Search - United Artist Cinema Greats Collection, Set 2 (The Great Escape / Rocky / West Side Story / The Thomas Crown Affair) on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 2/27/2021...

Rocky - Academy Award Winner of Best Picture - 1976. Rocky defined Sylvester "Sly" Stallone with many Rocky movies to follow. A must watch for Stallone and Boxing fans!

Rocky 2 - Solid Rocky plotline continues with the last ten minutes of Rocky. Rocky, Mick and others all shine in this and you will love it even though it is a dated with age.

The Great Escape - Many thought this was great while others thought it was so so and especially dated now.

Is this neglected classic EVER going to see a restored DVD r

gencus | USA | 01/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It would be stopping just short of a criminal act if this sinister gem were not preserved in a contemporary format for current and future generations, especially in light of the fact that the movie which is considered to be it's immediate inspiration, the legendary "London After Midnight" is a lost film.

One has to wonder why this title has been neglected in the race to commit so many vintage titles to dvd. Certainly, features with far less merit have found their way to this format.

Despite a script which feels muddled in places and a twist ending which leaves many viewers feeling cheated, "Mark of the Vampire" ranks among the greatest within the genre for stark, yet sumptuous, visual feasts and genuinely creepy atmosphere - it certainly meets and out-gruesomes the works which originated from powerhouse rival Universal at that time.

Best of all - it's brief, at least in it's current form. At only about an hour in running time, it's a quick and morbid morsel, just right on it's own, or for sandwiching between, say, a couple of those longer-running Universal monster classics. Still , it's a safe bet that fans of the movie and of it's stars want to see the nearly 20 minutes of missing footage discovered and restored.

Even though his role is a non-speaking one,(until the very end) Bela Lugosi still manages to out-vamp and out-menace even his own original Dracula screen performance. Carroll Borland (as Luna Mora) silently steals any scenes in which she appears; her unusual beauty and mute performance solidified the look and demeanor for several decades' worth of cinematic and TV undead females, and in no small way lives today in every goth girl.

Together Lugosi and Borland creeped the bejeezus out of me as a kid with their synchronized movements. Witness her amazing, all-too-brief flying scene (some of which was cut before the film's initial release), and then marvel that that image and the countless others in this film were all achieved in "real" life: all visual effects were made to occur in real time, in real life, and in 3 real dimensinons by artists and technicians for "real" in front of the camera, and in front of the actors, not simulated on some virtual set with the aid of a computer.

I can't recommend it enough."

Intriguing Vampire Tale(and not from Universal!)

brent been | Tahlequah, Ok | 07/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I loved this one, and in some ways it is superior to Dracula(30). There is a strong cast with Lionel Barrymore and Bela Lugosi. This one has a good atmosphere that is worthy of Universal. This would make(and maybe it did in its heyday!) a good double feature with the original Dracula(30)."

Good Entertainment

Steve Nicholls | 10/08/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While this movie isn't exactly frightening, it does manage to entertain! The acting is good, effects are excellent for the times, and the plot twist at the end is nothing of what you expected! This is a recommended buy!"