PopSyndicate.com

It looks like a beautiful set, but in reality, it’s just another boring collection of public domain films not worth the time or material they’re printed on.

Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Jayne Mansfield, Brigettte Bardot and Sophia Loren. These are the lovely ladies of Bombshells of the Silver Screen. Goddesses, all of them. Marilyn is the lovely legend, the woman who walked a fine line of beautiful and broken. Liz Taylor is the firecracker who defied anyone and anything in her path. Mansfield’s looks came with a dark secret. Loren’s Italian voluptuousness and Bardot’s French mystique drew countless fans to the theaters.

So you’d think that a DVD set that encompasses all five women would be a treasure. And indeed, with the cover art by Hirschfeld, it seems to be.

Until you look at the film listing.

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women was one of the first films to be spoofed by Mystery Science Theater 3000. Hometown Story is on every two bit Marilyn collection as a bonus feature that never gets watched. Last Time I Saw Paris, based on the short story Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the only film that has a listing on wikipedia. Get Rita was originally released under the title Oopsy Poopsy, and has Sophia Lauren’s voice dubbed (which seems a little daft, considering this is supposed to be a set extolling the virtues of the ladies found within). Imperial Venus is the story of Napoleon’s sister whoring it up, and the only review on IMDB calls it “turgid.”

In fact, the only point of interest in this set is the cleverly compact way it arranges ten movies on five discs. The set unfolds in a truly clever way, each disc sitting on a plastic holder over another disc, all tucked into a surprisingly tiny case. But it’s a sad day when the construction of a DVD case presents more interest than the films within.

No bonuses, no special features. There is nothing redeemable about this set. Don’t buy it. Don’t even look twice at the interesting cover art. There is nothing of worth within.

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