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Laurel & Hardy - The Collection (21-disc Box Set) [1918]


RRP: £199.99
Our Price: £49.11 (subject to change)

Another Fine Mess
Review date: 2008-10-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

With apologies to Amazon I bought this set recently from HMV for under £50
and without a doubt it is the best purchase that I`ve ever made. I grew up
watching Laurel & Hardy so it takes me back to my boyhood days as much as
anything possibly could. The presentation box is well made and the contents just fabulous. Don`t bother with the coloured remakes as they
aren`t particularly good, stick to the Black & White films, and in any
event it gives the movies more of a historical feel to them.

The look that both Oliver and Stan give the cameras when something has gone wrong is pure gold. I`m sure Morecambe & Wise used Laurel & Hardy
as their role models. In this day and age of stress and financial worry
this set will put the smiles back on everybody`s face. Unforgettable and
mores the pity that the great duo disliked each other intensely at the
end of their careers.

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Reviews


Great Set!
Review date: 2008-08-18 Rating: 8 out of 10

I live in the United States where only a small handful of the Hal Roach produced Laurel & Hardy films have ever been released on DVD. Not caring to wait any longer for the current U.S. rights holder to issue a comprehensive set of these classics, I decided to order this collection and purchase a region-free DVD player to view them. I'm very glad I did! This set has all of the available L&H silent and sound films produced by the Hal Roach Studios except "Babes in Toyland" (aka "March of the Wooden Soldiers"), "Bonnie Scotland", and "The Devil's Brother" (aka "Fra Diavolo").

I haven't watched all the films yet, but of the "talkies", the ones I have sampled generally have great picture and sound. The only one I've seen so far that appears not up to the this excellent standard is "Be Big".

The silent films are more of a mixed bag as far as their restoration is concerned. These silent films are also found on "The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy" collection from Image Entertainment, and comparing that with this Universal set, I found the former to generally have a better picture. In addition, the Universal set is missing the opening titles for some of the pictures (e.g. "From Soup to Nuts") that are in the Image set. This is the one thing that kept me from giving this set a full five starts. However a plus in favor of the Universal set is the music accompanying the silent films. Only the last half-dozen or so of L&H's silent shorts were released with a Vitaphone disc containing music and sound effects to match the on-screen action. Happily these still exist, and both the Universal and Image sets use them to accompany their respective films. For those older silents which never had a Vitaphone disc, Universal uses newly recorded music, and did a great job with it. The Image set, on the other hand, resorts to using portions of music from other Vitaphone discs, and the result is uneven at best, monotonous at worst (the different music "moods" don't segue into one another, and sound effects are heard that don't match the visuals). If there was just a way of using Image's picture with Universal's music, I would have had no problem giving this set a full five stars!

I do have one other minor complaint which was most likely a problem with the source material Universal used. The opening titles for "The Chimp" are in the wrong order. The first card reads, "Mr. Laurel never got any further than the monkey cage." and the second reads, "Mr. Hardy's aesthetic nature thrilled at the beauties of circus life." The cards should be switched.

All in all, this is fantastic set, and my family and I look forward to sharing many happy hours with Stan and Ollie in the near future!


Be laughin for ever with this ledgend box set!!
Review date: 2008-07-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

Laurel and Hardy are the funniest people and there not even alive anymore!!
Everyone of the episodes are brilliantly put together and they make me laugh so hard.
glad i got it for £40 which is soo cheap from hmv!
FANTASTIC..........

a bargain
Review date: 2008-06-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

a bargain...bought this at hmv 50 quid....dont worry about no booklets...new edition of The Laurel and Hardy Encyclopedia is better..and is republished end of month and available at Amazon

Sheer Genuis from the World's Vintage Comedians
Review date: 2008-06-09 Rating: 10 out of 10

I remember watching Laurel and Hardy as a kid and now looking at this boxset as an adult my view hasn't changed they are still hilarious as the slapstick vintage do-gooder comedians who have a nose for trouble in the most hilarious boxset of the black and white genre anyone is likely to find.The scene that stands out most to me is The Blue Ridge Mountain of Virginia song and dance routine played on all 21 dvds menu introduction which is both innovative and hilarious.This boxset has a colourised option which I didn't care for as the black and white seems to catch the time period. Young and old will love these comic pair of pure genius with good clean fun that children would love especially.Highly Recommended boxset with tons of laughter...Guaranteed

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Oliver Hardy
Stan Laurel

Creators:
Stan Laurel (Primary Contributor)
Oliver Hardy (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582226805
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 21
Format: Box set, Black & White, PAL,
Release date: 2004-05-03
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 999 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1918
Language: English (Original Language)

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