The Universal Hitchcock sets
 

I've seen very little mention of either Univeral Hitchcock box set on this forum. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen either of the sets in person. How are they? I realize they contain great movies, but how's the quality, etc... Are they worth the $100+ they go for? Thanks!

Not all the titles are anamorphic (Vertigo is the one I'm thinking of). I think you would probably be able to get them cheaper as seperate titles.

Documentaries are great on almost all of the Universal sets. Note, you can get most of the biggies from Columbia House and with the recent price drops you might be able to get some of the previously expensive ones through Columbia House. I'm not a big fan of CH in general, but its a great way to pick up the Universal as well as the other ones.

They are great sets... a few of the movies could use an upgrade (Vertigo is non-anamorphic, as mentioned), but overall they are wonderful. Good quality, great extras. If you want the complete AH Presents discs, you'll have to get Vol. 1 and Vol. 4 elsewhere (eBay or whatever) once you get the 2 big Universal boxes.

Columbia House is currently phasing out Universal titles (there's a thread about this in the DVD Clubs forum). But you may have luck getting them there. Otherwise, I think DeepDiscountDVD has the best deal (about $210 shipped for the whole shebang).

'Psycho' is the only other non-anamorphic, right?

I'd actually suggest going the other way if you have the time; vol 4 is especially expensive, and Vol 1 is fairly high, so I'd personally suggest buying the smaller boxes as boxes (they seem easier to find, in my experience), and then buying the discs individually from either CH or E-bay (there are a lot of Hitchcock bootlegs on E-bay, just don't buy anything from Asia and you'll be fine). What BBO said will totally work, I just think you'll wind up paying more; I've seen "Vol 4" alone go for as much as the box it's in (which has two other movies besides) goes for in a store.

Are you a big Hitch fan? I'm a big Hitch fan but I don't own all of the films in the Universal sets. Personally, I can live without Torn Curtain, Family Plot, Topaz and Frenzy. But I'll probably get around to picking them up eventually. Marnie, for me, is very hit and miss and I consider it, more or less, Hitch's last good film. (Although one could argue that Frenzy is a keeper)

On the other hand... Vertigo, Psycho, Saboteur, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Trouble With Harry, Rope, Shadow Of A Doubt and The Birds are all highly recommended. As already mentioned, Vertigo and Psycho are non-anamorphic, otherwise the transfers are all good. The extras are great. Also, as already mentioned, don't bother with Columbia House... Most of the Universal Hitch discs are already gone from the site and the rest will follow ASAP, I'm sure.

I totally forgot about this, and CH was basically what I was referring to. Damn, I suppose I'll have to get the Universal titles during the next DDD sale.

I can't let a mention of Vertigo go by without commenting on sound mix on the current DVD, which has re-recorded sound effects and non-original stereo music (most of which was at least recorded when the movie was being made, but not used). The original mono soundtrack exists and Vertigo restorer Robert Harris wanted it included on the DVD from what I understand, but for whatever reason Universal has this as the only sound option.

I don't mind having the new mix on the DVD, I might listen to it, but it is substantially different from the original (e.g. different tone to auto engine sounds, some music cues not in the same place, etc.), which I hope will be included whenever this title is upgraded.

In order to get all the Alfred Hitchcock directed episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", you need to buy all of the box sets, correct? (One DVD per Box - Total of 4 DVD's).

2 big Box Sets
2 small Box Sets

Correct. I'm pretty sure that all of them are contained on those 4 discs.

Correct. That gives you Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, which contain all 17 episodes directed by Hitch himself. Unfortunately, this also gives you extra copies of Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Which is why some people just get the 2 big sets and then look around for Volumes 1+4 elsewhere...

Well, technically, you're still missing one. After seven seasons as a half hour show, they switched the format up and became "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", and Hitchcock directed episode #4 - "I Saw The Whole Thing".

However, you'll get all the Hitchcock-directed episodes which are available in this country ("I Saw The Whole Thing" is on a R2 release, Japan I believe).

[edited to remove a redundancy with BBO's post above this]