Rating: 
Summary: The game is afoot!
Review: The first three films in Universal's Sherlock Holmes series find the great detective battling Nazi spies and other contemporary (for 1942) villains, a reflection of the studio's belief that Conan Doyle's master sleuth, as conceived by his creator, was an anachronism in the horrific early days of World War II. Despite the success of the initial outings, the fourth film, "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death," deemphasized the modern aspects of the films and returned the focus to more traditional mysteries, perhaps because the studio realized that audiences turned to Holmes for an escape from Hitler and his atrocities, rather than reminders. Though Conan Doyle purists tend to sneer at them, the first three films are very entertaining. Despite the fact that the game was now afoot in an era quite unlike the Victorian age in which Holmes and Watson were most at home, a dark, foggy atmosphere was maintained in all but "Sherlock Holmes In Washington." Basil Rathbone, despite a bizarre hairstyle that might have been leftover from his role in "The Last Days of Pompeii," puts an indelible stamp on Holmes that no other actor has been able to erase. Nigel Bruce's Dr. Watson may be a tad too bumbling for such an educated man, but in later entries he would show himself to be more than a buffoon. The fourth film is the best in this set, and "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death" sets the pattern for the eight to follow. Holmes continued to eschew his famous deerstalker (was amusingly admonished by Watson when reaching for it in "Voice of Terror") and smoked cigarettes more often than his traditional pipe, but the weird gladiator hairdo was, thankfully, gone. And though he continued to close many of the cases with an insiring patriotic message from Winston Churchill, these and other reminders of the world outside the darkened theater were downplayed rather than awkwardly stressed as they were in the initial trio of films. The second and third volumes are the best, but this collection is worth owning, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Old School Suspense
Review: These are the BEST Sherlock's you'll ever find. NO ONE has come close to playing the characters as well as these two gentleman. BUY IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: terrific
Review: These restored films are a real pleasure to watch. Both sound and picture are excellent. The only mar is the sometimes inaccurate close-captioning; otherwise, a fine product.
Rating: 
Summary: sync is off
Review: Voice of Terror is the only one I have seen so far. It was almost a joy to see this fine war-time piece. However, when the voice and lip movements are out of sync one must ask how this was allowed to happen. Not only is it a distraction in full shots, but the close ups are truly disconcerting. At fifteen dollars a disc, I certainly want more professional results. Also when my package arrived there was rattling in the box. It turned out that all of the discs were loose in their container. I ordered vols two and three at the same time and the discs in their boxes were also free to move about, making the possibility of scratches and bumps to happen. The packaging of these classics is appalling. If the sync problem exists in all the discs then the "experts" that put these together fall far short of their responsibilities. The fact that it should happen even once to these classic movies is bad enough. Enough! Amazon Books has always been top notch, but I fear the DVD department is far below what one expects. The clarity and sound is very good. Now if they could just get it together.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding transfers,but...
Review: While I watched "Faces Death", I felt that it was a much lighter version than I what was used to. So, I paused a scene and went hunting for my Key Video of the movie. I put it on and went to the matching scene, then switched back and forth between the VCR and video images. The difference was very pronounced. The Key Video version was darker, moodier and had deeper shadows. I don't know which version should be considered the "better" one, but they are indeed quite different! I enjoyed the commentary and booklet, but, like others here, would have liked to see more (such as the trailers). Overall, though, I am thrilled to see the series on DVD and will buy the next two volumes.
Rating:
Summary: And it's about time, too
Review: You must realize that these 14 films represent the most successful "B" film series ever made, and running as they did at the same time 240 radio shows ran every Monday night at 8:30, mostly for Petri wines from California, it's really long over due that someone of the stature of ULCA would restore them and bring them "home" to America Being a Basil and Bruce purest, I was terribly upset when Jeremy Brett received all the acolades for his impersonal portrayal of the great detective....Brett had the one missing ingredient that Basil didn't have....the original mysteries as written by the Master......instead he was subjected to Hollywierd rewrites and screen plays that could never hold a candle to Doyle..... That aside, now the world will once again understand why Basil and Bruce's images are still the quintessential images of the Dr. and his friend, and once again America will get to see the ultimate performace of the the Great detective in immacualte form: restored 35mmm on DVD...... Now and forever: Basil Rathbone in the role he was born to play.
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