Product Details

• Actors: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
• Directors: n, a
• Format: Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: March 29, 2011
• Run Time: 960 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004GSVXDA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,326 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Basil rathbone as the legendary sherlock holmes and nigel bruce as the benerable dr john h watson. Comprised of all 14 films on 5 discs. Studio: Mpi Home Video Release Date: 03/22/2011 Starring: Basil Rathbone Run time: 960 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Holmes on Blu-Ray -- Be Sure to Support It!, March 23, 2011

By 

Andre Dursin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: Complete Collection [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES COLLECTION (MPI): HD enthusiasts with a passion for the Golden Age need to do themselves a favor next week by picking up MPI's Blu-Ray box-set of the "Sherlock Holmes Collection," which not only will encourage the release of more titles like it but also infuse your collection with terrific HD presentations of the 14 vintage Holmes mysteries starring Basil Rathbone as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective and Nigel Bruce as his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson.

The five-disc BD set offers the duo's first two series entries - "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and the outstanding "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" - which were produced at Fox as Grade-A productions in 1939, as well as the following 12 pictures Rathbone and Bruce starred in for Universal Pictures beginning in 1942.

Universal's entries differed from the Fox films in a number of ways: the studio produced the films on a lower (though not entirely bargain-basement) budget and, most notably, initially shifted the stories away from Victorian era England to the then-present day of the 1940s. This enabled the producers to offer more "contemporary" WWII-era stories (most evidently seen in "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror," "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon," and "Sherlock Holmes in Washington"), designed to appeal to populist sentiment of the time with anti-Nazi themes permeating the respective mysteries. Additional entries - "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death," "The Spider Woman," "The Scarlet Claw," "The Pearl of Death," "The House of Fear," "The Woman in Green," "Pursuit to Algiers," "Terror by Night" and "Dressed to Kill" - lessened the war-time rhetoric, with the latter entries also de-emphasizing the modern trappings of the era in favor of a tone more in keeping with the material's literary roots.

Some of the pictures are more successful than others (and some are a far cry from Conan Doyle's stories), but with Rathbone and Bruce onboard, every one of them is at least entertaining and MPI's Blu-Ray set is just tremendous. Universal's 12 entries were painstakingly restored by the UCLA Archive over a span of nearly ten years; despite working often with less-than-stellar materials, the Archive's efforts were dazzling, particularly considering the shambles some of the films were in (several had entered into the public domain after Universal sold them all in the `50s, resulting in decades of showings that were generations removed from the original negatives).

The 1080p AVC encoded transfers look like real film, with grain prevailing throughout, which is a necessity given the age and condition of the elements (and make no mistake - print damage and numerous other issues are occasionally evident throughout). When screened on larger sets, there's no question viewers will see an appreciable gain in detail over their prior HD editions. Informative extras are carried over from MPI's prior DVD releases of the pictures, including a half-dozen commentary tracks, an interview with UCLA preservationist Robert Gitt, a number of trailers, a photo gallery and several theatrical trailers.

This is a marvelous release and one that comes highly recommended for all Sherlock Holmes fans and Golden Age enthusiasts, and hopefully the sign of more classics to come in HD.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much superior to the MPI DVDs these Blu-rays are a wonder to behold, May 20, 2011

By 

Darren Harrison "DVD collector and reviewer" (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: Complete Collection [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I was very hesitant about purchasing this Blu-ray set. After all, I own the MPI released DVDs which were themselves an enormous step-up in quality from previous incarnations of the 14 Basil Rathbone movies on home video. However, the Blu-ray set, in addition to offering an additional audio commentary is remarkably even superior to the DVDs here presented in glorious HD 1080p/AVC-encoded.
Several years ago UCLA restored 12 of the 14 Basil Rathbone movies (the two belonging to 20th Century Fox "Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" were not restored) and MPI released those 12 in a three-part collection. For completions sake they then released the two non-restored Fox movies as single-disc DVD editions. Having fond childhood memories of watching these movies Friday nights on BBC2 in my native U.K., I found those DVDs an easy purchase, and do not regret that purchase - the set having since offered hours of enjoyment.
So, it was with hesitation that I approached the news that the 14 Basil Rathbone movies were to be released as a set on high definition Blu-rays. Exactly how much a jump in quality could be achieved on movies that were essentially B features in the 1940s? Would the leap in picture quality from the DVDs be enough to warrant putting down cash on these classics? Eventually, after discussing the matter with some contacts online who already had these Blu-rays, I took the plunge and am very glad I did.
The Blu-rays offer the opportunity to see these movies with such depth and clarity that the DVDs pale in comparison. The amount of detail in these Blu-rays is so stunning that I dare to say this will be the definitive home video editions of these pictures, it's hard to imagine that the picture could be even better presented.
In an attractive presentation (that incidentally takes up about one-fifth of the shelf space of the DVD sets), this Blu-ray set is a must-own for any self-respecting Holmesian. The plots of the movies may seem positively pedestrian by today's standards but Rathbone performs the part of Holmes so perfectly that he remains my favorite incarnation of Conan Doyle's iconic character. My personal preference is for the two Fox movies that place Holmes in his proper timeframe, but the remaining 12 Universal movies are also immensely entertaining with my personal favorites being "The House of Fear" and "Terror by Night".
Clocking in at 960 minutes the 14 movies included are:
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939, 1:19:43)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939, 1:21:42)
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942, 1:05:29)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943, 1:08:46)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943, 1:11:32)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943, 1:08:06)
Sherlock Holmes: The Spider Woman (1944, 1:02:11)
Sherlock Holmes: The Scarlet Claw (1944, 1:13:48)
Sherlock Holmes: The Pearl of Death (1944, 1:08:40)
Sherlock Holmes: The House of Fear (1945, 1:09:10)
Sherlock Holmes: The Woman in Green (1945, 1:07:45)
Sherlock Holmes: Pursuit to Algiers (1945, 1:05:04)
Sherlock Holmes: Terror by Night (1946, 59:38)
Sherlock Holmes: Dressed to Kill (1946, 1:11:50)

All of the special features from the DVDs are included and these Blu-rays include an additional audio commentary to the five that existed on the DVDs. This all new track features David Gregory, Richard Valley, and actress Patricia Morrison, collectively discussing "Dressed to Kill."

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Blu-Ray price, even if you own the DVD set, April 2, 2011

By 

Jarman - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes: Complete Collection [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

The original MPI DVD restoration was certainly a stunning collection. After a quick comparison of MPI's DVDs
played on a Blu-ray player and this new Blu-ray set , there is a noticeable improvement with this new release.
The film lines and dust spots are there throughout, but the picture itself is sharper and the vintage feel just adds
to the enjoyment and appeal of these classics.

An earlier review pointed out that these were not shot on the best equipment in their day, and I will say that compared
to the Blu-ray of say Casablanca, the image quality of this collection isn't as rich. But it's quite close and in my opinion,
well worth the purchase.