Examples where the Criterion release is inferior to another release of the same title

[I KEEL YOU]

Just curious if there are any.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Just curious if there are any.

I haven't noticed any. I have seen comparable equals though. The Studio Canal release of The Third Man comes to mind.

[Al_The_Strange]

This thread is blasphemy!!!

[Kenny_Powers]

the thin red line uk version i heard was better

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Kenny_Powers

the thin red line uk version i heard was better

It received a slipcover unlike the U.S. Criterion and someone commented that the Criterion version had some type of encoding error, but I am yet to see evidence of this.

[toddly6666]

Isn't the UK blu-ray of The Last Emperor overall better?

[Donat96]

The German release of 'M' by Universum has better audio and a brand new transfer using elements that hadn't been found when Criterion made their version.

[Kenny_Powers]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

It received a slipcover unlike the U.S. Criterion and someone commented that the Criterion version had some type of encoding error, but I am yet to see evidence of this.

Exactly what i heard

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Donat96

The German release of 'M' by Universum has better audio and a brand new transfer using elements that hadn't been found when Criterion made their version.

Yeah, I was reading the review of the new release of M where the reviewer says that it is slightly superior to the Criterion release, which is why I wanted to make this thread and see if there were other examples.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Isn't the UK blu-ray of The Last Emperor overall better?

They are about the same. The Last Emperor is a head-scratcher. Its OAR was 2.39:1 yet all of the BD releases are 2.02:1. One thing to note is that the U.K. version does contain the TV version (noticeably cut) in 2.35:1, but instead of Linear PCM 2.0 or DTS-HD MA 2.0 like the feature you are stuck with DD 2.0.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Yeah, I was reading the review of the new release of M where the reviewer says that it is slightly superior to the Criterion release, which is why I wanted to make this thread and see if there were other examples.

I have the ones mentioned in my list already if that helps you.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I have the ones mentioned in my list already if that helps you.

Sure it does. Thanks.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Sure it does. Thanks.

No problem.

[shesha]

I have both versions of Fear and Loathing, And to be honest I am not sure the Criterion version is better. *Don't hit me*

[ravenus]

The comments below are purely personal opinion:

I don't have the actual discs for a real comparison but going purely from screenshots I consider MoC's BD of Harakiri superior to Criterion's. Softer, yes, but more natural looking than what seems to me a contrast boosted overly sharpened texture of the Criterion BD (I think there's something very wrong with how Nakadai's beard looks in this shot).

I'm not too happy with the transfer on High & Low either (of course I don't know of any other version so this is not a case of the Criterion being INFERIOR to any other transfer). Criterion seems to have an obsession with having the most contrast-y look on their B&W films, sometimes to their detriment. I wonder if reviewers give them more leniency in this regard on account of them being the la-di-dah label for arthouse cinema.

The Universal transfer of Fear And Loathing in Vegas looks better to me (sharper and more natural, while the Criterion looks orange-hued) in screenshots than the Criterion transfer...but the Criterion transfer is director approved so perhaps it was intended to look that way.

So my two bits there, I'd be happy to be corrected by those more knowledgeable

[Ace of Sevens]

The Rock is available from Disney with all the Criterion supplements, but on Blu-ray.

[RudyC]

Originally Posted by shesha

I have both versions of Fear and Loathing, And to be honest I am not sure the Criterion version is better. *Don't hit me*

i had both and thought criterion felt more "real" or transparant to me..i kept the criterion one.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by ravenus

The comments below are purely personal opinion:

But they are actually very good opinions

Originally Posted by ravenus

I don't have the actual discs for a real comparison but going purely from screenshots I consider MoC's BD of Harakiri superior to Criterion's. Softer, yes, but more natural looking than what seems to me a contrast boosted overly sharpened texture of the Criterion BD (I think there's something very wrong with how Nakadai's beard looks in this shot).

I have the two discs. The MOC is not softer, rather the Criterion transfer has the contrast levels slightly boosted, overall sharpness as well, which gives it a marginally richer but also harsher look. Strictly as far as image quality is concerned, I tend to prefer the MOC, but because of the good supplemental features I think that the Criterion release is the better package.

Originally Posted by ravenus

I'm not too happy with the transfer on High & Low either (of course I don't know of any other version so this is not a case of the Criterion being INFERIOR to any other transfer). Criterion seems to have an obsession with having the most contrast-y look on their B&W films, sometimes to their detriment. I wonder if reviewers give them more leniency in this regard on account of them being the la-di-dah label for arthouse cinema.

I was not very pleased either -- there is some rather strong contrast boosting and sporadic sharpening. But this is currently the best presentation the film has seen.

Originally Posted by ravenus

The Universal transfer of Fear And Loathing in Vegas looks better to me (sharper and more natural, while the Criterion looks orange-hued) in screenshots than the Criterion transfer...but the Criterion transfer is director approved so perhaps it was intended to look that way.

Here we definitely disagree. The Criterion release looks notably stronger when projected. There are still inherited limitations, but the harshness of the Universal transfer is practically eliminated.

[42041]

Originally Posted by Kenny_Powers

the thin red line uk version i heard was better

Some comparisons were posted on AVS indicating that although some minor encoding/mastering error (which I barely noticed while viewing) was fixed, the encode was slightly inferior on the UK disc.

The Leopard recently received a beautiful looking 4K restoration that Criterion did not use, although a Blu-ray came out in Europe without English subs. Some industrious internet folk have synced English subs to that transfer, but there's no legitimate English-friendly release.

[whitesheik]

Originally Posted by ravenus

The comments below are purely personal opinion:

I don't have the actual discs for a real comparison but going purely from screenshots I consider MoC's BD of Harakiri superior to Criterion's. Softer, yes, but more natural looking than what seems to me a contrast boosted overly sharpened texture of the Criterion BD (I think there's something very wrong with how Nakadai's beard looks in this shot).

I'm not too happy with the transfer on High & Low either (of course I don't know of any other version so this is not a case of the Criterion being INFERIOR to any other transfer). Criterion seems to have an obsession with having the most contrast-y look on their B&W films, sometimes to their detriment. I wonder if reviewers give them more leniency in this regard on account of them being the la-di-dah label for arthouse cinema.

The Universal transfer of Fear And Loathing in Vegas looks better to me (sharper and more natural, while the Criterion looks orange-hued) in screenshots than the Criterion transfer...but the Criterion transfer is director approved so perhaps it was intended to look that way.

So my two bits there, I'd be happy to be corrected by those more knowledgeable

It would, of course, help if you knew what High and Low was supposed to look like, which you don't - so you should have no problem with the Criterion release's contrast because that's what High and Low has always looked like - in 35mm, on DVD, wherever. That's the way it was shot and the Criterion transfer is excellent. I'm not always a fan of their transfers, but High and Low they got right.