Surfinhank

This is on sale again, a little cheaper: £25.86

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Cl...g=bluraycom-21

Jory

I waffled over buying the US or UK version, and finally decided on the US version. It was more expensive, yes, but it has far better looking packaging, and it had a commentary that was missing from the UK version. I had heard the complaints about how the discs were packaged inside, but this YouTube video linked from the DVD Talk review convinced me that there wasn't much to be worried about.

I was wrong. The packaging, in my case at least, is fucking horrendous. The glue holding the cardboard sleeves together has almost completely lost its integrity, and every single disc had fallen so far back into the sleeve that I had to dig it out. The glue had come completely apart on one of the sleeves, causing the disc to fall through the bottom.

Worst of all, nearly every disc is scratched and scuffed. Nothing too severe, but I have enough experience with the tiniest of scratches fucking up the playability of Blu-rays that I'll be shocked if any of them play from start to finish without any skipping or crashing. I have a long road ahead of me watching these movies, not because I'm in the mood to watch them right now but just to see if they work, and I see long e-mail exchanges with Universal over disc replacements in my future.

Long story short, heed the warning that I ignored, and buy the UK version. There's no fucking way it can be as bad as the US version.

joltman

This is currently on sale for a new low of £18, which comes to about $30 shipped to the USA.

IamLegend

Yea I finally bit at this price-thanks OP and Joltman

laidbacklarkin

and its not. The UK version's packaging may not look as slick as the US packaging but there is nothing wrong in it. I did have a floater (I recall) but the protective layer of BD discs playable surface is far more resilient to scratches and scuffs than DVD's. Just take a soft cloth and wipe it off and you are good - it takes some serious impact to cause damage to BD discs. And the UK packaging is not limiting in any way. So I agree with you, there's no reason to diss the UK version for packaging - great movies, great restoration and a great price. The US should really revisit pricing - am not a guru on it but I have no idea why there needs to be this much of a price difference.

kenbenobi

Damn, that's cheap! Amazon UK does a much better job of lower prices on box sets...

bacigalup

Had to pick this up. My first Amazon.co.uk purchase!

Jory

Unfortunately, the scratches and nicks causes by the terrible packaging are not inconsequential little things that can be wiped off. I've tried with my very nice microfiber cloth, even though I knew it would be futile, and I was right. I've strongly considered just gritting my teeth and buying the UK set, but I would feel like a huge asshole if I rewarded Universal's bullshit by giving them more money. I think for the time being, I'm just going to bombard their customer service department with requests for replacement discs. I shouldn't have to pay a penny for them.

EDIT: Hoo boy, check this out:



Worthless. Universal can fuck off. I'm not buying another damn thing with their logo on it.

kahuna

Thanks, finally decided to purchase this box set.

hilts

Nothing reveals Universal's character as a company more than that fucking, self-aggrandizing, 30 second long intro they tack onto ever single movie they release on DVD. Doesn't matter if it's a recent release, Bride Of Frankenstein, or a 30-minute episode from Dragnet S1, they make damn good and sure you don't miss who owns that property. (and, of course, the original Universal logo that was part of the movie appears right after, so it was totally unneccesary). I hate those fuckers.

So of course I bit on the set. Maybe the UK doesn't allow tampering with the original releases and there won't be any horns and light show screwing with the atmosphere of the start of the movie.

laidbacklarkin

Pop the Dracula disc in and be prepared for a 3 minute Universal propaganda prior to feature start !! Thankfully, it can be FFed :-)

asianxcore

For those interested, the UK set is at 18.00GBP right now.

ThePhantomGoat

so the UK set is missing a commentary?

Jory

Yes. The first one with David Skal (from the 1999 DVD, I assume) is there, but the second one with Steve Haberman is missing.

beebs

Received a £10 off £50 coupon from Amazon.co.uk. Almost pays for shipping. With the 3/£17, 2/£10, January Sale deals, plus all sorts of rock-bottom pricing over there it is looking easy to put together the rest of the order and score another £5-6 off.

JoeDoakes

Does it appear to be a unique code? If not, could it be shared? thanks

WillieMLF

18 GBP? Couldn't resist! Ended up getting Land of the Giants too. Been eyeballing that set for years but just couldn't pull the trigger on the US set.

I'm not entirely sure I want to get rid of my Monster Legacy Gift Set.

laidbacklarkin

don't get rid of the Monsters Gift set. The bonus movies are nowhere to be found on the Blu set. And its not like its a HUGE improvement over the Legacy set's remastered content. But for some of the encoding manufacturing defects on the legacy set, its totally worth it. Completed all the Dracula movies from the legacy set y'day and they are brilliant. I sold my unopened legacy gift set for a big profit which I put towards the Blu set but regretted after getting the latter. now am individually assembling the legacy set titles. Can anyone chip in with their opinion as to whether the individual releases of the bonus movies on the legacy titles suffer from the same manufacturing defects of the legacy sets' two sided DVDs ? thanks

pjflyer

Can someone change the thread title. This is a pretty amazing deal on this set.

MooMooMooMoo

I own the UK set. The one & only thing that pisses me off is that Zoom is defeated, so I'm stuck with Window boxing on my full screen tv. There is absolutely no advantage to Universal in defeating zoom.

Other than that, the set is superb. Dracula is especially a huge upgrade from any other version out there.

beebs

Unique code I think. Welcome to try it.
BNEM-2PMJ9N-NTHGEA

cgray

Grabbed the set. Thanks for the heads up. I agree thread title could be changed, or make a new thread. This price is about 1/2 of the original deal posting. Hot!

bacigalup

WOW! Just received my set this afternoon. Did not expect it until after the new year.

kahuna

Also received my set. Ordered 12/20/13, shipped 12/21/13, & arrived on 12/27/13. It's been a while since I ordered from them but that was quick.

jimmyjjohn

That's a fantastic deal! Thank you.