| | |  | Other | Home » » » A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition) | | | | | | | Description: | | Alastair Sim's tour-de-force performance as the ultimate miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, has almost single-handedly made this beloved version of Charles Dickens' story into one of the best-loved Christmas films of all time. Some of Britain's best filmmakers united behind Sim, who was joined by a delightful cast of accomplished and acclaimed English actors; creating what many today believe to be the best and most faithful production of Dickens' immortal tale. Cranky and curmudgeonly Scrooge learns the error of his unkind ways and is taught the true meaning of the holidays when he is visited by the ghost of his late business partner and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley | | Format:
| Black & White, Color, Digital Sound, Subtitled, Full Screen, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 2 | | Studio:
| VCI Entertainment | | Run Time:
| 86 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| October 23, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 297 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 297 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
239 of 245 found the following review helpful:
 Ultimate Collector's Edition indeed!Oct 01, 2007
By Brian Reaves
I only discovered this movie about four years ago but have watched it every Christmas since. To me it's the best version of the Christmas Carol ever made, and now it gets the best treatment you could have ever hoped for. This two disc collector's edition contains two different versions of this movie. First is the colorized version, but then the second is the real treat. They went back to the original prints of this and worked from there. After carefully removing the skips, scratches, and jerky frames, they digitally restored the movie to a version that looks as if it were made yesterday! The sound has been changed to 5.1 digital surround, and there's even a widescreen version for 16:9 televisions.
The special features include an earlier version of Christmas Carol (not as good as this one), as well as several featurettes on the movie, interviews with the stars, a feature on Alistair Sim, and others.
You can tell the distributor put a lot of effort into this restoration and it shows. I wish they'd do the same for other great films like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Bishop's Wife".
Highly recommended as the best version of this classic you'll find anywhere.
64 of 67 found the following review helpful:
Meticulous restoration of a holiday classicOct 07, 2007
By Penumbra
Although this 1951 classic film takes some liberties with the Dicken's novel, it remains the film most faithful to the original story. Some of the sets and costumes were directly inspired by the memorable illustrations in the first edition of the book. Alastair Sim is very convincing as the miserly Scrooge who, after a terrifying night of ghostly visits, is transformed into a man who knows how to keep Christmas in his heart.
There have been many DVD editions of this holiday favorite in recent years, several of them from VCI Entertainment. In this package, VCI has included some things featured on previous releases (commentary, Dickens biography, etc.), but the real star of this set is the beautifully restored version of the black and white film. According to a short feature on the restoration of the film, VCI has finally been able to obtain film elements from the original master. Apparently they didn't have access to a complete master, so they used several of the best prints they could gather and digitally read them to determine which frames were the best available. The rest was cleaned up by hand. It sounds like a labor of love, and the result is visible on the screen. The restored print is available in 4x3 and 16x9 in 1:37:1 format. (According to the Amazon product description page, the aspect ratio is given as 1:87 and elsewhere as 1:33, the DVD box says 1:37.) There are a few seconds of less than pristine audio, but overall this is a gorgeous effort.
A nice touch I've never seen on a DVD before is an optional audio track for the blind, in which a narrator describes the action on the screen pausing for dialog from the actors. A wandering commentary track with Marcus Heard and George Cole (young Scrooge) is included. Much of the commentary is reprised in a feature interview by Heard in which Cole reminisces about Alastair Sim, "Spirit of Christmas Past." The audio is in English only. Subtitles are in English or Spanish.
The second disc offers the original 1935 Seymour Hicks' film version of the story. A colorized version of the 1951 film is also included on Disc 2; the brief introduction by Patrick McNee (young Marley) has been seen before on previous releases of the colorized version. There are also theatrical trailers from the UK release ("Scrooge") and the US release ("A Christmas Carol").
VCI has given us a beautiful package here. They've done a great job with the restoration of a film treasure. Many viewers will never have seen such a good print of this holiday favorite before. The bonus features are a nice inclusion, but the restoration is the real reason to get this edition. Highly recommended!
46 of 48 found the following review helpful:
Crisp and clean restoration of the classic, plus loads of interesting extrasNov 11, 2007
By Mannie Liscum
There are numerous issues and re-issues of the 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol" so why purchase this 2007 VCI release? To say that this film version of Dickens' story is a classic would be an understatement. Hailed by most critics as the best of all the versions made over the past 70-odd years, this review need not dwell on whether or not this is a movie worthy of watching; many other reviewers here have said as much. What has typically not been done in reviews posted here is to give potential purchasers an in-depth analysis of what makes this release a most have (or not) for first time watchers, someone looking for a great Christmas gift, or simply a fan who wants "The Ultimate Collector's Edition (as this release is advertised). This review will attempt to cover, not the film itself in much detail - although some aspects will be discussed. Instead it will focus mainly on the extras and production value present on this release compared to other releases. Importantly this review WILL NOT simply provide a litany list of 'extras' present on the discs (you can get that at IMDB), but rather will review the content of the extras. So read on and decide for yourself whether VCI's "Ultimate Collector's Edition" is all it's advertised!
In a comparative sense it is probably most critical to compare this 2007 (two-disc) VCI release of "A Christmas Carol" to VCI's 2004 (one-disc) release of the same movie. Let's start with a list of features/extras on the 2004 release:
- Remastered original B/W version of the 1951 film
- Extras: colorized version of the 1951 film
- Max Fliesher's Technicolor cartoon Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (1948, 8 min) [good quality]
- Selectable subtitles/narration (English, Spainish, narrative for the blind in English) - Introduction to both B/W and color versions (same intro, narrated by Patrick MacNee, in both cases); Cast & Production Notes (really just cast bios)
- Comes with a nice interactive menu
- Nice if simple clamshell packaging with 'movie board' insert.
Here's what you get with the 2-disc 2007 VCI "Ultimate Collector's Edition" with commentary on the 'value' of the features/extras:
Disc 1 contains
- 4x3 and 16x9 [enhanced for widescreen TVs] B/W (original) version of 1951 film with selectable subtitles (English, Spainish) - buyers should be aware that original release was full screen thus 16x9 version is cropped on top and bottom to make widescreen (essentially vertical version of Pan-Scan to convert WS to FS); The picture quality of the remastered version is splendid. Improved over 2004 version. Very few flaws still visible. Tones are crisp and contrast great.
- Audio options (2 channel, 5.1 channel Surround, narration for blind in English - same narration as on 2004 VCI version) - Surround sound - very nice for most part, although tends to 'amplify' noise - audio apparently harder to clean up than the picture. Yet did nice job enhancing certain parts, e.g., when Scrooge gets to his front door (when he sees the first ghost of Marley) we here the wind blow from front left (channel) to rear right; when Scrooge is shown his tombstone by ghost of Christmas future, the music is nice in surround, Scrooge's voice only comes through center front channel - very well done.
- Cast bios - much expanded over 2004 version
- Audio Commentary by Marcus Hearne (British film/music documentarian) and George Cole (played young Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 version) - some interesting insights are provided by Cole about the actors and making of the movie. Hearnes' historical knowledge also provides interesting material and context for Cole's personal recollections
Disc 2 contains
- "Scrooge" 1935 version (directed by Henry Edwards, starring Sir Seymour Hicks as Scrooge) - picture is very dark and grainy; this is true of both outside and inside shots. Nice extra to have but quality not very good.
- Colorized version of 1951 movie (same as on 2004 VCI release) with selectable subtitles/narrative (English, Spainish, narrative for blind in English)
- Two trailers, one titled "Scrooge" and one titled "A Christmas Carol" - "Scrooge" is very dark in theme and picture tones, music is "Scrooge theme" from 1951 movie, whereas "A Christmas Carol" is happier and lighter in both theme and picture tone, upbeat Christmas music accompanies
- "The Spirit of Christmas Past" - Marcus Hearne interviews George Cole about Alastair Sim. Interview done against blackscreen such resulting in sharp visual contrasts (when Hearne is seen asking questions, he too in against blackscreen), with pictures and clips of Sim interwoven into the interview dialog. Much of interview not directly about Sim, but rather (appropriately) also about Cole's career (especially when co-staring with Sim in other projects). Fairly dry interviewer and interviewee, but informative. [total run time just less than 15 min]
- "Richard Gordon Remembers George Minter & Renown Pictures" - Gordon helped raise money for making "A Christmas Carol" and distributed it in US. This feature is done entirely as an audio interview of Gordon by Tom Weaver (author and film historian], laid over still photos and film clips of elements being discussed in interview. Much of the interview is centered on story of how Gordon and Minter formed working relationship (via Renown Pictures). Gordon tells several stories: Minter's rise as producer/presenter of films; how "Scrooge" as made in UK was re-titled "A Christmas Carol" for release in US; how picture released in US was not initially hailed, was actually not seen as 'family' movie but more equated to 'horror' movie; how when "A Christmas Carol" hit US TV it became a cult hit, but in UK was hit from initial release (Sim was very popular actor in UK at time); tells of other films in which Minter collaborated before and after "Scrooge" with considerable discussion of other Minter films (e.g., "Svengali" and work with "Old Mother Riley" films that were popular in UK). [total run time ~20 min]
- "Charles Dickens, His Life and Times" - Audio biography accompanied by illustrations and photos. Discusses Dickens' unpbringing, early relationships, early struggles and later prolific writing career (critically acclaimed), his marriage (to Catherine Hogarth) and affair with Ellen Ternan, and his poor health later in life.
- "Before and After Restoration" - Not really a 'before and after' comparision as advertised on the clamshell. Rather a few scenes are shown in split screen comparison but most thus is a discussion of the technical aspects of the restoration process. Like to be of most interest to those with technical savvy [~ 2 min in length]. If the viewer wants a fair comparison of the picture restoration of this 2007 version watch it in comparison to VCI's 2004 release (or previous prior releases).
- Photo gallery - stills from the movie, as well as production stills and actor/actress publicity shots. All images shown in "Ken Burns effect" (moving and zooming). Edge of screen is surrounded by a 'snowy' matte. No audio tracks accompany this extra.
All in all this is an excellent 2-disc set sure to be a hit with all fans of the movie. If you're new to the film version of Dickens' classic pick up THIS release, it's worth the $. 5 solid stars (for movie and extras).
17 of 19 found the following review helpful:
A Perfect Gift for the Member of Your Family Who Can't Get Enough Christmas!Sep 29, 2007
By Jean Yates
"jean, jewelry designer, book and music lover"
I first saw this movie, starring the incredible Alistair Sim as Scrooge(the real title of the film), at school back in the fifties. We were ushered into the school gym and the projector was run for all of the children in my rather small school. I was entranced with the story. We owned a copy of the book at home, with the original illustrations, and it is remarkable either way. When you have Charles Dickens as the author, chances are you are going to get a classic tale which is honestly great.
I find this movie, which I have viewed countless times, honestly great as well. I believe that it is all too true that people need to be taught at times how to behave toward other people: when Scrooge gets a second chance to become a good man and live the spirt of Christmas every day of the year after his visitations (from Jacob Marley, and the three spirits: Past, Present, and Future) it is incredibly affecting.
I particularly found the visitation of Christmas Past interesting to watch, as an adult. I suppose I understand now why Scrooge became the man he became. No excuses, but it is a realization I didn't have when I first watched this film growing up. It is an excellent explanation of why a person would become cold and bitter and unfeeling.
Alistair Sim's face is an extraordinary one. He sort of looks like a beagle. But when he is angry or mean, he is fearful looking. There are many things in this movie which are genuinely fearful, or sad, or moving.
That is part of what makes it a great classic.
True emotions evoked by fantastic directing (Brian Desmond Hurst) and perfect acting (not just by Sim, but also by Mervyn Johns as Bob Crachit, the epitome of a loving devoted father who must work for Scrooge to support his family, which includes, of course, Tiny Tim) make for a film which is worth watching any time of the year, by anyone.
I recommend giving this to the person(s) you most love, and watching it together!
I love seeing Scrooge go off in the snow at the end with a running, cheerful Tiny Tim, now healed because Scrooge has changed and is helping the Cratchits. It isn't silly, it is lovely. A great, uplifting scene!
It is a true delight to have a great movie come so exquisitely and beautifully packaged just in time for the Holidays! It has everything you could want and more!
Deck the Halls!
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
True restorationNov 23, 2008
By R. H. Ulmer
Because I read several negative reviews of this restoration I purchased the disc with some misgivings. I'm happy to report that my misgivings were not justified. Now, no one is harder to please than me when it comes to DVD image and sound quality. This is the best looking version of this film I've seen to date. Overall detail is vastly improved over the previous release as is contrast. I can see textures in clothing I've never seen before, as well as detail in shadows that were lacking in previous releases. The sound is 100% improved (even the Dolby Surround is effective). While there is some footage that is a bit degraded it quite minimal and accounts for only a minute or two of the entire film.
Overall, a great restoration job!
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