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John Doe wrote:July 29:Herzog: Collection

Was there some sort of contractual stipulation with these Herzog titles that they could only be released in a giant boxset (with only Nosferatu getting a separate edition in the US -BFI also has Aguirre separate though)? It seems really odd that both Shout & BFI took this approach rather than slowly releasing individual titles over a number of years. I'm fairly certain that most all of these would be rather large sellers on their own. I can only assume this is probably why Shout Factory picked up the rights (as opposed to Criterion).

Any word on the cost of this set? I'm not finding it on Amazon

~$160 list

Damn... I try to get Region A when possible simply because it's easier to share good films with friends, but I have the BFI locked in on Amazon for £38... Unless Amazon offers one hell of a preorder bonus, I'll be sticking with the British version.

jindianajonz wrote:Damn... I try to get Region A when possible simply because it's easier to share good films with friends, but I have the BFI locked in on Amazon for £38... Unless Amazon offers one hell of a preorder bonus, I'll be sticking with the British version.

$111.99 at Amazon.com.

kekid wrote:

jindianajonz wrote:Damn... I try to get Region A when possible simply because it's easier to share good films with friends, but I have the BFI locked in on Amazon for £38... Unless Amazon offers one hell of a preorder bonus, I'll be sticking with the British version.

$111.99 at Amazon.com.

So, even with shipping, the UK set works out to be $ 68.82. Hmmm, $111.99 (plus tax) vs. $68.82. Decisions, decisions.

For what it's worth, I believe the Shout set will include at least a couple of different films (i.e. Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Ballad of the Little Soldier) and the price for the BFI on Amazon UK has since shot up by £20.

Lessons of Darkness as well. The exclusives of the BFI set I believe will be Handicapped Future, The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck, Huie's Sermon and God's Angry Man

$110 on sale is still fairly reasonable for 12 films, especially in the US market.

Artwork:

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Even Dwarfs Started Small and Where the Green Ants Dream are there too, a couple more exclusives for the Shout set. It'll also have My Best Fiend (whilst the BFI set will have Burden of Dreams). The Shout set will also be 6 Blu-rays bigger than the BFI's.

I really don't want to have to get both...

I'll be waiting to read final specs and reviews for both versions... But, man, it really seems like Shout! stepped up to the plate with this release. It seems like this edition may be the way to go.

criterion10 wrote:I'll be waiting to read final specs and reviews for both versions... But, man, it really seems like Shout! stepped up to the plate with this release. It seems like this edition may be the way to go.

Despite the extra discs, I'm confident the BFI set will look better encoded. Shout! have had a real problem in this area for a long time now, whilst the BFI set will be David Mackenzie's work. Since I really want Burden of Dreams, I'll stick with the BFI for now and either get the Shout! set on sale or wait for individual disc announcements (though this appears unlikely).

EddieLarkin wrote:Despite the extra discs, I'm confident the BFI set will look better encoded.

Unfortunately, this will probably be the case -- and I only say unfortunately because it will probably require me to purchase both releases to get the best of both worlds. That being said, I believe Herzog is supervising the Shout! releases, so they should still pretty good.

I'm mainly interested to see what special features Shout! will carry over. If I'm not mistaken, in addition to Herzog commentaries on some titles, the BFI release will only have the South Bank Show episode with Herzog and Burden of Dreams.

And 3 short films, though it's possible they'll show up on the Shout! set as well.

Fred Davis posted some alternate cover designs on his blog.

And here's the official Shout page for the release, with a full listing of the films included:

EVEN DWARFS STARTED SMALL
NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE
LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS
FITZCARRALDO
FATA MORGANA
BALLAD OF LITTLE SOLDIER
AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD
WHERE THE GREEN ANTS DREAM
THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER
COBRA VERDE
HEART OF GLASS
LESSONS OF DARKNESS
STROSZEK
LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY
WOYZECK
MY BEST FIEND

So, to summarize (unless some of the BFI shorts turn up as unannounced bonus features on the Shout set):

Common to Both
Land of Silence and Darkness
Fata Morgana
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Heart of Glass
Stroszek
Woyzeck
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Fitzcarraldo
Cobra Verde

Exclusive to the BFI Set
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz
Last Words
Precautions Against Fanatics
Handicapped Future
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck
Huie's Sermon
God's Angry Man
Burden of Dreams
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe

Exclusive to the Shout Set
Even Dwarfs Started Small
Ballad of the Little Soldier
Where the Green Ants Dream
Lessons of Darkness
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
My Best Fiend
Portrait: Werner Herzog
Herzog in Africa


There's almost enough exclusive content on each set for me not to feel too bad about buying both of them. Almost.

swo17 wrote:So, to summarize (unless some of the BFI shorts turn up as unannounced bonus features on the Shout set):

The special features for the Shout! set are detailed here, and there is no mention of any shorts, or Burden of Dreams.

What an odd discrepency between included shorts and films. Shout seems the right one for me, but will wait for the reviews to roll in.

HD Burden of Dreams is the decisive blow for me in favour of the BFI; the Shout exclusives are nice inclusions, but none of those titles (other than Lessons of Darkness) jump out as especially desirable to me personally.

captveg wrote:There are 100 signed copies being sold at shoutfactory.com as well if one wants to pay full MSRP.

Sold out.

Cronenfly wrote:HD Burden of Dreams is the decisive blow for me in favour of the BFI; the Shout exclusives are nice inclusions, but none of those titles (other than Lessons of Darkness) jump out as especially desirable to me personally.

I'm still happy with the BFI, as well, as I rarely have the time / ability to sit through everything in box sets within a reasonable time frame. However, not having Even Dwarfs Started Small is the real bummer for me.

Cronenfly wrote:HD Burden of Dreams is the decisive blow for me in favour of the BFI;

Coupled with the price, agreed.

Cash Flagg wrote:

captveg wrote:There are 100 signed copies being sold at shoutfactory.com as well if one wants to pay full MSRP.

Sold out.

Where are you seeing that? Did you try to purchase the set? I know you can go through to the checkout prior to paying, but I'm not seeing anything that says it's sold out.

From the listing at that link:

The limited signed copies are sold out, however you can still preorder the Blu-ray box set here and get it SHIPPED EARLY on 7/15 and receive FREE STANDARD U.S. SHIPPING!