| DVD Roundup February 2006
 The Joy
of Sets
Boxed sets of DVDs represent one of
today’s best values for your entertainment dollar. There are sets available for
whatever you’re looking for: large collections of a single director’s career,
collections of similarly themed movies, or full seasons of classic -- or even
not-so-classic -- television shows. Many sets offer great savings over buying the movies
separately, and often offer bonus materials otherwise unavailable. Here are some examples.
Who needs film school?
One of the best DVD sets to be released recently is The
Masterpiece Collection ($119.98 USD), -- 14 films directed by Alfred Hitchcock for
Universal Studios, including The Birds, Psycho, Rear Window, and
Hitchcock’s own favorite, Shadow of a Doubt. Along with the films and a
documentary for each, a 15th disc includes interviews with Hitchcock, as well as footage
of the ceremony in which he was honored with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime
Achievement Award.
The Val Lewton Horror Collection ($59.98) includes
every horror movie that Lewton produced as head of RKO Pictures’ B-movie division,
including the original Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie. Also included
are seven other films, and a feature-length documentary about Lewton’s career.
Carefully make your way through these movies, commentaries, and documentaries, and not
only will you have a month’s worth of entertainment, you’ll also get an
education in film history that might rival what you’d receive in a college course.
The Hitchcock set was designed as a set, with a
36-page book and swank, velvet-like packaging; the Lewton is simply a slipcase of thin
cardboard with the films’ individual snapcases inserted. I prefer the distinctive
packaging of sets such as the Hitchcock, but with reservations. First, as such packages
get more lavish and depart from the size and shape of standard DVD releases, they become
less easy to store along with other DVDs on standard media shelves. This won’t matter
to the casual collector, but diehard movie watchers might find it annoying after a while.
Second, if the special packaging causes an increase in price without a substantial
increase in the amount of information offered, then I’d prefer simple, standard
packaging.
Other great director-based boxed sets include Kino
International’s Wong Kar-Wai Collection ($99.95) and the F.W. Murnau
Collection ($119.95). The price per film for each of these is much higher than in the
Hitchcock and Lewton sets, but being able to have so much great work by either director at
a savings over buying the films separately is fantastic news for film fans. Put your
favorite director’s name into a search engine and you’re likely to find a boxed
set for him or her.
Bargains abound
I recently bought two sets: Planet of the Apes: The
Evolution, which includes all five Apes films and a bonus documentary, Behind
the Planet of the Apes; and The Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection, which comprises
five martial-arts films. Each set cost only $19.99. Another recent release, The King
Kong Collection, includes a two-disc special edition of the original King Kong,
Son of Kong, and Mighty Joe Young, all for only $26.99. That may be more
giant-ape or kung fu movies than the average viewer wants, but if you’re a fan of
either series, it’s hard to see how you can resist these prices.
Other bargain sets lack such tightly connected themes.
I’ve seen boxed sets simply labeled Thrillers, Romantic Comedies, or Sci-Fi.
Usually, such a set will comprise one or two very good films padded out with lesser fare.
These collections seem clearly designed to get rid of excess stock of the lesser films,
but they still may be worth the money. Six movies for less than $30 seems reasonable,
especially when you can count on at least two of them being very good. You might just need
some movies on hand for rainy or snowy days; at prices this low, you can watch them once,
then pass on any you don’t like to friends and family.
While I think these sets are bargains, not all inexpensive
sets are. Several companies make super-cheap boxed sets of out-of-copyright films that are
atrocious to watch. I once bought a cheap set of Charlie Chaplin films, only to discover
that the prints and their video transfers were so bad as to be largely unwatchable. In
such cases, you’re better off going for better editions from more established
companies. They’ll cost more, but they’ll be a lot more pleasurable to watch.
Forget cable and satellite TV
Boxed sets are now my only source of TV series. I much
prefer to make my way through a whole season of a show in a marathon over a few nights
than watch one episode a week for several months. Nearly every show that has earned any
sort of critical or popular success is now or will soon be available on DVD. The newest
trend is super-sets that include not just a single, complete season, but the series’
entire multi-year run. One example of this is the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The
Chosen Collection -- all seven years of the show on 40 DVDs. But such megacollections
can be irksome. I already own all of those seasons, which I bought one by one as they were
released. While I’d like to see The Chosen Collection’s exclusive bonus
material, I’m not going to spend $150-plus to watch it.
A great number of kid-friendly shows have been released in
boxed sets. Many Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes collections are now available that allow
you to entertain your and/or visitors’ kids whenever the need arises without
subjecting them to television commercials. Even better, you can enjoy your childhood
favorites with your kids, and see if The Perils of Penelope Pitstop really was as
funny as you remember it.
Conclusion
I usually don’t buy single DVDs of new movies.
However, I’m always tempted by boxed sets, especially those in which a given
director’s work has been collected -- it gives me a good excuse to sit down and study
that artist’s work. Whatever your taste or approach to movie watching, there are
boxed sets that will tempt you, too. Such collections have made collecting DVDs more
exciting and affordable. The only problem you’ll have is finding time to watch them
all.
…Eric Hetherington
erich@hometheatersound.com |
