asianxcore

In the past 6 months with Amazon UK, only one of my packages shipped DHL Deutsche, and that was the one that was a couple days late.

I remember emailing Customer Service and they just told me to wait a couple days.

Everything else I've ordered in the past 6 months has been shipped via Royal Mail.

SethDLH

This will be my first package from them shipped that way. I didn't even bother to look when I got the shipment email. It took the expected delivery date to pass to get me to look at the email in more detail. Hoping today is the day

SethDLH

It came on Saturday! I was so excited when I got home and saw it. It arrived in great condition with no floaters. I can't wait to dive into it.

mecca138

Shipping sounds reasonably quick. Does anyone know if you have to pay customs on this?

S Galbraith IV

Mine arrived in Japan a mere six days after ordering it but...

I must say the full-frame transfers on everything (with one title 4:3 LBX) is extremely disappointing, just about unwatchable. They look like 25-year-old transfers for some long ago VHS release (and probably are): murky and soft, poor color and contrast. I doubt I'll get through more than one or two of these, or maybe wait and watch 'em on my portable player when I'm on the road and care less about PQ. Even at these bargain prices, I wouldn't recommend this set to anyone. A major disappointment. Packaging looks nice, however.

zombeaner

The same whinging as the guy from DVDBeaver. This is probably the best they'll look for a long long time. I recommend this set to everyone. If you want a beautiful transfer pick up Fox's "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", these movies will never look that good. BTW, most of these were 4:3 to begin with.

Nick Danger

The price went from £17.49 to £33.97 between when I opened the page and when I put it in my cart.

Brian T

I agree with the comment about "whinging" here. It's already been stated many times throughout this thread that this box and its transfers have flaws. Unbelievable that at less than TWO DOLLARS A MOVIE, one of DVDTalk's own experts can't lower their standards for a set of movies which will not likely EVER be reissued by any other company anywhere else on the planet!! Oh sure, I suppose you could tell people to just stifle their desire to actually just SEE these pictures until they're made available for download in anamorphic widescreen, but seriously, is that fair? I believe that even Russ Meyer's catalog deserves 1080p Blu-ray quality restorations and releases, but that ain't gonna happen (which saddens me a great deal). Arrow has done what they could with what they had, and they treated the films as respectfully as they could by including tons of supplemental features for added context to balance out the so-so prints. Could they have done more? Undoubtedlly, but as it stands, this is hardly some fly-by-night bootleg outfit just looking to cash in with as little effort as possible, but they obviously had to deal with the notoriously tight Meyer estate and its legendarily low standards to even get this set into production.

I got lost in these films for several days.

Watching the set on your little portable, or otherwise unloading it because you simply can't get through more than "one or two" of the pictures contained within is your prerogative, but if you've never seen any or all these films, I pity you waiting until something better comes along. There's MORE than enough here to be able to savour Meyer's unique directing and editing styles, his women, his dialogue (and the great John Moran's), and his overall "universe". Were we having this discussion in 2001, I might even share your opinion that it would be best to wait for a definitive boxed set from another company or another country, because I might believe such a thing could actually happen. In 2010, however, I absolutely do NOT believe we'll ever see anything better than this, at least not on disc.

And when the price drops to UNDER THIRTY DOLLARS SHIPPED (for eighteen films and hours of extras) as this one does from time to time, telling people to avoid it is just silly, even it it's well-meant. Were this set never priced much lower than the $52US+shipping Amazon UK wants for it as I write this, only THEN would I advise people to think hard about a purchase, even though that's still a reasonable price.

Unless you can point people in the direction of a superior treatment of Meyer's pictures, past or present, which I know you can't, or you know of an upcoming release the rest of the world doesn't, I seriously think such a dismissal, especially as we near the end of the line for optical media, does no one any favours. But thanks anyways for stating the obvious.

By the way, for those who procrastinated (obviously, Mr. Galbraith was not one of them, yet still feels utterly ripped off of his $30), the set has now gone back up to £33.97 (or about $52 US).

Nice while it lasted. Hope at least some of you are enjoying it as best you can!

HOSALE

I can see both sides of the Quality story. Bottom line is the film transfers range from good to great. The black and white films are very sharp. On the other hand the color mid 70s films are not clean digital transfers. They are watchable, just not pristine and cleaned up versions that we have come to expect and demand when old films are re-released. I would not hesitate to recommend this collection to anyone, especially at the price. The transfers are GOOD. As others have commented, we will be waiting a long time to get better transfers. I do understand if you have spent the money for a lot of high end equipment, the disappointment you feel, ANYTIME the DVD delivers less than spectacular results, but in this case, I'd still recommend making this a BUY, based on price point and little chance of getting a better transfer in the near future. Who knows, if enough of us buy the collection, then demand may stimulate a rethinking about digitally cleaning them up and giving them the respect they deserve.

Richard Malloy

If you're on the fence, but dig Meyers let me help you out.... BUY THIS FRICKIN" SET!

This package was put together by someone who knows and loves this material. Gorgeous cover-art, perfect ad copy (transcribed from Meyer's own trailers, I believe), and quite an informative trove of special features. Will this ever be bested? I hope. And I doubt.

Yes, yes, some quality issues on the transfers, but nothing that's prevented me from enjoying every minute of each glorious film (ok, some more glorious than others). Could I live without "Lorna" and "Mudhoney" in my collection? Well, yes, but what sort of empty life would that be? A great big titless void, lemme tell you.

Ah, "Lorna" and "Mudhoney"! Yes, I certainly have my favorites ("Pussycat", too, but you all know that one). I wrote a little bit about "Lorna" after first receiving this set. And, yup, it was me who said that the first series of dissolves into Lorna's cabin reminded me jut a little of a backwoods Citizen Kane. And the night scene that follows - the unsatisfying sex followed by the dream sequence and that amazing shot of Lorna standing nude before the window in the darkened room, polka-dot curtain undulating in the breeze - is pure surrealism. Indeed, this film - and "Mudhoney" to a somewhat lesser extent - reminded me not a little of some of the melodramas from Bunuel's Mexican period.

Zbu

I got mine today from the UK, about fifteen days earlier than what Amazon UK recommended.

S Galbraith IV

You're kidding, right?

If you're pleased with the way they look, fine -- I'm happy for you. Enjoy! I also don't begrudge those willing to overlook the poor transfers after weighing them against having and enjoying them, especially at such a low price.

On the other hand, you're doing a great disservice to other people reading this thread calling these transfers "good to great." They're not "good to great" by 1998/early DVD standards, let alone 2010 ones. At best they're mediocre and some are just the pits.

Yes, the early ones were shot in 16mm but could still look far better than they do. In this day and age, how you can defend an unenhanced letterboxed 'scope film as "good to great" is beyond me.

As for comments like:

these are and

What's your evidence for this?

I see no reason to think at least some of these films won't be remastered in the near future for Blu-ray somewhere in the world, or even remastered for DVD. I would be surprised if that didn't happen before the end of 2011.

zombeaner

Letterboxing them or anamorphically enhancing them would be contrary to the almighty director's vision. No one shoots in 16mm and crops to scope, not even then. Most of these where never intended for projection in any widescreen AR, let alone scope.

The Russ Meyer estate holds rights for all of these films and they have refused to do anything in the way of preservation. It is well documented, read "Big Bosoms and Square Jaws" by Jimmy DcDonough. In fact, just read the last couple of chapters where the author goes into great detail about the mismanagement of RM Films in the run up to and immediate aftermath of Russ' demise. The people in charge of these films and their international rights (they are only licensed to Arrow in the UK, they don't own them) have no interest in anything but making money. Why do you think they charge $40+ for the DVDs in the states with none of the extras from the Arrow discs. The ONLY Russ Meyer feature with any hope of going Blu-ray is Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and that is a long shot since it only came to domestic DVD about 3 years ago. You are woefully misinformed about the status of these films if you think anyone is going to remaster them any time soon.

SethDLH

Amen brothas

S Galbraith IV

Speaking of the woefully misinformed....

Let me direct your attention to 'Black Snake':

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069796/technical


Also, for the record, 16mm has frequently been blown up to 35mm 1.85:1 and 'scope, and even 70mm in the case of 'The Concert for Bangledesh.'

As for your comments about the status of most of the Meyer ouvre, Mr. McDonough's book might very well be right. (It sounds like an interesting read.) I never said otherwise. I asked you to support your claims with evidence.

Well, that supports my earlier remarks. If indeed the rights holders are only interested in making money, and if there's money to be made in producing or licensing remastered DVDs and/or Blu-rays then they will be inclined to do so.

SkullOrchard

At $1.52 per movie, I ain't complaining. I think this is one of the best box sets ever produced.

Brian T

Just got in and noticed this thread went pretty much where I figured it would, but someone beat me to the punch about the McDonough book, which thoroughly informs those who'd care to read it about the dire situation involving the guardians of Meyer's estate and film legacy. Just sad. Of course, for those who don't care to read an entire book to find out just how little these people care about the films under their care, there's always the still-widely-available DVDs from RM films. You think this UK set is an abomination? You clearly haven't seen the American discs. Period.

Which leads me to this telling little nugget . . .

Now this has my curiosity piqued. Knowing Mr. Galbraith's involvement with an assortment of DVD releases in the past, and his status as a published author of some repute (hey, he's on my bookshelf), I have to wonder if he really DOES know something he's not telling? Please do share if you've heard some good news on the remastering front, or you know that the folks at Chez Meyer have finally been clued into the very real historical value of the films they've been shitting on since long before the man even passed away.

Otherwise, I'll take your prediction of 2011 under advisement.





That one's practically an anomaly in this set and in Meyer's canon. Still, a damned entertaining picture for $1.52! Why, I'd have surely only felt ripped off and moved to petition Arrow on their horrendous and utterly disrespectful work if I'd had to pay more than, say, $1.68. They don't know how close they came to hearing what for!




The evidence is in the book, which is anything but one-sided in its coverage of the situation. The estate guardians are quoted at length and were willing participants throughout. We're not talking about lawyers or corporate suits here. We're talking about the woman who looked after Meyer when he was a drooling mess shitting on the floors of his own house, and the lover she took in to "help her cope" and who ultimately became her "director of marketing" or some such silliness (this guy's name appears on the sleeves of the U.S. DVD's almost as much as Meyer's own). Sorry to have to keep directing you to the book, but we didn't write it, and it's literally the bible on Meyer (Meyer's own gargantuan tome can't be trusted as far as you could throw it because he was three-quarters-gone when he compiled most of it). Further evidence is at the RM Films website (at least in terms of their horrendous marketing of his pictures -- they literally updated the site for the first time in a decade just this year!). Further evidence is in the series of DVDs they keep on the market. I grossly overpaid them for three of these pieces of shit a few years ago (any one of 'em cost me more than the entire Arrow set, which comes with a fairly substantial education, to boot). Recalling the earlier laserdiscs, which I saw back in the late 90's courtesy of a friend, I could instantly spot the drop in quality, and the lack of certain features that WERE on the LDs. At the time, and as far as I knew then, the RM Films DVDs were the only way to see the films on disc, so I made due, but sold them once I got wind of the Arrow set.



No it doesn't support your earlier remarks. The situation with these morons running RM Films is not as cut-and-dried as you think (see above, obviously, then see the book). I'd HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest you track down the book, even just to read the last three or four chapters, to learn what a sad state of affairs now exists at the house that Meyer built. Even if those two could be convinced to put the films on Blu-ray because there was money to be made, it's all but guaranteed they'd try to do it themselves, or otherwise as cheaply as possible. You'd be fucking lucky if you didn't end up with LD ports filtered through some chintzy kind of upscaling system. Oh, they care about money alright, but they DON'T CARE ABOUT QUALITY. It's all about control. Again, check out any RM Films DVD and you'll soon see where Arrow at least tried to do justice to the man's work with what they were given.

hilts

You are very kind. I'm taking it as a deparate reach to prove a tenuous point. I'm tired of people pissing and moaning because the picture isn't sharp, the sound isn't pristine, a stray speckle or line sneaked in here or there...THIS IS A GREAT SET!! I am reliving nostalgic drive-in days and the week that my threatre (where I worked) actually played Supervixens! These are watchable, enjoyable films treated with respect and fun! And all those big tits when I was 17....!

Brian T

I just feel there needs to be some context provided for the present state of affairs surrounding Meyers films, and the only way to get it is via McDonough's utterly phenomenal book.

Otherwise, your comment sums up my attitude toward the Arrow set rather succinctly. And all those glorious tits are indeed still fantastic even if they aren't anamorphically (or otherwise!) enhanced.

NoirFan

I agree - those are wonderfully atmospheric moments. I was also reminded of Murnau, Wyler's The Letter and Night of the Hunter while viewing Lorna. Lorna herself evoked an even more stacktacular January Jones, though James Rucker's line readings were just awful, even by the admittedly lower standards of a Meyer film.

zombeaner

I don't feel like going back point for point and disputing, and I think that those of us in this thread who are aficionados and have serious interest in Meyer's work on a scholarly level have made ample arguments. Your pulling out Blacksnake (teehee) as an example of Meyer's 35mm oeuvre means nothing, since that film was shot in 1973, after his shot with Fox when he was a little bit more financially stable. Most of these were shot before that and I assure you that whatever IMDB, which is frequently wrong, says, MOST of them were shot in 16mm with no intention of being blown up to a widescreen AR, especially when you look at the compositions. Meyer was, after all, essentially a photographer. Your (Stuart) assertion that the Meyer estate is likely to remaster these is ludicrous based upon the evidence. They are using the same masters from the VHS releases in the 1980s. Remasters would cost money, RM Films doesn't spend money on quality. Any cursory glance at their business and website will tell you that. If they were to go to BD, which is unlikely, I would guess that it would simply be an upconvert of the existing VHS masters. Anyway, read the book, then get back to us.

Brian T

I've long suspected the aspect ratios given for a LOT of Meyer's films at the IMDB (although they do list Faster Pussycat at 1.33:1, which certain seems correct). Obviously, I don't have the hard evidence someone like Mr. Galbraith will ask for, but as 'zombeaner' suggests, the compositions provide much of the evidence one should need. It really doesn't look like anything is missing in Meyer's shots. I seriously doubt the majority of the films in this set, especially those before BLACKSNAKE but most likely those after it as well, were shot in anything but RM's trusted old 16mm, and projected that way as well. I think he was simply most comfortable working with that ratio since his days doing nudie cuties and photo spreads. Besides, if you look at their catalog, Arrow is hardly some fly-by-night operation that just dumps their acquisitions on the market in cheapo fullscreen editions to make a few bucks. If the films are fullscreen (or whatever we're calling them here), that's probably because they're supposed to be or, possibly, because that's what they were given by Meyer's company.

Glad others here have read McDonough's book as well. It is indeed true about the utter lack of commitment to quality at the present day RM Films, which can be seen so painfully in their DVD releases.

statcat

There's always someone you can't please it seems. Even if they were giving away the set for free he would still be complaining most likely.

Brian T

Mr. Galbraith's points are not without merit (well, not entirely). As I've mentioned, though, such a point of view simply needs to be balanced by some admittedly painful facts about Meyer's company, the people running it, the sad state of his film library in Region 1, and the overall value-for-money of an import set like this.

Pizza

Mine came today. It was worth the price just for the packaging.