Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations [Blu-ray]

I remember way back in the late 1970's/ early 1980's getting my first VCR and recording a whole bunch of Laurel & Hardy movies on early Sunday morning TV to videotape. Grainy picture, commercials, edited, etc...and yet I was ecstatic to have them. Now almost half a century later and multiple incarnations on videotape and DVD later come these high resolution transfers. The image quality is breathtaking. OK its not like if you went out and filmed these today but by far these prints along with informative commentary on every short and feature is like finding and viewing these gems for the first time. The print of "Son's Of The Desert" is by far the best print that I have ever seen of this L&H classic. The entertainment value watching in this quality increases tenfold. Look forward to future Kit Parker L&H releases. Also highly recommend Flicker Alley L&H silent blu ray releases

Most releases of Laurel & Hardy films over the years, whether they be from the old Video Classics or Blackhawk collection, were taken from 16mm print masters that had long been over-used. As a result, the VHS releases I grew up with in the 90s had a rather cable-tv feel to them. In recent years, the old Hal Roach Studios films have traded hands multiple times and have been kept in storerooms with little to no care. On top of that, Laurel & Hardy's films were redistributed so many times and the negatives used so much between the late 40s-80s, that it resulted in their Roach films looking ancient compared to their Fox films--made only 9 years a part in most cases. In 2011, we finally got the Digital Restorations of all their sound Roach films that Hallmark had owned, which included every sound short and all but 2 Roach features. The digital releases were restored from the original 35mm negatives as much as humanly possible. Still, they show wear and tear. But were the best release of Laurel & Hardy's films to date. Now here we are with this release. A 4K/HD restoration of two features of multiple short subjects taken from the original negatives. Again, these aren't perfect restorations, bit they are as perfect as we will get for multiple reasons. Hal Roach didn't take care of his films the way MGM, Fox, Universal, or Columbia did. And he sold the rights to those films to studios and people who took even less care than he did, with few exceptions. MGM owned Our Gang, and two Laurel & Hardy movies. Because of the lack of care, the films fall into disrepair. It's why some Laurel & Hardy shorts look like they weren't even filmed in the same decade as Moe, Larry and Curly--when they were! This is a fine restoration, and the best we've had of the boys' work so far. I only hope that Kit Parker films restores the rest of the Laurel & Hardy catalogue--including their silent films.

Having collected every video release of Laurel and Hardy material, I must say that these films represent the best any of these films has ever looked on video. Granted, this set is rather pricey for the small selection of films you get, but the sharp transfers (in most cases), and the interesting and informative commentary tracks by Randy Skretvedt and Richard W. Bann add a lot of value to fans. That any of these films has survived in prints this exceptional, is remarkable. There are instances of slight video degradation in some of the films, but overall they look stunning. Only "Brats", my favorite, shows quite a bit of wear. All of the supplements are interesting and this package includes the highest rated Laurel and Hardy features, "Way Out West" and "Sons Of The Desert."

Classic Laurel and Hardy Silent and sound Need I say more?

Fast delivery, left usa on Tuesday night received In the UK Thursday morning. I have watched most of the Blueray and I am pleased with what has been restored and preserved, the quality varies but overall is pretty impresive, a special nod to the commentary on the disks which is done really well, informative and entertaining but I would have preferred to have the audio level of the films lowered as opposed to muted during the commentary. I am watching these on a 75" tv and have to say picture quality for the majority of the time is super clear which really highlights the odd lower quality segments,eg the music box 2 or 3 seconds where ollie is sliding down the stairs in really poor quality. Some shorts part way through when changing reels the quality you feel gets slightly better or worse but you only notice this because the overall quality is so good. I would recommend this to anybody who has an interest in the boys and would like to confirm it plays in the UK with no issues.

This review refers to the 2020 blu ray collection from MVD Visual. At this point I've watched "Way Out West" and "Towed in a Hole". First, Laurel and Hardy are great. I dare you to watch one of their shorts for the first time and not laugh out loud. The usually open up amusingly enough, but then things spiral out of control until they reach a sustained crescendo. Trust me, your belly will hurt by the end of this workout! Five stars for the content. The sources are from 35mm prints and they look like they were great sources. Five stars for the sources. Three stars for the digital processing. They took what probably looked like museum prints and tried to make them look like they were filmed with digital cameras from the early 2000s (OK, high-end digital cameras, but digital nonetheless). Anything that the computer decides is a "detail" gets enhanced, and anything the computer decides isn't a detail gets smoothed over. That includes every last speck of film grain. Guys, these are films from the thirties. They're supposed to look like films from the thirties. The major studios used really good cameras with really good lenses and really nice black and white film stock to make these movies. They don't need your help. The shifting black-and-white film grain of a first-generation nitrate print is a thing of beauty, and you made it look like a low-bit-rate video. Granted, you'll not notice the processing once things get rolling in each film - you'll be too busy laughing. But it's a shame that this is probably the only time these films will be available in high-resolution video, and we have to put up with this sub-par processing on them forever. It's like laminating the Mona Lisa. Four stars overall, but this could have been a grand-slam if they had just left the films alone.

If you like or love Laurel and Hardy, you will LOVE this release!! The films have been fully restored and look better than they ever have and cannot ever look better! Meticulously restored from the finest surviving elements, most of them now look like they were shot yesterday, not 80+ years ago. The extras on the Blu-Ray are worth the price alone! First class all the way!!! Done with love and affection by longtime dedicated fans and the best professionals in the business! The quality just blows me away! I have been a fan since 8 years old (and that was over 50 years ago) and have been waiting all my life to see these films in this kind of quality!!! BUY IT, NOW!!!

I really loved watching these restored films on blu-ray. Since they were remastered up to 4K resolution it would have been nice to see them get a UHD 4K disc release as well, which brings me to part two of this review, which isn't really a review at all, but more of a suggestion to the publisher in hopes that they see it. When can we expect the rest of the Laurel and Hardy films restored? There are still a great many titles missing and it would be wonderful to see them in a complete collection, in chronilogical order, with a Play All feature: "Unnaccustomed As We Are - Utopia". ( I realize the FOX Features would likely not be part or possible in this and I don't think anybody would complain about that.) The one thing I didn't like about this particular release was how they handled the commentary. It is great to have the commentary, don't get me wrong, but in the case of The Music Box the commentary ran longer than the video. In this case they just tagged on a black screen that read, "Commentary Continues" It feels a little awkward when you just want to watch the video without the commentary. I know I can easily press the menu button and go back, but if they ever decide to do a release with a Play All feature hopefully they will provide the video with commentary in the Extras so they can leave off the Commentary Continues screen during a normal viewing. I think this would have been best even with this release. I am hoping a Complete Collection is in the works. I remember initially the DVD's were released with a few titles before they moved forward with the complete set. Hopefully we get a Complete Series again with everything restored. I realize that will mean some of our titles our double-dipped, but still a complete set would be wonderful. I would just consider this one a trial for a donation to fund a complete series issue. If my dream for a Complete Collection comes true I hope they add a Play All feature and release it in UHD 4K disc format as well.