Upcoming Warner Bros. Ultimate Gangsters Collection Vol. 1 and 2 Blu-ray

Warner Bros. announced to media outlets its upcoming releases of The Ultimate Gangsters Collections Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on Blu-ray. The 2 sets contain 8 of Warner's more notable entries to the genre: the first set compiling modern (and already available) gangster hits, while the second set contains 4 gangster classics making their Blu-ray debut. The packages include, GoodFellas, Heat, The Departed, The Town, Little Caeser, The Public Enemy, The Petrified Forest and White Heat. Other than the films themselves, no additional materials or special features have been made public. The The Ultimate Gangsters Collections Vol. 1 and 2 will be shooting up stores Q2 2013.

The gangster genre is a huge cornerstone in the legacy of Warner Bros., and the restoration and preservation of these films is carried out with much pride and care. Major Hollywood studios in the '30s and '40s were each known for their distinctive styles. Warner Bros. was best known for firmly establishing the genre of gangster films, which contained socially conscious themes and a simple visual look.

Volume One

• Goodfellas - Henry Hill is a small time gangster, who takes part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to climb up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, is badly affected by his partners success, but will he stoop low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?



• Heat - Neil McCauley is a thief -- an expert thief. His philosophy in life - become attached to nothing in life that you can't walk away from in 30 seconds if you spot the "Heat" around the corner. His crew of criminals is a high-tech outfit pulling off professional jobs that impress even the likes of Detective Vincent Hanna. But Hanna, a man driven through life only by his work, becomes obsessed, at the expense of his private life, with bringing McCauley down. As McCauley's crew prepare for the score of a lifetime, and Hanna's team tries to bring him in, the two find that they are challenged by the greatest minds on the opposite side of the law that either one has ever encountered.



• The Departed - Two just-graduated officers from Massachusetts State Police Academy follow opposite sides of the law: Billy Costigan is assigned to work undercover with the Irish mobster Frank Costello to get evidences to arrest him. His true identity is only known by his superiors Dignam and Oliver Queenan. The protégée of Costello, Colin Sullivan, is promoted in the Massachusetts State Police and is the informer of Costello. Each police officer gives his best effort trying to disclose the identity of the other "rat".



• The Town - In Boston's bleak Charlestown, criminals depend on a code of silence; those caught serve their time. Doug MacRay masterminds bank robberies with three friends: the hotheaded Jem, Des, an electrician, and Al, their driver. After a dicey bank job, Doug must make sure the female bank manager, Claire, who lives in Charlestown, doesn't know who they are. He contrives to meet her and then finds her appealing. As the FBI zeroes in on the gang, Doug wants out, Claire doesn't know who he really is, and Jem and their money launderer, an aging florist, insist that Doug do one more job. Are prison and death the only ways out of Charlestown?

Volume Two New to Blu-ray, also Sold Separately

• Little Caeser (1931) - The ambitious criminal Rico moves from the country to the big city in the east and joins Sam Vettori's gang with his friend Joe Massara. Sooner he becomes the leader of the gangsters and known as Little Caesar, and gets closer to the great mobster Pete Montana. In a robbery of a night-club, he kills the Crime Commissioner Alvin McClure and his pal Joe witnesses the murder. When Rico orders Joe to leave his mistress Olga Strassoff, she takes a serious decision.



• The Public Enemy (1931) - Tom Powers and Matt Doyle are best friends and fellow gangsters, their lives frowned upon by Tom's straight laced brother, Mike, and Matt's straight laced sister, Molly. From their teen-aged years into young adulthood, Tom and Matt have an increasingly lucrative life, bootlegging during the Prohibition era. But Tom in particular becomes more and more brazen in what he is willing to do, and becomes more obstinate and violent against those who either disagree with him or cross him. When one of their colleagues dies in a freak accident, a rival bootlegging faction senses weakness among Tom and Matt's gang, which is led by Paddy Ryan. A gang war ensues, resulting in Paddy suggesting that Tom and Matt lay low. But because of Tom's basic nature, he decides instead to take matters into his own hands.



• The Petrified Forest (1936) - Gabby lives and works at her dads small diner out in the desert. She can't stand it and wants to go and live with her mother in France. Along comes Alan, a broke man with no will to live, who is traveling to see the pacific, and maybe to drown in it. Meanwhile Duke Mantee a notorious killer and his gang is heading towards the diner where Mantee plan on meeting up with his girl.



• White Heat (1949) - Cody Jarrett is the sadistic leader of a ruthless gang of thieves. Afflicted by terrible headaches and fiercely devoted to his 'Ma,' Cody is a volatile, violent, and eccentric leader. Cody's top henchman wants to lead the gang and attempts to have an 'accident' happen to Cody, while he is running the gang from in jail. But Cody is saved by an undercover cop, who thereby befriends him and infiltrates the gang. Finally, the stage is set for Cody's ultimate betrayal and downfall, during a big heist at a chemical plant.