Clint Eastwood 20-Film Collection [Blu-ray]

PART 1: THE FILMSI will start by asserting that I think Clint Eastwood is one of the great actors in the history of film, and in the 1990s/early 2000s he had a nice run as director as well. I am a big fan of his career and admire him as a filmmaker.Looking at the list of films included, I will say there's really no logic or particular theme to this box set. It's just a mix of films that Mr. Eastwood was involved in - sometimes he's the actor, other times he's the director. There are a large number of his great works included, but there are some glaring omissions as well.WHAT'S INCLUDED:- In total, there are 20 feature films included in this collection. Although for those who want to see Eastwood on the screen, it's worth noting that he only appears in 15 of those films.- All of his prestigious award winners are included here: "Unforgiven", "Mystic River, "Million Dollar Baby", etc.- Since this is the latest of many Eastwood box set, of course the studio is going to include his recent work that was not included in previous box sets. So you have "Gran Torino", "Hereafter", "J. Edgar", "Invictus", and "Trouble with the Curve". It's up to you whether these films warrant inclusion over some of Eastwood's more classic movies... I think some do and some don't.WHAT'S MISSING:- Films that you would think should be included here are not. For example, the box set has "Letters From Iwo Jima" - yet it's companion piece, "Flags of Our Fathers", is missing from the set.- Eastwood's most famous character is Dirty Harry - but this set includes only 3 of the 5 films in that film series.- "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", one of the Eastwood classics, is also absent. In fact, not a single one of the three Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns starring Eastwood is included. You can't fault Warner Bros for this because they do not own the rights to those particular films, but this set still feels incomplete without it.- Other notable movies that are missing: "In the Line of Fire", "Absolute Power", and "Changeling"PART 2: BONUS CONTENTThere are two feature-length documentaries included:1. "The Eastwood Factor" - produced in 2010, this is a profile of Eastwood's career. It is narrated by Morgan Freeman, and Eastwood participates in the film and is interviewed. This full documentary was previously released as bonus content on the  Hereafter [Blu-ray ].2. "Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story" - produced in 2013, this is a new documentary that has never been released on blu-ray. However, it can also be seen on television on TCM (the first broadcast is on Thursday May 30). The documentary features interviews with actors/producers that have worked with Eastwood, as they discuss his directing process and his body of work.PART 3: PACKAGINGWith this book-style packaging, they insert the discs into slots on the pages (rather than normal blu-ray cases), and this makes the discs less secure and more prone to scratches. I know this from experience - if you order this from an online retailer, you will likely have discs arrive loose. Check out reviews for the last big Eastwood DVD box set:  Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros. . - as you will see, there are many customers that complain about this type of packaging because it very often damages the discs. It seems Warner Bros. has not learned their lesson in terms of disc packaging.One nice extra that is included in this set is an excerpt of the book "Clint Eastwood: Master Filmmaker at Work". Unfortunately, it's just a 48-page sampler of the book (which is 240 pages in total). Why can't they just include the complete book?If you are interested in purchasing the whole book (it's very nice), it is on sale:  Clint Eastwood: Master Filmmaker at Work *****SUMMARY: I'm not sure if yet another Eastwood box set was necessary (it seems they're putting a new one out every year). This particular box set does have a lot of Eastwood's best work, but sadly it's also missing a few of the key movies from his career. Also, the packaging seems to be very nice for collectors, but unfortunately it puts the quality of the discs themselves at risk. For these reasons, I'd recommend you skip this particular product.However, you can buy all of Eastwood's films individually - or there are many other box sets on blu-ray that you might consider purchasing instead of this one: Clint Eastwood Collection (Absolute Power / Dirty Harry / Gran Torino / Kelly's Heroes / Letters from Iwo Jima / Million Dollar Baby / Mystic River / The Rookie / Unforgiven / Where Eagles Dare) [Blu-ray ] Essential Eastwood: Director's Collection (Letters from Iwo Jima / Million Dollar Baby / Mystic River / Unforgiven) [Blu-ray ] Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector's Edition (Dirty Harry / Magnum Force / The Enforcer / Sudden Impact / The Dead Pool) [Blu-ray ]

I am just going to briefly list some minor problems with the set. About 3 of the films come with lossy sound. Unforgiven has a mediocre transfer and lossy sound but we have known this for years. It is prime for a rerelease. I think Million Dollar Baby has lossy sound as well does Space Cowboys if I remember correctly. The rest are all decent to good transfers of old blurays with lossless sound. They all obviously look much better than their DVD counterparts. I don't think any of them are really stunning or top tier though.For 20 films the 56 dollar pricepoint is perfect. I didn't want all of these films, but for what is there I did want more than a couple. A Perfect World for one is a stunning film not available elsewhere as are the westerns included here. You also get some Dirty Harry, a comedy or two, and most of Eastwood's main output for Warner in the past 10 years. I guess it comes down to how you like some of these films. I haven't even seen a couple of the new ones so I will get back here to write a little when I get around to watching the complete set.The packaging for me is great. I don't mind slipping the discs in the booklet style presentation. Otherwise they have to offer ridiculous packaging to accommodate this many films. What is there works perfectly for me. I couldn't ask for much more than for Warner to stop releasing crappy blurays. I swear there is no other company that has released so many low bitrate films in its time on this format. Whether that is because the masters are bad or what I don't know. I also must say this set isn't worth more than 56 dollars because of the problems inherent in Warner's Bluray technical expertise. This is basically worth a 50 and nothing more. For 50 it is a good deal. Otherwise stay away.Also, where are the other 20 that were included on DVD?

I am unsure why people are complaining about this set! I think It was originally released in Europe, but the discs will work in North American Blu Ray Players. As far as I can tell, nineteen of the feature films work fine in any Blu Ray player. There are only two negatives I could find: Million Dollar Baby is region locked to region B, this means it will play if you have a region free Blu Ray player, but some (including myself) may not be able to view the disc. Apart from this, the bonus content discs are DVDs which are also region locked and will not play in some (again, including myself) people's Blu Ray or DVD players. Aside from these negatives, I am still giving this set five stars because DO THE MATH. Nineteen great films that are guaranteed to work for less than $3.00 a piece! That is a STEAL considering most of these films are anywhere from $8.00-$15.00 if you buy them as individual releases. The movies you get in this set are an amazing portfolio of GREAT films from Clint Eastwood (none of them are filler like in similar sets), ranging from classic westerns, to harrowing war movies, to heart wrenching dramas. For $56.00 do yourself a favor and buy this set, if the bonus content and Million Dollar Baby work for you SEE THAT AS A BONUS. If they don't, you can't complain too much because you're still getting the Blu Ray deal of the century. If it really bothers you, buy a standalone copy of Million Dollar Baby and replace the region locked disc with it. You'll still be saving money!

As collections go this is the best so far. These are the films you want to see on a high quality discs. No filler mediocre movies to waste your time. Many are duplicates to what is in my collection already but better quality visuals and sounds so no loss there. Clint’s always been someone I liked and respected and it was eye opening to learn so much more about him from the extras discs included. Well put together offering.

So far I have watched two movies, Mystic River & Invictus (For the first time) Movies were good and BluRay quality. One Disc would not play because it was on a different region code (Million Dollar Baby), I'll update if I find others that will not play

Arrived quickly & in perfect condition. Great box set full of classic Eastwood movies in glorious bluray! Not all his best movies are here but its still great entertainment. Recommended

This is great collection of Clint Eastwood movies. I really enjoyed watching them on Blu Ray. The only thing that bothered me was that the plastic case was torn due to shipping but Blu Rays are Not damaged.

BEWARE! All these films are region-free titles EXCEPT Million Dollar Baby which is region B Locked. Thought I should point that out. Other than that it's fine. But it's a little misleading to have the [Region Free] info. Amazon should update that.

seen about half of the box set and so fare its been great

Great blu ray collection of great films.