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Through the 1930s and ‘40s no company was more associated with the horror genre than Universal. They gave us everything from Lugosi’s Dracula to umpteen Mummy sequels. When the sci-fi crazy 1950s hit, Universal struggled a little to adapt, and while they gave us some absolute classics (Creature from the Black Lagoon), they had many other more minor efforts in the decade. Instead of releasing these classics and cult classics individually on DVD, Universal has instead opted to package ten of them together in one set. Actually, truth be told, they originally released them as two separate five-film sets exclusively to Best Buy, but now all ten are released to the mass market.

To say there’s a large range of quality in these ten films is being kind. We are treated to true classics, such as The Incredible Shrinking Man and Dr. Cyclops, mid-range favorites like Tarantula and The Monolith Monsters, and some that were so hokey, Mystery Science Theater 3000 had no problem riffing on them during their short-lived deal with Universal. Three of those once-MSTied films are included here (in non-MST form, of course): Deadly Mantis, Leech Woman, and The Mole People. Then there’s The Land Unknown, a Lost World knock-off that has gained notoriety for its subpar special effects. The final two films in the set are two of the most obscure and lowly of the Universal Sci-Fi era, Monster on the Campus and Cult of the Cobra.

That’s not , however, to say that this is an inferior set by any means. While not all of the films retain the style and quality of the Richard Matheson-penned Shrinking Man, most of them are still great fun. Tarantula, which cameoed a very young Clint Eastwood during its climax, is one of the few big-bug epics of the time that came anywhere close to matching the popularity of Them!. On the flip-side, Deadly Mantis is terribly hackneyed and has one of the most laughable giant prop monsters of its day, yet it’s still great fun.

One thing that definitely helps set these films apart is the film quality itself. The prints are crystal clear and pristine, some even in their original widescreen ratio aspects. Land Unknown, with its mixture of photographically-enlarged lizards and men in really bad dino-costumes, looks absolutely stunning here.

Special features are sparse, though most of the films at least contain their original theatrical trailers.

The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection may not really be all that ultimate, and not all of them are classics except only by age, but this is a really nice little set, giving a good balance of the good and not-so-good of Hollywood’s sci-fi golden age.

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