Zodiac_Speaking

I couldn't find any online reviews, except the Amazon.com's, but if you haven't heard, late January this two disc set came out. It contains 8! films (One Night in the Tropics, Buck Privates, In the Navy, Hold that Ghost!, Keep 'em Flying, Ride 'em cowboy, Last Sarong, and Who Done it?) and the only extras are some trailers and production notes, but all these films are really the special features. Picture/Audio are really good, Universal found some nice prints. These discs are flippers,too.

Volume #2 comes out in late May, with seven more Universal films and the TV special, A & C meet Jerry Seinfeld.

Anyone else bought this? ($20 at Target.)

lpetschauer

Best $20 I spent in a long time. I had no problems with quality of the discs, although some people bother here and on HTF reported having some. I can't wait for Vol 2 and am glad that these movies are getting a good DVD release.

Zodiac_Speaking

Vol. 2 is May 4th.

Some people complained that Buck Privates was messed up; something wrong with the disc. I'll watch it tonight to see if mine is messed up too.

TomOpus

I almost picked this up the other day. I hadn't read anything about the set so I was concerned how the video quality was. I might have to pick these up now.

marty888

It's a great set! The challenge is to NOT watch them all at once!

P.S. - No problem with BucK Privates here.

illennium

Is it a good set, or is it just a good set for the money? I don't like to buy things just because they are cheap. Suppose the movies came on four one-sided discs, with the same audio and video quality, and the set cost $60 instead of $30. Would it still be worth it?

Hammer99

After 2 months, it's the release of the year IMO Looking forward to the next Chaplin box set this week, but all that early A+C for $20 will be hard to beat.

D-Ball

Yes. If you like Abbott & Costello, it's a no-brainer. I don't see what difference it would make if they were on 4 discs instead of 2.

darkside

$20 for 8 classic movies is a no brainer. You like Abbott and Costello you must buy this set. Probably the best $20 I spent this year.

marty888

Do you like A&C? That's the only question. It sounds as if the price is the only thing causing you to even consider a purchase.

EPKJ

No, you are not alone. Abbott and Costello have been favorites of mine since childhood. This set is great and has been undercovered. By the way, Volume 2 contains 8 films plus the Seinfeld special.

EPKJ

What does that mean? Either you like Abbott and Costello or you don't. If you don't, then it is a bad buy. If you do, it is a great buy.

illennium

Sorry, I was unclear. I really like Abbott & Costello, but I am not a hardcore collector of DVDs like many in this forum. It is not essential to me to own everything that I like (I still don't own many of my favorite movies). If this is a really high-quality set, then I will buy it regardless of the price because I do like Abbott & Costello. But if it's of similar quality to the bargain-bin titles and people are only praising it because it's a cheap way to own a bunch of Abbott & Costello movies, then I'll pass.

illennium

See my post above. In addition, what you're saying can't be true unless you also think that the bargain-bin Abbott & Costello titles are worthwhile, which I don't. My real question was whether the transfers are worthy of a higher-priced release, or whether this is just another bargain-bin set.

chipmac

Well the transfers are much better than the 5.99 bargain specials IMO. However they did get the treatment that Citizen Kane got when WB restored that movie. The extras are limited to a trailer and production notes for each film and you can tell by the trailers how poor these films could have looked.

You're getting 8 films for less than $3 each that will most likely not be released again for a long while and is far better than the VHS versions they replace. So if you enjoy A&C buy them since it's not really breaking the bank to get them now is it.

Easy

I was a bit concerned about quality too. They are not pristine but they look very good... they must have had some cleanup. IMO they look better than some of the Image disks I had. They are quite good quality and IMO the price makes them an exceptional value. Ma & Pa Kettle also look very good. I have already ordered volume 2 of both. Can't wait for Francis the Talking Mule! (Which is coming soon).

Zodiac_Speaking

This set is not a bargain bin set by some third party distibutor. This is from Universal. Yes, these film are 60 some old years old, yes the picture quality is excellent, but no, they didn't get a full-blown treatment like Citizen Kane.

nemein

Quick question, are the A&C Meets [insert monster] going to be released as a box set/collection on it's own or are they only going to be in the other monster collections (I think that's where I recall hearing about them)?

rclifton

Thanks to everyone in this thread! I never would have known about this release without seeing the thread and as soon as I saw it I rushed over to Target to pick up a copy! Saturday matinee nirvana...

Get Me Coffee

Love my vol 1 set!! I can't wait to get vol2!

Hold that Ghost is classic! Love that movie!

EPKJ

First, this is not a higher priced release. It is actually cheaper than any bargain bin Abbott and Costello releases. Second, if I really like something, I will buy a bargain bin version if it is the only version available. I can always upgrade if a better version comes out. But, it is watching the film that matters.
Now, the Universal set has good transfers, trailers for seven of the eight films and production notes for each film which actually supply useful information about the films. So, I would recommend the set to anyone.

will travel

I thought Universal did an excellent job with A&C #1.

My favorite movie in this collection is "Who Done It?".
I enjoy listening to old radio shows like A&C. So , it was a pleasure to also see William Bendenix from "The Life of Riley" and Walter Tetley(Usher who cons Costello) from "The Great Gildersleeve" and "The Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show" in this movie.

Jazzbutcher

Great set. I am schooling my 4 1/2 year old in the classics, and he thought Hold That Ghost was great. Especially:

Ch ch Ch ch

Ch Ch Ch Ch

Ch Ch Ch Ch CHUCK!

seymouru

Another classic line from Hold That Ghost: "Any place that's painted dark brown, I never cared for."

JasonF

I've never been exposed to much Abbott & Costello -- I've heard and enjoyed "Who's On First," and when I was a kid, I used to watch reruns of the Abbott & Costello cartoon -- but with 8 classic films for $20 bucks, I figured "How can you go wrong?"

Unfortunately, I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to crack the shrinkwrap on this yet, but I'm going to try to make some time this weekend to watch a couple of these movies.

Like Hammer99, I'm looking forward to the second Chaplin collection this week, but the classic comedy release of 2004 that's really got me excited is the Marx Brothers set.