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Reviewed by UK Guest, 19th May 2004. |
| Review Summary: Best DVD box set ever |
Overall Score: 5/5
 
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Review: This Laurel & Hardy box set is the best collection of films ever to be released on DVD, and really deserves ten stars it is that good.
Being a life long fan I purchased both the original video series by Virgin video and the re-mastered Vision video's a few years later. While the re-mastered editions editions had excellent picture quality the VHS format did not really do them justice. The DVD transfer however makes most of the films look pristine, and it is hard to believe that some of these films are over seventy years old given their picture quality. The sound, particularly on the silents with their stero sound track played by the Dutch band 'Beau Hunks' is truly outstanding. Also the sound on the talkies has been cleaned up to give the best sound quality available.
Why is the set so good?. The simple reason is that with the exception of the features 'Bonnie Scotland', 'The Devils Brother' and 'Babes in Toyland', this box set contains all the Laurel and Hardy starring shorts/features produced by Hal Roach, and that means the very best of Laurel and Hardy. Laurel and Hardy only ever approached the same artistic quality they achieved on one feature away from Hal Roach 'The Flying Deuces'.
As well as the classic films the set has a number of special features such as foreign language and colourised editions. The foreign language editions are worth watching because they are often longer, featuring additional scenes, different casts and best of all Laurel and Hardy actually speaking French, German or Spanish. A lot has been written about the colourised versions, while it is not up to the quality seen in 'Babes in Toyland', it is not really that bad. The only really bad thing about them is that being made for American TV they have a number of annoying scene cuts. Having said that I do not feel that they are a waste of disc space, indeed I know a number of people who will not sit through a black and white film - this may be one way to introduce them to the magic of Laurel and Hardy.
The box set also features a bonus disc featuring a documentary and a number of non - Laurel and Hardy shorts. The best thing on this disc is the Charlie Chase short 'Fluttering Hearts'. Charlie Chase was Hal Roach's top comedian before he was eclipsed by Laurel and Hardy in the late 1920's and today is nearly forgotten, this is a real shame because Chase's films are highly entertaining, as you will see by watching this short. It can only be hoped that Universal's next box set will feature the films of Charlie Chase.
The only real disappointment in the set is the horrible picture quality on 'Along Came Auntie', a Hardy solo effort, much better quality material does exist for this short (see the film on the Stonevision series volume 3). I was also a bit disappointed that the original vitagraph sound tracks were not used on the silents 'Habeas Corpus', 'Angora Love' and 'Bacon Grabbers'. Although I loved the new music, it would have been closer to how the films were originally shown if the surviving disc's had been used.
This is a truly outstanding set and everybody seriously interested in screen comedy, Laurel and Hardy or classic films should not be with out it. |
Ratings
| Value For Money: |
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5 |
| Review Score: |
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5 |
| Recommended? | |
Yes |
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DVD Films