November has begun, and so has the massive flood of worthwhile releases. Sorry about the alphabetizing of the Warner triple features; they’re themed packs that Amazon.com alphabetized according to the title of the first movie in the set. The “titles” of the triple features are my own, since there definitely common elements that aren’t actually in the packaging.
First, the genre releases:
- Ah! My Goddess – Premium Box Set
- Angel – Seasons 1-5: This is a shrink-wrap package of the existing five collections, rather than the single box that Region 2 was treated to. I suspect it’s the original packaging, and not the forthcoming slimline packaging. There are a lot of shrink-wrap releases like this one this week.
- Ark II: The Complete Series: I’m a little too young to remember this series.
- Cars: The only Pixar film I haven’t seen. I really should change that.
- Christmas Classics Box Set: Includes the remade “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Jingle All The Way,” “Home Alone” and the George C. Scott version of “A Christmas Carol.”
- Doctor Who – The Complete First Season, Vol. 1: The first season of the 2005 series was originally released in a box set with all episodes on four disks, and bonus features on a fifth disk. The non-bonus disks are now available individually. I still recommend the entire box set: it’s got the bonus features, more compact packaging, and a lower total cost.
- Doctor Who – The Complete First Season, Vol. 2
- Doctor Who – The Complete First Season, Vol. 3
- Doctor Who – The Complete First Season, Vol. 4
- Doctor Who – The Hand of Fear: Episode 87 of the original series.
- Doctor Who – The Mark of the Rani: Episode 140.
- Extreme Comedy Collection: Includes “Team America: World Police,” “Jackass: The Movie” and “Beavis and Butthead Do America.”
- Familytime Features Box Set: Includes “The Sound of Music,” “Dr. Doolittle,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “The Man From Snowy River.”
- The Fountainhead: An adaptation of Ayn Rand starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal.
- The Junky’s Christmas: This is a new release of the movie reviewed here two Christmas seasons ago.
- Funtastic Adventures Collection: Includes “Ice Age,” “Robots,” “Fern Gully,” and “Once Upon A Rainforest.”
- Futurama Seasons 1-4: Another complete series box set.
- Gary Cooper – The Signature Collection: Warner does a great job with these box sets. This set includes “Sergeant York,” “The Fountainhead,” “Dallas,” “Springfield Rifle” and “The Wreck of the Mary Deare.”
- Harvey Toons – The Complete Collection: Casper, Wendy, Huey and the rest are all here.
- Sci-Fi Triple Feature: Includes “Island of Dr. Moreau,” “Dark City,” and “The Hidden.”
- Jekyll and Hyde: Another adaptation of the classic.
- Millennium – Seasons 1-3: That’s the whole series in a shrink wrap again.
- The Pretender – Seasons 1-4: Another complete series in shrink wrap.
- Roswell – Seasons 1-3: Once again, the complete series.
- She-Ra: Princess of Power – Season One, Vol. 1: The “He-Man for girls” was bound to get released, given how well the He-Man set did.
- Transformers – The Movie: This is the 20th Anniversary Special Edition.
- World Destruction Box Set: Includes “Independence Day,” “Chain Reaction,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Volcano.”
- The X-Files: Seasons 1-9: Another complete series shrink wrap collection.
Now, the non-genre releases:
- Anna Karenina: This Kino release is actually Russian, unlike so many other adaptations of the Russian classic.
- Arrested Development – Seasons 1-3: Another shrink wrap deal.
- The Best of Carson, Volume 1: A four hour collection.
- The Best of Donny and Marie, Volume 1: This one is only two hours.
- Beverly Hills, 90210 – The Complete First Season: I watched one episode of this show, and avoided the rest.
- Carousel (50th Anniversary Edition): An old musical, and not a great one.
- The Chairman: I haven’t heard of the movie, but I definitely know the cast.
- Cinema Paradiso: I caught the second half of this on TCM, and would love to see the entire film. Great stuff.
- The Fallen Idol: Another Criterion Collection release.
- Steven Seagal Triple Pack: Includes “Fire Down Below,” “Out For Justice,” and “On Deadly Ground.”
- Billy Crystal Triple Feature: Includes “Forget Paris,” “Father’s Day,” and “My Giant.”
- Gross Pointe – The Complete Series
- Grounded For Life – Season Four
- Inside the Actors Studio – Icons: Includes Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand and Clint Eastwood.
- JAG – Complete Second Season
- James Bond Ultimate Collection – Volume 1: Includes “The Man With The Golden Gun,” “Goldfinger,” “The World Is Not Enough,” “Diamonds Are Forever,” and “The Living Daylights.”
- The James Bond Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2: Includes “A View To A Kill,” “Thunderball,” “Die Another Day,” “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “License To Kill.” There are two other such box sets due out December 12, which will complete the series to date.
- Julius Ceasar
- The King and I: A better musical.
- The Legal Legends Box Set: Includes “Runaway Jury,” “Class Action,” “Compulsion” and “The Verdict.”
- Lethal Weapon Triple Pack: Includes the first three movies in the series.
- Lies and Deception Box Set: Includes the non-Hitchcock “Mr. And Mrs. Smith,” “True Lies,” “Entrapment” and “Black Widow.”
- Little Man
- M*A*S*H Season Eleven: The final season.
- M*A*S*H: Martinis and Medicine Collection: All eleven seasons, the movie, and other bonus features on 36 disks.
- Marlon Brando Collection: Includes “Mutiny On The Bounty,” “Julius Ceasar,” “The Formula,” “Reflections in a Golden Eye” and “The Teahouse of the August Moon.”
- Mega Signature Collection: Each signature collection is well done, collecting the works of a particular individual, generally an actor. (Hitchcock is the only director to get the treatment.) This includes the following collections: John Wayne, Bogie and Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Tracy and Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, James Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Cary Grant and Ronald Reagan.
- Horse Triple Feature: Includes “National Velvet,” “The Story of Seabiscuit,” and “Black Beauty.”
- War Triple Feature: Includes “Objective: Burma!,” “Never So Few” and “Go For Broke.”
- Murder Triple Feature: Includes “A Perfect Murder,” “Murder By Numbers” and “Murder In The First.”
- Police Squad! The Complete Series: The show that became the “Naked Gun” movies.
- Rogers and Hammerstein Box Set Collection: This includes new, upgraded editions of the same movies in the first box set, namely “The King and I,” “Oklahoma!,” “The Sound of Music,” “South Pacific,” “Carousel” and “State Fair.”
- South Pacific: Another musical.
- John Wayne Triple Feature: Includes “The Telegraph Trail,” “Somewhere In Sonora” and “The Man From Monterey.”
- Ultimate Bob Hope Collection: Includes “The Lemon Drop Kid,” “Road To Rio,” “The Great Lover,” “Son of Paleface,” “Road To Bali,” The Seven Little Foys,” “Paris Holiday,” “Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell,” “How To Commit to Marriage,” and “My Favourite Brunette.”
- Ultimate Flint Collection
- Warner Classics Mega Collection: It’s not cheap, but it’s huge. There’s no title list this year, but there are a few clearly visible in that picture. It seems to have a lot of overlap with last year’s set, which included over 200 movies, most of which are very good. The titles are usually available in the other Warner box sets, too, such as the Signature Collections mentioned above. Consider what I did last year: find some other interested individuals, and split the collection up amongst you. It’s the lowest cost per title I’ve seen. There’s no count on this year’s yet, but the price is double last year’s, so I suspect it’ll include many of this year’s releases, possibly even topping the 300 title mark.
- The West Wing – Complete Series Collection: Like the M*A*S*H set, it’s not just a shrink wrap.
- The West Wing – Complete Seventh Season
Finally, the pick of the week. While this definitely looks like the week of big ticket box sets, I’ve got to go with the little Cinema Paradiso. What I saw of the movie was excellent, and I really want to check out the whole thing some day soon.
Bond. James Bond
I wish they’d release the Bond movies individually. Sure, you can get some of them – and I have almost all the ones I want, but there are a couple more I’d like to have. Quite a few Bond movies I’d be happy to never ever ever see again *cough*Moonraker*cough*.
EXTREME COMEDY
extreme indeed. The jackass-beavis and butthead-and team america box set will be what I will spend my alowance on. Jackass has my vote for best thing ever, right next to Wonder showzen. The Bond collection, in my opinion is not worth the 100+ dollars it will likely cost. The only Bonds i would ever buy are "From Russia with Love" and "Goldfinger".
PS. I have recently been posting as Saint of Killers but I lost my password for the account. am now blackadam90. Respek