Customer Reviews

Columbia Best Pictures Collection (11 Feature Films)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The films in this collection are:
It Happened One Night (1934), directed by Frank Capra
You Can't Take It with You (1938), directed by Frank Capra
All the King's Men (1949),
From Here to Eternity (1953),
On the Waterfront (1954),
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), directed by David Lean (2 discs)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), directed by David Lean (2 discs)
A Man for All Seasons (1966),
Oliver! (1968),
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Gandhi (1982). directed by Richard Attenborough (2 discs)

The description of extras is all jumbled together in the press release, but this is what goes with what, the best that I can figure:

DVD Features
Extras for Gandhi:
An Introduction from Lord Richard Attenborough
The Funeral
The Making of Gandhi Photo Montage
The Words Of Mahatma Gandhi
Milestones in the Life of Gandhi
Gandhi weblink
Ben Kingsley talks about Gandhi
Designing Gandhi
Lord Attenborough Audio Commentary
From the Director's Chair
In Search of Gandhi
Madeleine Slade: An Englishwoman Abroad
Reflections on Ben
Shooting an Epic in India

Extras for A Man For all Seasons:
The Life of Saint Thomas More

Extras for Lawrence of Arabia:
A Conversation with Steven Speilberg
Making of Lawrence of Arabia
Maan, Jordan: The Camels Are Cast Featurette
Romance of Arabia Featurette
Original Newsreel Footage of the New York Premiere
Advertising Campaigns

Extras on It Happened One Night:
Commentary by Frank Capra Jr.
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... "It Happened One Night"
Vintage Advertising

Extras for Bridge Over the River Kwai:
Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
Exclusive Documentary - Adaptation of Boulle's novel, casting, history of production, score, release, restoration and more.
Vintage Newsreel footage
An Appreciation by John Milius

By going back and checking extras on existing releases, this appears to be a repackaging of stock, with no new releases just for this collection. Also, this list of extras may be incomplete, because some films do have extras on their DVDs that are not listed in the product description I have seen. For example, the current release of Kramer vs. Kramer has a "Making Of" documentary that is not listed in the press release for this set.

This does appear to be a complete collection of Academy Award winners by Sony/Columbia, with the exception of The Last Emperor, which is currently on DVD via the Criterion Collection. Double dips could occur if you already own The Premiere Frank Capra Collection (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington / It Happened One Night / You Can't Take It with You / Mr. Deeds Goes to Town / American Madness / Frank Capra's American Dream), which would cause you to purchase "It Happened One Night" and "You Can't Take it With You" twice. There is also the The David Lean Collection (Lawrence of Arabia / The Bridge on the River Kwai / A Passage to India) as well as the WWII 60th Anniversary Collection (The Guns of Navarone/From Here to Eternity/The Bridge on the River Kwai) (Includes Collectible Scrapbook). All of these collections overlap with the new Bst Pictures Collection.

I enjoyed this collection a great deal. It's nice to have a wide range of films, including my favorites Lawrence of Arabia and Ghandi. I think this is a good collection for those who like classic movies. My one complaint is that on the Lawrence of Arabia disc the movie cuts off suddenly when Lawrence and his attendants are crossing the Sinai and then when you put the next disc in about ten minutes later the Intermission starts. I don't see why the first disc couldn't go up to the Intermission? Still the product deserves five stars.

This collection of Academy Award-winning films is a striking vignette of how society has changed over the past century. The relationships between men and women, gender roles, the haves and have nots, and the issues, actors, and themes that entertain the American public (and those Academy Award voters) are all here.

The films in this collection include:

- It Happened One Night (1934)
- You Can't Take It with You (1938)
- All the King's Men (1949)
- From Here to Eternity (1953)
- On the Waterfront (1954)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- A Man for All Seasons (1966)
- Oliver (1968)
- Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
- Gandhi (1982)

The epics, in my estimation, are The Bridge on the River Kwai, On The Waterfront, Lawrence of Arabia, and Gandhi.

But this is not a review of these particular films. This is a review of this package of films.

Bottom line? A bargain. They are attractively and nicely packaged. A number of the DVDs have extras included (not really my cup of tea). This would be a very nice gift for a classic film aficionado, including yourself! Enjoy.

I found this to be an outstanding collection of exceptional films. I am not going to go through each one individually but let me just state that you cannot go wrong watching any of these 11 films. They are all award winners for a reason and when you are watching them you cannot help but notice/see/feel/hear/sense their quality. And the fact that they run the full gamut, in both terms of release years and genres, means that you will always find something in this collection to watch. I am a big fan of boxed sets and this one really should be on the shelf of anyone who calls them self a fan of Hollywood studio movies. In fact I hope the other studios (or the companies that now own the catalogs of the once great movie studios of days past) would follow this example and release similar sets.

no one, but no one makes movies like the masters - and this collection is as good as any. Don't care for the new movies, too much special effects or prima donnas trying t6o act. The movie industry is in a sad state today, as there are no star attraction to look up to, except for a few, like tom hanks, or sandra bullock, etc. The new generation needs to go back to acting school...

Great collection, I just wish there was a blu-ray version.

I got this when it had a great sale price and definitely recommend it if you can get it that cheap as well.

Some films however, like Lawrence of Arabia, have a newer remastered release already out that was not included in this box set. So just do your research on your favorite films in this box set to see if it is worth your buy.

This is a set of 11 Best Picture winning movies from Columbia Pictures spanning the years from 1934 to 1982. Right off the bat you know you're are at least getting very good movies, if not great, because they all won the Best Picture Award from The Academy Awards - not Golden Globes or any other inferior type award organization.

As for for the movies I think they are all great. Lawrence of Arabia and Gandhi and arguably two of the best movies ever made. Someone said that Kramer Vs Kramer is a "rotten tomato" in the bunch of 11 movie in the set. I completely disagree. You can't compare Kramer vs Kramer with Gandhi or some of the other films in the set. That's not fair. Kramer vs Kramer is an excellent film - should it have won Best Picture? I don't no - maybe not. But it's still a terrific film

As for the price? Well it's an excellent value. If you bought all these films separately you would be spending at least $130 if not more. I definitely recommend this collection.

I bought this movie collection as a gift for my wife. It's an eclectic collection of classic movies, spanning almost 50 years of movie making from 1934 to 1982. There's something for every movie lover in this collection.

I bought these movies for my mom as one of her Christmas gifts. She watches many, many, movies, sort of a Movie Critic type person. She loved them!

This is a nice collections of films for many cold winter evenings. It's one of the best collections I have come across.