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Sherlock Holmes: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]

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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.

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."

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.

I looked very much forward to this collection on blu-ray and was extremely disappointed in it's quality. I own the four discs box sets on DVD and the first two films on individual DVDs. They are wonderfully restored but the Blu-rays appear to have been created using a far less quality source video. You would not think this would be the case given that MPI put out all the discs, DVD & Blu-ray. The Blu-rays do appear sharper and more detailed but at the same time they contain far more image dirt and hard cuts as well as burns and splices in the source film. I doubled checked 12 of these just in the first three films and NONE appear in the DVD versions. The DVD versions are smooth from scene to scene while the blu-rays will experience glitches that are from rough spots in the original film stock. For example on ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES when the 20th Century Fox intro begins to play, the sound pops and cracks on the blu-ray while it is smooth on the DVD version. A few minutes later when the scene is changing to the courtroom as it fades from a entry written by Sherlock Holmes, the image glitches as it transitions to the next scene. Again it is very smooth on the DVD version. In Voice Of Terror in the last 10 minutes of the film there is a series of hard glitches and film burns & rough splices that appear only on the blu-ray version they do not appear on the DVD version.

The blu-ray reveal a sharper image but also reveal serious flaws that to me make the DVDs I own, much easier to view. Also the blu-ray versions have an additional 20 or so lines of image cropped off of each side. There is clearly more side image on the 4:3 DVD versions. It is very noticable in side by side viewing on identical monitors. I know I am bucking what the other reviewers have said, but if they would do a side by side comparisions, they would see that what I am indicating is true. I only own the DVD 4 disc box sets, and it is possible that the inferior image used for the blu-rays was also used for the full DVD collection box sets. I would not recommend buying the blu-ray if the already the DVD sets orignally released.

This review is will specifically address the question of whether or not this Blu Ray collection of classic Sherlock Holmes films is superior to and a worthy upgrade from the best DVD transfers currently available. I will assume you know the films and will mainly confine my review to issues related to the transfers themselves.

With that said I just wish to add that I have been watching these films for more than 50 years , first on television, then on VHS including some horrid public domain transfers, the MPI DVD's and the until now superior PAL Box Set released by Optimum Classic.

Much has been said about the UCLA Restorations and I feel I must add my voice to this conversation. UCLA , to the very best of my knowledge, did not "restore" these films, rather they rescued and "preserved" them from further deterioration. The difference being the films have NOT be overly cleaned up using the much ballyhooed frame by frame technique used on recent classics such as Ben-Hur, etc. In other words, the scratches, blips, wavering contrast/brightness and other inherent film imperfections remain, whether you purchase these titles on MPI DVD, Optimum Classic PAL or on this MPI Blu Ray release. UCLA did find the very best film elements to use for their preservation program and in some cases did have to revert to 16mm elements to restore certain missing title cards. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the fine work they did over a 10 year period and we are all the richer for it with the classic Rathbone series being preserved digitally for the foreseeable future.

This Blu Ray release gives you all 14 films on 5 discs. Arranged in chronologically order of release it takes up very little shelf space while providing a knock out one-two punch of quality entrainment and amazing quality. This collection easily retires my Optimum Classic PAL set which up to this point were the best classic Holmes transfers I had ever seen.

I am absolutely blown away by the video quality of this Blu Ray set. Having seen each of these films literally scores of time each it is like seeing them for the very first time. I was so happy to see the results that I had trouble sitting still in my chair while watching "Terror by Night" the other night. Overall the transfers are uniformly excellent. Some films fare better than others and this all depends on the condition of the film elements used. The transfer itself is virtually free of digital artifacts. Contrast is right on the money, they are bright, detailed and lush in every respect. DNR and edge enhancement is used to such a minimum that it is virtually imperceptible, if they used it at all. You will not see a pristine image such as the Blu Ray release of "Casablanca" but for "B" movie titles from the 40's the results are absolutely astounding.

As with the video quality the audio varies from feature to feature and again this has to do with the condition of the magnetic or optical soundtrack that existed on the elements used in the preservation. Overall they are VERY good. Presented in 16 bit non compressed linear PCM at 48khz Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes sounds better than it has since it's initial release in theaters.
MPI was not greedy and instead of releasing these one at a time and charging $19.99 each, they have instead given us the entire collection in a reasonable priced 14 film collection. These are a significance value and a set I will go back to again and again for many more hours of great entertainment.

As with most things , there seems to be a slight difference of opinion regarding the quality of these transfers and if these indeed represent a significant upgrade from their DVD counterparts. My position should be obvious, I firmly believe these are the definitive versions available for home video and I can not recommend them highly enough. The best money I have spent in a very long while!

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:

As much as I have raved about the wonderful video quality, it does come with some caveats. Basically the source material quality in some cases goes from uneven, to mid level and even to downright poor. Many times this occurs within the same film and switches quality levels more than once which can be a bit jarring and serves to take you out of the movie when it happens. The same thing is present on my DVD's but it is not so noticeable due to the lower overall resolution.

House of Fear suffers somewhat as the first reel of the presentation is obliviously from an inferior source, either a lower res DVD type file or a particularly bad piece of film , more than likely a 2nd or even 3rd generation print. Then magically at 11 minutes the image snaps to crystal clarity where it stays for another 2 or 3 reels, only to revert back to the lower quality image that the film started with. This goes on until partway thru the later pub scene where things get back to full HD quality and stay there for almost all of the remaining film. It can be a bit maddening at times since the GOOD quality image is so darn good that anything less than that is a big letdown. These are things you do not notice as easily when they happen on the previously released DVD's. It is regrettable as this is one of my favorites, but at least a good 2/3rds of the film has top quality PQ.

Another top favorite of mine is "Terror by Night" and I was very relieved to see this is one of the titles that looks wonderful from start to finish, stock footage of trains not withstanding. Phewww!

Bear all this in mind and before you judge just remember that MPI tried their best to give you all the bits they could from the best sources, but to present the entire film it was necessary for some scenes/reels to be sourced from less than ideal versions, namely 2nd and 3rd generation dupes and even 16mm source material. Basically it is a miracle the films exist at all with this high level of PQ.

The better quality your system is, the more you will notice the imitations of the source materials used. Of course you will ALSO notice the sheer beauty of the "good stuff" when they were working with top quality camera negatives. It IS a mixed bag, but overall the good far outweighs the bad and when it looks good, it looks VERY good.

I've purchased these films from MPI on multiple occasions...4 disc sets, individual releases, and double features. The Blu-Ray set is tops, however. There is nothing new to this set, with the exception of the HD transfers. Also of note: MPI has FINALLY abandoned the irritating violin music over the menus in favor of Frank Skinner's Universal theme music. Great job! Recommended to anyone who is a fan of these films.

Well if you have the money, hdtv, blu-ray player, you have to get this Sherlock Holmes. I have the DVD also, and can I really see the difference. I must see one of the Basil Rathbone , Sherlock Holmes every Saturaday. You get a bigger bang for your money from just being able to see or select one of the three movies on each blu-ray disc. A major advantage, when you're not sure of the many Sherlock Holmes you might want to see. The biggest advantage is the GREAT picture from ALL of the movies in this newest edition, buy it and enjoy yourself!

No matter what is said pro or con about a set like this, a fanatic like me must have it. I've seen all 14 at least 20 times each. I'm 55 and have loved these movies since I watched them late Friday nights with my dad when I was only about 9 years old. My favorite of the 14 is House of Fear which is nearly perfectly clear in my opinion. The quality of the movies vary as they are old and no doubt from different sources, some original, some copies, I don't really have the last word on that and I don't care. The blue ray case seems the same size as a single movie. All 14 movies are on 5 discs. 3 movies per disc and the menu is cool because you still see the current movie while you can look up a different scene on a different movie. That's why I say the set is convenient. Digital and Blue Ray has some little "ANOMILIES" all it's own. For example: FOG DOES NOT WORK WELL WITH DIGITAL. People talk all the time about "GRAIN". That's not film grain, it's the digital anomilie or "screw up" if you will of the digital not knowing which way to go with fuzzy or foggy images. Foggy and or fuzzy images look worse on Blue Ray than they do on VHS. I don't know why but it's true. You can have a scene with fog and things look poor. Then the next brightly lit scene is so clear you can read small letters on items such as a table radio that you never saw before. The sound on all the movies seems better this time around. I'm a music teacher and the instruments in the opening music seem to stand out from each other more clearly than before. On ALL the movies I see new detail that I never saw before, off hand the new things I notice the most are printed letters in the backround that I never read before. I love these movies and have noticed many new things, ENOUGH SAID!!!

I was delighted by the high quality of these restored classic films, as seen in these Blu-ray disks. In the introduction, it was explained that master negatives were available for most of the films, contributing significantly to the quality of the restoration. The tonality of these black-and-white films was especially delightful, and the fine detail of each scene was immediately seen as dramatically better than seen in cable-TV showings. The quality of the fog-enshrouded scenes from "The Hound of the Baskervilles" especially benefitted from the quality of the restoration efforts. There were few visible film print artifacts (dust, scratches, etc).

It's great that we now have access to high-quality Blu-ray versions of these films, on 5 disks. Without significant reservations, I highly recommend that Sherlock Holmes/Basil Rathbone fans acquire this collection!

I had planned on buying "The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection" on the regular DVD format last year, but never got around to it. As time went by, I noticed the same set was put out on in the Blu-ray format and ordered it thru Amazon on the first day of release. Since then, I've watched each film twice. The first time is just for the enjoyment of watching a movie like you would in a movie theatre or at home(in this case). I had never seen any of them before but had heard over the years that the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce versions were the best(more about that later). The second time I watch them is for the restoration(i.e. How does the picture look and how is the sound-can you hear everything. And finally, how does it look and sound on Blu-ray? There are fourteen films in the collection(total running time: 16 hrs, 14 mins.) but only twelve have been restored by Robert Gitt and his exceptional preservation crew at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The first two films in the collection("The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes") were made by 20th Century-Fox and were "not" restored. This is plainly printed in the liner notes on the back of the collection. It's a shame that these first two were not restored because they are probably the best of the series. There are a lot on lines and grain which I found distracting, even on Blu-ray. Hopefully, the restorers at 20th Century Home Video will get around to cleaning these two up in the future. As for the other twelve, they were made at Universal and in most cases Gitt and his crew had access to the original 35mm negative and the resulting prints are just exceptional, especially in the Blu-ray format. As Gitt mentions in his introduction, a 35mm print of "The Scarlet Claw" could not be found and the original negative has been lost so they had to use a 16mm print of the film and then blow it up to 33mm for this set. And it really shows too, even on Blu-ray. So of the twelve Universal releases, eleven are in near perfect condition. So eleven out of fourteen isn't bad, especially on Blu-ray. As for Basil Rathbone, if you watch the films in the order in which they were made you can tell that he was getting bored with the character compared to his earliar performances. I would say that this is evident in about the last six of the series. The same cannot be said for Nigel Bruce who maintains his venerable and likeable Dr. Watson throughout the entire series. He's a joy to watch. Summing up, I would highly recommend this Blu-ray collection for any fans of Sherlock Holmes or old movies in general. It's elementary, as Holmes would say.