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Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection: Volumes 1 & 2 on 13th May 2008 priced at $59.98 SRP. This set from Universal offers 10 sci-fi tales spread across six-discs, all with English DD2.0 Mono audio, English SDH and French subtitles and the original theatrical trailers. # Actors: Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection # Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC # Language: English # Subtitles: English, French # Region: All Regions # Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 # Number of discs: 6 # Rating: # Studio: Universal Studios # DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008 Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection 1 & 2 (Tarantula/Mole People/Incredible Shrinking Man/Monolith Monsters/Monster on the Campus/Dr. Cyclops/Cult of the Cobra/Land Unknown/Deadly Mantis/Leech Woman) Universal has finally seen the folly of their ways in selling this set exclusively via Best Buy and is re-releasing both volumes 1 & 2 in one set. Included are all ten films in the original sets, but once again there will be no extra features - just the films themselves and some trailers. If you love the great campy horror films of the 1950"s you"ll love this set. The following is from the press release on the new combined set: Tarantula (1955, 81 min.) An experiment to create a growth formula that could end starvation evolves into a nightmare when a contaminated spider grows gargantuan - with an appetite to match! The Mole People (1956, 78 min.) Deep below the surface of the earth, three scientists stumble upon a tyrannical tribe of albinos who have enslaved a mutant - and dangerous - race of mole people. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957, 81 min.) After encountering a mysterious radioactive mist, an ordinary businessman finds his physical size diminishing as his ordinary household becomes a terrifying trap of doom. By the way, who keeps a cat in the house with a six inch tall husband around? The Monolith Monsters (1957, 76 min.) In a desperate race against time and nature, a geologist and a scientist must find a way to stop effects of killer outer-space rocks that are literally petrifying people with fear! Monster on the Campus (1958, 76 min) Terror sweeps a college campus after the discovery of a prehistoric fish that turns animals and humans that come into contact with it into bloodthirsty monsters. Dr. Cyclops (1940, 78 min) in COLOR! A brilliant but deranged physicist shrinks his enemies to one-fifth of their normal size when they begin to challenge his unconventional experiments. Cult of the Cobra (1955, 80 min) Vengeance is sworn against six American GI"s after they witness a clandestine ceremony worshiping beautiful women who can change into serpents. The Land Unknown (1957, 79 min) When a navy expedition crash-lands in a crater thousands of miles below sea level, they encounter a hot, tropical landscape of prehistoric terror filled with ferocious dinosaurs. The Deadly Mantis (1957, 79 min) A paleontologist teams up with the military to battle a huge praying mantis when it goes on the attack in metropolitan cities after being released from an Arctic iceberg. The Leech Woman (1960, 77 min) Determined to recapture her beauty, a woman discovers a compound that will restore youth - but only when it"s combined with fluid taken from bodies of the newly dead. Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977) "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" is a 1977 made-for-TV movie which has been out of print on VHS for many years, and now is available on a licensed Canadian DVD (if not in stock on Amazon, it can easily be bought on ebay). It has very good picture quality, and was not taken from a VHS or poor analog source by the looks of it. The movie itself is, well, pretty bad. I say this mostly because of the ridiculous plot and "facts" that are brought up in the movie. I"ve owned a Rose Hair Tarantula for some 15 years, and of course love watching any spider or tarantula movies. I remember seeing Deadly Cargo when I was a kid on TV, and spent years trying to track it down on VHS. This DVD looks much better than the VHS copy I managed to get a year or so ago. SPOILER: The "expert" in the movie reveals that this mix of large Mexican orange/red nee and desert tarantulas aren"t tarantulas.. but are the deadly brown recluse spiders instead! Yep, because while there are actually no tarantulas whose bites are deadly to humans, they are big and therefore scarier, than the small brown recluse spiders. Gotta love those 70"s made for TV movies! Monster on the Campus Universal has released "The Incredible Shrinking Man" as part of a package with four other vintage Sci-Fi/Horror 50"s films as "The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection". It"s available only from Best Buy through October. I"m not sure if Universal will be releasing the titles individually (I suspect they won"t). The other titles in the set are "The Monolith Monsters", "Tarantula" (both solid films), "The Mole People" (a cheesy 50"s sci-fi movie) and the horrible "Monster on the Campus". The only extras included are trailers (althoug Best Buy is offering a bonus disc of the Battlestar Galactica episode "The Story So Far" bundled with select copies). The art work is a bit cheesy looking (with one of the damsels in distress from "Tarantula" from a promo photo) with garish printing capturing the look of the posters at the time. "Shrinking Man" is presented for the first time in its correct aspect ratio for home video (1.78:1) while all the rest of the titles are presented in full screen. The transfer for all the films look extremely good with minimal print damage evident and some super clean up from Universal. My only disappointment is that there"s no commentary track from writer Richard Matheson or, at the very least, a film historian like Universal did with their "Frankenstein", "Dracula", "The Wolf Man" and "Creature" sets. Overwise this is a fine set. It"s priced inexpensively for five movies (there"s two movies per dual layered disc except the last). I picked this up primarily for "Shrinking Man" and the others I consider "extras". This is a region 1 only release so you"ll have to have a region 1 player to play it (anything purchased and made in North America) or a no region player. Enjoy! Deadly Mantis (1978) A young court official (David Chiang) is sent by the government to spy on a prominent family who are believed to be rebels. Once inside, he falls in love with the elder"s daughter. To get her out he must defeat siblings and father. From this comes the development of the Shaolin Mantis style. Action-packed from start to finish, including a cameo by the master killer himself! 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