Product Details

• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0034JKZBI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,795 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but still an excellent collection, May 31, 2010

By 

S. Morton - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NEW Legend Collection (DVD) (DVD)

This is a collection of six fantastic films by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. It may ship from locations in the U.S., but it is in fact a South Korean box set. It has English titles on the outside of the box, but the inside liner notes are entirely in Korean. All the DVDs do play on Region 1 DVD players though, so no problem there. The movies are all in English with optional Korean subtitles that are easy to turn off on the DVD menus, and a couple also have optional Spanish and/or English subtitles as well. Other than that, none of the DVDs have any extras. The quality is not uniform across all the movies, however. Here's a basic breakdown of each DVD:

Citizen Kane: Actually has Korean, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles. This transfer is very high quality, as one would expect, and while there are no extras, this is an excellent DVD to have in your collection.

Mr. Arkadin: This is actually the Criterion Collection 98 minute version titled Confidential Report. It doesn't have any of the Criterion extras, but it does have their insignia at the beginning. I'm not sure if it's the "best" or "most accurate" version, but it's a high quality transfer and well worth watching.

The Trial: This is actually the Milestone version, and it's a good quality transfer, with everything fairly clear of dirt and scratches, though it looks like there's still room for it to be restored. This is the only DVD to have any sort of extra, and that's only the original teaser trailer which is pretty cool.

The Magnificent Ambersons: This is the DVD I was looking most forward to having, but it's the most disappointing DVD in the box. The film has never been officially released on a Region 1 DVD, so this is evidently some sort of bootleg. The truth is, it looks like it was transferred from a 20-year-old VHS copy, with rather blurry picture quality and only decent sound. There's even a small skip at the very beginning: Welles begins his opening narration, but after two or three sentences, it skips forward--almost unnoticeably unless you know what's supposed to be there--about 20 seconds. This means the whole rhythm of one of the greatest openings ever is thrown off a bit, and it takes awhile to recover. I haven't watched through the whole thing, but most of the rest looks fine--this is hopefully the only skip in the film. Nevertheless the film is still watchable and valuable to own.

Macbeth: This is another disappointing DVD, though I had lower hopes for it. It is a 102 minute version, which doesn't seem quite right according to IMDB, but there it is. The transfer quality is watchable, but even worse than The Magnificent Ambersons, with some rather scratchy and screechy sound as well.

Chimes at Midnight: I believe this is the Spanish DVD version. It is quite good quality, and probably the film this collection is most worth buying for. It could still use a large-scale restoration of course, but what is here is probably the best you can find on DVD anywhere.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this collection, though the skip at the beginning of Ambersons is extremely irritating. I got it for $45, and I consider that a terrific bargain. Hopefully this review is helpful to those deciding whether to buy this or not.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great news for Orson Welles fans!, March 22, 2010

By 

C. Redwine (Cypress, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NEW Legend Collection (DVD) (DVD)

All six discs play just fine in standard American equipment. Video and audio quality overall very good, and sound well synchronized with picture. Watching these versions of "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Chimes at Midnight" is a pleasure.