DVDizzy Forum

Well, I read online that the next wave of Universal's "Legacy Series" is to debut on DVD in September. The titles are:

Double Indemnity (I'm sooooo excited that this is finally coming to DVD!!!)
Frankenstein
Dracula


O.K. Here's my question. Why is Univseral rereleasing Frankenstein and Dracula when they are already available in stellar boxed sets with tons of documentaries and multiple sequel films? I recently purchased the Frankenstein horror boxed set and now see that it is being rereleased. Does anyone know of the content on these Legacy Series DVDs? My anti-double-dipping hope is that they are repackages without the sequel films. Still, it seems like such a waste for such an interesting DVD release line. I really enjoyed all the films in the Legacy Series wave 1.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62061

They are without the sequel films (although Dracula still has the Spanish version included). Each has a new commentary (as well as the old), a new featurette on the star (Lugosi or Karloff) as well as the original "making of" and it appears both feature the excellent Kenneth Branagh narrated "Universal Horror" documentary. (Unless the two hour documentary is split into two with each set having 1 half). Finally, both have subtitled trivia when watching the movie.

Sadly, I have the Universal Horror documentary as it was included in the UK Monster Legacy Collection boxset.

Oh... This is old news. When is the 3rd Wave coming?

This isn't even the second time those horror movies have been released... it's the third. The original DVDs, like these new releases, didn't have the sequels (plus, The Mummy, Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Invisible Man were released as well, instead of just Dracula and Frankenstein).

Personally, I'm glad I picked up the second release Legacy Collection sets of all six horror titles... those were great sets.

Personally, I'm very glad for these re-releases and I hope re-releases of The Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Mummy, among others, are on the way. I haven't bought any of Universal's classic monster movies yet on DVD (I know, for shame, for shame ), so I want the best and newest options. Besides, these new releases look as though they will be the most expansive editions these films have gotten, bonus wise, to date. That can't really be too bad a thing. Plus, look at Universal. They don't have too many more genre films to put out. Just Phantasm II and III. Then, they have nearly completely exhausted their horror / sci-fi catalogs.

I bought the box set (Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein) that came with the polystone busts. I also got the Mummy set, Creature set, and Invisible Man set (there were no busts with them though. And just last year, or was it earlier this year, another Lugosi set that Universal put out.

I am extremely please with what I have and am not really into "extras".
They are nice but whether they have them or not is not really important to me.

I will pass on the new releases.

Although there is also a Karloff set coming out from Universal so I will probably pick that up. There is also a Chaney set (The Inner Sanctum Series) coming from Universal too but I am nt sure if I will get that or not.

James

Another reason these re-releases are great is, I only really want the originals. When you get into all those sequels, it seems more than a little unnecessary.

JamesDFarrow wrote:I bought the box set (Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein) that came with the polystone busts. I also got the Mummy set, Creature set, and Invisible Man set (there were no busts with them though.

I have the box set as well, I really wish there had been a second box set with busts...

It's been a while, and I haven't seen any new titles for the Universal Legacy Series. Since it's halloween season, I've pulled out my horror films and totally forgot about the whole double dip last year......sadly I don't mind owning both the legacy series and legacy collection of the universal horror films.

I guess my question is.....are there any more titles that are supposed to be released in the Universal Legacy series? Here are all the titles that I can think of (I don't have time to dig through my DVDs):


The Deer Hunter
The Sting
To Kill a Mockingbird
Double Indemnity
Frankenstein
Dracula

All are excellent DVDs and presentations.....and I'll be so disappointed if Universal decided to drop this series.....

There's been speculation/rumors that this year's Legacy Series will be three of the following: Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, and Rear Window. My guess is the first three will get two-disc Legacy Series releases, while Rear Window will get a standard new re-release with its newer transfer and new cover art. They're the final four Hitchcock films that are due for a "re-release" since the new remastered versions appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection boxset from a couple years ago. Also, Psycho and Vertigo are non-anamorphic in their older editions, and finally got anamorphic treatment in the boxset and definitely in the speculated re-release.

Of the six existing Legacy Series titles, I've only got To Kill A Mockingbird (and it was the first release as well, which came with postcards and a letter from Harper Lee, as later editions are packaged sans postcards/letter), but really want to pick up the other five eventually. Right now, my Wal-Mart has Dracula and Frankenstein for $13.72 for the Halloween season, so I may get those before the others. After that, I'll probably pick up Double Indemnity, then the other two.

Also, it should be worth noting that R2/R3/R4 sets for The Deer Hunter has a different selection of extras (though the R1 has the better transfer, and extras unique to R1), so anyone with multi-region players and are interested in the extras would probably want to import. The extras are:
--Audio commentary with director Michael Cimino
--"Realising The Deer Hunter" featurette (23.34)
--"Shooting The Deer Hunter" featurette (15:36)
--"Playing The Deer Hunter" featurette (15:40)

The R4 Australian version of Double Indemnity also has unique extras: (in addition to the Lem Dobbs/Nick Redman commentary)
--Audio Commentary with Geoff Mayer, Reader & Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, LaTrobe University
--Introduction by film historian Robert Osborne (2:31)
--“The Best of Film Noir” documentary (49:02)
--“Hollywood Remembers: Barbara Stanwyck- A Profile” documentary (23:56)
--“Hollywood Remembers: Fred MacMurray - A Profile” documentary (23:57)
--“Hollywood Remembers: Edward G. Robinson – A Profile” documentary (23:58 )

Scaps

disneyfella wrote:I guess my question is.....are there any more titles that are supposed to be released in the Universal Legacy series? Here are all the titles that I can think of (I don't have time to dig through my DVDs):


The Deer Hunter
The Sting
To Kill a Mockingbird
Double Indemnity
Frankenstein
Dracula

All are excellent DVDs and presentations.....and I'll be so disappointed if Universal decided to drop this series.....

I'm not sure if they plan on having any more, however they've left out several of the classic horror titles (Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, Invisible Man, Wolf Man) that they had previously released under the Legacy Collection (as opposed to Legacy Series... to avoid confusion, maybe Universal could've come up with a name that was more unique). I never bothered with the 75th anniversary versions of Dracula and Frankenstein, since I already owned the Legacy Collection versions that also had all their sequels. I've read the video and audio quality are better on the Legacy Series versions, so I still may eventually pick those up.

http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.a ... #topoftabs

this is an interesting choice for the series....I wonder what bonus features they'll have on it? I'm not sure I like the cover art (the double indemnity one had a double feature, but only showed the original on the cover). Overall, though, I'm getting excited for this next wave....

Whatever happened to the Hitchock legacy series titles?

I really would like to get some of Hitch's classics. I've held out buying them waiting for better editions. I hope they do release these though.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the mummy 3

jrboy wrote:I wonder if this has anything to do with the mummy 3

Who cares when you can get one of the greatest films of all time for a steal? That said, the added value over the other release(s) isn't great. Universal Horrors? Again? Come on Universal, you know your key demographic for this release will already have 2 copies of this (one from Dracula and one from Frankenstein). Still, you get a new commentary and the Jack Pierce documentary should be great.

Check out my thoughts on The Mummy on my (way incomplete) Universal Horrors website
http://www.btinternet.com/~james.reader ... index.html

netty wrote:Universal Horrors? Again? Come on Universal, you know your key demographic for this release will already have 2 copies of this (one from Dracula and one from Frankenstein).

At least it's a better documentary than Paramount's overtly-fluffy "Edith Head: The Paramount Years" featurette that appears on 3 DVDs (Sunset Blvd, Roman Holiday, and To Catch A Thief).

I'm annoyed at Universal. They've got a huge library of classic films, and the majority of them get the shaft on DVD. At least with Warner or Fox you get a commentary, one or two featurettes, and some vintage materials including the trailer. Most of Universal's classic releases these days seem to be film compilations (Franchise Collections, which I either love or hate, depending on if they use dual-sided discs or not) or barebones single-disc sets (come on...She Done Him Wrong doesn't even get a film historian commentary or a Mae West documentary?). And the few and far between "Legacy Series" titles they're releasing aren't used to the fullest potential anymore (the only one, IMO, that did it completely right was To Kill A Mockingbird - new anamorphic transfer, existing bonus materials and new-or-until-then-unreleased quality materials, first-edition-only unique non-DVD swag...).

And when are those other Hitchhock titles ever gonna be re-released? I want my anamorphic edition of Psycho without having to get the Hitchcock boxset!

Albert

Let's just hope this year Universal will finally release Phantasm II on DVD.

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/rear-window.html


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