Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection (WB)

[OI8T12]

Originally Posted by Bubba_Hotep

9 days later, never received the return label. I wonder if they decided not to replace mine now.

Contact them again. I'm sure they're going to replace it for you. Good luck.

[Pizzamorg]

Finally got this bastard through customs and my jaw has dropped, what a beautiful package. Now to actually watch the films...

[Bubba_Hotep]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

Finally got this bastard through customs and my jaw has dropped, what a beautiful package. Now to actually watch the films...

I hope you got it without scratches and damage.

[Pizzamorg]

It is lightly damaged, which surprised me as the packaging was heavy duty but I guess when it's in a massive tin there is no way a few surface scratches wont crop up. Disappointing but I can live with it.

[Patriot666]

It's a defective product. This set's discs are scratched straight out of the package, not from being put in and out of the sleeves. Whether or not the discs function correctly they are damaged none the less.

[Pizzamorg]

Oh the discs? I didn't even notice with mine. The book that the discs is housed in looked a little rough around the edges which surprised me considering it was sealed inside a tin, inside a wrap, inside packaging but I just assumed it was bounced around a lot in transit.

Talking of the films, I just rewatched "Friday the 13th" and I'd rate it a four out of ten, only because Betsy Palmer's ten or fifteen or so minutes of screentime are magnificent. It's one of the best slasher twists ever in my mind and one that holds up very well when you rewatch the film and already know the twist. She is by far the only good performer in the film and gets the only decent death sequence. The rest of the film though is marred by Cunningham's terrible direction, a string of awful performances and the BD showing off far more of Savini's "magic" than we clearly were ever meant to see.

[TripleHBK]

Originally Posted by Patriot666

It's a defective product. This set's discs are scratched straight out of the package, not from being put in and out of the sleeves. Whether or not the discs function correctly they are damaged none the less.

Mine were not. I received my set from amazon on release week and haven't had any damage inside or out, and that includes the scratched disks some people have experienced.

[Patriot666]

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

Mine were not. I received my set from amazon on release week and haven't had any damage inside or out, and that includes the scratched disks some people have experienced.

You're lucky, lots of people had issues. Then again there might be 100 people with defective sets writing negative reviews and 100,000 with no issue...who knows. I'm not sure what percentage it takes for a product to be considered defective, but 100% of my six sets had problems noticeable enough to return them in store with no questions asked by customer service. They didn't all have scratched discs, but dents in the tin, or a damaged book. I've said it before, I have seriously sh## luck when it comes to these things. I think you're safer ordering online, less in store handling the better.

[mzupeman]

Originally Posted by Patriot666

You're lucky, lots of people had issues. Then again there might be 100 people with defective sets writing negative reviews and 100,000 with no issue...who knows. I'm not sure what percentage it takes for a product to be considered defective, but 100% of my six sets had problems noticeable enough to return them in store with no questions asked by customer service. They didn't all have scratched discs, but dents in the tin, or a damaged book. I've said it before, I have seriously sh## luck when it comes to these things. I think you're safer ordering online, less in store handling the better.

Just as a side note, I don't think it's that you have bad luck compared to others. I just think most average consumers, and even some enthusiasts, jus take a product off the shelf and bring it home. Of the discs have 'issues', they'd likely never notice because many of these scratched discs don't hamper playback. Even I sort of came to accept this sort of thing, for example, when I buy certain DVD sets. But I still am pretty anal about making sure my Blu-Ray discs are kept in pristine condition.

Like you, I had a couple of replacement sets sent my way, and when the third set overall arrived, I said screw it and took the best discs out of the two sets in my possession and it was mostly great. Only discs with any mark on it is the one disc I'm likely never to watch, and even then, I played that discs at release anyway just to make sure it played fine, flaw and all. Still, that doesn't make up for the fact that this set was not so friendly to the discs it housed. The Universal Monster Collection is something I had bad luck with as well.

[RickWJ324]

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

Mine were not. I received my set from amazon on release week and haven't had any damage inside or out, and that includes the scratched disks some people have experienced.

Same here! I pre-ordered mine from WBShop when it was first announced and it arrived flawlessly (tin, discs, etc). Too bad my cc was hijacked because of WB's website hack back then....

[Pizzamorg]

Just got done watching Part 2, I'd give this instalment an eight out of ten.

For a sequel that only really exists to test the waters with a new direction for a possible franchise it's far better than it has any right to be. A massive improvement on the first instalment and promises a far brighter future than what we necessarily got. Plus, as it really does change so much from the original film (yet being a direct sequel to it, no I don't get it either) it actually means you can happily skip the rubbish first outing while you're at it. It even rewards you with a "best of" clipshow at the start of the film which sums up the only parts in the original film worth watching, brilliant

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

Just got done watching Part 2, I'd give this instalment an eight out of ten.

For a sequel that only really exists to test the waters with a new direction for a possible franchise it's far better than it has any right to be. A massive improvement on the first instalment and promises a far brighter future than what we necessarily got. Plus, as it really does change so much from the original film (yet being a direct sequel to it, no I don't get it either) it actually means you can happily skip the rubbish first outing while you're at it. It even rewards you with a "best of" clipshow at the start of the film which sums up the only parts in the original film worth watching, brilliant

Friday the 13th: Part 2 is my favorite film of the series. It's got the most likable characters, the best outdoor location settings, the best kills, the best women, and the most intensity. I also like how the expostion of this film is handled, with the montage of sequences from the first film serving as Alice's nightmares.

My appreciation for the first film is greater now after watching all of the movies in sequence, though. I love the first movie's reverse play on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and I think that Betsy Palmer is insanely spooky.

This may be sacrilege to many in this thread, but I've decided thàt I prefer the first Friday the 13th film to John Carpenter's Halloween. This is mostly because I love the backstory, I relate more to the motivations of Pamela Voorhees, I love the setting, and I like the characters better in an overall sense.

[Pizzamorg]

The kills, although far better realised, are a tad let down by the heavy censorship. Don't think I've ever seen a bloodless slasher before, but minus a trickle here and there this is one. Everything else I agree with you on though, one hundred percent.

I will see how I feel about the original as I traverse deeper into the franchise. I always loved the original Nightmare on Elm Street but it wasn't until the abysmal later entries in the series that I realise just WHY that original film was damn good.

[Bubba_Hotep]

The first disc in my set has a massive scratch. It will not play at all. 3 other disc are also scratched but are not very deep. The dvd is toast, that thing looks like it was mauled by a bear. How they let this stuff fly out the door without good QC is beyond me.
I had the same problem with the universal monster sets they put out on dvd years back. I went through 11 sets and every single one was damaged so I also feel like I have bad luck with sets.
I don't think its the cardboard its in that is scratching it, I think it was damaged when being made. I have the alien anthology set and those are in a similar type of book and they have no scratches after being taken out and put back in at least 4 times.
I just hope I can get this replaced.

[Pizzamorg]

Oh man these things are awesome, and the 3D effect is actually really impressive. Huh.

[thompsonjohn]

It's hard for me to imagine someone seeing these for the first time. I don't know why, but this stuff was always around when I was a kid, being in video stores and what not horror films VHS covers always captivated me and made me want to see the films.

It's a shame that this money machine, let's face it cheap films that make millions, it's a bummer the blu-ray release is so shoddy. I guess I'm lucky I got mine in one piece, none of the discs were scratched and I got them out of that crappy cardboard sleeve and put them in a proper 10-disc case that fits inside the metal packaging.

I'm still waiting to see what comes out of this "Interstellar" WB/Paramount deal and what talent is attached. A film must come out of it, that's part of the deal and God forbid, it's not "found footage." They know there is a demand and there is money on the table, that's why they asked for this.

As much as I'd hate this, maybe when there is a new film they will get around to creating a new series blu-ray release?

[Pizzamorg]

Just got done watching Part 3 and The Final Chapter which are probably the high and the low of the franchise for me so far respectively. I'd give Part 3 around a 8.5 or a 9 and The Final Chapter a 2.5.

Part 2 is the best film out of the first four but with the heavy censorship and lack of 3D gimmicks it just isn't nearly as entertaining as Part 3. Part 3 also sees the best Jason so far (although I really liked the burlap look), the kills are far more satisfying and when it isn't ghosting into a headache inducing haze, this is a really fantastic 3D experience. I had a great time.

Part 4 however does away with pretty much everything great about Parts 2 and 3 providing the worst paced movie that is beyond slow and plodding. A softcore snoozefest and although it does pick up dramatically in the closing half an hour you'd be better off just Youtubing the kills than actually sitting through the film. I couldn't think of much worse to say about a film.

[Patriot666]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

Part 4 however does away with pretty much everything great about Parts 2 and 3 providing the worst paced movie that is beyond slow and plodding. A softcore snoozefest and although it does pick up dramatically in the closing half an hour you'd be better off just Youtubing the kills than actually sitting through the film. I couldn't think of much worse to say about a film.

Part 4 is f'ing awesome. No offense, but you might want to just try another franchise...it's downhill from here and you're already not digging the films at their height.

[Pizzamorg]

Originally Posted by Patriot666

Part 4 is f'ing awesome. No offense, but you might want to just try another franchise...it's downhill from here and you're already not digging the films at their height.

I highly enjoyed parts 2 and 3 as said above and yet I'm not "digging the films at their height"? No offence but maybe read my posts first?

[Patriot666]

Originally Posted by Pizzamorg

I highly enjoyed parts 2 and 3 as said above and yet I'm not "digging the films at their height"? No offence but maybe read my posts first?

I'm sure you're future reviews will echo what I've said. Most fans hold Part 4 in high regard. If you didn't like it they will get worse from here, just letting you know. I personally enjoy and like all of them, but rate my top 3 as parts 1,2,4. Then again, part 3 was awesome with a great humor element to it. The series loses the gore special effects for the kill scenes after part 4. That's my biggest gripe about the later films.