Customer Rating:  
Summary: Great Set For A Good Price, Some Minor Technical Issues
Comment: 3 and 1/2 Stars.
Fortunately, none of the discs in my box set are defective (as some Amazon reviewers have complained). They do make a bit of noise in the DVD player, which can be somewhat distracting, but otherwise the movies play just fine. The other issue I have is with the packaging. Sure, it's a very nice set with a beautiful book but the discs are kept in cardboard sleeves which can potentially damage the DVD's (I suggest buying some cheap jewel cases to house the discs). Otherwise, I am happy with the set.
That being said, the transfers are exceptional and most of the special features are interesting and well-produced. I would have liked it if MGM had included more excerpts from the Hitchcock/Bogdanovich and Hitchcock/Truffaut interviews, but the included material is still topical and are likewise welcome additions.
Of course, that's not to mention the real star of the box set-the film's themselves. While I think the set is missing a few movies from this era of Hitchcock's career (1930's-1940's), it still includes some remarkable peices of work. My favorites included are Rebecca, Spellbound, Sabotage, Notorious and The Paradine Case.
Overall, you may want to wait and see if MGM recalls the package for the technical issues. However, I've had no issues with my set and have enjoyed watching and re-watching the movies.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Technical issues aside, a great box set.
Comment: Content-wise, this box set is terrific. I watched all the discs before reading all the other reviews here. I guess I was lucky that my discs played, but I did notice that one or two of them were pretty loud inside the player. I agree with everyone else that ALL dvds need to be secured on studs or pegs -- NO MORE SLEEVES! This automatically damages the discs, and I don't know why some studios continue to release their product like this. Fortunately, none of my discs were damaged, but every time you remove and replace the discs in their original sleeves, you may run the risk of scuffing or scratching them. The set is not available as of this posting (11.24.2008), so maybe it has officially been recalled?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent films - Poor quality control
Comment: I was looking forward to this set. Originally, just for the very hard-to-get "Rebecca", but the other fine films led me to pre-order as soon as I heard about it. In the first set I received, the first 4 discs I watched were defective - stopping, skipping. I sent it back for a replacement. I'm now returning the replacement set after the first 2 DVDs I watched had the same problems, including grinding noise from the player. I will try one more time before asking for a refund. Perhaps the cracked glass artwork on the outside of the packaging was supposed to be a warning.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Horrible quality control!
Comment: I got the Hitchcock "Premiere" collection from Amazon, and experienced multiple problems with the discs--freezing, pixels, vibration, etc. I got a second replacement set from Amazon, and have experienced the same problems. "Paradine Case" is the worst, and the problem was in the exact same spot in the replacement. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS SET until a recall is made, or a second edition is available. I tried these discs on multiple machines and on my laptop. The problems are NOT caused by user error or bad machines. My equipment is excellent (I actually tried these discs in 6 different machines). Read all of the other reviews about this set, and you will see that these problems are widespread, and NOT isolated incidents! I hope that this situation gets resolved soon, and another issue of this set is released. I love these films, and would really like to have a quality set which works properly. The packaging needs improvement also, to better protect the discs. It is impossible to remove and replace them from the cardboard slots without scuffing or scratching. This is probably the worst packaging I've seen for a boxed set. However, the packaging is a relatively minor concern compared to the quality control issues with the discs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: great films - ridiculous packaging
Comment: I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. All of the discs in my set played just fine. Of course as soon as I received this I saw that the packaging was ridiculous and I immediately removed the discs and put them in replacement dvd slim cases. One has to wonder what they are thinking when they produce a package like this. It's clearly one of the most elaborate and expensive boxes for any dvd set that I've purchased, but it is totally useless. It fails to do the one thing that a dvd case is supposed to do which is safely hold the dvds. And to top it all off it doesn't even fit on anyone's shelf and that includes the shelves of retailers. I've long had a bug up my **** regarding product designers who seem to have no idea about how a product is actually used and this is a classic example of that.
I wish I could have stretched the viewing of these films out a bit instead of having to race through the set to make sure there were no defects, but I have to say that I've enjoyed watching them immensely. I'm a big Hitchcock fan, but I haven't seen any of these films in some years and this was the first time I've seen "The Lodger" and "The Paradine Case" (which turned out to be better than I had anticipated). Not all these films are top drawer Hitchcock, but they are all worth seeing. "Notorious" is unquestionably the best movie here. After that I think everyone probably has a different ranking. For me "Sabotage" is the other great film in the set. It was also a great pleasure to see "Young and Innocent" again. Everyone comments on the amazing tracking shot in the hotel, but the shot that has always grabbed my attention is in the cave when the young man is trying to save the girl from falling into the pit and their hands are reaching for each other. It's almost identical to the shot in "North by Northwest" when Cary Grant is trying to save Eva Marie Saint.
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