Columbia Pictures: The Best Pictures Collection-11 Best Picture Winners (It Happened One Night / You Can't Take It with You / All the King's Men / From Here to Eternity / On the Waterfront / The Bridge on the River Kwai / Lawrence of Arabia/ A Man for All Seasons / Oliver! / Kramer vs. Kramer / Gandhi)

The films in this collection are:
It Happened One Night (1934), directed by Frank Capra
You Can't Take It with You (1938), directed by Frank Capra
All the King's Men (1949),
From Here to Eternity (1953),
On the Waterfront (1954),
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), directed by David Lean (2 discs)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), directed by David Lean (2 discs)
A Man for All Seasons (1966),
Oliver! (1968),
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Gandhi (1982). directed by Richard Attenborough (2 discs)

The description of extras is all jumbled together in the press release, but this is what goes with what, the best that I can figure:

DVD Features
Extras for Gandhi:
An Introduction from Lord Richard Attenborough
The Funeral
The Making of Gandhi Photo Montage
The Words Of Mahatma Gandhi
Milestones in the Life of Gandhi
Gandhi weblink
Ben Kingsley talks about Gandhi
Designing Gandhi
Lord Attenborough Audio Commentary
From the Director's Chair
In Search of Gandhi
Madeleine Slade: An Englishwoman Abroad
Reflections on Ben
Shooting an Epic in India

Extras for A Man For all Seasons:
The Life of Saint Thomas More

Extras for Lawrence of Arabia:
A Conversation with Steven Speilberg
Making of Lawrence of Arabia
Maan, Jordan: The Camels Are Cast Featurette
Romance of Arabia Featurette
Original Newsreel Footage of the New York Premiere
Advertising Campaigns

Extras on It Happened One Night:
Commentary by Frank Capra Jr.
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... "It Happened One Night"
Vintage Advertising

Extras for Bridge Over the River Kwai:
Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
Exclusive Documentary - Adaptation of Boulle's novel, casting, history of production, score, release, restoration and more.
Vintage Newsreel footage
An Appreciation by John Milius

By going back and checking extras on existing releases, this appears to be a repackaging of stock, with no new releases just for this collection. Also, this list of extras may be incomplete, because some films do have extras on their DVDs that are not listed in the product description I have seen. For example, the current release of Kramer vs. Kramer has a "Making Of" documentary that is not listed in the press release for this set.

This does appear to be a complete collection of Academy Award winners by Sony/Columbia, with the exception of The Last Emperor, which is currently on DVD via the Criterion Collection. Double dips could occur if you already own The Premiere Frank Capra Collection (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington / It Happened One Night / You Can't Take It with You / Mr. Deeds Goes to Town / American Madness / Frank Capra's American Dream), which would cause you to purchase "It Happened One Night" and "You Can't Take it With You" twice. There is also the The David Lean Collection (Lawrence of Arabia / The Bridge on the River Kwai / A Passage to India) as well as the WWII 60th Anniversary Collection (The Guns of Navarone/From Here to Eternity/The Bridge on the River Kwai) (Includes Collectible Scrapbook). All of these collections overlap with the new Bst Pictures Collection.

I enjoyed this collection a great deal. It's nice to have a wide range of films, including my favorites Lawrence of Arabia and Ghandi. I think this is a good collection for those who like classic movies. My one complaint is that on the Lawrence of Arabia disc the movie cuts off suddenly when Lawrence and his attendants are crossing the Sinai and then when you put the next disc in about ten minutes later the Intermission starts. I don't see why the first disc couldn't go up to the Intermission? Still the product deserves five stars.

This collection of Academy Award-winning films is a striking vignette of how society has changed over the past century. The relationships between men and women, gender roles, the haves and have nots, and the issues, actors, and themes that entertain the American public (and those Academy Award voters) are all here.

The films in this collection include:

- It Happened One Night (1934)
- You Can't Take It with You (1938)
- All the King's Men (1949)
- From Here to Eternity (1953)
- On the Waterfront (1954)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- A Man for All Seasons (1966)
- Oliver (1968)
- Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
- Gandhi (1982)

The epics, in my estimation, are The Bridge on the River Kwai, On The Waterfront, Lawrence of Arabia, and Gandhi.

But this is not a review of these particular films. This is a review of this package of films.

Bottom line? A bargain. They are attractively and nicely packaged. A number of the DVDs have extras included (not really my cup of tea). This would be a very nice gift for a classic film aficionado, including yourself! Enjoy.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 13 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars