Hammer Film - Ultimate Collection (Mill Creek)

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

I'd wager a dollar these will be the previous discs plus the new ones. I might bite for the right price, but the two double-features I have already are pretty unimpressive.

[Zillamon51]

I have some of these on DVD. I never got any of MC's Hammer BDs, so this is an easy upgrade plus a bunch of new titles.

It's 90% likely the previous MC Blus will appear here unchanged, w/ any extras appearing only on the newly-authored discs. It's the Mill Creek way.

[Mister_Kidd]

For someone who had only seen a few of the Christopher Lee Draculas, would the titles in this set be a good intro to Hammer?

[jshaide]

This is a great set for the bump. And for those (like myself) who have the Indicator releases, there will be a Volume 6 at some point so it may fill in the gaps of titles that are here and not released by them yet.

[AllAboutMatt]

I'm torn right now. I don't know if I should go with the indicator releases (better transfers) or with this set (better value). Anyone want to try and sway my opinion to a certain side?

[SMOOT]

Originally Posted by AllAboutMatt

I'm torn right now. I don't know if I should go with the indicator releases (better transfers) or with this set (better value). Anyone want to try and sway my opinion to a certain side?

If the upcoming Mill Creek set does not contain the restored version of “The Revenge of Frankenstein,” then I highly recommend that you buy the Powerhouse/Indicator Region Free Blu-ray --
The movie suffers terribly (flat/colorless/littered with dirt) on the old DVD and the USA Mill Creek Blu-ray. Really robs you of the experience of this excellent film. And it is one of Hammer’s best.

It presently only sells with the box set from Powerhouse/Indicator, but it will be available individually once that set sells out (which should be soon).

I may buy the Mill Creek set when the price goes down, but I do own 9 of the Hammer Films put out by Powerhouse/Indicator in the UK. All of them that I own are on All Region/Region Free discs from their company.

If you do decide to buy the Box Set from Powerhouse/Indicator, I will say that it also has their encoding of “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll” and it looks far better on the Powerhouse/Indicator Blu-ray set than on the 2-movie USA Blu-ray from Mill Creek. Not nearly as big a difference as the major restoration on “The Revenge of Frankentein,” but a difference that is certainly an improvement.

[AllAboutMatt]

Originally Posted by SMOOT

If the upcoming Mill Creek set does not contain the restored version of “The Revenge of Frankenstein,” then I highly recommend that you buy the Powerhouse/Indicator Region Free Blu-ray --
The movie suffers terribly (flat/colorless/littered with dirt) on the old DVD and the USA Mill Creek Blu-ray. Really robs you of the experience of this excellent film. And it is one of Hammer’s best.

Noted. I think I will go with this Mill Creek set and get the ROF release from Indicator as well (if the MC set does not have the new restoration that is).

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by AllAboutMatt

I'm torn right now. I don't know if I should go with the indicator releases (better transfers) or with this set (better value). Anyone want to try and sway my opinion to a certain side?

Judging by your history of posts on the topic of Mill Creek, I would suggest you go for the Indicator editions. The reason why is that it seems you have an inherit bias toward Mill Creek so even the most minute flaws may be magnified and prove detrimental to your enjoyment. Waiting for reviews on the MC set is certainly warranted, but in the end going for the already praised Indicator versions eliminates all doubt. True, they are more expensive, but how much is peace of mind worth to you?

[AllAboutMatt]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

Judging by your history of posts on the topic of Mill Creek, I would suggest you go for the Indicator editions. The reason why is that it seems you have an inherit bias toward Mill Creek so even the most minute flaws may be magnified and prove detrimental to your enjoyment. Waiting for reviews on the MC set is certainly warranted, but in the end going for the already praised Indicator versions eliminates all doubt. True, they are more expensive, but how much is peace of mind worth to you?

Look no further than the existing Revenge Of Frankenstein release (which I've watched with a buddy of mine) as the seed for my weariness about Mill Creek. I own their Mothra steelbook and think it's pretty nice, but I'm still hesitant.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by AllAboutMatt

Look no further than the existing Revenge Of Frankenstein release (which I've watched with a buddy of mine) as the seed for my weariness about Mill Creek. I own their Mothra steelbook and think it's pretty nice, but I'm still hesitant.

Oh I wasn't debating quality issues with Mill Creek, just answering your question by advising you that sticking with the Indicator releases is probably the best option, unless you can be patient and wait for substantial reviews of the Mill Creek set.

[DrrnHarr]

Originally Posted by AllAboutMatt

I'm torn right now. I don't know if I should go with the indicator releases (better transfers) or with this set (better value). Anyone want to try and sway my opinion to a certain side?

The Indicator Limited Edition boxsets are rapidly disappearing and I haven’t looked lately but I believe Vol. 1 runs about $300. That means you would be restricted to buying the movies individual releases which was would quickly cost lots of $s.
In sum, if you don’t already have the Indicator releases the market has made the decision for you.

[starsteam]

The sell-sheet for this says it will include new special features produced by Balloyhoo.

[Michael24]

There's a few movies in this set I'd been hoping would get a US release: Cash on Demand, The Stranglers of Bombay, The Terror of the Tongs and The Devil Ship Pirates. But I'm leery being it's Mill Creek. They already released The Revenge of Frankenstein, so will it just be the same disc here or the new remaster that's now available on a UK release? Being 20 movies on 10 discs, it looks the discs in this set will be double features, so some of these could just be their existing Hammer discs repackaged. And I just bought The Pirates of Blood River during Twilight Time's going out of business sale. I'll wait until we hear some reviews regarding the transfers.

[happydood]

Originally Posted by Michael24

There's a few movies in this set I'd been hoping would get a US release: Cash on Demand, The Stranglers of Bombay, The Terror of the Tongs and The Devil Ship Pirates. But I'm leery being it's Mill Creek. They already released The Revenge of Frankenstein, so will it just be the same disc here or the new remaster that's now available on a UK release? Being 20 movies on 10 discs, it looks the discs in this set will be double features, so some of these could just be their existing Hammer discs repackaged. And I just bought The Pirates of Blood River during Twilight Time's going out of business sale. I'll wait until we hear some reviews regarding the transfers.

I'm still waiting for an answer from them on Facebook about the previously released transfers. I've asked them questions about Hammer releases before and they've always answered right away. Course, I asked late on Friday, so maybe I'll hear back tomorrow...

[tangerinewolf]

Originally Posted by happydood

I'm still waiting for an answer from them on Facebook about the previously released transfers. I've asked them questions about Hammer releases before and they've always answered right away. Course, I asked late on Friday, so maybe I'll hear back tomorrow...

Hey happydood, to you ever get a reply from Mill Creek?

[happydood]

Originally Posted by tangerinewolf

Hey happydood, to you ever get a reply from Mill Creek?

Nope. In fact, I resent to them and still nothing. Will keep trying and will definitely let everybody know...

[starsteam]

If they're including new extras that makes me have a little more hope these will all be new discs (with hopefully some new transfers) and not just a repack of the four discs they previously released on Blu-ray.

[StarDestroyer52]

I'm in. Seeing as I don't have any of these and while I'm sure Indicator will be better since they give every film its own disc, than but given that's its 20 films none which are all that more than an hour and a half, 10 discs, and I doubt were looking at extras I'm hoping these should look very acceptable. I'm not really interested in extras for most of these and I've been holding off on getting the Indicator sets which are well done but just because of cash shortages and I also been weary of doing a lot of overseas ordering during the current crisis.

EDIT: N/M I see that some have stated that Ballyhoo is doing some extras for these. Though I'm still hopeful that since Mill Creek has been stepping their game up lately that these will look acceptable enough for those who are not interested in the Indictator sets.

[Suspiria7]

Unfortunately there are only 2 titles that have not been previously released either by Indicator or Mill Creek: Devil Ship Pirates and Creatures the World Forgot. I wish Mill Creek would release those 2 on a double feature disc. At over $100 list even discounted this set is too pricey to buy just for 2 films.

[cakefactory]

If they add special features (sounds like it) and get the greatly improved transfers Indicator had on a couple movies (Revenge of Frankenstein and Curse of the Mummy's Tomb I have seen comparisons of, I think the others are just better encodes maybe but I dunno), then this might be worth it to people with most of them already. It's pretty annoying to those who have kept up with Hammer releases otherwise, though, as even if you stuck with Region A releases only you've already got half the movies in the set.