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Coen Brothers Collection (Blood Simple/Fargo/Miller's Crossing/Raising Arizona) [Blu-ray] Blu-ray – Subtitled, May 6, 2014
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The films of Academy Award® Winners Joel Coen and Ethan Coen are breathtakingly bold, stunningly original and marvelously entertaining. This must-own collection from these visionary filmmakers includes four iconic movies, presented in breathtaking Blu-ray high definition.
Blood Simple Blu-ray
From the celebrated filmmaking team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (Fargo, Raising Arizona), comes this visually stunning tale of a double-cross—and murder—in a small town. When the owner of a backwoods bar hires a man to kill his cheating wife and her boyfriend, he opens a door into the criminal world that he’ll never be able to shut. Blood Simple hurtles forward with the speed and intensity of a fired bullet...and delivers as devastating an impact as has ever been felt from a noir film!
Fargo Blu-ray
Nominated for seven Oscars® and winner of two, this darkly amusing thriller combines a first-rate cast, "a dazzling mix of mirth and malice" (Rolling Stone) and a bizarre kidnapping plot that unravels the Midwest like never before. Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi, Fargo is a brilliant tour de force from the creators of Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Miller's Crossing Blu-ray
Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (Raising Arizona, Fargo) create a complex and graphic vision of gangsterism set during Prohibition and featuring a riveting rouges’ gallery of killers and con men.
Leo (Albert Finney), a likeable Irish gangster boss, rules an Eastern city along with Tom (Gabriel Byrne), his trusted lieutenant and counselor. But just as their authority is challenged by an Italian underboss (Jon Polito) and his ruthless henchman (J.E. Freeman), Leo and Tom also fall for the same woman (Marcia Gay Harden). Tom, caught in the jaws of a gangland power struggle, walks a deadly tightrope as he tries to control and manipulate its violent outcome.
Raising Arizona Blu-ray
Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter and John Goodman lead an all-star cast in Ethan and Joel Coen’s celebrated comedy.
Once he decides to give up crime, a small-time robber (Cage) proposes to a pretty cop (Hunter). But when the newlyweds learn they can’t conceive a baby, they decide to steal one from a couple who seem to have one to spare – since they just had quintuplets! With its outrageous plot, fast-paced action and even some wild pyrotechnics, Raising Arizona will forever have a place in the hearts of lovers – and film lovers – everywhere.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTwentieth Century-Fox
- Publication dateMay 6, 2014
- Dimensions7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983's Blood Simple is grisly comic noir that marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson somehow fused with the comic tabloid Weird Tales, and you get the idea.) The story concerns a Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a seedy private detective (M. Emmett Walsh) to follow his cheating wife (Frances McDormand in her first film appearance), and then kill her and her lover (John Getz). The gumshoe turns the tables on his client, and suddenly a bad situation gets much, much worse, with some violent goings-on that are as elemental as they are shocking. (A scene in which a character who has been buried alive suddenly emerges from his own grave instantly becomes an archetypal nightmare.) Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld before he became an A-list director in Hollywood, Blood Simple established the hyperreal look and feel of the Coens' productions (undoubtedly inspired a bit by filmmaker Sam Raimi, whose The Evil Dead had just been coedited by Joel). Sections of the film have proved to be an endurance test for art-house movie fans, particularly an extended climax that involves one shock after another but ends with a laugh at the absurdity of criminal ambition. This is definitely one of the triumphs of the 1980s and the American independent film scene in general. --Tom Keogh
Review for Fargo
Leave it to the wildly inventive Coen brothers (Joel directs, Ethan produces, they both write) to concoct a fiendishly clever kidnap caper that's simultaneously a comedy of errors, a Midwestern satire, a taut suspense thriller, and a violent tale of criminal misfortune. It all begins when a hapless car salesman (played to perfection by William H. Macy) ineptly orchestrates the kidnapping of his own wife. The plan goes horribly awry in the hands of bumbling bad guys Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare (one of them being described by a local girl as "kinda funny lookin'" and "not circumcised"), and the pregnant sheriff of Brainerd, Minnesota, (played exquisitely by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning role) is suddenly faced with a case of multiple murders. Her investigation is laced with offbeat observations about life in the rural hinterland of Minnesota and North Dakota, and Fargo embraces its local yokels with affectionate humor. At times shocking and hilarious, Fargo is utterly unique and distinctly American, bearing the unmistakable stamp of its inspired creators. --Jeff Shannon
Review for Miller's Crossing
Arguably the best film by Joel and Ethan Coen, the 1990 Miller's Crossing stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom, a loyal lieutenant of a crime boss named Leo (Albert Finney) who is in a Prohibition-era turf war with his major rival, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). A man of principle, Tom nevertheless is romantically involved with Leo's lover (Marcia Gay Harden), whose screwy brother (John Turturro) escapes a hit ordered by Caspar only to become Tom's problem. Making matters worse, Tom has outstanding gambling debts he can't pay, which keeps him in regular touch with a punishing enforcer. With all the energy the Coens put into their films, and all their focused appreciation of genre conventions and rules, and all their efforts to turn their movies into ironic appreciations of archetypes in American fiction, they never got their formula so right as with Miller's Crossing. With its Hammett-like dialogue and Byzantine plot and moral chaos mitigated by one hero's personal code, the film so transcends its self-scrutiny as a retro-crime thriller that it is a deserved classic in its own right. --Tom Keogh
Review for Raising Arizona
Blood Simple made it clear that the cinematically precocious Coen brothers (writer-director Joel and writer-producer Ethan) were gifted filmmakers to watch out for. But it was the outrageously farcical Raising Arizona that announced the Coens' darkly comedic audacity to the world. It wasn't widely seen when released in 1987, but its modest audience was vocally supportive, and this hyperactive comedy has since developed a large and loyal following. It's the story of "Ed" (for Edwina, played by Holly Hunter), a policewoman who falls in love with "Hi" (for H.I. McDonnough, played by Nicolas Cage) while she's taking his mug shots. She's infertile and he's a habitual robber of convenience stores, and their folksy marital bliss depends on settling down with a rug rat. Unable to conceive, they kidnap one of the newsworthy quintuplets born to an unpainted-furniture huckster named Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), who quickly hires a Harley-riding mercenary (Randall "Tex" Cobb) to track the baby's whereabouts. What follows is a full-throttle comedy that defies description, fueled by the Coens' lyrical redneck dialogue, the manic camerawork of future director Barry Sonnenfeld, and some of the most inventively comedic chase scenes ever filmed. Some will dismiss the comedy for being recklessly over-the-top; others will love it for its clever mix of slapstick action, surreal fantasy, and homespun family values. One thing's for sure--this is a Coen movie from start to finish, and that makes it undeniably unique. --Jeff Shannon
Product details
- ASIN : B00553K8FY
- Publisher : Twentieth Century-Fox (May 6, 2014)
- Language : English
- Item Weight : 9.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #886,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on August 31, 2011
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Fox has given us individual cases for each movie, which I like a lot better than the cheap cardboard packaging of other sets. The discs themselves look and sound great. Most knowledgeable Blu-ray buyers know that there's a sliding scale, the age of the film and the cost invested in the release will determine how good it will look, and those films that have suffered from poor storage or mishandling are special challenges. I think, on the sliding scale, the Coen Brothers films included here look fantastic. These are mostly independently made films, in the range of twenty to twenty-six years old (excluding Fargo), none of them using Hollywood blockbuster money. I think Fox has done a bang-up job on their MGM license releases, and the Coen Brothers set continues that streak. The colors are as vibrant as each film's color palette allows, and a welcome amount of detail is brought out on Blu-ray. For artistic and intelligent films, the Coen Brothers employ a lot of kinetic camerawork and striking visuals, more in line with big-money Hollywood films, and these releases showcase that better than the DVDs I've seen. Occasional softness or a little grain notwithstanding, these are very well-done Blu-ray, and I think easily the best these film have looked since they first hit theaters.
The sound is very solid, though I have to admit my system isn't the best way to test that. No noticeable flaws to me. English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital Surround on Arizona and Miller's, Blood Simple is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and French 5.1 DTS on Arizona and Miller's, no other language tracks on Blood Simple. Fargo is the same as before, English 5.1 DTS Master Audio and Dolby Digital Surround, Spanish, French, German, and Italian 5.1 DTS, Portugese and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. All are 50GB dual layer discs, ACV @ 39 MBPS (Blood Simple), 31 MBPS (Raising Arizona and Fargo), and 30 MBPS (Miller's Crossing).
Special features are a little thin, but we would be complaining about the wait if Fox put off these releases until the Coen Brothers wanted to contribute more in-depth features and commentary. Raising Arizona essentially gets nothing (trailers and TV spots, and if ever a film was overdue praise, it's this one. A loaded special edition may be planned for some time (25th anniversary is next year), but for anyone who wants the film looking its best (or pretty damn good), this edition is commendable. Blu-ray buyers know the bread and butter of most studios are new releases, not catalog titles, so this is nothing we haven't seen before, and better than a lot of them.
Menus and playback features are pretty stylish. Studios seldom get credit for that, but the extra work is appreciated.
It would have been downright heroic to get Barton Fink with these other early Coen Brothers favorites for the same price, but Fox probably makes a better profit including a previously-released film which has already been paid for, and they've been pretty generous to make the other three titles individually available, if you only want one or two. Not a bad compromise. These are excellent films, fantastic stories and great acting, incredible directing and original ideas, must-owns for me, and if they haven't been given Lord of the Rings-level attention, they've at least been treated pretty respectfully. I'll wait for Barton Fink to get its own release, and get my Coen Brothers fix in the meantime with the four that are included.
By J. Corbit on August 30, 2011
Fox has given us individual cases for each movie, which I like a lot better than the cheap cardboard packaging of other sets. The discs themselves look and sound great. Most knowledgeable Blu-ray buyers know that there's a sliding scale, the age of the film and the cost invested in the release will determine how good it will look, and those films that have suffered from poor storage or mishandling are special challenges. I think, on the sliding scale, the Coen Brothers films included here look fantastic. These are mostly independently made films, in the range of twenty to twenty-six years old (excluding Fargo), none of them using Hollywood blockbuster money. I think Fox has done a bang-up job on their MGM license releases, and the Coen Brothers set continues that streak. The colors are as vibrant as each film's color palette allows, and a welcome amount of detail is brought out on Blu-ray. For artistic and intelligent films, the Coen Brothers employ a lot of kinetic camerawork and striking visuals, more in line with big-money Hollywood films, and these releases showcase that better than the DVDs I've seen. Occasional softness or a little grain notwithstanding, these are very well-done Blu-ray, and I think easily the best these film have looked since they first hit theaters.
The sound is very solid, though I have to admit my system isn't the best way to test that. No noticeable flaws to me. English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital Surround on Arizona and Miller's, Blood Simple is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and French 5.1 DTS on Arizona and Miller's, no other language tracks on Blood Simple. Fargo is the same as before, English 5.1 DTS Master Audio and Dolby Digital Surround, Spanish, French, German, and Italian 5.1 DTS, Portugese and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. All are 50GB dual layer discs, ACV @ 39 MBPS (Blood Simple), 31 MBPS (Raising Arizona and Fargo), and 30 MBPS (Miller's Crossing).
Special features are a little thin, but we would be complaining about the wait if Fox put off these releases until the Coen Brothers wanted to contribute more in-depth features and commentary. Raising Arizona essentially gets nothing (trailers and TV spots, and if ever a film was overdue praise, it's this one. A loaded special edition may be planned for some time (25th anniversary is next year), but for anyone who wants the film looking its best (or pretty damn good), this edition is commendable. Blu-ray buyers know the bread and butter of most studios are new releases, not catalog titles, so this is nothing we haven't seen before, and better than a lot of them.
Menus and playback features are pretty stylish. Studios seldom get credit for that, but the extra work is appreciated.
It would have been downright heroic to get Barton Fink with these other early Coen Brothers favorites for the same price, but Fox probably makes a better profit including a previously-released film which has already been paid for, and they've been pretty generous to make the other three titles individually available, if you only want one or two. Not a bad compromise. These are excellent films, fantastic stories and great acting, incredible directing and original ideas, must-owns for me, and if they haven't been given Lord of the Rings-level attention, they've at least been treated pretty respectfully. I'll wait for Barton Fink to get its own release, and get my Coen Brothers fix in the meantime with the four that are included.
The Coens are a prickly pair of daring auteurs whose sometimes affectionate and often misanthropic takes on humanity are not to everyone's taste. They write for their favorite actors, among them George Clooney, John Goodman, John Turturro, and Steve Buscemi, who repeatedly appear in their ensembles, providing them endlessly wry dialog and deliciously clever irony.
The films:
The critically praised but bleakly comic "A Serious Man" (2009) deals with a quest by a physics professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) to understand the purpose of his life, one continually beset by misfortune and absurdity. As his family, career, and finances disintegrate, the professor turns to his Jewish faith for a consolation that is questionable at best. The story inevitably brings to mind the biblical book of Job.
Set in Washington, DC, "Burn After Reading" (2008) features a terrific troupe of actors: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and John Malkovich. They play arrogant, avaricious, duplicitous, sex-obsessed, and downright stupid schmucks who collide with one another and with fate in myriad combinations and permutations. Spy thriller meets Laurel & Hardy and riotous misadventure ensues.
Cult classic "The Big Lebowski" (1998) is as odd as they come, a gleefully profane and hallucinatory story about bowling, mistaken identity, and mind-altering substances. Its characters include a philanthropist, a pornographer, a police chief, a Vietnam veteran, a farmer's daughter gone bad, a gang of German nihilists, and the ultimate slacker, indelibly portrayed by Jeff "The Dude" Bridges. He's joined by an all-star cast: John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Ben Gazzara, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Sam Elliott, and others.
The surreal, paranoid "Barton Fink" (1991) is an atmospheric cross between Franz Kafka and William Burroughs. John Turturro plays a playwright-turned-screenwriter suffering from writer's block and John Goodman plays his insurance agent neighbor at a run-down hotel in Hollywood. Under pressure to complete a screenplay for a studio, Fink finds inspiration in a very dark source. What's in the box? That's for you to figure out!
Finally, there's "Intolerable Cruelty" (2003), which concerns a high-powered divorce attorney (George Clooney) and the beautiful gold-digger he falls for (Catherine Zeta-Jones). This is a very funny, take-no-prisoners battle of the sexes in which only the most relentlessly scheming character can win.
My recommendation:
Buy this collection. If you add the similarly low-priced -- and similarly wonderful -- Blu-ray anthology "From the Minds of the Coen Brothers" ("Blood Simple," "Fargo," "Miller's Crossing," and "Raising Arizona") and a few individual films ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "No Country for Old Men," and "True Grit"), you will have the 12 Coen movies that I think matter most, a weirdly enthralling mix of comedy and tragedy imbued with mystery, poetry, and genius.
Regarding the transfers, Blood Simple and Miller's Crossing are fair, Raising Arizona and Fargo are very good. Still, to get these four movies you can't beat the price.
Top reviews from other countries
I thought that it might be useful to advise other potential purchasers of this Blu Ray collection that (despite what the packaging might tell you, or indeed any other advice that you might receive),
I can reliably inform you that all of the discs are 'Region-free' EXCEPT FOR Blood Simple which uniquely has 'Region A' encoding.
The other Blu Ray titles are of course excellent and quirky and probably familiar to Coen fans.
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on Blood Simple, as I must either purchase a hardware mod for my Sony BDP-S780 to make it 'Region-free' for Blu Ray, or (for much the same price), purchase a USA Blu Ray player...
So please bear this in mind if considering purchasing this item.

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