Powell & Pressburger 9 Disc DVD set £9.99

[stevie boy]

at HMV in their bargain basement. £22.99 apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by stevie boy at HMV in their bargain basement. £22.99 apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere.

That's not quite the cheapest it's ever been seen, it has been seen for as little as £14.99. But it's still a helluva bargain from the original price of £39.99 or whatever it was. Even at £22.99 that's still only £2.55 per DVD and is a great way for people to get an introduction to the P&P films.

The trouble is that it doesn't include Black Narcissus.
The ITV boxed set of 11 DVDs does contain Black Narcissus and The Tales of Hoffmann but that one (the black boxed set) isn't usually as heavily discounted as the HMV set (the white boxed set)

I did warn HMV when they first mentioned releasing them, that most people who like P&P would already have many (if not all) of the films on individual DVDs. But they went ahead anyway, and it soon finished up in the bargain bin. I suspect they knew that the better ITV collection was due to be released soon and just wanted to get in first.

In both collections they aren't as packed with extras as the Criterion DVDs. Most of them have subtitles, a few have extra little documentaries like The Colour Merchant about Jack Cardiff on the AMOLAD disk and the Carlton documentaries "A Profile of '...'" on the disks for TRS & Blimp. And they're all quite reasonable prints of the films themselves.

But as I said, they are a great way for people to get an introduction to the P&P films.

Steve

[stevie boy]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook That's not quite the cheapest it's ever been seen, it has been seen for as little as £14.99. But it's still a helluva bargain from the original price of £39.99 or whatever it was. Even at £22.99 that's still only £2.55 per DVD and is a great way for people to get an introduction to the P&P films. The trouble is that it doesn't include Black Narcissus. The ITV boxed set of 11 DVDs does contain Black Narcissus and The Tales of Hoffmann but that one (the black boxed set) isn't usually as heavily discounted as the HMV set (the white boxed set) I did warn HMV when they first mentioned releasing them, that most people who like P&P would already have many (if not all) of the films on individual DVDs. But they went ahead anyway, and it soon finished up in the bargain bin. I suspect they knew that the better ITV collection was due to be released soon and just wanted to get in first. In both collections they aren't as packed with extras as the Criterion DVDs. Most of them have subtitles, a few have extra little documentaries like The Colour Merchant about Jack Cardiff on the AMOLAD disk and the Carlton documentaries "A Profile of '...'" on the disks for TRS & Blimp. And they're all quite reasonable prints of the films themselves. But as I said, they are a great way for people to get an introduction to the P&P films. Steve

agree with that Steve, great value,great films and great fans

[mariocki]

Now down to £9:99

HMV.com: DVD: Powell & Pressburger Collection: 9dvd: Box Set (2005)

9 DVD Box Set Contains The Following Powell & Pressburger Films:
A Matter Of Life & Death
The Red Shoes
The Life & Death Of Colonel Blimp
A Canterbury Tale
I Know Where I'm Going
49th Parallel
Battle Of The River Plate
Ill Met by Moonlight
They're A Weird Mob

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by mariocki Now down to £9:99

That's just ridiculous

[Fellwanderer]

Originally Posted by Moor Larkin That's just ridiculous

Even I could risk the moths getting out at that bargain price!

Seriously, Moor is quite right - it is a ridiculous price or does it just show how overpriced all the modern trash is?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Fellwanderer Moor is quite right - it is a ridiculous price or does it just show how overpriced all the modern trash is?

It does seem to show that there is quite a mark-up on DVDs, but in this case I think they are just unloading stock that they can't sell and are glad to get anything at all for it.

They told me when they were planning on releasing the boxed set and I advised against it saying that most people who liked the films would have already bought many of the individual films in the boxed set on video or DVD from one of the many other places selling them individually. I said that I doubted that many people would want to buy the whole set for the one or two DVDs that they didn't already have, especially at the original price of about £40. I said they'd do much better to release some of the ones that hadn't already been released many times. But they didn't take my advice.

They thought that quite a few of the ones in the boxed set were first releases on DVD in the UK - until I pointed out the other places already selling most of them individually. It turns out that the only one in their set that had never been released on DVD before in the UK was They're A Weird Mob. And that had already been done on a better DVD released in Australia.

Then they discovered that they couldn't even get the rights to Black Narcissus. That should be one of the major films in any Powell & Pressburger collection. So they had to cut the original plan for a 10 DVD set down to just 9.

But they went ahead anyway. It seems that it was partly designed as a spoiler tactic because a few months later, ITV DVD (ex Carlton TV) released an 11 DVD boxed set which did include Black Narcissus plus The Tales of Hoffmann. HMV could have got wind of this and decided to grab a share of the market. Instead HMV found that they weren't selling many and they soon started discounting it.

If only they'd listened to my advice

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

There must be a reasonable demand for boxsets though (obviously not this particular one!), thus all those Alastair Sim and Donald Sinden collections. They normally work out at good value if you wait until they've come down in price as you end up with 2 films you really want, a couple you'll end up watching eventually and one you've already got for £14.00 or so.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett There must be a reasonable demand for boxsets though (obviously not this particular one!), thus all those Alastair Sim and Donald Sinden collections. They normally work out at good value if you wait until they've come down in price as you end up with 2 films you really want, a couple you'll end up watching eventually and one you've already got for £14.00 or so.

I think the number of DVDs in the set has something to do with it. If it's a 2, 3 or 4 DVD set then it won't be too expensive and if you've already got one or two of them you might still go for the boxed set.

But when they offer a boxed set of 9 DVDs, 8 of which have been available for some time, well it's little wonder not many people bought it. And then the better ITV set came out soon afterwards. That was the final nail in the coffin

Steve

[DB7]

It's a great 'introduction' set as a present to a non-film fan, but most affeciandos of British films will already possess the good ones. (some even own BoRP!)

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by DB7 It's a great 'introduction' set as a present to a non-film fan, but most affeciandos of British films will already possess the good ones. (some even own BoRP!)

And if they don't own BoRP then they can see it regularly on UK Gold

It is a great introduction to give as a present. And an ever better one at that price

Steve

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Then they discovered that they couldn't even get the rights to Black Narcissus. That should be one of the major films in any Powell & Pressburger collection. So they had to cut the original plan for a 10 DVD set down to just 9. But they went ahead anyway. It seems that it was partly designed as a spoiler tactic because a few months later, ITV DVD (ex Carlton TV) released an 11 DVD boxed set which did include Black Narcissus plus The Tales of Hoffmann. HMV could have got wind of this and decided to grab a share of the market. Instead HMV found that they weren't selling many and they soon started discounting it. If only they'd listened to my advice Steve

Steve, I don't think that's quite right. All the films in the 9 disc box are part of the Granada International catalogue (as is Black Narcissus - so no rights problems there). Granada bought out Carlton and ITVDVD is Granada's name for their own in-house DVD label and has been for the past couple of years. The 9-disc set was a HMV exclusive initially, but has been generally available for some while; it was produced by Granada, though some sets used discs which were clearly marked 'Carlton' (no doubt using old stock). HMV's 'exclusive' deal is not unusual, they've done quite a few similar deals with, for instance, Warners. The set has been cheap for some time now, but never, I think this cheap, HMV having wrung much of the commercial juice out of it.

I suspect Black Narcissus wasn't included in the initial set because Granada signed a licensing deal for Network to market the title and presumably wanted to give them a free run, at least at first.

The 11 disc set, still from Granada, but now on their ITVDVD label, includes Black Narcissus, Network having had their 'breathing space', and also The Tales of Hoffman, which I *think* I'm right in saying is a Studio Canal title - it's far from unusual for ITV DVD box sets (and those from Optimum), to include discs authored by themselves, Studio Canal (who own Optimum), and Network, the three companies having a seemingly cosy working arrangement.

Granada have been working hard restoring much of the cream of their catalogue in the past 3-4 years; a prime example is the second incarnation of the David Lean Collection, coming again August with 10 newly restored films - the previous 9 disc set (and both are on the ITVDVD label) was only launched just over a year ago.

I've never been able to compare the transfers of the discs in the 9-disc P&P set and those in the 11 - have you seen both and are they definitely the same?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by John Hodson Steve, I don't think that's quite right. All the films in the 9 disc box are part of the Granada International catalogue (as is Black Narcissus - so no rights problems there). Granada bought out Carlton and ITVDVD is Granada's name for their own in-house DVD label and has been for the past couple of years. The 9-disc set was a HMV exclusive initially, but has been generally available for some while; it was produced by Granada, though some sets used discs which were clearly marked 'Carlton' (no doubt using old stock). HMV's 'exclusive' deal is not unusual, they've done quite a few similar deals with, for instance, Warners. The set has been cheap for some time now, but never, I think this cheap, HMV having wrung much of the commercial juice out of it. I suspect Black Narcissus wasn't included in the initial set because Granada signed a licensing deal for Network to market the title and presumably wanted to give them a free run, at least at first. The 11 disc set, still from Granada, but now on their ITVDVD label, includes Black Narcissus, Network having had their 'breathing space', and also The Tales of Hoffman, which I *think* I'm right in saying is a Studio Canal title - it's far from unusual for ITV DVD box sets (and those from Optimum), to include discs authored by themselves, Studio Canal (who own Optimum), and Network, the three companies having a seemingly cosy working arrangement. Granada have been working hard restoring much of the cream of their catalogue in the past 3-4 years; a prime example is the second incarnation of the David Lean Collection, coming again August with 10 newly restored films - the previous 9 disc set (and both are on the ITVDVD label) was only launched just over a year ago. I've never been able to compare the transfers of the discs in the 9-disc P&P set and those in the 11 - have you seen both and are they definitely the same?

I'm not quite sure where you're saying I'm not quite right

The first advertising material HMV sent me was for a 10 disk set including Black Narcissus so initially they thought they could include it.

The "spoiler tactic" theory is just my own theory and the HMV set was released only a few months before the ITV DVD set. The HMV set started to be drastically discounted as soon as the ITV DVD set came out. If not before.

Both sets include the same extras and are, as far as I can tell, identical (films & extras) on the discs that are in both sets.

Some of those extras are the "A Profile of..." documentaries that were made by David Lemon while he was at Carlton. But he was culled in the take over / mergers and sadly couldn't make any more. He had told me that he wanted to.

The documentary The Colour Merchant which is on the DVD of A Matter of Life and Death was first seen on the individual DVD of AMOLAD released by Carlton in the Rank Collection series back in 1998

Steve

[John Hodson]

What I'm saying is Carlton became Granada, and Granada is ITVDVD; there were no rights issues with titles, no spoiler tactic, because Granada is behind both sets, how they market them - exclusive deals with a retailer (HMV have in no sense produced the set), replicating titles in different box sets - might appear a little puzzling, but as long as the accountants are happy.

I know about the extras, I want to be clear (and apologies for being a little terrier like on this, but I've been asking fruitlessly on various fora for months) - have you actually compared the transfers themselves?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by John Hodson What I'm saying is Carlton became Granada, and Granada is ITVDVD; there were no rights issues with titles, no spoiler tactic, because Granada is behind both sets, how they market them - exclusive deals with a retailer (HMV have in no sense produced the set), replicating titles in different box sets - might appear a little puzzling, but as long as the accountants are happy. I know about the extras, I want to be clear (and apologies for being a little terrier like on this, but I've been asking fruitlessly on various fora for months) - have you actually compared the transfers themselves?

Right, I see. Well in that case I think HMV got sold a pup, even if they weren't charged for it but just given an opportunity to sell it. They did the deal to let HMV bring out their boxed set and then ITV DVD brought out their own, better boxed set a few months later. In that case it looks less like HMV trying to run a spoiler in the ITV DVD set but more like ITV DVD spoiling the HMV release

I would have thought that any boxed set with a large number of DVDs is always a dodgy proposition (for the reasons I've outlined above) and would need some time to recoup the outlay. More than 5 or 6 months.


Both sets are, as far as I can tell, identical in the films as well as the extras.

Steve