The Sherlock Holmes Collection - Triple Play (Blu-ray + DVD + UV Copy) [Region Free]

The good news is that what I actually got in the Sherlock Holmes Collection [Blu-ray] was the Triple Play Editions of both films, including Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Version, in a cardboard sleeve. As this is (at time of writing) only a couple of pounds more expensive than the triple play version of A Game of Shadows on it's own.

However, the bad news is that the Digital Versions are Ultraviolet downloads. If you want to claim them you'll have to: Sign up for a Flixster Account, Install their downloader/player on your computer, install their app on your iOS or Android device and use that and only that to watch your films. The files have been locked against other players. If you want a digital version of these films, you'll have to use their platform.

Obviously, if you like the Flixster app/player, no problem. It downloaded the files and played them just fine. But as consumers who are willing to pay the asking price for legal copies of new films, we don't deserve to be taken advantage of. Which is how I see this. You when you buy a triple play bundle you don't get asked 'Do you want itunes downloads or Ultraviolet downloads?,' you just get what is in the bundle. So we as consumers, don't get a choice of how to watch the films we paid for, on the devices we paid for. Does that sound fair to you? Ironically, you can get exactly what you want, on the platform that you want, if you are happy to download it illegally, (which I'm not.)

Physical discs aren`t tied to a certain manufacturer's players (even if BD technology all gets licensed from Sony) and neither, I think, should digital versions of movies. It doesn't really matter whether one app is better or worse than another. People will have their preferences, and since they are paying, they should have a choice.

I think both films are great and I don't have the heart give them a low rating just because of Ultraviolet/Flixster. You'll find plenty of reviews telling you how good they are, on amazon and elsewhere. I'm not too disappointed, as I primarily wanted the Blu-rays for main TV viewing and the DVDs to watch on my laptop. But, I thought it might be useful to share the above info with anyone else, so they know what they're getting. Personally, I think optical media are still the way forward until distribution companies get their act together. Highest quality, widest compatibility, simple choice.

Update:
After a bit of googling I found that Flixster had given itunes codes to customers who had problems with the Green Lantern and Harry Potter Part 7 back in Nov 2011, so I emailed Flixster support link, to see if they would help me. Their first email was just a generic FAQ and advertising for their app, which appears to be their standard response. I replied that it was a shame that they didn't want to try and solve my problem. They emailed back and asked for a time to contact me. I'm still waiting for the call.

Sherlock Holmes has brought cool back to our screens! Sherlock is back...... and on Blu Ray is even better than good! Quality is amazing...... for any blu-ray-first-timers out there - you must get this films on Blu Ray because you will watch the gorgeous high definition in wonder and awe....... if you have watched these movies on dvd* ... it will be like watching entirely NEW versions of these movies....because the definition adds a lot of depth and detail - which is lost on dvds........ you will see* every item in the background.... notice every button on a shirt.... see cobwebs that originally you had never noticed! :)) Buy it and Try it - You are gonna love these classics* on Blu Ray!!!

The films are great. Sherlock is traditionally intelligent with Watson being something of a dunce, but in recent years there has been a leaning to Watson being the brains behind the operation. Particularly the first film has managed to capture Holmes playing both roles. He is certainly the more intelligent of the two, but at the same time is also a complete pillock. This actually works very well and adds something unique to the film. My biggest issue with the product, and I don't want to sound like I am just repeating other reviews, but ultraviolet sucks! I spent two hours trying to set up flixster and ultraviolet accounts, the issue being that they just wouldn't link, inputted one of the codes and pressed play. I could only bring myself to watch about a minute of it before giving up, it's not that it spends ages buffering (in fact some buffering may help it) but the quality of the video is terrible! I know streaming is never going to be as good as blu ray or even DVD, but YouTube, VHS, and an app I have on my iPad called tvcatchup that streams live free view channels all put it to shame. I don't know if it's just my Internet connection, but as I said YouTube looks much better so I think it's the app. The quality may be ok for an iPhone maybe, but on an iPad or laptop you're going to wish you hadn't bothered. I know I can download it, but with limited hard drive on an iPad it isn't ideal. iTunes digital copies are the way to go. They were versatile enough that you could stick them on an external hard drive and bang them on the iPad when needed

Bit of an update, I have just downloaded the film and picture quality is great, but you can't move the file to an external hard drive like you can with iTunes films, and you can only download a film 3 times and on a tablet this effectively mean you can only watch it 3 times as you are probably going to have to delete it after watching unless you only want a small handful of films on. Streaming also only works or three years after entering the code so if streaming works for you, you can only watch it that way for a few years. If streaming is improved and allowed to be used for life, or downloads are allowed as often as needed they may be on to something but as it is if you buy the blu ray and want to watch on a tablet legally, you have to pay for a second time to get a copy off iTunes (something that has been free in the past and should be free. Tablets are becoming a big part of today's life and if you pay for a film companies must enable you to watch them on a tablet)