W-Mans

Purists? We're talking the end of the film, which was weak to begin with, rendered even more benign by the ommision of Dracula's painful groans. Oh well, if it doesn't bother you, that's fine. I'm just informing those who want the best version possible. I already have that from the first release.

Dr. DVD

Won't help me, only one store. I do have the raincheck though, they're just being slower than molasses in getting a second shipment. They too underestimated its appeal.

EPKJ

Yes, purists. Stop pretending that it is otherwise. You know better. The vast majority of people would never notice this, and wouldn't care if told about it because it is so trivial. As to your argument, a weak ending cannot be saved by screams. If you think so, then you are not as much of a purist as you think you are.

NaturalMystic79

Well I've never watched the previous version of the film with the "other screams" so I guess ignorance is bliss! Hopefully I'm not missing much.

scarredgod

on the sound issue. i am not a purist but since the sound issue has come to light, i have thought twice about purchasing the set. because of the sound issue, other DVDs have leaped this set in terms of what i will buy next.

i did get a raincheck for it though from Best Buy so i have more time to think about it and keep the price the same. the best buy raincheck process was a major pain in the butt. most stores i ever went to had a simple form they filled out and handed it to you. the best buy process was 20 minutes of looking it up on the computer, getting some confirmations from other personnel, not finding it in the system, taking my name address phone number, and mailing me when its available. the girl doing my raincheck was very cute though so it wasnt soo bad.

mzupeman2

I agree, and disagree. The great things about Universal is that they keep giving us great stuff like this Monster Legacy boxset. This Monster Legacy boxset is terrific. I don't care much for the 'audio track' problem most people are bitching about when it comes to Dracula. All you have to do is listen to audio track 2 instead of the first. Isn't the one that's defaulted the original way the Dracula movie was anyways? This set is magnificent, the back with the busts in the middle, and the way the dvd's are packaged inside to face out from each other side of the box, just wonderful! But unfortunately, Universal has more of a tendancy than any other company to have faulty products, whether it's something as simple as loose discs and scratched discs due to it.... all the way down to misframing of movies and such. Now don't get me wrong... there's a lot of stuff out there that comes with loose discs. But compared to any other company, Universal gets the most complaints about their top quality releases. And it's not because people want to 'nitpick' or 'only find faults'. I accept this set for everything that it is, and everything that it's worth. But the fact that Universal has a tendency to let minor details like this go, unfortunately means that they're going to get a LOT of these sets back into the factory. At my local Best Buy, there were only two or three sets out of however many they had, with the discs completely in tact in their cases, without being loose. This kind of oversight, causes the company to lose money and to unfortunately make plenty of people unhappy. Although the Monster Legacy box set is one of the best sets I've ever seen, I'll give Universal the fact that it is innovative and really does have great ideas in their marketing department. But the bottom line when running a business, is the quality of your product and even MORE importantly, the happiness of the consumer. And when THIS many people are having consistancy problems with a set, it's definitely something to complain about. So perhaps we should stop bickering over whether or not Universal is a god or not. They're doing what the can, but unfortunately they have a lot to learn. The people complaining about Universal sucking so bad, it's understandable your upset. You've had problems with them. But realize that their products really are terrific, and with Universal it's a hit or miss. And with those who are praising Universal, nobody is trying to nitpick them apart. It's the companies fault for having consumers act this way towards them, and we can't overlook the many faults they've had arise.

Dr. DVD

Is Wal-Mart carrying this set? (the boxed one)

W-Mans

Well, am I a purist or not? All I know is, most people on this board want the best possible version, and that best possible version is the first DVD release. I'm happy for you that you are happy with this one. You are happy, aren't you?

And as for mzupeman2's query, no. track 2 is not the original soundtrack. It is tainted with Phillip Glass's fairly new musical score that most people deem a nuisance.

mzupeman2

Glad you cleared that up for me. I wasn't too sure.

W-Mans

No, problem. Just want to make sure people get the right info.

Darryl

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Darryl
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Darryl on 03-01-04
With Universal's track record with DVDs, I'd say pull those babies off Ebay ASAP - you may regret it later. These are the same folks that almost gave us Duel, messed up Monty Python's Meaning of Life and Back To The Future.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

posted by EPJK on 03-01-04
quote:

Universal has so far done a great job with their Franchise Collection titles that were inagurated this year.

Darryl posts on 5-01-03 :

I'm glad I didn't sell my older versions of these films on DVD - even though I bought the new box set, I'm glad I didn't let go of the older releases for reasons like the Dracula soundtrack screw up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Posteed by EPKJ
Reasons? Name some others. You have named one, and it is trivial. Why do you feel it necessary to exercise hyperbole over instead of just mentioning a minor complaint. You act as if nothing is good about these sets, when in fact, they are great releases. Stop being childish.

posted by Darryl on 5-02-04

If your idea of being childish is accepting an inferior soundtrack, then I think that you must be a shill for Universal. My wife noticed how bad the sound was on the Dracula Legacy collection (she never heard the soundtrack on the original disc) and I had checked with the previous edition and found that it was far superior. Ther was NO REASON to allow this screw up - they did it right the first time, why mess it up now?

W-Mans

Couldn't have said it better myself. Why get so uptight about spreading the truth that a company falsely states "Newly remastered audio track for maximum clarity" right on the back of the cardboard sleeve?! That "shill" statement may not be so far off base.

jough

Don't worry about it - EPKJ isn't a shill for any studio - he just likes to argue against anything that someone else cares about.

W-Mans

He may not be a shill, but he sure is a ferocious Universal cheerleader.

I will say this: The Frankenstein soundtrack is much better. The first version the volume would noticably dip down in some scenes to the point of distraction. This problem has been fixed!

Believe me, I'm not a stickler, either. I rarely notice audio problems. These problems just were glaring to me.

Darryl

I'm not saying that this box set wasn't a wonderful thing - how could it not be for the price - a retail of less than $75.00 plus 3 classic Universal monster busts - who wouldn't want it? I highly recommend it - BUT - for those of us who TRULY care about these films and who had held onto the previous releases JUST IN CASE of a bumbling Universal mistake - I can say that it never hurts to hold onto the old release until until you check out that the new edition is at least as good as the previous version.

fryinpan1

I got my set today from Amazon. I only had one loose disk with no obvious scratches. I can't wait to start watching these!

EPKJ

My point is that this is 2004. I am judging Universal by what they have done this year. They have introduced The Franchise and Legacy Collections, which have so far been superb. I am aware of past problems with Universal, notably Back To The Future, however, that is the past. So far this year, other than this trivial sound difference, their releases have been great. I don't mind specific criticism, such as yours. But, some people use hyperbole to condemn Universal and act as if a minor flaw renders a superb release worthless. It is this attitude which I have found offensive.

EPKJ

Well, since this version also contains House Of Dracula, I would argue that it is the superior release and that most people on this board will buy it for that reason if they are horror fans.

EPKJ

That is a ridiculous assertion. I am not cheerleading. I did not start a thread praising Universal. You and a few others, however, attempted to turn this thread into a "let's bash Universal again" thread by condemning a superb release over a trivial detail which most people would neither notice nor care about. If two screams at the end of the film, which do not alter its context at all have that big an effect on you, then you have a serious problem. It is one thing to mention the absence of these screams and wish that they were there. It is another to slam a studio and condemn a release over such nonsense. That is exactly what you and a few others have done in this thread.

EPKJ

If you think that being bothered by the absence of two screams means that you truly care about these films, you are sadly mistaken. I would argue that anyone who is obsessed with such a triviality does not care about the films at all, but rather cares about nitpicking.

Kimiakane

The 2 trailers on my Dracula disc 2 won't play all the through. Is anyone else having this problem? Everything else seems to be fine.

rennervision

In regards to the debate over whether two missing screams is a "big deal," I think there's more to it than that (although I certainly think that's enough reason to be annoyed). Others have mentioned missing wind and bat sound effects, as well as an inferior sound quality complete with pops and hiss when compared to the original DVD. Since I've yet to buy the Legacy version, I have no way of commenting one way or another on the sound quality.

Has anyone else done a side-by-side comparison and believe the original DVD version clearly sounds better?

NaturalMystic79

Here's a comparison page of the original release and Legacy Collection but I doesn't mention about audio.

rennervision

Interesting. No one has really mentioned the video quality yet. The Dracula Legacy version appears to have a little less detail than the original.

W-Mans

Just for laughs, EPKJ, read through all your posts on this thread and:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...y&pagenumber=1

This thread (which you DID start, by the way). Then tell me you don't have a H-on for the spinning globe.