Customer Reviews

The Mel Brooks Collection [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Since I grew up in the 80's, I grew up with Mel Brooks' films. I have been a fan for as long as I can remember. When I saw this set listed on Amazon for $45.99, I couldn't pass it up. I must say that Fox has outdone themselves here. Those of you who have been buying Fox's DVDs and blu-rays probably know that there is nothing special about the majority of them, as many are lacking special features, etc. But not so with this set. First of all, the video transfers on all nine movies are simply incredible. I have watched all of these movies on DVD in the past, and the blu-ray versions just blows them all away. Every movie also has an impressive collection of special features. These include excellent documentaries (many of which are in HD), deleted scenes, trailers, TV Spots, etc. My only (albeit small) complaint here is that I wish more of the films had commentaries, because I love listening to Mel talk about the making of his movies. He is funny, witty, and he tells a great story. Also included is a 119-page, hard-bound book which talks about the making of all nine films. I am still in the process of reading it, but so far there is a lot of information about the making of the movies that I had not known before. My only other complaint about this set is that it is missing The Producers, Life Stinks, and Dracula: Dead and loving It. It really is too bad that these films were left out for whatever reason, but when they are finally released on blu, I will pick them up just the same. The bottom line is that if you are a fan of Mel Brooks' movies, then you simply can't go wrong here. You will not be sorry.

I love Mel Brooks. When I heard he's having a collection coming out on Blu Ray, I was excited.

If you're a Mel Brooks fan, this is a no brainer. Now for the dissappointing aspects.

This box set WILL NOT fit on your DVD rack without there being some major changes to the layout of your entertainment center. The Blu Ray/book/jacket/thing is roughly the same size as a hard bound coffee table book. It's clunky and it falls apart easily (the binding agents "glue" was weak on my copy. To top it off, you're sliding Blu Ray discs up against straight up card stock inserts to get them out. It's more of an annoyance than anything, but if you can see through that, you're set.

You'll also notice that there's some movies missing. I'm not saying that Dracula: Dead and loving it should be wiped clean from human memory, but it's the completitionist in me that would like to see all his works in something named "Collection". It's really not a collection, isn't it. More like a "greatest hits", or "The ones we want you to remember him by". I was somewhat suprised that The Producers wasn't in this collection either. Was that 10th or 11th movie going to disrupt the balance of the box set and set the world ablaze? probably not, I'm guessing it was those two timing Hollywood lawyers that kept my dream from becoming a reality.

Long story short, Terri Garr was insanely hot and everybody knows that Druish princesses are attacted to money and power, and Darth Helmet has both.

I bought this Mel Brooks Blue-ray collection for my husband as a gift. We have enjoyed watching three of the movies so far. Recently, we watched Spaceballs and as other reviewers have noted, the brand new DVD stopped mid movie. We took the DVD out and wiped it down, saw no signs of scratches. Placed it back in and had the same problem. We couldn't play approximately 2-3 chapters of the movie. We skipped ahead and the rest played fine. We have yet to watch 3 more of the movies and hope this will not be a problem. We enjoy all the extra documentaries and interesting facts about the movies. Mel Brooks is true comic genius and this is a great collection of his work!

DRACULA DEAD AND LOVING IT! why hast though foresaken it, mel?

as much as i see people ignore or hate on it, it is a good funny little movie, and is necessary to cll this set "complete"

This is a nine-disc set of most of the director-writer-actor's films under the control of MGM/Fox. Six of them - Silent Movie, History Of The World Part 1, High Anxiety, To Be or Not to Be, Twelve Chairs, and Robin Hood: Men with Tights - are making their Blu-ray debut in this set. The other three included films - Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs have already gone Blu. This is exactly the same content as the standard DVD set The Mel Brooks Collection (Blazing Saddles / Young Frankenstein / Silent Movie / Robin Hood: Men in Tights / To Be or Not to Be / History of the World, Part 1 / The Twelve Chairs / High Anxiety) except that Spaceballs is in this Blu set and not in the Standard DVD set.

The discs are housed in a book structure with each disc going bare into a slot on a page - kind of like last year's Borzage Murnau set? With all of the scratched discs? In other words, this looks like another packaging nightmare from the folks at Fox/MGM who seem to keep doing this to their prestige sets to the great chagrin of consumers.

In summary, the content looks great here, and the price is more than reasonable, but the packaging I've seen does scare me at this point. The scary packaging is the only reason I'm subtracting one star at this point.

This is the essential collection for any Mel Brooks film. With a few exceptions, this is the first time many of these films have been available in stunning Blu-Ray.

The only negatives of this collection is the lack of two films, The Producers and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. That being said, this is not a matter of some producer saying "Lets not add these films", so much as it is that the studio does not have the rights to these movies (MGM owns the rights to The Producers and Columbia owns Dracula: Dead and Loving It). Its a shame, but there's nothing that can be done. At least they added "To Be or Not to Be", which, while not directed by Mr. Brooks, does star him and his wife. Either way, Dracula was his worst film and isn't entirely missed except maybe from a completionist perspective, so really, only The Producers is missed.

Hopefully soon The Producers will be released on Blu Ray to put on display with this boxset, but until then, this is a great collection and for a great price! Highly recommended!

If you love Mel Brooks, you'll love this collection. His greatest hits with all the extras. While it won't fit on your usual media rack, it is still a must have collection. You'll die laughing as you see him in all of his glory.

I'm going to keep this review short and to the point. Everyone should be familiar with Mel Brooks' body of work at this point and know that his movies are second to none when it comes to comedy. This box set includes seven of his best films and doesn't dissapoint. The special features are great and plenty and the biography book included was a great read and a nice addition. Although this set is rather large and some might find it difficult to fit it into your collection I think it looks great on the shelf, catches peoples attention and makes them want to pull it out and relive these comedy classics. I would deffinatly recomend this set for any Mel Brooks fans and if you aren't familiar with his work then shame on you and you should really definatly buy this.

I recently purchased this set and I'm very happy with it... love the movies, and there are featurettes and more NOT on the regular DVD set to boot! Even with a book, and it is a particularly nice one much better than I expected, this takes up less space than this many traditionally packaged DVDs would so that complaint doesn't seem fair. The worry that many have about scratched DVDs due to their placement in sleeves is also a non-issue for me. NONE of the DVDs were scratched and I'm not clumsy enough to damage them removing them . I also don't watch the same movie day after day after day so these things are not going to be taken in and out over and over...but you'd really have to try and damage them.

Bottom line...I really enjoy most all of these movies a lot and its a brilliant display package and the book is really truly first class, with loads of quality color pictures and stories about the movies. This is an exceptional collection and I ended up paying less than $10 per movie...I can't even go see a lousy new movie in a theater for $10 and these can be enjoyed for years...I feel this deserves 5 stars!

All my favorite Mel Brooks movies, in one place and on blu-ray! This is a great product for Mel Brooks fans. The box is a reasonable size (unlike some other collections), so it fits in my cabinet, and it's easy to watch any of the movies.