The Invisible Man - The Legacy Collection (The Invisible Man/Invisible Man Returns/Invisible Agent/Invisible Woman/Invisible Man's Revenge)

Between directing the original "Frankenstein" in 1931 and his masterpiece "Bride of Frankenstein" in 1935, James Whale put out a little gem called "The Invisible Man" in 1933. In some ways I rate "The Invisible Man" above "Frankenstein." For one thing "The Invisible Man" has a great musical score which heightens the drama in many scenes and helps to speed the pace of the film. The original "Frankenstein" had no musical score (strange one was never added for re-release as it would have improved an already great film tremendously) as musical scores weren't commonplace until a few years later. I also think that Whale had developed greatly as a director between 1931 and 1933. "Frankenstein" has many scenes that seem to be stagey and lack the finesse of Whale's later films.In many ways "The Invisible Man" is Universal's most horrific horror film of the 1930s. Dracula was a vampire who killed to sustain his own existence, Frankenstein's Monster was a misunderstood and sympathetic creature who killed out of fear or anger, while The Invisible Man is a man driven mad by an illicit drug who kills out of shear pleasure. He commits mass murder during the film on a scale much greater than any other Universal picture. We also have to remember he is at his core a man not a monster.Claude Rains gives a magnificent performance, in his US film debut, in the title role. Rains, who's face was only seen on screen briefly at the end of the film, had a deep distinctive voice which was perfect for a role that was more about voice than body. This role was the start of a long and very successful film career for Rains who played costarring and supporting roles in classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s.Also in the cast are Henry Travers, Gloria Stuart and Una O'Connor. Travers was a talented character actor who may be most recognized to film fans as Clarence the inept angel in the holiday classic "It's A Wonderful Life." Stuart, who as a starlet in the 30s appeared in dozens of films before retiring from the screen, had a career resurrection in recent years when she was cast as "old Rose" in the mega-hit "Titanic." O'Connor, supplying comic relief as a busybody inn keeper's wife, played numerous supporting roles in Hollywood's golden age including a the role of Minnie in Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein."Of course, by 21st century standards "The Invisible Man" is antiquated. The special effects, undoubtedly cutting edge for their time, are not very impressive in the age of computer technology. Having said that, I must admit this film is still entertaining and exciting to watch. The performances, especially Claude Rains, still hold up and the direction by Whale remains spot on. If you sit back and imagine yourself as a moviegoer in the 1930s, having never seen special effects like this before, it's easy to see how stunning this film must have been to audiences more than 70 years ago.The $20 price tag is well worth it just to own "The Invisible Man" but in this Legacy Collection you also receive ALL of the Universal "Invisible" films (minus "Abbot & Costello Meet The Invisible Man"). It could be argued that "The Invisible Man Returns" and "The Invisible Man's Revenge" are the only true sequels as they follow the adventures of Jack Griffin's (Claude Rains' character in the original) brother. "... Returns" is distinguished by Vincent Price in the title role. These two films are pleasant B-movie efforts by Universal and part of the second horror cycle of the 1940s. "The Invisible Woman" is more comedy than horror and features John Barrymore in the twilight of his career. "The Invisible Agent" was a wartime adventure featuring Universal's top action hero of the 40s, Jon Hall, using invisibility to fight Nazis.Having added The Invisible Man, The Mummy and The Creature to its series of Legacy Collections, I sincerely hope Universal continues with the balance of its horror titles of the 30s and 40s. I hope to see a release of the films that teamed Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi ("The Black Cat," "The Raven," "The Invisible Ray," and "Black Friday"), a release of the Inner Sanctum series starring Lon Chaney and a set with all the one-off horror films ("Murders in the Rue Morgue," the 1943 "Phantom of the Opera," "Man-Made Monster," "The Mad Ghoul," etc.) of Universal's Golden Age.

This is a Great old Invisible Man collection and was well worth the price. The box was a little wider but no taller than an ordinary dvd case. These films are a great series of the black and white Invisible man movies. Its great watching the old special effects and style. They are a little old but fast moving movies, if you wanted more modern color try Memoirs of an Invisible Man with Chevy Chase. If you like old monster movies you should have this set.Watching WW2 films I was most interested in The Invisible Agent in this box set. It seemed to have a good budget and was filmed well for its time. As with other films of its era it makes the nazis look foolish but not as bad as 'Hitler, Dead or Alive'. The gestapo hunt for the Invisible Man along with interference of their allies the Japanese for the secret of invisibility while the invisible man runs to escape the nazi country with information about a nazi attack against the US. There are aircraft, explosions, uniforms and most of the film is behind enemy lines spy action. A very cool addition to any WW2 collection.

Welll - I ma very happy with the quality of the the main title and while the other titles are excellently restored (or are good copies, whatever) the other movies are TERRIBLE! I mean not Ha Ha terrible, just terrible! Amazing that Charley Ruggles was in the worst one of all. Anyway, since I was able to get an excellent copy of the packaged materials with perfect discs for only $10.00 (about 12-15 dollars less than the nearest competitor) then at least I didn't pay too much for these 4 other idiotic films and I now this collection to add to the Frankenstein and Creature collections. I really hate to diss these other films, as I am a film lover - in the example of the Frankenstein collection, the other films are great in their own way and at least don't venture into COMEDY - let's face it, Whale was the master of dark comedy within the framework of a horror film, but these other invisible titles attempt real comedy and they fail miserably. My bottom line would be: if you can find the remastered Rains version for less than this collectioin, buy that instead - it'll save room on your shelf, at least.

I've ordered and received three of the Legacy Collections: Frankenstein, Wolfman & Invisible Man. I've found no problems with their condition or playability. There was a loose disk in one of them but it played with no problems despite minor scuff marks.I must say that the nay-sayers who gave such poor reviews to these wonderful collections based upon their own individual playback issues caused more than a little concern for me. Perhaps they should try their disks in more than one type of DVD player. Not all DVD players like all disks.I sincerely recommend these collections for what they are; good quality in both audio and video. Certainly as good or better than when they were shown on TV in the 50's, 60's and 70's.Perhaps for those un-pleasable few who complain that their quality isn't up to modern standards; take a look at when they were made. There was no such thing as high definition or 5.1 surround sound in the 30's, 40's or 50's. Give it a rest!