Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Over the last couple of years Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. have been going the extra mile bringing some of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest and most popular films to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. Universal really knocked it out of the park with their two multi-film volumes. Now all we need is The Criterion Collection to upgrade a few in their closet of catalog favorites and we'll be pretty close to complete. Now to give fans of the master of suspense something special, Universal has teamed up with the old mountain and the home to Yakko, Wakko, and Dot to deliver the deluxe book package Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection. The films To Catch A Thief, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window represent what are arguably six of the director's most famous, fan-favorite blockbusters. They may not be is "best," but they're the ones the loosest of fans will recognize and seek out for their collections. I'd make a case for Rebecca, Strangers on a Train, and Notorious as worthy additions to this set, but then those three aren't on 4K UHD yet. 

What I do enjoy about big book sets like this or Universal's Previous Classic Monsters collection is they really are snazzy accessories to have out when company comes over for a visit. You casually leave it out on the coffee table, or strategically leave it slightly ajar on your bookshelf and see who takes it down. Then you can be all sophisticated, "Ooooh I see you noticed my Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Films Collection. It's in 4K, you know. Oh? You don't have 4K? What a pitty." and then you carefully take it from their greasy wine and charcuterie-stained fingers, close the book, and put it back on the shelf. Then you coyly give them the quizzical side-eye glance before asking "Want to watch North by Northwest?"

Okay, so that's never happened to me, but I like to pretend that's what would happen when I leave a big set like that out for folks to take notice. Generally speaking, this is a little more than what I like to go for. I love a good booklet and extra printed content with my favorite movies, but the sheer size and the amount of common filler trivia aren't very exciting. That said, I thought a lot of the behind-the-scenes photos, looks at the costuming, and all of the marketing images and posters for the films were pretty cool additions. 

So a set like this certainly isn't for everyone. It probably isn't even for the most die-hard of Hitchcock fans as you folks might well already own each of these films on 4K already. But I can't deny this is a pretty damn cool set. I might not sit on every shelf well. You might already own these discs. But it's an attractive piece and worth considering for the collection. As we've already reviewed five of these on 4K UHD, I'll leave those links below. For To Catch a Thief I'll fill in those relevant sections as we go along here. 

Rear Window - 4K UHD Review

Vertigo - 4K UHD Review

North by Northwest - 4K UHD Review

Psycho - 4K UHD Review

The Birds - 4K UHD 

To Catch A Thief - Blu-ray Review

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 

The master of suspense comes home with a special deluxe book set big enough to fit his stature. The Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection is a limited edition six-disc six film coffee table book set offering To Catch A Thief, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window. All of the discs present are identical to the ones already available including the newly released North by Northwest from Warner Bros and To Catch a Thief from Paramount - just with different disc artwork designed to match the four other films from Universal. There is a digital slip, but it's a bit of an odd duck. One code unlocks Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window while another code unlocks North by Northwest. Those two codes are Movies Anywhere compatible. Flip the slip over and you have a code for To Catch a Thief only this one is redeemable through Paramount's service and is not  Movies Anywhere compatible. Get all that? After all the cool pages of photos and blips and blurbs, the six discs are held in the book in recessed holes with secure center tabs. So no thin paper sleeves or any of that nonsense. 

Again, as we've already reviewed these in 4K, check out those reviews for relevant information. 

Rear Window - 4K UHD Review

Vertigo - 4K UHD Review

North by Northwest - 4K UHD Review

Psycho - 4K UHD Review

The Birds - 4K UHD 

Now since To Catch a Thief will be a fresh 4K review for us (since we didn't get a copy of the new Paramount Presents set), I'll dive in on that now. S, back when the Paramount Presents discs were first hitting the market, To Catch a Thief was among the first. I thought it looked quite good, perhaps overly praised it, but I didn't have access to Paramount's original Blu-ray at the time and I took a right good (and probably deserved) shellacking for my position considering that disc's notable usage of grain management ("Paramounting" as we call it now) and some questionable color timing changes between releases. The good news is this 4K disc is not the travesty of that initial release. While there may still be some lingering grain management around the optical transitions, there aren't any other serious outward signs of smoothing. Most of the time the image is beautifully cinematic with clean crisp lines and a normal standard film grain presence without being too soft or too noisy. The Dolby Vision grade is also a welcome asset letting those beautiful primaries leap off the screen with strong black levels and brilliant whites. Colors are genuinely beautiful from one luxurious location to the next while letting skin tones remain healthy and human (Cary Graint's suntan notwithstanding). The image also has an impressive sense of three-dimensional depth to enjoy too. While not perfect, I wouldn't put it toe-to-toe against something like North by Northwest, it's still a worthy upgrade. In this case, 4/5

On the audio front, the same set of audio options return. While a lot of upgrades went into To Catch a Thief in 4K, Paramount frustratingly stuck with the decent but limp Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track instead of offering any kind of legacy mix. 

Rear Window - 4K UHD Review

Vertigo - 4K UHD Review

North by Northwest - 4K UHD Review

Psycho - 4K UHD Review

The Birds - 4K UHD 

To Catch A Thief - Blu-ray Review

Again, for five of the films, the same set of expansive and interesting bonus features return. The universal discs were the better of the pack simply because Universal retained everything that they produced on previous editions. Now what's nice to see from Paramount for To Catch A Thief, they actually expanded on the bonus features over the skimpy offerings of the previous Paramount Presents Blu-ray disc. Most of these are carryovers from the 2012 Blu-ray but it's nice to see them return and not be left behind or only offered only on digital streaming services. 

Rear Window:

• Documentary: Rear Window Ethics
  
• A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
  
• Featurette: "Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of The Master"
• Featurette: "Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock"
• Featurette: "Masters of Cinema"
• Hitchcock/Truffaut audio interview excerpt
• Production Photographs
• Theatrical Trailer
• Re-release Trailer  narrated by James Stewart
• Audio Commentary with author John Fawell

Psycho

• Audio Commentary
• Documentary: The Making of Psycho
• Psycho Sound
• In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
• Hitchcock/Truffaut
• The Release of Psycho
• The Shower Scene: With and Without Music
• The Shower Sequence: Storyboards by Saul Bass
• The Psycho Archives
• Posters and Psycho Ads
• Lobby Cards
• Behind the Scenes Photographs
• Publicity Shots
• Trailers and Re-Release Trailer 

Vertigo

• Documentary: "Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece"
• Documentary: "Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators"
• Foreign Censorship Ending
• Hitchcock/Truffaut Interview Audio Excerpt
• Audio Commentary with director William Friedkin 
• Theatrical Trailer
• Restoration Theatrical Trailer
• Featurette: "100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era"

The Birds

• Documentary: "The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie"
• Featurette: "All About The Birds"
• Tippi Hedren's Screen Test
• Deleted Scene
• The Original Ending
• Hitchcock/Truffaut audio interview excerpt
• Vintage Newsreel Clips
• Theatrical Trailer
• Featurette: "100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics"
• Featurette: "100 Years of Universal: The Lot"

To Catch a Thief 

• Audio Commentary
• Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on To Catch a Thief
• A Night with the Hitchcocks
• Unacceptable Under the Code: Censorship in Hollywood
• Writing and Casting To Catch a Thief
• The Making of To Catch a Thief
• Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly
• Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch A Thief an Appreciation
• Edith Head and the Paramount Years
• Original Theatrical Trailer 

North by Northwest 

• Audio Commentary 
• North By Northwest: Cinematography, Score, and the Art of the Edit 
• Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North By Northwest 
• The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style 
• North By Northwest: One for the Ages 
• A Guided Tour with Alfred Hitchcock 

If we're going to talk strictly about the discs, this Alfred Hitchcock: Iconic Films Collection is a dynamite set. You have six of the director's most famous and biggest hits all in 4K with terrific transfers, impressive audio, and a lifeboat load of bonus features. Now if you were to argue whether this set offered his "best" films, that's a different metric to measure by. Added to the great films with equally great discs, you have the slick and stylish coffee-table book packaging to dig through. It's a show-off piece for sure. It doesn't sit on a standard collection shelf in any practical way so it's something that's intended to be left out for people to see and appreciate. To that, it certainly catches the eye. Working against this great set is the simple fact that these films are already out on 4K in different collections or available as single-title options. Ardent Hitchcock fans are likely to already own all these discs so the question then comes down to the book packaging. Is it worth it? The convoluted answer is "Sure, if you like that sort of thing." I don't normally go in for big sets like this where the draw is a bunch of printed swag I'm not going to look at. However I will say that a lot of care was considered with this set offering a lot more material than simple useless trivia factoids. The artwork, cast, crew bios, and all of that stuff were genuinely interesting to read. To that end, the folks out there who will be swayed by this are probably the most dedicated to the master of suspense -For Fans Only