pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I've just bought the Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection and the Masterpiece Collection DVD sets to celebrate getting a new job (Hooray!). There are still a lot of Hitchcock films not included on those two sets. Can anyone recomend other Hitchcock DVDs (or preferably DVD sets) that are in remastered DVD quality for the movies not included in the two sets I just bought?Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Bad timing for you, a lot of his movies are getting remastered releases soon, not to mention blu-ray in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,337 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Get the remastered ones! I just played a few minutes of the unrestored version of Taxi Driver (do you see the connection?) and the quality is quite sucky. Old films need to be remastered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitch 57 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Yes, my movies are getting the full blu-ray treatment and should be available mid 2009. Expect an amusing director's commentary on TORN CURTAIN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 Does that include the early 20s/30s films? As far as I know those ones are only available in 10-movies-for-$10 sets in poor quality. I didn't know about the new versions of his DVDs coming out. Damn! Oh well. They are worth buying twice Hitchcock was probably the most influential film-maker of all time, so if I own 3 copies of Star Wars I can justify owning 2 copies of the Hitchcock filmography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 When it comes to the British movies, you're going to be hard-pressed to find decent copies of them. Most of them are available, but the prints used for the DVDs are in lamentable condition in some of those cases. This is more true of the silent films than it is of the talkies, but only somewhat. There are good Criterion editions of The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, so those are definitely recommended. Otherwise, as far as I know, the other British films don't really have good releases.Criterion also did several of the American films: Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious. All three are out of print, and expensive to find used ($50-75 at the cheapest); there are cheaper non-Criterion versions that seem to also be out of print, but I don't know anything about the quality on those.Also out of print is The Paradine Case, but that one is fairly unpopular, and is much cheaper to find used.That leaves the following:Lifeboat -- there's only one DVD edition of this, and it's easy to findBon Voyage/Aventure Malgache -- this DVD contains two wartime propaganda films Hitchcock made (in French!); it's fairly easy to find, but the films themselves are nothing special; good for completists, thoughUnder Capricorn - -again, there's only been one version, and it's easy to findAlfred Hitchcock Presents -- four volumes of the episodes Hitchcock directed were released, but they were only available in various box sets. The individual discs are all available used on Amazon, though. There have also been full-season releases of the first three seasons, all of which are worth getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robthehand 3 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 MGM are releasing a new box set in October containing:RebeccaThe LodgerThe Paradine CaseSpellboundNotoriousYoung and InnocentSabotageLifeboathttp://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/alf...collection.htmlExtras look very nice. Obviously don't know anything about the quality yet, but hopefully it'll be good. I'd wait until this set's out and been reviewed before making a decision on what to get. As mentioned above you're safe with the Criterion DVDs of The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, and the three Alfred Hitchcock Presents volumes from Universal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendal_Ozzel 36 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Yeah, both those Criterions are good. Supposedly MGM was gonna to re-release The 39 Steps, but I haven't heard any news on that in a long while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Do not buy Psycho. It's a ridiculous presentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Do not buy Psycho. It's a ridiculous presentation.Please elaborate. The version I have in this set is very nice.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Can't comment on that one, Neil. It might be different. However, this edition of Psycho is both cropped and non-anamorphic. Black bars on all four sides. More info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 MGM are releasing a new box set in October containing:RebeccaThe LodgerThe Paradine CaseSpellboundNotoriousYoung and InnocentSabotageLifeboathttp://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/alf...collection.htmlExtras look very nice. Obviously don't know anything about the quality yet, but hopefully it'll be good. I'd wait until this set's out and been reviewed before making a decision on what to get. As mentioned above you're safe with the Criterion DVDs of The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, and the three Alfred Hitchcock Presents volumes from Universal.Oh yes! Now THAT's what I'm looking for. I'm sure MGM won't skimp on image quality. Now if only there could be a companion set comprising:To Catch A ThiefUnder CapricornJamaica InnThe Lady VanishesSecret AgentThe 39 StepsThe Man Who Knew Too Much (original)The Skin GameBlackmailEasy VirtueI'd be very excited indeed! They could call it "The Classic Collection", as they seem to like finding catchy names for these sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 MGM are releasing a new box set in October containing:RebeccaThe LodgerThe Paradine CaseSpellboundNotoriousYoung and InnocentSabotageLifeboathttp://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/alf...collection.htmlExtras look very nice. Obviously don't know anything about the quality yet, but hopefully it'll be good. I'd wait until this set's out and been reviewed before making a decision on what to get. As mentioned above you're safe with the Criterion DVDs of The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, and the three Alfred Hitchcock Presents volumes from Universal.Oh yes! Now THAT's what I'm looking for. I'm sure MGM won't skimp on image quality. Now if only there could be a companion set comprising:To Catch A ThiefUnder CapricornJamaica InnThe Lady VanishesSecret AgentThe 39 StepsThe Man Who Knew Too Much (original)The Skin GameBlackmailEasy VirtueI'd be very excited indeed! They could call it "The Classic Collection", as they seem to like finding catchy names for these sets.My credit card just issued a little groan at the knowledge that it's got another Hitchockc set to purchase soon.Otherwise, that looks like a great box set, and it's about g-damn time somebody took a little care with The Lodger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Can't comment on that one, Neil. It might be different. However, this edition of Psycho is both cropped and non-anamorphic. Black bars on all four sides. More info.That's the old disc. It's been supplanted by the one included in the box set I linked to above. That set also have an anamorphic Vertigo and that one includes the original mono track as well.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robthehand 3 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 That's the old disc. It's been supplanted by the one included in the box set I linked to above. That set also have an anamorphic Vertigo and that one includes the original mono track as well.NeilBoth of those are coming out separately (finally!) in October, as well (along with Rear Window).http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/vertigo.htmlhttp://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/psycho.htmlhttp://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/rear-window.htmlAfter these are out, I think that only leaves the remastered Birds DVD that isn't available separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 Has anyone heard of this set? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Early-Hitchcock-Co...7327&sr=1-5It's Region 2, but my player has mysteriously learned how to play any region of DVD so that doesn't worry me too much. It looks like these early films have been restored somewhat. Anyone? I hope the silent releases are presented with a score. I have heard of certain releases of Hitchcock's silent films that have been presented completely silently! What a waste of an opportunity for a new soundtrack!Ok, I've just seen this page:http://www.optimumreleasing.com/dvd.php?id=449which shows the silent films all have soundtracks. Hmmm. Could be worth the purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldsmithFanatic2000+ 0 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 My favourite Hitchcock film will always be The Birds.I have the DVD as part of The Masterpiece Collection and it does look quite good, but I would love to see this get a Blu-ray release. Films like these are the reason I strongly appreciate the format.It really is a truly great film. I won't discredit it by even given a remake the time of day either.Psycho would be second, and believe me I've thought about awarding it the title I've already given, nope, just can't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 My favourite Hitchcock film will always be The Birds.The DVD I have looks quite good, but I would love to see this get a Blu-ray release. Films like these are the reason I strongly appreciate the format.It really is a truly great film. I won't discredit it by even given a remake the time of day either.Psycho would be second, and believe me I've thought about awarding it the title I've already given, nope, just can't do it.Vertigo is my favorite, but The Birds is a strong second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 Psycho is my fave, followed closely by Vertigo and Foreign Correspondant. I have favourites from all Hitch's eras. I love The Lodger, but I also love Frenzy. Frenzy is an incredibly underappreciated black comedy IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 FYI:Deepdiscount.com is offering a pretty nice deal on their Criterion DVDs. Buy one get one free. You pay for the most expensive of the two of course. I just ordered the Criterion editions of 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes for a total of $32.99, with free shipping! RESULT!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,059 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 North By Northwest is my favorite Hitchcock film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I liked Hitchcock best when he wasn't "Hitchcock", but just a really good director, he a Spielberg suffer the same fate, their best stuff was earlier in their careers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now