The Coen Brothers Movie Collection (Fargo / Miller's Crossing / Barton Fink / Raising Arizona / Blood Simple)

I became interested in the Coen brothers after seeing "No Country for Old Men". I had liked Fargo, but was unnerved by it and felt uncomfortable afterwards. I realize that this is exactly the reaction they were trying for.
So far, we've seen three of the other movies and while they were enjoyable, did not rise to the level of "No Country"

I've already seen all of these and own most of them, but this is a dynamite starter set for people who've only seen a couple of Coen films and want to go deeper.

I had only seen Fargo and Raising Arizona prior to purchasing this set. I was not at all disappointed. Blood Simple was genius considering it was their first movie, Fargo is perfection, Millers Crossing was great, as are the other two. If you like the Coen brothers then I would highly recommend purchasing this set, even if you haven't seen all the flicks. While your at it, pick up The Big Lebowski and No Country For Old Men.

Although for what it is you'd think they'd at least throw in the Hudsucker Proxy or Lebowski. Still, this was a great deal. Don't expect much in the way of extras, or even an accompanying booklet. But you get five great films at a more than reasonable price.

I bought this box set on Amazon for $24.99, it has since jumped up to $36.99 and this price working out the math of the individual movies, it may not make much sense to pick up this box set right now. However, apparently, DVD prices fluctuate online and for the sake of this particular box set, I probably would have been willing to buy it for a max. of $40.00. That said, here is a terrific introduction to the Coen brothers. Here are their first five (critically acclaimed) movies. For your casual viewer, this is great. For your film junkie, this is slightly disappointing as I don't think we will ever understand why distributing companies (aside from The Criterion Collection and a few others) can't seem to get the whole flow of making a box-set. For those who do not understand my complaint, the Hudsucker Proxy is missing from this box set, when chronologically it should come between Barton Fink and Fargo. But one has got to understand this selling what sells pattern most distributors follow.

I suggest watching the movies one after the other chronologically. Given my schedule, it took me a little over a week to watch the movies. It is a joy to watch any filmmakers work like this. I am planning a similar viewing experience with director Spike Lee's movies in the Spike Lee Joint Collection (Clockers/ Jungle Fever/ Do the Right Thing/ Mo` Better Blues/ Crooklyn) collection. Reviews to follow.