If these comments are wrong, please tell me now. Because that is what's been stopping me from getting this set. I wasn't willing to spend $50 on 5 unrestored movies that look just as good as my VHS copy.

[locoboymakesgood]

Cocoanuts is a VAST improvement over any VHS transfer. It looks DECENT.. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it looks good.

A word of advice though x, that Silver Screen Collection supposedly had been out of print.. it looks like there may be a re-release down the road.

At the very least.. I think the price now more than justifies it, but I got it when it was on sale at Amazon as part of their deal of the day awhile back. I paid $20.

[xraffle]

Cocoanuts is a VAST improvement over any VHS transfer. It looks DECENT.. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it looks good.

A word of advice though x, that Silver Screen Collection supposedly had been out of print.. it looks like there may be a re-release down the road.

At the very least.. I think the price now more than justifies it, but I got it when it was on sale at Amazon as part of their deal of the day awhile back. I paid $20.

$20!! Whoa! Had I known about that sale at the time, I would've went for it.

Yeah, that Silver Screen Collection has been long out of print, but there is no sign of any re-release.

[locoboymakesgood]

$20!! Whoa! Had I know about that sale at the time, I would've went for it.

Yeah, that Silver Screen Collection has been long out of print, but there is no sign of any re-release.

If you look on eBay, sometimes sellers will have a good price on it. Just depends when you look I suppose.

If they gave them new transfers though, it couldn't hurt. But granted the old transfer were still miles over any other print I've seen of them before..