Birds alfred hitchcock upgrade#

Streaming has come a long way.Īlfred Hitchcock's The Birds has over time, become a classic among classics. I have to say that Amazon's streamed picture is absolutely beautiful in its clarity and color, a demonstration-worthy image. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS> I TRIED TO KEEP IT TO A MINIMUM BUT THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO DISCUSS THE FILM. Unlike most British Blu-Rays, these are region-free and will play on any US player. Same bonus features, but it sells for less. The contents of the British and American Blu-Rays are identical. Or 2016 reissue: ]] (same contents)įourteen Blu-Ray box (minus 'North by Northwest') The silent version of 'Blackmail', and 'Mary' (1931, the German language version of 'Murder!')ģ4 films are on Blu-Ray (links are included)ġ927 The Mountain Eagle - silent, LOST FILMġ927 The Lodger - silent, BLU-RAY ]], coupled with 'Downhill'ġ927 Downhill - silent, BLU-RAY coupled with ]]ġ930 Elstree Calling ġ931 Mary - German language version of 'Murder!' with a separate cast UNAVAILABLEġ934 ]] (first version)ġ935 ]]ġ938 ]]ġ939 ]] - I don’t know why it’s so expensive. 'Blackmail' (1929) is counted twice - it was Hitchcock's final silent film, and was also filmed as his first talkie.Īll are at least on on DVD, with two exceptions: One film, “The Mountain Eagle” (1927) is lost. Unlike most British Blu-Rays, these are region-free and should play on any US player.Īlfred Hitchcock directed 56 feature films (not counting short subjects). The individual British and American Blu-Rays are identical.

The British box does not include 'North by Northwest', but it costs a lot less. The fourteen disc box is a British import. Version B: ]]Īlfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection:

Birds alfred hitchcock upgrade#

IN SUMMATION: If you are not an aging hipster, there is no good reason to upgrade to the new Blu-Ray. So why did Universal go to all the trouble?ġ) There is a sticker on the cover stating that this is part of Universal's 'COLLECTIBLE POP ART SERIES' (photo five).Ģ) The back covers (photos 3 & 4) reveal that the 'Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy' is no longer included. The 'new' Blu-ray does not have the 'Resume Movie' option. When your viewing is interrupted in the middle of a film, you cannot resume watching at the point where you left off, but have to go back to the beginning of the disc. One clue: Universal Blu-Rays produced before 2015 do not have the 'Resume Movie' option. I finally gave up and ordered the damn thing. Maybe they found a deleted scene in the vault?īut I could not find any information on the internet. What else would justify re-issuing it with a new cover? I was hoping that Universal had found new source material in their archives, and authorized a brand new transfer of 'The Birds'.

Most of the blame appears to lie with the original negative. The 2014 Blu-Ray transfer was an improvement over the earlier DVD, but it was far from perfect. Unfortunately, the answers are No and No. Universal has issued 'The Birds' on blu-ray twice, each time with a different cover (it's also in the 15 disc 'Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection').ġ)) Is the 2016 edition (version B) a new digital transfer?Ģ) Did Universal add any deleted scenes or bonus features that were missing from Version A? PHOTO 5 = version B: Sticker on the front cover PHOTO 2 = version B: Front Cover (July 17, 2016)

PHOTO 1 = version A: Front Cover (May 6, 2014)