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By
WAYNE KLEIN
There are both pros and cons
to this remastered/re-released Hitchcock boxed
set. This set contains many of Hitch's well
regarded classics and a generous helping of
middling thrillers as well. The set includes all
the films Hitch did either independently or
released through Universal including "Saboteur,"
"Shadow of a Doubt," "Rope," "Rear Window," The
Trouble with Harry," "The Man Who Knew Too Much
(the 1956 remake with Jimmy Stewart), "Vertigo,"
"Psycho," "The Birds," "Marnie," "Torn Curtain,"
"Topaz," "Frenzy" and "Family Plot." The pros to
this set are that all these films have been
remastered (all of them were anamorphic despite
what other reviews have stated except for
"Vertigo"--read the boxes of the original
releases) and the remastering job has resulted in
colors being bolder in many cases (I did an A-B
comparison for most titles) with images being
crisper and with slightly better resolution. There
is an exception to this--"The Man Who Knew Too
Much" actually looks worse than the previous
release. While colors are good the image clarity
and detail are off. I'm not exactly sure what
happened here but it must have been during the
Telecine transfer process from film to video (and
then DVD). So if "Man" is one of your favorites
I'd advise you to keep the previous DVD. Also,
there's no paper inserts with chapter stops listed
as on previous editions. Also, a couple of films
didn't have a huge difference but they were still
noticeable for the most part.
The DVDs are housed four to a DVD "book" with two
on each side one on top of the other. I know what
you're thinking--they'll get scratched--but I
didn't notice any potential for that. Still,
you'll need to be careful taking them out and
putting them in and these holders are not as
secure as the individual keep cases. Each cover is
decorated with images from the original posters
for each movie overlapping each other.
Extras are exactly the same as the original
releases for each disc. "The Making of Psycho" and
"All About 'The Birds'" which were on the original
discs themselves have been relocated to the bonus
discs. There are also three new bonuses included.
The first is a 15-minute excerpt from the AFI
tribute focusing primarily on Hitch's droll
comments when he accepted the Lifetime Achievement
Award. I've long wanted to have this on DVD but do
wish that Universal had licensed the entire AFI
tribute, as it was a charming and worthwhile
evening. The second extra is a 30-minute interview
featuring Pia Lindstrom and William K. Everson and
is a vintage videotape interview with Hitchcock
from the 70's. It's quite a revealing interview
with Hitchcock charming the hosts as usual. He
discusses quite frankly his likes (pre-production)
and dislikes (method actors like Montgomery
Clift). The third bonus is a 36-page booklet that,
like the booklet that came with "Jaws," is hardly
essential. It does include credits for each movie,
some photos and brief comments about each film.
It'll be something you might look at once or
twice.
The box itself has a crushed velvet exterior and
is quite attractive. The cover has a door that
slides into the box to access the movies. So the
pros are better transfers for most of the films.
If you don't have all of Hitch's movies on DVD
yet, this is a great deal. If you have most of
them, I'd wait until "Vertigo" is finally released
in an anamorphic widescreen presentation and just
purchase that. The new extras aren't worth the
price of admission if you don't already have all
of these and while they look better, the
difference may not be all that striking to you.
With the release of Hitch's TV show and other new
stuff coming out, it's a matter of spending where
one can.
I gave this set 4 stars for two reasons; 1) There
are a number of so-so Hitchcock films in this set
("Torn Curtain," "Topaz," "Marnie" which is one
that, despite Robin Wood's arguments to the
contrary, I find to be substandard Hitchcock and
the enjoyable but light "Family Plot"). "The Man
Who Knew Too Much" should look BETTER than the
previous edition. 2) Universal should issue a
remastered replacement disc for those who
purchased this set. 3) While we do some new extras
they are slim pickings. I would have loved to get
more commentary tracks on these classic films from
Hilton Green (Assistant Director on "Psycho" and a
number of Hitch's TV episodes), Bruce Dern or
Karen Black (on "Family Plot") and others on the
important films.
Some of Hitch's finest films are here "Vertigo,"
"Rear Window," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "The
Trouble With Harry" (an acquired taste), "Psycho,"
"Shadow of a Doubt," "Sabotage," "Frenzy," etc but
also some of his weaker thrillers as well. It's a
good concise and inexpensive way to get them all
but keep in mind that there isn't all that much
that's new to this set. While the "AFI Tribute" is
great it's only an excerpt. The interview is
charming and enlightening but hardly essential for
more casual fans. My recommendation is if you have
most of these titles waits until "Vertigo" comes
out individually and get the anamorphic version of
that film and don't trade in your "The Man Who
Knew Too Much" as the previous release looks
better on DVD. |
