Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

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manicsounds
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Vertigo

#1 Post by manicsounds » Thu Jan 20, 2005 12:28 pm

anyone else "Lose" their copy to laser rot? a year ago my "Orange" cover Vertigo just..... stopped. wouldnt play. nothing. nothing at all......

The day i found out was when it was rainy and decided, "Why the hell not? i havent watched Vertigo in a long time...."
ah, it pissed me off.....

still got that unplayable DVD sitting in my new apartment.

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Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
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#2 Post by Gary Tooze » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:14 am

Perhaps that is why they replaced the old orange cover issue?

I'd love that cover - IF you are selling :)

Best,
Gary

J M Powell
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:20 am
Location: Providence, RI

#3 Post by J M Powell » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:12 am

Nah, Gary, they replaced the orange cover so they could make a crappy cover that matched all their other Hitch releases. (Did the same with Psycho.)

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manicsounds
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
Location: Tokyo, Japan

#4 Post by manicsounds » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:26 pm

Gary Tooze wrote:Perhaps that is why they replaced the old orange cover issue?

I'd love that cover - IF you are selling :)
If there is or was a replacement program, i'll do it, but sorry Gary, I love the Orange coversart. Wont give it up, no matter how much I love your site.....

THX1378
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:35 am
Location: Fresno, CA

#5 Post by THX1378 » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:02 am

I pulled out and checked my retro-orange cover Vertigo and it seems to play fine for me. Do DVDs have the same problems like lasers with the whole rot problem?

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Kristoffer4
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:55 pm
Location: Aarhus DK

#6 Post by Kristoffer4 » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:45 am

Mine also stopped working yesterday!
Tried two different players.
Damn Universal!
](*,) :x
Now I guess I will have to get the Hitchcock box....but I don't have the cash. :oops:

unclehulot
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:09 pm
Location: here and there

#7 Post by unclehulot » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:32 am

Universal WILL replace the disc. I'm not sure of the link, but somewhere on their website is a form to request this. Mine are still sitting here, dead in the water... just been too lazy to send it (and Psycho) back to them.

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Joe Buck
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:59 pm
Location: New York

#8 Post by Joe Buck » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:10 pm

If my Hitchcock DVDs went ka-blewy, I'd lose it. Those old Universal Hitchcock DVDs set the standard, in my mind. The films were represented so well. Some could have gotten better transfers, sure, but the extras are really something. I hear the new discs are better, and while I will settle for the what I have already for most, I will definitely tippy toe into the store and pick up "Man Who Knew Too Much". Love that one, and the print on the original DVD was somewhat poor.

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thomega
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:13 pm
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#9 Post by thomega » Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:21 pm

Joe Buck wrote: I will definitely tippy toe into the store and pick up "Man Who Knew Too Much". Love that one, and the print on the original DVD was somewhat poor.
The titles in the new Universal box set are not available individually. Anyway, TMWKTM is easily the worst transfer in the set. Some shots are full of edge enhancement and devoid of detail. I don't have the older release to compare, but I can't imagine that it looked much worse. (NB: the beaver claims that the new disk is an improvement, but judging from the caps, I don't agree.)

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kieslowski_67
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:39 pm
Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland

#10 Post by kieslowski_67 » Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:24 pm

Any serious Hitch fan needs to get the Universal box set. Are you serious? "Vertigo" has never looked so good (on DVD anyway). The difference is so shocking that it's like night and day. And with the exception of "Rear window", all movies in the box set seem to have better resolution than the respective earlier Universal individual releases.

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cafeman
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:19 am

#11 Post by cafeman » Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:34 pm

Is it already that time when our DVDs stop playing? It`s the end of an era.

Now that I know DVDs can die, I can wave my second childhood goodbye.

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Joe Buck
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:59 pm
Location: New York

#12 Post by Joe Buck » Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:37 pm

thomega wrote:
Joe Buck wrote: I will definitely tippy toe into the store and pick up "Man Who Knew Too Much". Love that one, and the print on the original DVD was somewhat poor.
The titles in the new Universal box set are not available individually.
They will be next year. I've looked at the comparisons but still cannot bring myself to buy all these discs again. Is it really that big of an upgrade? I'm not that picky, and I didn't find any thing wrong with the old Vertigo disc.

Okay, convince me.

unclehulot
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:09 pm
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#13 Post by unclehulot » Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:00 pm

cafeman wrote:Is it already that time when our DVDs stop playing? It`s the end of an era.

Now that I know DVDs can die, I can wave my second childhood goodbye.
Not DVDs in general, please! Just the ones that were incorrectly manufactured to begin with. Think of it as a time bomb. The good news is that you're likely to hear about it on the internet, so you know which discs to double check.

unclehulot
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:09 pm
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#14 Post by unclehulot » Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:00 pm

Joe Buck wrote:
thomega wrote:
Joe Buck wrote: I will definitely tippy toe into the store and pick up "Man Who Knew Too Much". Love that one, and the print on the original DVD was somewhat poor.
The titles in the new Universal box set are not available individually.
They will be next year. I've looked at the comparisons but still cannot bring myself to buy all these discs again. Is it really that big of an upgrade? I'm not that picky, and I didn't find any thing wrong with the old Vertigo disc.
It's not anamorphic, and doens't have the original soundtrack.

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Joe Buck
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:59 pm
Location: New York

#15 Post by Joe Buck » Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:31 pm

Need more convincing. What about the other films in the set?

See, I need to be able to put them into the machine and fall out of a chair. I mean, it's got to be a substantial difference for me to spend that much money on these, especially when I spent so much on the originals.

I hear you on the "anamorphic" thing. That is a major plus. I'm thinking....

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

#16 Post by Gregory » Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:12 pm

I would have gone through the same dillemma if the box set weren't so cheap. I had the previous editions of all but the last four films, and quickly got around $7-$8 for each one on Half.com and Amazon. That gave me more than enough to pay for the box set, which I got for $64 plus shipping during a sale at Wherehouse.com. There will be another good deal on the set during the next DDD sale or perhaps sooner elsewhere. Even though there are only minor improvements it was a very worthwhile transaction. My only hope for the people who bought the DVDs I sold is that they don't self-destruct anytime soon -- the DVDs, that is.

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cafeman
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:19 am

#17 Post by cafeman » Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:29 pm

Gregory wrote:My only hope for the people who bought the DVDs I sold is that they don't self-destruct anytime soon -- the DVDs, that is.
Oh, and it`s ok for people to self-destruct? Way to prioritize, man.

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GringoTex
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:57 am

#18 Post by GringoTex » Wed Dec 07, 2005 11:48 pm

I put up my old copy of Rear Window for sale on Amazon when buying the new boxset, and the President of Philip Morris Agency bought it. I shit you not. I actually mailed it to his mansion in Beverly Hills.

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denti alligator
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"

#19 Post by denti alligator » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:19 am

Langlois68 wrote:I put up my old copy of Rear Window for sale on Amazon when buying the new boxset, and the President of Philip Morris Agency bought it. I shit you not. I actually mailed it to his mansion in Beverly Hills.
Wow, so he was shopping around for a good deal?!

I once sold a Gary Lucas CD on amazon.com to Gary Lucas himself. Go figure. You'd think he'd have his own music.

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tryavna
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
Location: North Carolina

#20 Post by tryavna » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:21 am

denti alligator wrote:I once sold a Gary Lucas CD on amazon.com to Gary Lucas himself. Go figure. You'd think he'd have his own music.
Maybe he's trying to track down and destroy every single copy of his music.

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exte
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:27 pm
Location: NJ

#21 Post by exte » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:07 pm

Langlois68 wrote:I put up my old copy of Rear Window for sale on Amazon when buying the new boxset, and the President of Philip Morris Agency bought it. I shit you not. I actually mailed it to his mansion in Beverly Hills.
Don't you mean William Morris Agency?

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kieslowski_67
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:39 pm
Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland

#22 Post by kieslowski_67 » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:45 pm

Joe Buck wrote:Need more convincing. What about the other films in the set?

See, I need to be able to put them into the machine and fall out of a chair. I mean, it's got to be a substantial difference for me to spend that much money on these, especially when I spent so much on the originals.

I hear you on the "anamorphic" thing. That is a major plus. I'm thinking....
For "Vertigo", besides being anarmorphic, the new transfer is much sharper (higher resolution), and the color is reported to be closer to the original release.

The new "psycho" also features anamorphic transfer while the previous release was not.

"The trouble about Harry", "Marnie", and "Birds" all have significantly better resolution as compared to the old releases.

I sold all but two of the discs (so far) on half.com and amazon.com and the profit was already more than to buy the new set. You might also wait to buy the set from columbiahouse DVD club when they do the Christmas sale.

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Gigi M.
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:09 pm
Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep

Hitchcock on Universal DVD and Blu-ray

#23 Post by Gigi M. » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:07 am

From DVDTimes:
Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of new Two-Disc Special Editions of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo on 7th October 2008. Priced at $26.98 SRP each, these two-disc sets are released under the Universal Legacy Series banner and offer the following features…

Psycho
Disc 1: Main Feature
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English and French DD2.0 Mono
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
Feature Commentary with Stephen Rebello (author of "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho")
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
The Shower Scene
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
The Psycho Archives
Posters and Psycho Ads
Lobby Cards
Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
Production Photographs
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer
Re-Release Trailers

Disc 2: Extra Features
The Making of Psycho
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Lamb to the Slaughter"

Rear Window
Disc 1: Main Feature
1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English and French DD2.0 Mono
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
Feature Commentary with John Fawell (author of "Hitchcock's Rear Window: The Well-Made Film")
Production Photographs
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer
Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart

Disc 2: Extra Features
Rear Window Ethics: An Original Documentary
A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Master
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Mr. Blanchard's Secret"

Vertigo
Disc 1: Main Feature
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English DD5.1 Surround and DD2.0 Mono
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
Feature Commentary with Associate Producer Herbert Coleman, Restoration Team Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz and Other Vertigo Participants
Feature Commentary with Director William Friedkin
Foreign Censorship Ending
The Vertigo Archives
Production Notes
Original Theatrical Trailer
Restoration Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2: Extra Features
Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Alfred Hitchcock Presents "The Case of Mr. Pelham"

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

#24 Post by Jeff » Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:20 am

Great news. The Truffaut estate must have recently given more access to the interview tapes. Suddenly they're showing up as supplements everywhere.

Haggai
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:31 am
Location: San Diego

#25 Post by Haggai » Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:30 am

The Truffaut interview bits and the TV episodes are new supplements. A few of the featurettes look new to me as well, like "Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock," although I might be wrong about that. Also 3 of the 4 commentaries.

Have the people doing commentaries on Psycho and Rear Window ever done DVD commentaries before? Just wondering if those are likely to be worth listening to. As for Friedkin, I like his commentaries that I've heard for his own movies (French Connection, To Live and Die in LA), but I didn't think much of his track for The Narrow Margin in the Warners Film Noir Vol. 2 boxset, so I'm skeptical that his new commentary for Vertigo will be all that worthwhile.

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