Universal Sci-Fi collection anyone?? (1 Viewer)

[bob kaplan]

Would you believe that I was hoping that IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE would be included in a UNIVERSAL SCI-FI collection. But now those hopes are dashed!!....and perhaps it is a good thing But how about a UNIVERSAL BLU RAY SCI-FI COLLECTION with the following:
THIS ISLAND EARTH
THE MONOLITH MONSTERS
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (IN 3D of course!!!)
TARANTULA
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
THE INVISIBLE RAY
THE DEADLY MANTIS
THE MOLE PEOPLE
Just suggestions....but please Universal, give THIS ISLAND EARTH a big hug!....it needs it.

 

[Cranston37+]

YES PLEASE

 

[LouA]

Sounds great, but because of Universal's Hammar , Wolfman , and Frankenstein collections , a set like that probably wouldn't get released until next year . And I guess the could still put the non-3D verson of It Came From Outer Space on there .

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Universal released a couple of years ago a pan & scan dvd of Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) which was a big joke on us who love sci-fi and now the only way to see this great film is in a Region 2 dvd and Blu-ray which looks good but I wish Universal would release a Blu-ray here in the states.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Sounds great, but because of Universal's Hammar , Wolfman , and Frankenstein collections , a set like that probably wouldn't get released until next year . And I guess the could still put the non-3D verson of It Came From Outer Space on there .

I'm thinking what would be the point in including only a non-3D version of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) within a Blu-ray set, given a 3-D / 2-D standalone is already being issued by Universal? I don't have 3-D setup myself, but I think that such a move would cause frustration for some buyers who might assume the 3-D version is included. Just my opinion.

CHEERS!

 

[dana martin]

take that and make it Blu,

 

[bujaki]

View attachment 33446 View attachment 33447

take that and make it Blu,

But make sure to release the films in the OAR.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Good German Blus of some of these are available, and the new French Blu of THIS ISLAND EARTH is the best rendition of the title that I've seen. So these things are out there somewhere, just waiting to land at Universal, or maybe Shout!...

 

[Dick]

I'm thinking what would be the point in including only a non-3D version of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) within a Blu-ray set, given a 3-D / 2-D standalone is already being issued by Universal? I don't have 3-D setup myself, but I think that such a move would cause frustration for some buyers who might assume the 3-D version is included. Just my opinion.

CHEERS!

Perhaps what could happen is that Mr. Furmanek's team will give us REVENGE OF THE CREATURE separately (through Universal), and a sci-fi set not including either it or ICFOS but with some or all of the other titles mentioned above will hit us next year. Fingers crossed.

 

[JeffT.]

We're fortunate that these bona fide 1950s SF film classics aren't in "private" hands or they'd never see the light-of-day on the home video market.

Don't forget the non-3D THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (1956) which reteamed THE ISLAND EARTH (1955) leads Jeff Morrow and Rex Reason.

I was going to include THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957) but it's listed on Dana's image post.

I honestly don't consider THE LEECH WOMAN (1959) to be SF but horror. It was originally the cofeature with THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) on a doublebill programmer.

THE INVISIBLE RAY (1936) is indeed SF but maybe it's best served as some sort of Karloff-Lugosi collection.

I'd tend to more favour a strictly Universal 1950s SF compendium release. But this is just one individual's opinion.

In addition to full restoration and digital remastering whatever titles are widescreen films then hopefully we will have the opportunity to actually see them as originally theatrically screened

Wherever possible the inclusion of the original theatrical trailers would certainly be desired.

I (honestly) don't know whether the company would extend itself to other bonus extras like audio commentaries and oncamera discussions but it's certainly fine with me if they do.

.

Jeff T.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Perhaps what could happen is that Mr. Furmanek's team will give us REVENGE OF THE CREATURE separately (through Universal), and a sci-fi set not including either it or ICFOS but with some or all of the other titles mentioned above will hit us next year. Fingers crossed.

Perhaps by then, the Nat King Cole 3-D short could be included as an additional selling point since it won't be on IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE'S initial Universal Blu-ray Release.

CHEERS!

 

[LouA]

I'm thinking what would be the point in including only a non-3D version of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) within a Blu-ray set, given a 3-D / 2-D standalone is already being issued by Universal? I don't have 3-D setup myself, but I think that such a move would cause frustration for some buyers who might assume the 3-D version is included. Just my opinion.

CHEERS!

Hi Tony ,
I was just thinking that after Universal releases and sells the upcoming two disc set , they could include ICFOS in the Sci Fi for completeness. I'm guessing the upcoming 3D release will cost $30.00 or more. Some people might not spring for that , and might welcome the film as part of a greater set . You never know what a company will do. Universal released individual Blu-ray discs on several of it's horror films only recently. Now they are being re-released as parts of larger sets .
I myself no longer have any interest in 3D Blu-rays, although I own a few and a 3D Blu-ray player. While shopping for a new TV recently , my wife and I couldn't find a reasonable size and price on a 3D equipped Television ,and settled for a 55 inch UHD smart TV without that feature. The staff at best buy informed me that 3D "at home" is pretty much dead or fading out. My un-viewed 3D Blu-ray discs like Godzilla , Sherman And Peabody , House of Wax , the 3 Stooges shorts (etc.) are now all pretty much useless for us , as will be the 3D disc of It Came From outer Space.
I still enjoy seeing 3D in theater though - just saw "The Big Friendly Giant " in that format, and I also love seeing revivals in 3D. As a matter of fact , I can't wait to see the 3D version of ICFOS in a theater hopefully this fall!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Lou, you'll be happy to know that the 3D disc is available for preorder now at Best Buy for $9.99! The suggested retail is $14.99 I think. It will most likely have both the 2D and the 3D on the same disc. When you play it in 2D, it will just show one of the "eyes" which is where the 2D version comes from.

(It's usually only necessary to use separate discs when the movie is a conversion where they use the original 2D photography to synthesize both a "left" and "right" eye, because neither version is actually the original 2D version. If they shoot it natively, or use the original 2D as either the left or right eye view, then it can go on one disc.)

 

[LouA]

Lou, you'll be happy to know that the 3D disc is available for preorder now at Best Buy for $9.99! The suggested retail is $14.99 I think. It will most likely have both the 2D and the 3D on the same disc. When you play it in 2D, it will just show one of the "eyes" which is where the 2D version comes from.

(It's usually only necessary to use separate discs when the movie is a conversion where they use the original 2D photography to synthesize both a "left" and "right" eye, because neither version is actually the original 2D version. If they shoot it natively, or use the original 2D as either the left or right eye view, then it can go on one disc.)

Good price ! I'll be pre-ordering this. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Reason #114 for getting IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) on Blu-ray:

The Professor's (Russell Johnson) In It!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Hi Tony ,
I was just thinking that after Universal releases and sells the upcoming two disc set , they could include ICFOS in the Sci Fi for completeness. I'm guessing the upcoming 3D release will cost $30.00 or more. Some people might not spring for that , and might welcome the film as part of a greater set . You never know what a company will do. Universal released individual Blu-ray discs on several of it's horror films only recently. Now they are being re-released as parts of larger sets .
I myself no longer have any interest in 3D Blu-rays, although I own a few and a 3D Blu-ray player. While shopping for a new TV recently , my wife and I couldn't find a reasonable size and price on a 3D equipped Television ,and settled for a 55 inch UHD smart TV without that feature. The staff at best buy informed me that 3D "at home" is pretty much dead or fading out. My un-viewed 3D Blu-ray discs like Godzilla , Sherman And Peabody , House of Wax , the 3 Stooges shorts (etc.) are now all pretty much useless for us , as will be the 3D disc of It Came From outer Space.
I still enjoy seeing 3D in theater though - just saw "The Big Friendly Giant " in that format, and I also love seeing revivals in 3D. As a matter of fact , I can't wait to see the 3D version of ICFOS in a theater hopefully this fall!

Oh, I agree that including IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) in such a set would be fine, just that the 3-D version should be included in any such set. Frankly, it's low price point came as a bit of a shock to me! At the $9.99 U.S. price point (I think $12.23 Canadian comes pretty close to that, at present!), I can live without having 3-D capability on our devices, although I do sort of wish we had it for this landmark Film!

While I will state that the Nat King Cole Orchestra 3-D short would have made for cool icing, I suspect that being a Boutique company, Panamint would have had to charge a significantly higher price point in order to recoup costs. I know Bob Furmanek probably can't say so at present, but from what he posted elsewhere yesterday, I suspect this short might turn up on a future Volume 2 3-D set. If so, although I don't have his 3-D Blu-ray set from last year, I might be tempted to get a Volume 2 of his if the Nat King Cole 3-D short is included!

CHEERS!

 

[J. Casey]

Although it doesn't really fit into the set, I've always enjoyed DR. CYCLOPS, a 1940 Paramount Picture in Technicolor. I think all of the titles in the two DVD sets are Universal staples (CYCLOPS included) and would likely be part of any blu ray set. As others have stated, some titles should be re-formatted to the proper aspect ratio..........I really think such a set is likely to happen, especially given Universal's recent output. Like others, I do wish they would include THIS ISLAND EARTH. The German blu ray release could be massively improved upon and I would hate for it to remain the only hi def disc of TIE.

 

[Randy Korstick]

But make sure to release the films in the OAR.

Ditto that. I still haven't been able to watch the non-OAR films in these sets.

 

[JeffT.]

Well if one considers the UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS COLLECTION blu-ray edition along with the impending FRANKENSTEIN and WOLF MAN COLLECTIONS blu-ray editions there is so much repetition in all of them.

So why not with a prospective UNIVERSAL PICTURES SF COLLECTION blu-ray edition?

This "flexibility" not only opens the door for the inclusion of IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) but both CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955) as well.

The Universal Pictures 1950s SF film classics would really be represented in force to be sure!

I (personally) tend to think of these three films as all part of the grand Universal 1950s SF film catalogue.

Albeit I really don't consider CULT OF THE COBRA (1955) to be SF at all. It's more supernatural-horror. It has some of the "familiar" Universal stock company contract players in the cast but it's still horror not SF. If it's going to be extended to all-and-sundry then why not the colour produced CURUCO, BEAST OF THE AMAZON (1956) which was originally cobilled with THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)?

But I still (personally) like to see it confined to bona fide 1950s SF. In my own estimation the "older" pre-1950s SF are is antiquated and quaint by comparison. It really doesn't fit into this more sophisticated era of space exploration, extraterrestrial visitation and rampart atomic mutations.

I do like both THE INVISIBLE RAY (1936) and DR. CYCLOPS (1940) but feel that they belong more in their own era.

Just to confuse the mix a bit. Universal Pictures originally theatrically released the independently produced colour 4D MAN (1959). If still in the Universal film library (which it isn't) It would have satisfactorily closed this set out nicely.

Jeff T.

 

[Craig Beam]

I can't imagine Universal releasing the Creature films outside of their usual Monsters line.