The Eclipse Series

Four years ago, I did a post on The League of Gentlemen, and mentioned that it was available on a four-film box set. I'll assume I was referring this Eclipse Series set from Criterion, as it's the only one availalbe. I forgot I had done the review on the movie four years ago, and when I noticed that this box set was available, I picked it up.

I watched The League of Gentlemen with the intention of doing a full-length post on it, and when I realized I had already done that, I decided to revise and extend some of the comments I was thinking about making about the quality of the box set itself, something that I don't often do but is something I probably ought to do a bit more for box sets.

Most of Criterion's films are pricey, but the Eclipse series sets that I've bought (this one and one on 40s Kurosawa) are relatively much less expensive. The reason for that is presumably the almost complete lack of extras, certainly none on the disc of The League of Gentlemen; I haven't watched the other discs. Each disc comes in its own case, which is narrower than a normal case for a regular standalone DVD, although I think not as thin as the ones in the Carmen Miranda box set I bought some time back. The case inserts also have much more extensive liner notes than on most movies.

The "box" itself is just a carboard wrapper, open on both the top and bottom, although the discs seem to fit in fairly snugly so that there's no big risk of them falling out. Or, at least, no more risk than on most of the other box sets which are open to the spines of the cases. The card stock also feels a bit thinner than on other box sets. It could be a little better, but it could also be a lot worse.

I didn't note anything wrong with the print that would have stood out to me, the way I've seen with the prints from, say, Alpha Video. Those, of course, are public domain movies and for the price they're charging, you really ought to. Anyhow, I stuck the DVD in the player on my computer to take some screenshots to let you judge for yourself. The subtitles were on by default, although it wasn't that way on the DVD player hooked up to my TV. I assume that's the computer doing the subtitles; I didn't try the subtitles on my TV.


Jack Hawkins popping out of a manhole at the beginning of the movie


Jack Hawkins speaking to the assembled men

For the price and for the movies in the set, I'd certainly recommend the set. I haven't gotten around to watching any of the Kurosawa DVDs yet, and I'll have to see what other Eclipse Series sets are available.