Universal Sinks Its Own Creature from the Black Lagoon Legacy Collection Blu-Ray Set (Updated)




Dammit, Universal. How hard is it for you to re-release one of your classic creature feature box sets on Blu-ray without screwing it up?

Last week, Universal released the Blu-ray upgrade of its Creature from the Black Lagoon Legacy Collection, which was supposed to include high-definition (HD) upgrades of all three of the Creature movies. It was also supposed to include HD 3D versions of both the first Creature movie (which was initially released as a stand-alone disc back in 2013) and the first sequel, Revenge of the Creature. Sweetening this release even more was that Universal tasked the 3D Film Archive with restoring the 3D print of Revenge so that fans will be seeing the best version possible. With the 3D Film Archive on the job, both classic movie monster fans and 3D film buffs alike had reason to be excited for the new Blu-ray set ... that is, until the set arrived on August 28th.

According to everything I've read from various articles, reviews and discussion boards around the 'net, Universal completely fumbled the release of the set. The Creature from the Black Lagoon Blu-ray is fine, since it's just a repackaging of the previous stand-alone release. However, the two Creature sequels were put on to the same disc and for some reason, the visual quality of each of the sequels is extremely poor, below the quality of DVD releases.

Furthermore, not only is the 3D version of Revenge also of lesser visual quality, but Blu-ray players won't automatically show this version in 3D; instead, they just play the file as two side-by-side stereoscopic images. 3D Blu-rays are not supposed to do this at all, so viewers will have to manually activate the 3D viewing option on their HDTVs (providing that the manual option is available at all). As if this wasn't bad enough, the faulty disc was released in two different Blu-ray sets: The Creature Legacy Collection set and the more expensive Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection set.




The amount of ineptitude on display here for what should otherwise be a routine Blu-ray upgrade is staggering. Speculation abounds about why Universal would do something so dumb, although I think a commenter on one of the discussion boards I follow put it best about the Creature sequel Blu-ray disc: "If the quality is equivalent to a pirated rip (which it is) when a pristine source is available (which it is) then as a consumer product it really has to be considered as a total dud."

What's particularly baffling is why this happened at all. Universal scanned the original 35mm elements of Revenge in 4K resolution. The scan was then sent to StudioPost for image grading and dirt/damage removal; after that, the master files were sent to the 3D Film Archive to fix stereoscopic problems that were in the original print. This was obviously a costly, time-consuming undertaking, but it also shows that someone at Universal really wanted to put Revenge on 3D Blu-ray. So why would Universal blow it all by releasing a subpar Blu-ray of both of the Creature sequels? It makes absolutely no sense.

Then again, this is Universal that we're talking about. When Universal finally released the 3D print of Jaws 3 on Blu-ray back in 2016, it was included as an extra feature and without a chapter selection menu. Of the many 3D Blu-rays that I own, Jaws 3 is the only one that treats the 3D viewing option as an afterthought, something that could easily be ignored if one doesn't know where to look. I can't help but to wonder if the Universal staff members who authored the Jaws 3 Blu-ray were the same ones who authored the Creature sequels Blu-ray, because that would explain so much about what happened.


UPDATE, 9/6/2018: I just found out on the 3D Film Archive that Universal released the following statement on September 5th:

STATEMENT RE: UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT’S REVENGE OF THE CREATURE 3D BLU-RAY REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) has identified a manufacturing issue which may affect the presentation of the 3D Blu-ray offering of the film Revenge of the Creature, released on August 28 , 2018 as part of the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection and the Creature From the Black Lagoon Complete Legacy Collection. The issue is isolated to this particular film and does not affect any other discs in the collections. UPHE’s goal is to always deliver the best possible product to its consumers. To that end, a replacement program is being established to ensure that those who have purchased either collection have the opportunity to receive a corrected Blu-ray disc featuring the 3D version of Revenge of the Creature and 2D version of The Creature Walks Among Us, should they encounter the issue. To receive an updated disc, please email USHEConsumerRelations@visionmediamgmt.com.



Related Products:

Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Model Kit Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Statue Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Mask

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