[ikms]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Blu-rays are still more expensive to manufacture than DVDs

Tell that to the $5 BD's that seem to never go away on Amazon. Recordable 25GB BD-Rs in 50 stacks come out to 30yen a pop in Japan - pressing them is much cheaper. We are talking a difference of pennies here.

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Anyway, I think it's a moot point. Eclipse is about affordable, tidy, accessible editions of otherwise hard-to-find films, and in that regard they are perfect as-is. It's sad that there are "format snobs" () that overlook a lot of these films because they aren't "restored" or loaded with extras or available on Blu-ray. Many are better looking than some Criterion mainline titles and offer a great value (economically and artistically) compared to a typical Hollywood studio DVD.

What is sad is that all the Eclipse DVDs (outside a few glaring exceptions) are coming from recent masters. Any 35mm film professionally transferred in the last 10 years was done at at least 2k... so not releasing the set as Blu is arbitrarily limiting the potential. Doubling up the releases (BD and DVD) would add cost, so maybe Criterion feels the bulk of Eclipse buyers have still not upgraded their hardware yet?

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

It's there to get these films out without Criterion having to take a gamble on losing money restoring them. They are 100 times better than no release at all.

Nobody is asking for restoration. AVC on a BD-25 at 1080p (as their masters surely are hi-def) is not a stretch when they are releasing them on DVD-9 with modern mpeg-2. Anyone here could create their own competent BD masters on a modern PC given a couple hours with the source master. No menus, no frills!

Originally Posted by monque

I do. What a great addition to Criterion collection that would be.

"Director as Smuggler"
Anything Sirkian (complete with biting social commentary) would be appreciated in HD. That was one I caught studying film at university, and I made sure to seek the rest out on DVD.