The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker November 17, 2023

Universal has released another five of Alfred Hitchcock's films - 'Rope', 'The Man Who Knew too Much', 'Torn Curtain', 'Topaz', and 'Frenzy' - in the UHD format. They are available together in this set, or individually. This is the third installment in 'The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection' series. You can read about the first 4K collection here and the second 4K collection here. Below, please follow the links to the previous releases for a discussion of the films, links to the new individual for a look at picture and audio quality as well as special features, and continue on for some overall thoughts on the set.

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For a discussion about the video quality about each of the films included in this set, please follow the links below.

'Rope'

'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

'Torn Curtain'

'Topaz'

'Frenzy'

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a discussion about the audio quality about each of the films included in this set, please follow the links below.

'Rope'

'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

'Torn Curtain'

'Topaz'

'Frenzy'

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

For those who want to add all five of these films to their collections in one fell swoop, this collection houses 10 discs (5 UHD and 5 Blu-ray) in splashy DigiBook packaging that is completely consistent with the previous Hitchcock Collection releases. As before, the DigiBook is housed in an attractive embossed slipcase. The front of the slipcase sports Hitchcock's infamous silhouette surrounded by truncated poster art for each included film. The back of the slipcase contains an overview of the set and the cover art for each of the releases. Inside, two pages of the DigiBook are devoted to each film. The one on the left displays the original movie poster and houses the UHD disc. The page on the right displays a key quote from the film, a very brief synopsis of the film, as well as a list of the special features for each movie, and houses the Blu-ray disc.

This type of packaging is quite popular across a number of studios that publish larger sets like this. They can be very aesthetically pleasing and are a huge benefit to those with larger collections where shelf space has become an issue. The primary downsides to DigiBooks, however, remains fingerprints and the potential to scratch the discs, and I find I must concur with my colleague Mr. Liebman's assessment of the packaging as it is the same as we saw in sets one and two. Simply put, it's kind of a problem. The bulk of the pages of this collection are quite snug. Only the UHD of Rope and the Blu-ray of Frenzy are easy to remove as neither has disc on the other side of the page. All of the other eight discs are a little more challenging to remove and for me, it was difficult to do without getting a fingerprint or two on the disc. I've learned from other sets with a similar design to keep a microfiber cloth handy to remove any offending fingerprints before dropping it in my player, and that was definitely necessary here. There's nothing that detracts from my viewing experience as a disc that starts having playback issues prompting me to stop, eject, inspect, clean, reload, and then back it up a bit from the previous spot before continuing to make sure everything is resolved. The other thing I worry about with this type of packaging is scratching the discs - particularly with the middle eight discs in the set. The pages are snug and some degree of force must be used to remove and insert them. Over time I I am concerned that scratches may result. While less flashy and fancy, I would personally greatly prefer studios to abandon DigiBooks and default to the traditional plastic multi-disc cases typically used in television season releases.

For a complete listing of the supplemental material available on each disc, please follow the links below to the individual releases.

'Rope'

'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

'Torn Curtain'

'Topaz'

'Frenzy'

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection gives fans two Jimmy Stewart films (Rope and The Man Who Knew Too Much), one with Hollywood legends Paul Newman and Julie Andrews (Torn Curtain), and the fantastically grim and gritty Frenzy. Also worth noting, especially for those who may binge-watch this set in a day or two, 1966's Torn Curtain and 1969's Topaz, presented here back-to-back, are both Cold War era spy pictures - the former relying on Newman and Andrews to keep viewers engaged, the later relying instead on a more intricate story. Video is a bit variable with Rope faring the worst and, completely unexpectedly, Frenzy, yes FRENZY, looking the best to my eyes, with the process shots in the films looking universally and expectedly a bit rougher. The DTS HD Master Audio Mono tracks are consistently terrific, delivering clean dialogue, punchy scores, and the odd screams, squealing tires, and gunshots with equal ease when called upon to do so. While there aren't any new extras in this set, the legacy features included here do a wonderful job of providing a great deal of information about each film and those involved.

Is it even possible to be a fan of film and not be a fan of Hitchcock's work? I don't think so. Although this collection may not have the instant name recognition of iconic films like Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, and Rear Window, I would not hesitate to put Rope up there with his very best, and Frenzyis a personal favorite that finally gets its due in 4K. That isn't to take anything away from the other films in the set as there is definitely much here to enjoy. Frenzy is easily the most significantly improved film in the set, with the 4K disc presenting the film at the very best it's ever looked or sounded. The rest of the films all receive more modest but appreciated bumps in visual quality. Each of the films benefits from repeat viewings and this set comes Highly Recommeded.