Buñuel: The Essential Collection

[Dan8700]

So, I just had a quick look at all the discs.
Belle de jour and The Milky Way come from new scans/restos: stunning.
The master of Diary of a Chambermaid is a bit older, but it's very consistent and detail is great. Whites are a tad blown-out, though.
The Phantom of Liberty disc features a quite old master, but it's still good-looking. Don't expect tight grain and flawless colour reproduction, though.
Obscure Object is basically the same disc released years ago, down to the file size, but contrast is better. Same (very good) master, anyway.
I also took some caps of all of them. Since Belle de jour and Charm have already been "reviewed" elsewhere, I'm posting the others.

Oh, I nearly forgot: Tristana. This is the black sheep of the set. It's definitely NOT the wonderful Cohen restoration. SC used a very faded, greenish master, which is way inferior. PQ is not the only difference here: the titles are different too. I noticed that the Cohen uses the Spanish credits, while the SC the French ones. And they differ greatly: the Spanish opening credits only last ca. 20", then the end credits are listed on a black screen. On the contrary, the French print has no ending credits. You might want to own both for "historical reasons"... As for audio tracks, the SC also features the French and the German dub, but most of the actors clearly speak Spanish, only Deneuve (methinks) speaks French, so the Spanish dub is much more in-synch - I also found the French one very poorly executed.
All in all, imo, the set is a must-buy, but keep in mind that you'll have to get Cohen's Tristana, if you want the best version.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Phantom of Liberty need a new scan, but I don't see that coming, and, for the moment, this is easily the best way to enjoy these immortal masterpieces.

Diary of a Chambermaid


The Milky Way


The Phantom of Liberty


To compare the two Obscure Object caps, you can use the Caps-a-holic link (I don't own the old release).

Tristana
These are to show the different credits:
LEFT Spanish (Cohen) - RIGHT French (SC)




Main comparison:
LEFT (Cohen) - RIGHT (SC)

[OgamiittoMcJ]

Originally Posted by Dan8700

Belle de jour and The Milky Way come from new scans/restos: stunning.

Belle de jour is stunningly Bad I'll stick with earlier release





https://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?g...107448&i=9&l=0

[sjt]

The new SC transfer is terrible, casting a sickly yellowy-pink soft mist over the entire film that even eats into the blacks, as the above captures prove alas all-too clearly. The caps for Phantom of Liberty look absolutely dreadful. Just crossed this off the Christmas list.

[Vidya]

Even with the strange colors for Belle de Jour, I think I prefer this new release to the Criterion. Better detail and it has a softer look. Discreet Charm, on the other hand, looks worse to me. It looks overcooked or sharpened in comparison to the first release.

[danishdrummer]

Guess only half of the box makes this upgrade worthwhile, then. Another question, as I can't seem to have read about anywhere, but what happened to The Young One which was included in the original dvd box set? Probably a rights issue, but it's such a shame as this is one of Buñuel's best and most overlooked works in my opinion. Also of course one of the rare English language films that he did (still waiting for a blu-ray update of his Robinson Crusoe film, too).

[DefLeppard]

Just ordered those early release blu-rays of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie & That Obscure Object Of Desire as both were in their lowest price .

After reading about the PQ issues with Belle De Jour, I've got the old digibook one for a reasonable price from a forum member here.

As I am trying to avoid this set, I searched for the remaining individual releases and learnt that Germany has already got Tristana , The Milky Way and The Diary of a Chambermaid in the first week of May ; For these ones, Amazon listing as well as DB listing here indicates the presence of English subtitles but I am not sure since there were many instances where Amazon product details were proven to be incorrect so seeking help here -can any one (who owns these) confirm on the Eng subs ?

As for Tristana, I need to get the Cohen's release as Dan8700 stated but for the remaining twos at the price range in ~€10 - €12 , those German releases make good alternatives provided they carry Eng subs.

Now this leaves us with the only remaining title to be released individually- The Phantom of Liberty. There's only Spanish release but no Eng sub in it and unlike other ones,currerntly there is no place holder listing on Amz-UK so wanted to know if this title is exclusive only to this boxset?

[Si Parallel Universe]

Yes this is my gripe with SC , the potential to ruin when they own the rights to it in the UK. I haven't bought the set yet due to the issues so would have to pursue the earlier releases on blu individually. I'd rather spend more individually to get the decent transfer than to get a sub £50 boxset with sub transfers on them..

Any reports on the other films in the set rather than Belle De Jour & That Obscure Object of Desire would be welcome please