There’s a veritable avalanche of blu-ray legacy titles heading our way for Q4 this year, featuring three very exciting, history-making box sets:
September 25th - Bond 50 features all 22 James Bond films (except for Never Say Never Again), including the debut of nine titles never before available in high-definition.
Yes, there’s some double-dipping here, and it may vex you that these films are not initially going to be available individually – you have to spring for the whole deal. But what you get is pretty exhaustive: You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies are all making their hi-def debut, along with 122 hours of bonus features. Nearly everything from the previous Ultimate Edition Bond DVD & Blu-ray releases will be included here. The version over on Amazon IS packed with a limited edition hardcover book, James Bond: 50 Years of Movie Posters. You Only Live Twice, OHMSS, Diamonds are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me and Goldeneye collectively make this worth springing for, as all 5 of these films are pretty spectacular representations of Bond at his best, each one with some fantastic sequences that have earned them a place among the best of the series.
September 25th - Universal is treating us to the new 15 film Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection, with 13 films never before available on Blu-ray, including The Birds, featuring the new documentary, The Birds: Hitchcock’s Monster Movie.
Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot round-out the offerings. The set will include a collectible 50-page book featuring storyboards, costume sketches, correspondence, photographs and much more. Note that Dial M for Murder and Strangers on a Train are also arriving elsewhere on Blu on 10/9, with Dial M on 3D format. Can’t wait to see what they’ve done with The Birds, as there was ample opportunity to properly remaster and restore this absolutely splendid film.
October 9th - In plenty of time for Halloween comes Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection, including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
PHEW! All films are digitally restored from high-res film elements for the first time ever! And of course – wait for it – the set includes a 48-page book featuring behind the scenes photographs, original posters, correspondence and still more! Given the age of these films and their importance in movie history, this is one of the most exciting catalog releases of all time.
Okay, so that’s 45 films to add to your library – better clear some shelf space and refinance!
We'll be on alert all next week for any exciting news out of SDCC (San Diego Comic Con, ‘natch!)! I am keeping my fingers crossed for any news and have hopes that this will provide our first glimpse of the new Hobbit figures. My crazy, unrealistic fantasy is that the big Firefly reunion panel will serve as a launchpad to announce some kind of new Firefly/Serenity project – like an overdue Serenity sequel?! How fantastic would that be?! It would certainly be a big hit, now that the fanbase has grown to beyond cultish proportions. There are Comic Con panels on Elysium, Iron Man 3, Fringe, Pacific Rim (what will those monsters look like, Guillermo?!), Django Unchained, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Man of Steel, and of course, The Hobbit. They actually just wrapped principal photography for both Hobbit films, which is pretty fantastic. Barring any pickups, it’s all post-production from here on out! How exciting is that? There’s almost always as much toy news as there is movie and TV news at SDCC, so with any luck there will be all sorts of new info coming out this next week or so! Fingers crossed! Bring it ON!
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