Topic: "The Three Stooges 6-Movie Set" DVD Collection, Feb. 4, 2014

[JazzBill]

When was this $3.64?

I just checked it, it's down to $3.50. When you go to  Amazon for Three Stooges 6 Movie Set look down to bottom left and it says 13 new starting at $3.50 .Click there.

[Final Shemp]

Very surprised to hear that. Based on past experiences, Mill Creek usually stacks discs or puts them in sleeves; never in hubs. I'm even more encouraged now to pick this one up just to get Time Out For Rhythm.

Mill Creek's quality has improved greatly over the past few years.  In the past few months I've picked up a couple of their more recent releases and they are a great deal better than what they used to put out.  Most recently I picked up their releases of the first two seasons of Bewitched (since Sony's complete series set contains the colorized versions only) and didn't expect much from something that featured 12 episodes per disc, but I was shocked that the image quality is actually pretty good, if compressed.

The blu-rays I've seen them released are pretty quality as well.  Their Gamera and Daimajin sets are to die for for the price they're offering.

[Larrys#1]

Most recently I picked up their releases of the first two seasons of Bewitched (since Sony's complete series set contains the colorized versions only) and didn't expect much from something that featured 12 episodes per disc, but I was shocked that the image quality is actually pretty good, if compressed.

That was the non-stooge DVD I was referring to earlier. I'm guess you didn't watch Episode 1? There is a noticeable glitch in that episode during the dinner scene.

[Tony Bensley]

Having read this most valuable feedback regarding THE THREE STOOGES - 6 MOVIE COLLECTION, I now greatly look forward to finally receiving this 2 DVD Set, hopefully sometime soon!  That the differences between the Original and Millcreek releases of each Title are marginal is something that I can live with, even with having paid extra for shipping to get this from U.S. Amazon, as the Amazon in my native Canada for some reason ended up pushing its release date back a month!

CHEERS!

[Tony Bensley]

My Three Stooges 6 Movie Set finally arrived today!

Unfortunately, Disc 1 is scratched up pretty badly, as it had been rattling loose in its DVD Case!  Despite this, it passed my initial PC Test, in that I was able to play every title from the beginning, and scroll right to the end of each without the telltale freezing up that normally occurs when there are playback issues.  Though the other DVD is scratch free, I also checked its three titles just to be safe!

Hopefully, complete playback on our Blu-Ray Player doesn't prove to be a different story, as the headache/cost associated with returning Amazon International Orders would likely not be worth it in this case!

At least I already have two out of the three "Stooges" Disc 1 Features via their "Rare Treasures From The Columbia Vault" Set as part of THE THREE STOOGES:  THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION 20 DVD Set.

CHEERS!

[Larrys#1]

I finally found a store last week that carried it and bought it. I'm a bit upset at the quality control here. On the other hand, how much quality control can be put in here if it only cost $10 for a six movie set? Well... this set it littered with glitches.

Have Rocket Will Travel is the only movie so far that I've watched that is glitch free. I haven't watched Daze yet, but I went to the part that Thump referenced and did see that picture jump. There is a very very brief picture glitch in Rhythm during the opening credits. There is also a couple of quick glitches in Rockies. I didn't watch Outlaws yet, but did a quick glance. I notice that the video motion is choppy. Looks like it was poorly ripped from the Sony DVD or whatever DVD they ripped it from.

Still have yet to watch Hercules, but will let you know if I see anything there. You know what they say... you get what you pay for. And with this set, indeed you do!

[Tony Bensley]

I finally found a store last week that carried it and bought it. I'm a bit upset at the quality control here. On the other hand, how much quality control can be put in here if it only cost $10 for a six movie set? Well... this set it littered with glitches.

Have Rocket Will Travel is the only movie so far that I've watched that is glitch free. I haven't watched Daze yet, but I went to the part that Thump referenced and did see that picture jump. There is a very very brief picture glitch in Rhythm during the opening credits. There is also a couple of quick glitches in Rockies. I didn't watch Outlaws yet, but did a quick glance. I notice that the video motion is choppy. Looks like it was poorly ripped from the Sony DVD or whatever DVD they ripped it from.

Still have yet to watch Hercules, but will let you know if I see anything there. You know what they say... you get what you pay for. And with this set, indeed you do!

Hi Larrys#1!

I haven't properly viewed these on my copy as yet.  Apart from the possibly choppy THE OUTLAWS IS COMING, the other glitches, while obviously annoying, doesn't sound too horrible provided they are brief and isolated, as these seem to be, based on your reported observations.  Three DVD's, rather than two, would have been more ideal.  My annoying "Disc Rattle" experience would also most likely not have occurred with the extra disc inside!

Personally, I'm not too worried about ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES or HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL as I already have these as part of THE THREE STOOGES: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION, though others that don't will understandably be!

CHEERS!

Tony

                                                                       *********************UPDATE*********************

I just finished viewing THE OUTLAWS IS COMING, and I don't know whether it's just because my disc is badly scratched, but there were several brief instances of Green Screen from about the 45 minute mark of the Film (When Kenneth Cabot meets Annie Oakley.), which I Screen Captured .  This also occurs just before the 56 minute mark just as Curly Joe & Larry enter a closet, and again at about 1:26:46, during the Post Wedding Bit. There was also one brief instance of artifacting at about 52:40 when Moe enters the Bedroom.  Regarding the choppy Video, this seemed more noticeable to me during the action scenes.  If anyone else can confirm having these same issues, I'll try to post the appropriate Screenshots!

Hopefully, THE OUTLAWS IS COMING is the worst of it!

Note:  I've edited my update as I've found that in some cases, the times on my PC based Media Player Center and Blu-Ray Player varied a bit.  My observation is this is caused either because of my disc being badly scratched, or the DVD was glitchy to begin with!  At this point, the latter scenario seems to be more likely.

[Larrys#1]

Hi Tony....

When I get home, I will check my Outlaws copy and get back to you. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a video glitch and not a disc issue.

[Tony Bensley]

Hi Tony....

When I get home, I will check my Outlaws copy and get back to you. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a video glitch and not a disc issue.

Hi Larry!

Thanks Larry!  I appreciate your effort in this! 

I edited my above post as some of the times displayed on my PC based Media Player Center and Blu-Ray Player varied by a few seconds.  If the screen briefly went black instead of that annoying green, this defect wouldn't be so glaring!  As it is, this sticks out like a sore thumb!

Have you by chance, viewed these on a regular DVD/Blu-Ray Player, or did you play these on a PC, as I have?  It's just a thought, but perhaps the video for "Outlaws" might play more smoothly in a non PC setup?

CHEERS!

Tony

[Larrys#1]

I tried both standalone player and PC. Both are choppy. The choppy video is actually due to a frame rate issue and can happen when a video is re-encoded improperly. A film's frame rate is 24 fps and gets converted to 60 fps when transferred to DVD. This results is a slight judder in the motion. This is why soap operas look very smooth in motion compared to movies; it's because they were recorded on video at 60 fps. There was no 24 to 60 fps conversion.

Well, what I suspect happened was that on the Sony DVD, they properly transferred the film to DVD and did the normal 24 to 60 fps conversion. So, no choppy video on the Sony DVD. Then Mill Creek came along and decided to rip the video from the DVD and re-encode it. This resulted in a double conversion, i.e. 24 to 60 to 24 to 60 fps conversion. They ripped the video and when it was re-encoded, it was converted back to 24 fps and then converted to 60 fps again. Thus, you have a double judder effect, resulting in a choppy video now.

Mill Creek isn't very swift. Softwares like DVDShrink will easily rip the video and change the compression without a full re-encode. I use the software all the time to backup some of my DVDs and the videos turn out great.

[ThumpTheShoes]

I just finished viewing THE OUTLAWS IS COMING, and I don't know whether it's just because my disc is badly scratched, but there were several brief instances of Green Screen from about the 45 minute mark of the Film (When Kenneth Cabot meets Annie Oakley.), which I Screen Captured .  This also occurs just before the 56 minute mark just as Curly Joe & Larry enter a closet, and again at about 1:26:46, during the Post Wedding Bit. There was also one brief instance of artifacting at about 52:40 when Moe enters the Bedroom.  Regarding the choppy Video, this seemed more noticeable to me during the action scenes.  If anyone else can confirm having these same issues, I'll try to post the appropriate Screenshots!

Moe got a chem-light?!

Confirmed here. The green flashes and pixellation are encoded in the picture, are rather pretty, but have no place in a Stooge picture! 

Not sure what happened with the encoding of Outlaws. The image cadence is off, almost-but-not-quite like video processed with the field order reversed. What it looks like is a low bitrate dvr recording, kinda like what we used to see on the old Stooges bootleg discs. Gives the image a slow-motion feel to it.

Anyone find any more problems? I haven't watched Rhythm, Rockies or Rocket so I don't know if those are affected.

[Tony Bensley]

Moe got a chem-light?!

Confirmed here. The green flashes and pixellation are encoded in the picture, are rather pretty, but have no place in a Stooge picture! 

Not sure what happened with the encoding of Outlaws. The image cadence is off, almost-but-not-quite like video processed with the field order reversed. What it looks like is a low bitrate dvr recording, kinda like what we used to see on the old Stooges bootleg discs. Gives the image a slow-motion feel to it.

Anyone find any more problems? I haven't watched Rhythm, Rockies or Rocket so I don't know if those are affected.

Yup!  That "Pretty" bit of pixellation is in the exact same spot on mine as well!

Did you also happen to notice the Green Screen Frames that I mentioned in an above post?  I'd post these myself, except Photobucket has to be used for this purpose, and for some reason, this doesn't work for me!  Believe me, I've followed others helpful instructions on other Forums.  Even using a different PC doesn't seem to help.  I seem to run into this whenever I have to copy and paste from a login based website, as I've had success on open sites!  I do find this incredibly frustrating, but that is a whole other topic!

CHEERS!

[Larrys#1]

What a mess! I'll check my copy as well tonight, but it looks to me like I was correct. It's a video issue, not a disc problem.

[Tony Bensley]

What a mess! I'll check my copy as well tonight, but it looks to me like I was correct. It's a video issue, not a disc problem.

Hi Larry!

It unfortunately, appears to be just that.  The bugger of it for me is that I paid just about as much for the shipping as for the 2 DVD Set itself! 

In hindsight, when the Canadian Amazon release was delayed a month, I should of just waited it out as I could have used the extra I paid for shipping toward the Sony "Outlaws" DVD, which appears to have suffered the worst (I Hope!) of the bunch on the Millcreek Set!

CHEERS!

Tony

[ThumpTheShoes]

Did you also happen to notice the Green Screen Frames that I mentioned in an above post?

The full screen green flashes are there, too. Reminds me of the old days of using a video card called the TV Wonder to try to digitize vhs and cable. That thing would drop frames and go to blue screen for absolutely no reason at all. Well, the Macrovision didn't help it either!

But that was 10 years ago! We've got BluRay, now. Hi-def pixellation and encryption keys rule!!   

[Tony Bensley]

The full screen green flashes are there, too. Reminds me of the old days of using a video card called the TV Wonder to try to digitize vhs and cable. That thing would drop frames and go to blue screen for absolutely no reason at all. Well, the Macrovision didn't help it either!

But that was 10 years ago! We've got BluRay, now. Hi-def pixellation and encryption keys rule!!   

While I expected there might be some minor issues regarding the compromised bit-rate, there is simply NO excuse for the Green Screen and choppy Video issues that plague THE OUTLAWS IS COMING!

Regarding TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM, though I've seen less than 10 minutes of this so far, I've noticed an additional glitch (Besides the previously reported one that occurs during the Opening Credits.) that occurs a little over 4 minutes in when Rudy Vallee begins singing at a Piano, which lasts approximately two tenths of a second.

This Millcreek Entertainment Set is appearing more and more to be a dud!  When I'm spending more time looking for and reporting glitches than actually enjoying the Films, I know that something's seriously amiss!

Do yourself a favor and buy the individual Three Stooges Features, if you can!  It appears that Millcreek really dropped the ball on this one!

AARRGGHH!!!!

[Tony Bensley]

I just finished viewing THE THREE STOOGES MET HERCULES.  What a hoot!  This was the one latter day Three Stooges Feature that I had never really seen, and I can see why this one is a favorite among "Stooges" fans from the 60's in particular!  My older Step Brother loved this one, though I had only caught bits of it once when he was suffering from the cancer that sadly took him from us much too soon!  To Gary, I can now say that "I wholeheartedly agree, though you were wrong about Hercules being portrayed by Muscleman Steve Reeves.  Hercules was played by Canadian Wrestler Samson Burke, who used to wrestle under the names Sammy Berg and Mr. Canada in the 50's, so you may actually remember him that way."  As a Canadian living in the U.S, I think Gary would have like that!

Anyway, I'm getting a bit off topic!

From what I could tell, THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES is also thankfully Glitch free!  Based on previous posts, HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL is the only other Feature on the Three Stooges Millcreek 6 Movie Set to bear this distinction.  This makes 2 out of 6 or 33% of the Features.  Not a great success rate!

Having now also viewed TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM in its entirety, I have no further Glitches to report other than the two that occur within the Film's first 4 and a half minutes that were noted in prior posts.

While I personally still have three Features left to view, it is quite apparent that THE OUTLAWS IS COMING has fared by far the worst of the 6 Three Stooges Features!

CHEERS!

Tony

[Tony Bensley]

See my review of this set on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/review/R1U18RPTANYVT0

CHEERS!

Tony

[HELLOLARRY]

I think 'dropped the ball' is a pretty harsh judgment of this release. A few glitches here and there sure but they don't take away from the viewing. If you blink, you miss them.

I have the individual releases but saw a few from this set recently at a friends house and it didn't ruin my viewing experience. These glitches don't really matter. I think we get so spoiled as consumers that we're quick to jump on any little abnormality. I come from the day of recording beat up and edited prints off of television so I am perhaps a little more forgiving of these things.

The real question here is why didn't Columbia release these as a companion set to their 'ultimate collection' and instead farm it out to someone else? We're still missing a (re)release of Stop Look and Laugh and The Three Stooges in Orbit. It would have made a nice 5 disc collection from Columbia with a 6th devoted to trailers, the Screen Snapshots they appeared in, and other odds and ends.

[Tony Bensley]

I think 'dropped the ball' is a pretty harsh judgment of this release. A few glitches here and there sure but they don't take away from the viewing. If you blink, you miss them.

I have the individual releases but saw a few from this set recently at a friends house and it didn't ruin my viewing experience. These glitches don't really matter. I think we get so spoiled as consumers that we're quick to jump on any little abnormality. I come from the day of recording beat up and edited prints off of television so I am perhaps a little more forgiving of these things.

The real question here is why didn't Columbia release these as a companion set to their 'ultimate collection' and instead farm it out to someone else? We're still missing a (re)release of Stop Look and Laugh and The Three Stooges in Orbit. It would have made a nice 5 disc collection from Columbia with a 6th devoted to trailers, the Screen Snapshots they appeared in, and other odds and ends.

Hi Larry!

At the time I posted with the "Dropped the Ball" statement, I had just finished viewing THE OUTLAWS IS COMING and had only seen the first ten minutes of TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM.  I think you have to admit that "Outlaws" was pretty messed up, what with the green frames in addition to the lone pixel, and as you earlier observed, the video was indeed, jerky on top of all that! 

However, having since viewed the other titles, I do agree with you regarding the rest of the collection in general.  If you read my review of this on Amazon, I think you'll find a fair and balanced evaluation that does accurately reflect the overall quality level of the set. 

CHEERS!

Tony

[Larrys#1]

I think 'dropped the ball' is a pretty harsh judgment of this release. A few glitches here and there sure but they don't take away from the viewing. If you blink, you miss them.

I have the individual releases but saw a few from this set recently at a friends house and it didn't ruin my viewing experience. These glitches don't really matter. I think we get so spoiled as consumers that we're quick to jump on any little abnormality. I come from the day of recording beat up and edited prints off of television so I am perhaps a little more forgiving of these things.

The real question here is why didn't Columbia release these as a companion set to their 'ultimate collection' and instead farm it out to someone else? We're still missing a (re)release of Stop Look and Laugh and The Three Stooges in Orbit. It would have made a nice 5 disc collection from Columbia with a 6th devoted to trailers, the Screen Snapshots they appeared in, and other odds and ends.

It is not a harsh judgment at all. It is more than fair. When we buy a product, we expect proper quality control. Of course, the set is so darn cheap, so maybe you're right to some extent. A beat up print is one thing, but it is unacceptable when we are catching glitches that are not due to the print, but because of faulty transferring. Most of the glitches, like the ones in Rockies and Rhythm, I can live with. But Outlaws is a complete mess.

[HELLOLARRY]

That is odd because Outlaws is one of the films I watched and it didn't look as bad to me as what has been described here. I don't work in the industry so I don't know how quality control works but I would think unless you have an expert (for the cases of when there are edits that slip through) sitting there watching every frame or someone sitting through all the films after the fact to check transfers, things could happen.

Those Columbia Curly-Joe features after Have Rocket have always had a cheap, washed out look to me anyway as if they shot them on cheaper film stock.

Still curious as to why Columbia licensed these out and omitted two films instead of doing something themselves to complete the library. Does anyone know why?

[Tony Bensley]

That is odd because Outlaws is one of the films I watched and it didn't look as bad to me as what has been described here. I don't work in the industry so I don't know how quality control works but I would think unless you have an expert (for the cases of when there are edits that slip through) sitting there watching every frame or someone sitting through all the films after the fact to check transfers, things could happen.

Those Columbia Curly-Joe features after Have Rocket have always had a cheap, washed out lis set themsleves

Still curious as to why Columbia licensed these out and omitted two films instead of doing something themselves to complete the library. Does anyone know why?

Hi HELLOLARRY!

If it wasn't for the green frames that appear sporadically from about 45 minutes in, I could overlook the single instance of the green pixel, and the jittery video is most noticeable during the action sequences, although still annoying whenever it is obvious.  Unfortunately, I find it impossible to ignore the green screen frames.  I don't care how cut rate a DVD set is--there is simply NO excuse to justify the presence of green screen frames!  This, combined with the jittery video caused by unnecessary over-encoding is why I can't endorse THE OUTLAWS IS COMING as it appears on the Mill Creek Set!

Regarding your question as to why Sony chose not to release this set themselves, I believe there were likely a number of reasons.  First off, I recall having read that Sony decided there wasn't enough money to be made for them in reissuing these six "Stooges" Features, which they have already previously released to DVD.  Therefore, Sony allowed Mill Creek Entertainment to sub-license these, probably with the reasoning that they would make more money from their sub-licensing fee than if they had reissued these themselves.  While the last part is speculation on my part, it is my opinion that this was most likely Sony's reasoning for going this route.

As to why Sony didn't reissue the Columbia Features THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT and/or STOP! LOOK! AND LAUGH!, it is my opinion that the same reasoning applies.  Why they didn't also sub-license these titles, one can only guess!  Perhaps Mill Creek wasn't interested in these, or else maybe Sony is holding these titles back for some reason?

CHEERS!

Tony

[HELLOLARRY]

It is kind of odd and reminds me of how things were back in the day with the half-ass releases they used to do. Gosh, I've been purchasing and repurchasing these films for years. ha ha

My 'thought' is that maybe they didn't feel a Curly-Joe only set would sell on its own merit especially since all the films were previously available so they put Rhythm and Rockies in there to market it better(??). Maybe if these films are reconfigured again they can correct the glitches.

[Tony Bensley]

It is kind of odd and reminds me of how things were back in the day with the half-ass releases they used to do. Gosh, I've been purchasing and repurchasing these films for years. ha ha

My 'thought' is that maybe they didn't feel a Curly-Joe only set would sell on its own merit especially since all the films were previously available so they put Rhythm and Rockies in there to market it better(??). Maybe if these films are reconfigured again they can correct the glitches.

Or else those who want all six "Stooges" Features "Glitch Free" can choose to shell out the extra money for the original (And still available!) Sony releases, instead.  Objectively speaking, in my opinion, THE OUTLAWS IS COMING is the only Film for which this action is really warranted, and I do plan on ordering this myself when my budget allows, likely next month.

CHEERS!