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The David Lean Collection

Does anybody already have this edition or has seen any reviews? It's the premiere of THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS and MADELEINE on DVD and very cheap. How does it compare to Carlton and Criterion editions and what about subtitles?

Thanks in advance for any information.

Some samples here.

All are acceptable, sub-Criterion transfers apart from The Passionate Friends, which has poor contrast, low detail and is the only one in the set with interlacing issues, as far as I can tell from a quick inspection.

Despite containing 9 discs, the box is pretty "lean" too. It's one of those flip-flop fold-out affairs that requires a diploma in origami to put it all back together. Optional English subs are available on each film.

Speaking of David Lean, wasn't MGM to release a region 1 box set of 8 early films? Web site THE DIGITAL BITS still has the art work posted but no date of release.

Kinsayder wrote:Some samples here.

All are acceptable, sub-Criterion transfers apart from The Passionate Friends, which has poor contrast, low detail and is the only one in the set with interlacing issues, as far as I can tell from a quick inspection.

Despite containing 9 discs, the box is pretty "lean" too. It's one of those flip-flop fold-out affairs that requires a diploma in origami to put it all back together. Optional English subs are available on each film.

Thanks very much for this information, greatly appreciated. The subs are the main selling point for me.

atcolomb wrote:Speaking of David Lean, wasn't MGM to release a region 1 box set of 8 early films? Web site THE DIGITAL BITS still has the art work posted but no date of release.

I'm trying to find info on this as well...anyone know what's going on with this release??

Uhh...Anyone? Anyone??

No news yet on anything on a David Lean box set release but i hope somebody does release his 1952 "BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER" in a region 1 release. I saw it along time ago on tv and liked it alot!!

Gary mentions that this is back on the release calendar over at Beaver...is it coming out any time soon?

rwaits wrote:Gary mentions that this is back on the release calendar over at Beaver...is it coming out any time soon?

Well, it's Lean's centenary next year, which might answer a few of the questions in this thread.

This is 64% off at Amazon.uk right now: £17.98 plus shipping.

Apparently the DVDs have all been restored. Same discs as the earlier box set, but with the added bonus of The Sound Barrier.

I don't own it, but it's a tempting buy.

Tolmides wrote:Apparently the DVDs have all been restored. Same discs as the earlier box set, but with the added bonus of The Sound Barrier.

I don't own it, but it's a tempting buy.

No, with the added bonus of 'In Which We Serve' 'The Sound Barrier' is in both sets. BTW, now in the boxset sale at HMV UK (the description says nine discs, it is 10)

Ah, my mistake John.

The David Lean Centenary Box Set is part of the current HMV box set sale at £25.99, and I received mine this morning.

I had not long bought the nine disc set when this new 10 film set was announced. Every film has undergone a spanking new restoration, in partnership with the David Lean Foundation, The BFI, Granada Ventures and Studio Canal, and boy, does it show. A brief run through shows these new transfers to be utterly gorgeous, from the totally unmarked BBFC certificates to the end credits. The Technicolor splendour of 'Blithe Spirit' is revealed at last, the gorgeous mono cinematography of 'Great Expectations', 'Oliver Twist', 'Hobson's Choice', 'The Sound Barrier' et al rendered eye-wateringly clear with hardly a mark to be seen anywhere.

It's packaged up much the same as the old collection, but with new fangled disc holders making them much easier to remove. There's also a booklet, something of a beginner's guide, but nice to have nonetheless.

I managed to unload my old set some weeks ago in preparation for this new box entering a sale; no doubt it will drop a few quid cheaper at some point, but I'm more than happy to have this now. Beautiful, beautiful work...

Thanks, John. Some of these Lean films (e.g. Oliver Twist) had already been upgraded once from their original (UK) DVD releases, and until your post I wouldn't have believed further improvement possible in SD. (A few of course - e.g. The Passionate Friends - badly needed new transfers.)

Are the extras carried over to the new set - particularly the 25-minute docs for films such as Oliver Twist and Brief Encounter?

Yes, everything seems to be there. I've just watched 'This Happy Breed' and 'In Which We Serve' all the way through and I'll swear there was not a mark of any significance - not one - on either. The latter is right up there with the very best monochrome transfers and the former boasts a quite gorgeous new Technicolor transfer (Network are bringing it out as a 2-disc SE soon BTW; same transfer new extras).

John Hodson wrote:I had not long bought the nine disc set when this new 10 film set was announced.

Me too, to no small amount of disappointment when viewing the previous set. There's a couple decent transfers there, but most were on the heartbreaking side. I'll probably wait until the probable Amazon price drops really kick in, but I'm quite looking forward to the Centenary set. Thanks for the information John, and please post anything else about the set you think worthy of passing on.

Does it carry english subs?

John Hodson wrote:Yes, everything seems to be there. I've just watched 'This Happy Breed' and 'In Which We Serve' all the way through and I'll swear there was not a mark of any significance - not one - on either. The latter is right up there with the very best monochrome transfers and the former boasts a quite gorgeous new Technicolor transfer (Network are bringing it out as a 2-disc SE soon BTW; same transfer new extras).

Thanks again, John. Yes, I notice Network will be releasing This Happy Breed as a two-discer with (apparently) the 1985 South Bank Show special (A Life in Film) as the main extra. I wonder if copyright issues will force them to remove clips and music from the later films, as Network has done before (e.g. their Hitchcock set).

This Happy Breed seems to me a strange pairing as - while an important film for Lean (his first sole directorial credit) - I've never felt there is much of his later style or themes in it. The first three films are all more Coward than Lean, although the plot of Blithe Spirit (great fun) does at least lend itself to Lean's obsession with subjective viewpoint, which I've always felt is the key to understanding his work. When I programmed a theatrical Lean retrospective in 1982, I called it "The Eye of the Beholder".

Lino wrote:Does it carry english subs?

Yes, they do.

Jonathan, I'm sure the documentary will be cut for the usual 'contractual reasons', but still well worth owning.

John Hodson wrote:Jonathan, I'm sure the documentary will be cut for the usual 'contractual reasons', but still well worth owning.

They have two choices: cut all the footage they don't own, or pay for the right to use it, since the clips were only originally cleared for one-off broadcast.

Since we're talking people like Sony (which owns Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia), I suspect option (2) is probably too expensive to consider. But I'd love to be proved wrong.

I'd love you to be wrong too, but I'm holding on to my off-air tape!

Jonathan S wrote: (A few of course - e.g. The Passionate Friends - badly needed new transfers.)

Finally got round to 'The Passionate Friends' (fast becoming a Lean favourite) and you'll be pleased to read that it's now quite beautiful throughout.

The only blemish so far is the fact that the single 'floater' in the set - 'Madeleine' - had a minor but deep scratch on it and stuttered badly, so back it has gone to be replaced.

John what setup did you watch This Happy Breed on?

I watched it on my pc with an lcd monitor and there is some major ghosting whenever the camera moves or actors move.

John Hodson wrote:

Jonathan S wrote: (A few of course - e.g. The Passionate Friends - badly needed new transfers.)

Finally got round to 'The Passionate Friends' (fast becoming a Lean favourite) and you'll be pleased to read that it's now quite beautiful throughout.

The only blemish so far is the fact that the single 'floater' in the set - 'Madeleine' - had a minor but deep scratch on it and stuttered badly, so back it has gone to be replaced.

Glad to hear about the big improvement on The Passionate Friends. For sheer technical skill, I think it's one of his most dazzling films, though I always find Ann Todd a chilly performer (perhaps appropriately so in Madeleine) and I always sympathise more with the Claude Rains character than the passionate friends!

Will HMV replace individual discs? I bought the previous Lean Collection from them and had to keep sending the whole set back because each time one or two discs were badly scratched. I eventually gave up trying to get a pristine set as there was obviously something wrong at the manufacturing (or packaging) end - none were floaters in my case.