Director Showcase Spotlight Collection (American Graffiti / Do the Right Thing / Born on the Fourth of July / The Last Temptation of Christ)

A GREAT Set!
This is a terrific set! Four absolutely fantastic films by four great directors. "American Graffiti" is a classic from George Lucas (also produced by Francis Ford Coppola); and the other three are from Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Oliver Stone, and are all from a period I call Universal's "daring" period.

There was a brief period, from around 1987 until 1995 or so, where Universal began making a series of bold Director's Movies, that were acclaimed, quite challenging, and often controversial. While Universal was still churning out fun, commercial fare like the "Back to the Future" movies and "Jurassic Park" and so forth, there was a certain branch at Universal that seemed interested in really making some important films, as well. During that time, they had multi-picture deals with Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, and they made films like Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ", Oliver Stone's "Talk Radio", Michael Apted's "Gorillas in the Mist", Spike Lee's "Do the...

Eclectic Diversity Personified.
WOW! This is the most eclectically diverse collection I've seen any studio release. 4 stars for the audacity. I can't think of any one I know who would have an interest in a collaboration of all these movies together though.

Great Value
Since Amazon's listing is incomplete and the packaging is no help, here's what many people are probably curious to know about this package: what discs are inside of it? Actually, this quadruple feature is one of the best values out there. Disc one is the newer "Special Edition" of American Graffiti with the brand new George Lucas audio commentary. Do the Right Thing is the first disc of the 20th Anniversary Edition, so it features remastered video, a new commentary by Lee, a reunion special with many of the film's cast members, and newly-discovered deleted scenes. If you have the Criterion edition, this disc is all you need to complete the package with the new material. Next, Born on the Fourth of July is also the more recent "Special Edition" with remastered picture, and The Last Temptation of Christ is from Universal's 100th Anniversary in 2012 and features anamorphic video. No skimping on this set: it's the best Universal editions of all four movies.

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