DVD Picks: Classic Sets

Classic Cinema Invasion
I'm not really going to go into to much detail here, but I want all movie fans to be aware of some of these great collections.



Abbott and Costello: Universal has given us two collections of classic comedies from this duo. Both sets contain 8 movies each and they look incredible. The films look so good considering how old they are. I believe there are two more volumes yet to come, including all of the Abbott & Costello Meet (Fill in Monster here) films. Probably the only thing missing from these sets are extras, we get trailers and some production notes, but that's about it. I would have liked some commentaries or documentaries, but it's hard to complain considering the insanely low price.

The Marx Brothers Collection: Just this past week, Warner Brothers has given us a collection of 7 Marx Brothers classics. This set is a bit more expensive than the Abbott and Costello ones, but we get a bit more in return. Once again, the films are in fantastic condition. The movies are spread out over 5 disks, and we get a nice selection of extras including commentaries from critics and historians such as Leonard Maltin, there are documentaries, and especially nice are some vintage comedy shorts and Looney Tunes cartoons. Overall, this is a fantastic set, which i have only made it partially through.

The Monsters Legacy: Here is the set we have all been waiting for, and it is actually made up of 3 smaller sets. First up is the Dracula Legacy, featuring five of the old vampire films, including the original Bela Lugosi classic and the Spanish language version filmed at the same time. Next up is the Frankenstein Legacy, which contains the original five Karloff monster films. Lastly we have the Wolf Man Legacy containing the 4 Lon Chaney Jr. werewolf films. This is a great set with a decent selection of extras, commentaries, documentaries, and interviews with director Stephen Sommers on how these films influenced his latest creation Van Helsing. Each of these sets is available individually, but when bought together, you also get hand painted busts of each of the main monsters. It really is a great set for people like me who love the old monsters.

I hope I didn't come off sounding like a commercial, but these sets are great examples of what a great time it is to be a fan of old movies. Anyway, hopefully I'll be back soon with something a little more substantial.

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