Best Purchase In Your Exstensive Career of Purchases
Spirit Of The Beehive
Looney Tunes Golden Collection vol. 1 and 2
Nice Rocky, now tell me why?! lol jk
Okay…
Spirit of the beehive—-Cover, check! Menu design, check! Content, check! Video quality, CHECK!!!! The special features are not overflowing, but they are incredibly awesome. And, of course, there’s the fact that this is my favorite film.
Looney tunes—-I was really surprised when I got this set. It has as much or more special features than cartoons, which, of course, are great!
Those sound like good purchases ;)
UM…YEAH!!!!! :D
Cassavetes 5 films, and Fanny Och Alexander.
Oh! and Cahiers Du Cinema’s issuing of Histoire(S) Du Cinema. Probably the most beautiful dvd issuing ive ever seen.
I bought the Artificial Eye version of Histoire(s) du cinema. But best purchase so far was not made by me but my father who was in Korea. A Hong Sang-soo box set (Turning Gate, Woman is the Future of Man, Tale of Cinema), The Power of Kangwon Province and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors. I had not heard of Hong Sang-soo before that. Thanks father!
Kurt, Where did you buy it? What region? How much?
I think my best one was finding Gosford Park for $3 at Big Lots! the very day I wanted to get it at B&N. :D
Ugetsu is one great purchase but I don’t think this can be topped.
A 5 DISC BOXSET WITH FIVE VERSIONS OF BLADE RUNNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reading this list made me feel like a giant movie epic was reaching the silver screen.
Disc One
RIDLEY SCOTT’S ALL-NEW “FINAL CUT” VERSION OF THE FILM
Restored and remastered with added & extended scenes, added lines, new and cleaner special effects and all new 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Also includes:
■Commentary by Ridley Scott
■Commentary by Executive Producer/ Co-Screenwriter Hampton Fancher and Co-Screenwriter David Peoples; Producer Michael Deely and production executive Katherine Haber
■Commentaries by visual futurist Syd Mead; production designer Lawrence G. Paull, art director David L. Snyder and special photographic effects supervisors Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer
Disc Two
DOCUMENTARY DANGEROUS DAYS: MAKING BLADE RUNNER
A feature-length authoritative documentary revealing all the elements that shaped this hugely influential cinema landmark. Cast, crew, critics and colleagues give a behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the film — from its literary roots and inception through casting, production, visuals and special effects to its controversial legacy and place in Hollywood history.
Disc Three
1982 THEATRICAL VERSION
This is the version that introduced U.S. movie-going audiences to a revolutionary film with a new and excitingly provocative vision of the near-future. It contains Deckard/Harrison Ford’s character narration and has Deckard and Rachel’s (Sean Young) “happy ending” escape scene.
1982 INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Also used on U.S. home video, laserdisc and cable releases up to 1992. This version is not rated, and contains some extended action scenes in contrast to the Theatrical Version.
1992 DIRECTOR’S CUT
The Director’s Cut omits Deckard’s voiceover narration and removes the “happy ending” finale. It adds the famously-controversial “unicorn” sequence, a vision that Deckard has which suggests that he, too, may be a replicant.
Disc Four
BONUS DISC – “Enhancement Archive”
■Featurette The Electric Dreamer: Remembering Philip K. Dick
■Featurette Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. The Film
■Philip K. Dick: The Blade Runner Interviews (Audio)
■Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Cover Gallery (Images)
■The Art of Blade Runner (Image Galleries)
■Featurette Signs of the Times: Graphic Design
■Featurette Fashion Forward: Wardrobe & Styling
■Screen Tests: Rachel & Pris
■Featurette The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth
■Unit Photography Gallery
■Deleted & Alternate Scenes
■1982 Promotional Featurettes
■Trailers & TV Spots
■Featurette Promoting Dystopia: Rendering the Poster Art
■Marketing & Merchandise Gallery (Images)
■Featurette Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
■Featurette Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers
Disc Five
WORKPRINT VERSION
This rare version of the film is considered by some to be the most radically different of all the Blade Runner cuts. It includes an altered opening scene, no Deckard narration until the final scenes, no “unicorn” sequence, no Deckard/Rachel "happy ending,” altered lines between Batty (Rutger Hauer) and his creator Tyrell (Joe Turkell), alternate music and much more.
Also includes:
■Commentary by Paul M. Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
■Featurette All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut
For a price of $20 in Amazon? BEST PURCHASE EVER!!!!!!!!
PERFECT EXTRA FEATURES, PERFECT FILM TRANSFER & PERFECT MOVIE IN GENERAL. Except parts here and there…
Van Morrison’s “Moondance”. I bought this album on vinyl for $1 at a church junk sale. It has to mark the best money spent to enjoyment received ratio I’ve ever had.
AnyDVD
Clone DVD
ha ha
Nathan – wooooow, you are very lucky to have found that!
John – Lol I have that as well. However, I just wasn’t interested in watching those featurettes. A friend of mine told me it would be a waste of time. And I dont really need 5 different versions of the film. I’m ok with one ;) I know I’m probably the only one who thinks that way…
The commentary does interest me though. And I can see why you love it so much and $20 is a great deal!
Also Ran – because apparently they are no longer distributing dvds anymore…
Beyond The Clouds, its OOP and like 50 bux now!
The UK disc of THE SHINING with the 120 minute UK version of the film never available in the US.
John Cassavetes: Five Films from Criterion Collection, on sale for only 58.99$
Copied from Amazon:
This boxed set includes the following titles: • Shadows (1959) 81 min. B&W. 1.33:1 aspect ratio • Faces (1968) 130 min. B&W. 1.66:1 aspect ratio • A Woman Under the Influence (1974) 147 min. Color. 1.85:1 aspect ratio • The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) 135 min. Color. 1.85:1 aspect ratio • Opening Night (1977) 144 min. Color. 1.66:1 aspect ratio • A Constant Forge (2000) 200 min. Color. 1.33:1 aspect ratio John Cassavetes has been called a genius, a visionary, and the father of independent film. But all this rhetoric threatens to obscure the humanism and generosity of his art. The five films included here represent his self-financed works made outside the studio system of Hollywood, on which he was afforded complete control. While about beatniks, hippies, businessmen, actors, housewives, strippers, club owners, gangsters, and children, all of them are beautiful, emotional testaments to compassion. Cassavetes has often been called an actor’s director, but this body of work—astoundingly, even greater than the sum of its extraordinarily significant parts—reveals him to be an audience’s director. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night in stunning new transfers. Includes Charles Kiselyak’s A Constant Forge, a candid biographical documentary on the life and work of Cassavetes .
The Ingmar Bergman Collection (30 DVD set) for 79 GBP (there’s one for sale now for £599.00 on amazon.uk LOL)
Visconti’s The Leopard…on blu-ray!!
Wow, Grey – that’s a phenomenal deal! Wish I could have picked that up.
That Bergman collection is beautiful. If it had Fanny and Alexander i’d start saving up.
Edwin – I was looking at that collection today at B&N, sounds like a good deal
That Bergman collection is stunning…but i dont have the money :(
I’d have to say Disney’s “Song of the South” which I just found on VHS for one hundred yen.
Criterion’s Cassavetes set is essential. Tainted, of course, by the absence of Ray Carney’s planned contributions. Still essential.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien ~ 4 DVD DELUXE BOX SET ~ 1983-1986. Import only. Recently another 8 dvd box set has appeared, which includes The Puppetmaster, which has only been available in a woefully substandard edition.
Another great acquisition:
Hou Hsiao-Hsien ~ 4 DVD DELUXE BOX SET ~ 1983-1986
I found these damn near unwatchable on an HD projection set-up. But there’s been so much acclaim for it, I wonder if I didn’t get bad discs.
Two years ago (almost). I bought myself something for Christmas (selfish, I know… sue me). I’d heard much about this man, Ozu, but had never seen his work. My friend had told me his work was, “just people talking.” Tokyo Story seemed the place to go but I’d held off because I usually never buy DVD’s at full price. I figured it was Christmas and made an exception (it’s still one of the few times it has happened and I’ve never been as happy the other times). When I told my friend of the purchase he told me he didn’t think I’d be able to handle it. So, the disc arrived a few days before Christmas and I sat down and watched it… it changed my perception of what film is, and could be.
Up until this point most of my film viewership had been dedicated to Kurosawa films (I mention him specifically for a reason), other Samurai films, Kung Fu/Martial Arts films, and Hollywood genre pictures, along with a very small number of European art films all of which have many beautiful moments but also contain a lot of action, comedy, and/or drama usually. I’d never seen a film that was content in just flowing naturally in a world of the everyday. A film that understood familial dynamics so well and especially understood what it looks like when a family is fractured and broken, but may not even recognize that fact itself. It immediately became my favourite film. I had never been so struck and the next year or so Ozu became an obsession. He remains the sole figure that truly brought me into film, even if Tokyo Story is no longer my favourite film by him. Up until that point film was a passing fancy (<- I rather like that one (1933, look it up)), something I enjoyed but was never serious about. Ozu was my first obsession and is still the strongest.
Col Dax. – Ozu or Mizoguchi? Im very interested in Tokyo Story and supposedly Early Spring is great. Have you seen Ugetsu?
My best purchase? Well, there are plenty, I would have to say. I might have to say that it was one of three: A) Bergman’s Silence Trilogy, B) Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales, C) Jeanne Dielman.
Frankly, I had seen a Bergman (Cries and Whispers) before I had bought The Silence Trilogy, but it was such a monument of movie-viewing, and it gave me the best film I’ve ever seen (Winter Light). Rohmer was such a joy to get; not only is it such a beauty to behold that package, with so many essays, and the fantastic book, itself, but those films are some of the finest I’ve seen. And Jeanne Dielman is just plain magic. I had never in my life seen a film like that. I’m glad I did.
Savvy
Sekzee
I’d like to know what was the greatest purchase you have every invested in. Wether its a single film, a collection, a criterion or a triple feature pack. Which single investment do you cinsider the most important in your lifetime.
Ill start:
Ugetsu (1953, Mizoguchi) Criterion Edition
I cant say enough about this film. In 97 minutes, Mizoguchi was able to decimate the entire enigma that is human desire. The film itself is of absolute perfection, saturated in emotional truths and honesty; a cinematic approach that has yet to be surpassed in my opinion. What makes it stand alone however is its brilliant and utterly mesmerizing use of cinematography. Certainly, it’s one of the greatest films of all time.
The Criterion edition of Ugetsu contains the following:
A new, restored high-definition digital transfer of the film
Audio commentary of filmmaker/critic Tony Rayns
Three interviews reguarding Mizoguchi and the film
– Masahiro Shinoda (Japanese director)
– Tokuzo Tanaka (assistant director on Ugetsu)
– Kazuo Miyagawa (cinematographer on Ugetsu)
A 150 minute documentary on the life of Kenji Mizoguchi
A 72 page book containing an essay and three short stories that influenced Mizoguchi in making the film.
These features alone are worth the $40 payment ($20 if you decided to utalize the 50% off sale going on right now) And finally, the box art is the best I have ever seen and will look great on display :P
I know I will be watching this over and over again in the future and I will always admire myself for having purchased it. There I said it. Now you!