Finally! The lion's share of the Laurel & Hardy library in superior prints. Eclipses previous video releases
For two decades, most of the famous films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have been off the video market, thanks to apathetic handling by the company then holding the rights. Now, finally, the rights have reverted to knowledgeable hands, and that means the boys are back.
This 10-disc set includes most of Laurel & Hardy's talkie shorts and features produced by Hal Roach between 1929 and 1940. These are among the funniest comedies ever made, as many vintage-film buffs will agree. Laurel & Hardy were often capable of carrying the action almost entirely by themselves: BRATS has Stan and Ollie as themselves and their own sons (with giant sets and trick photography); THE MUSIC BOX is the Oscar-winning featurette with the boys as the world's worst piano movers; HELPMATES has Stan helping Ollie to clean house after a wild party; THEIR FIRST MISTAKE has our heroes adopting a baby; TOWED IN A HOLE has them rehabbing a boat; BUSY BODIES turns them loose in a carpentry shop. You'll see...
Must-Own For Comedy Fans
Laurel and Hardy were the funniest comedy duo of all time. Their films are just as hilarious today as they were when they were made.
This set has many of their greatest films, and is accurately called "The Essential Collection" but not "The Complete Collection".
A complete collection at this point in time is impossible, as a small handful of earlier L&H films are missing or partially missing.
The rights to L&H films are owned by various companies, and two of their full-length features ("The Flying Deuces" and "Utopia") are in the public domain and owned by everyone.
To obtain as complete a collection of L&H films as is currently possible, I highly recommend buying, in addition to this set:
* the TCM 2-disc set of "The Devil's Brother" and "Bonnie Scotland"
* the Legend edition of "March of the Wooden soldiers"
* both box sets released by Fox Home Video of all six films Laurel & Hardy made at the Fox...
Laurel and Hardy Never Looked Better
I just received this set today, and I am very happy with it. I have the 20 disc set from Europe, and I can tell you that these 10 disc remasters are far and away the best prints of these films that I have ever seen. There are no reissue titles. All have their original titles opening with Leo the MGM lion. Extras are fun and informative, especially the second commentary track on "Hog Wild." Picture quality is excellent and the sound is as good as mono can be. There was concern in one review that the image was cropped for widescreen. That is not the case. All of the films are in their original aspect ratios of 1.33:1. There is some concern about the packaging, which overall I find attractive. However, the discs do reside in sleeves that you need to slide out, and could cause minor scratches. I also had two discs that had tiny glue spots on them, that I was able to remove fairly easily, and the discs played fine.
Aside from that little caveat, I highly recommend this set. As a...
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