Customer Reviews

Essential Art House, Vol. 1

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4 star:		(1)
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I found this six-pack online here for only $50 (that's only $8.33 per movie!). These movies cost $20 individually, so buying them in bulk is practically stealing them. This volume in particular (there are four altogether) has a great range of films. A terrific addition to your dvd collection for sure.

As I write this, there are five volumes of Essential Art House collections. If you are wondering which of those five collections to start with, here's how I decided.

I consulted 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, a sort of dead-tree version of websites like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic. It provides half-page or full-page reviews of 1001 films from around the world, with films chosen from a list of 1300 aggregated from "best film" lists that others have assembled. The book is weighted towards cinephiles, but it casts a wider net, with blockbusters, cult films, slapstick, and some harder-to-label genres. For more on what criteria were used by that book, check Amazon's page (here is a link to the 2011 edition).

I used "1001 Movies" to narrow my choice down to two collections: Volume I (this one), and Volume II. Four of the six films in Volume I are also in "1001 Movies": Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, Renoir's Grand Illusion, Kurosawa's Rashomon, and Bergman's Wild Strawberries. The only collection with more matches was Volume II, which has five. Both volumes had a Kurosawa film; Vol. I has Renoir and Bergman, while Vol. II has Fellini and the Archers. Based purely on what I knew about the films it was hard to choose, but Amazon's prices in fall 2011 were the tie breaker: at $76, Volume II was more than twice the price of Volume I. If later on, their prices are comparable, it'll be a harder decision, unless you decide to buy both. :-)

And, if you're lucky to find them cheap like I and the reviewer before me did, you're treated to an inexpensive means to fill gaps in your collection of some of the greatest films of all time. And with directors like Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski, Peter Brook, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Renoir helming the cinematic saints directorial chairs, it's time to kick back and be guaranteed hours of enchanting enjoyment. The only drawback is, unlike the full-blown Criterion releases, these come bare-bones - no supplements whatsoever, but this is inconsequential considering some of the minutia in the extras don't necessarily add much to your enjoyment of the treasures enclosed here. A great place to begin your exploration of older celluloid masterworks.

Length:: 0:44 Mins

If you enjoy classic cinema, then this set is for you. If you are not familiar with these films, I suggest you look them up individually and determine whether or not you might like them. Some are foreign films, and therefore not in the English language (they are subtitled). Many of the films were shot in Black & White, and are presented in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (what is now called "Full Screen").

Like all Criterion releases, the video and audio quality is top-notch (for a DVD, anyway). The difference between these movies and most criterion collection titles is that these do not have bonus material - they are movie only releases.

The packaging is very nice. Each movie comes in it's own clear DVD case, with beautiful cover art. Each movie also comes with an insert that features a 2-page summary of the movie, cast and credits, and a list of the DVD chapters/scene selection. It all comes packaged inside a sturdy outer box.

I highly recommend these movies - they are presented in high quality video/audio and accurately represent the vision of the filmmakers.

I also purchased Volume 3 of this collection, and highly recommend it: Essential Art House, Vol. 3

NOTE: If you are not interested in the complete set but want one or two movies, these titles have also been released individually. Even if you want all six, in some cases it may be cheaper to buy them individually than as a set (Amazon's prices are always changing).