The Criterion Collection

[Iamspartacus]

Inglorious Bastards 4.5/5
Jackie Brown 4.5/5
Pulp Fiction 4.5/5
Kill Bill Vol. I 4/5
Reservoir Dogs 4/5
Kill Bill Vol. II 4/5
Death Proof 3.5/5
Django Unchained 3.5/5

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

Yes, but I think its better to have an identical extras set across all English-speaking regions. I'm being penalised because not only do Criterion only release in the US, but they also lock their releases so people can't even import them without having a multi-region blu-ray player, which are grey-market anyway.

So essentially they're penalising me because I simply happen to live in the UK. Why don't Criterion release in the UK then? I'd be happy for them to do that.

IMO it's one or the other. Either it's Criterion's fault for having the worldwide exclusive rights to their special features, and then refusing to officially make them available outside of their home country, or it's the other countries distributor's faults for not doing the same thing with their own special features? It's silly... If they went about it your way, we'd have 2 wildly differing special feature sets, whereas it's much better to have 1 the same, the best of both worlds then.

Similarly I'm being "penalized" when Masters of Cinema chooses to release a version of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari that includes extras that aren't on the corresponding US version released by Kino...? Fortunately, I have a region-free player so I just bought my preferred version. Beat the system, go region-free.

[InTheMood]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

Yes but its the restricting of special features based on geographical boundries that I think is wrong. And does it not bother you that you're missing out on some of the other features, if you buy the UK one, rather than the US one? Surely it would be better if all the features were on each? That way both UK (masters of cinema) and US (Criterion) would be happy.

Surely if companies compete against each other, that only harms the consumer in terms of the content available, because they'll have to buy multiple copies/editions to ensure that they have all possible content?

I don't think it's Criterion or MoC or any other boutique distributor that's restricting anyone from printing region free discs. Eureka has a disclaimer on their discs if you play on a wrong player that they would do region free releases if they were allowed.

So I think it's a bit silly blaming Criterion for restricting special features from other continents when it really is not them.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

I wish Criterion collection would allow their 'exclusive' special features for international releases. It really sucks because I know that as a UK viewer, whenever a blu-ray is set to be released by Criterion in the US, I know that half the time, the International version (released by some other distributor) will suffer in terms of extra features.

A case in point being Rosemary's Baby. While the US & UK releases have the same transfer (thank God for that at least), the US Criterion release has extra features, whereas the UK release has absolutely zero, so as a result of Criterion's ego in wanting exclusives on their discs, international viewers then suffer. You could of course import the criterion one, but then you'd need to fork out for an unlocked blu-ray player, which defeats the point I feel.

I also hate how they're all like "this is an exclusive" etc. etc. when quite often, the transfer certainly isn't exclusive, and ocassionally there are the odd special features that get shared across international releases.

I just think that if they feel they're doing films & extra features a good thing by actually producing them to a high standard in the first place, they should give something back by making those features available to international viewers to be put on their country's respective releases, who can't afford to import their locked releases.

Did you somehow forget that they're a business and that producing and/or licensing extras costs money? Or the fact that having something that another company doesn't have may in fact increase sales, and thus their bottom line? Criterion isn't some non-profit organization whose job it is to help out smaller labels like some charity, so why on earth should they "give something back" to some international label? They owe nothing to another company, especially one that's in some regard competition to them. If another company wants extras, they're welcome to produce their own, or license them where permitted.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

You could of course import the criterion one, but then you'd need to fork out for an unlocked blu-ray player, which defeats the point I feel.

Take it from me, just fork over the money!

Since I went region-free, and at a reasonably low price I may add, all of these types of discussions have become obsolete.

I will never buy a region-locked blu-ray player again!

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Take it from me, just fork over the money!

Since I went region-free, and at a reasonably low price I may add, all of these types of discussions have become obsolete.

I will never buy a region-locked blu-ray player again!

I've been pretty happy with the Seiki player I just picked up and agree with you for sure.
Been having some skipping problems on my copy of The Wicker Man but none with Zombie, so its probably just something to do with the disc
Or could it be some kind of firmware thing?

[JeffTheMovieGuy]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

You must have thought it was Criterion Tarantino announcement day.

...it ain't Criterion Tarantino announcement day is it?

In that envelope there that's some payout money, Criterion is moving on to some greener pastures, we are not negotiation, I don't like to barter. What's in that envelope is for my peace of mind not one penny more.

[ShellOilJunior]

I don't believe Criterion competes with companies like MOC, Arrow or BFI, for example.

Criterion caters to North America while those companies cater to Europe. Furthermore, most people do not have region free blu-ray players so there is usually only 1 choice for any given film.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

I've been pretty happy with the Seiki player I just picked up and agree with you for sure.
Been having some skipping problems on my copy of The Wicker Man but none with Zombie, so its probably just something to do with the disc
Or could it be some kind of firmware thing?

Where's that Joe Buck?

I can't help you, my friend, I went Sony. No problems as of yet.

[ajburke]

I am one of those who doesn't like to consider Death Proof as a standalone film, since it originally appeared as part of Grindhouse, which I do consider to be one film. I actually like the full double feature version best, though I'm biased as one of the paltry few who saw it in theaters.

Tarantino writing a few movies for other directors, and making cameos, makes a very interesting conversation out of what even constitutes his filmography. It's rare that anyone considers Sin City to be part of his body of work, but he guest-directed a sequence in the film and is credited for it.

I don't think he'll be making any further appearances in the CC, but if there ends up being a big box set if/when he retires, that would be a very special package - and controversial too, regarding what is and isn't included!

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Take it from me, just fork over the money!

Since I went region-free, and at a reasonably low price I may add, all of these types of discussions have become obsolete.

I will never buy a region-locked blu-ray player again!

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

I've been pretty happy with the Seiki player I just picked up and agree with you for sure.

Can you guys link us to the players you bought? Thanks.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

Yes, but I think its better to have an identical extras set across all English-speaking regions. I'm being penalised because not only do Criterion only release in the US, but they also lock their releases so people can't even import them without having a multi-region blu-ray player, which are grey-market anyway.

So essentially they're penalising me because I simply happen to live in the UK. Why don't Criterion release in the UK then? I'd be happy for them to do that.

IMO it's one or the other. Either it's Criterion's fault for having the worldwide exclusive rights to their special features, and then refusing to officially make them available outside of their home country, or it's the other countries distributor's faults for not doing the same thing with their own special features? It's silly... If they went about it your way, we'd have 2 wildly differing special feature sets, whereas it's much better to have 1 the same, the best of both worlds then.

Let's flip your argument around for a moment, okay? There are LOTS of UK titles that I would give my eye teeth to have on blu-ray here in the United States: Forty Guns, Pickup on South Street, The Naked Prey, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Tarnished Angels, The Lost Weekend, Lifeboat, Two for the Road, "The Otto Preminger Film Noir Trilogy", Runaway Train, Boomerang!, The Naked City, Brute Force, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, City Girl, etc., etc., etc.

And there are many Region B titles that are superior to their Region A counterparts, not to mention less expensive.

What you're really unhappy about is the fact that there is region coding. Truth to tell, I don't think any of us on the consumer side are too wild about it, and would do away with it in an instance, if we could. But we can't.

The good news is that there is a workaround for you and for me ... via a region-free player. Each of us just needs to determine for ourselves whether we want to take advantage of that option, or not. (Personally, I haven't, yet, but I'm happy to know that it's there.) So many times in life, there isn't such a simple, readily available solution to a problem. I see the glass as half full, and if I'm being "penalized" at all by not having all those wonderful Region B titles in my home library, it's because I'm choosing to penalize myself.

[discking]

I recently discovered what may be a serious problem with the way Criterion Blu-Ray discs are mastered or produced and what happens with those discs when they are played on 4K UHD TVs. Now, this example is limited to my own equipment, so it may also be brand specific. I recently purchased an LG 4K UHD TV. Great picture, many settings, many profiles, blah blah blah. But, 4K TVs of course consume much higher cable and component bandwidth or data transfer rates. They may receive frequencies that were cut off for or not present in 2K reproduction. When I tried to play several Criterion Blu-Rays, including the recent Room With A View disc, the image was filled with static and flickered badly. The image was washed out behind a sea of noise. Alarmed, I tried a different player than my default Oppo, same result. I tried connecting the player directly to the back of the TV, same result. Different cable, same. What I discovered was that the only image profile on the LG that would display the disc normally was "standard". Any of the other profiles, including "Cinema" and "Expert" and so forth were afflicted with noise and flickering. The Criterion discs were the only discs that had this problem. All other discs I own played normally no matter what profile was selected. I can only assume that the LG, as part of being a 4K TV, is receiving a frequency range in the signal that 2K sets do not, and that for some reason the Criterion discs, different from any other discs I have, are not cutting off that frequency range above what's needed for 2K reproduction. Anyone else having problem with Criterion Blu-Rays and 4K UHD TVs?

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Can you guys link us to the players you bought? Thanks.

Here's my link:
http://www.220-electronics.com/regio...y-players.html

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by discking

I recently discovered what may be a serious problem with the way Criterion Blu-Ray discs are mastered or produced and what happens with those discs when they are played on 4K UHD TVs. Now, this example is limited to my own equipment, so it may also be brand specific. I recently purchased an LG 4K UHD TV. Great picture, many settings, many profiles, blah blah blah. But, 4K TVs of course consume much higher cable and component bandwidth or data transfer rates. They may receive frequencies that were cut off for or not present in 2K reproduction. When I tried to play several Criterion Blu-Rays, including the recent Room With A View disc, the image was filled with static and flickered badly. The image was washed out behind a sea of noise. Alarmed, I tried a different player than my default Oppo, same result. I tried connecting the player directly to the back of the TV, same result. Different cable, same. What I discovered was that the only image profile on the LG that would display the disc normally was "standard". Any of the other profiles, including "Cinema" and "Expert" and so forth were afflicted with noise and flickering. The Criterion discs were the only discs that had this problem. All other discs I own played normally no matter what profile was selected. I can only assume that the LG, as part of being a 4K TV, is receiving a frequency range in the signal that 2K sets do not, and that for some reason the Criterion discs, different from any other discs I have, are not cutting off that frequency range above what's needed for 2K reproduction. Anyone else having problem with Criterion Blu-Rays and 4K UHD TVs?

Interesting. I'd say that it's an obscure problem with your model of LG.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by JeffTheMovieGuy

In that envelope there that's some payout money, Criterion is moving on to some greener pastures, we are not negotiation, I don't like to barter. What's in that envelope is for my peace of mind not one penny more.

Back on the last page, there's a Criterion cover with Pulp Fiction on it.

...but you ain't even looked yet.

See I'm still a mystery to you.

But I know exactly where yo dvd ass is comin from.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

You could of course import the criterion one, but then you'd need to fork out for an unlocked blu-ray player, which defeats the point I feel.

Exactly what point would paying for a region free player defeat?

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

I just think that if they feel they're doing films & extra features a good thing by actually producing them to a high standard in the first place, they should give something back by making those features available to international viewers to be put on their country's respective releases, who can't afford to import their locked releases.

Give something back? What have 'international viewers' given Criterion that warrants Criterion 'giving something back'? International viewers who are already Criterion customers wouldn't benefit from this proposal of your because Criterion content is (obviously, I would think) already available to them.

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

And does it not bother you that you're missing out on some of the other features, if you buy the UK one, rather than the US one?

No. Tradeoffs are part of life. And as already been noted, this particular tradeoff is beneficial to consumers. Whenever a company like Arrow or Criterion creates exclusive content they're increasing the pool of available content. That's a Good Thing.

[SlickDamian]

Really looking forward to the Mulholland Dr. release. However, am I the only one that feels underwhelmed by the supplements? Doesn't look like much beyond some interviews, which will probably be fantastic. It's also disappointing in the wake of the Eraserhead features, with all of those short films, restored with introductions.
But Dr. Svet did give them give stars. I'm sure it will be a great release regardless of the special features.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by John Bergqvist

I wish Criterion collection would allow their 'exclusive' special features for international releases. It really sucks because I know that as a UK viewer, whenever a blu-ray is set to be released by Criterion in the US, I know that half the time, the International version (released by some other distributor) will suffer in terms of extra features.

A case in point being Rosemary's Baby. While the US & UK releases have the same transfer (thank God for that at least), the US Criterion release has extra features, whereas the UK release has absolutely zero, so as a result of Criterion's ego in wanting exclusives on their discs, international viewers then suffer. You could of course import the criterion one, but then you'd need to fork out for an unlocked blu-ray player, which defeats the point I feel.

I also hate how they're all like "this is an exclusive" etc. etc. when quite often, the transfer certainly isn't exclusive, and ocassionally there are the odd special features that get shared across international releases.

I just think that if they feel they're doing films & extra features a good thing by actually producing them to a high standard in the first place, they should give something back by making those features available to international viewers to be put on their country's respective releases, who can't afford to import their locked releases.

If they did that what would be the point of buying the Criterion version when you could just wait & probably get the other version cheaper. Criterion is in this also to make $, extras cost $ to produce & give an incentive to buy their versions. Also, region free players can be found super cheap if you know where to look. I got a region free Toshiba player for $50.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

No. Death Proof has all of the necessary ingredients for great cinema. Chicks and car chases.

(I've got no use for Planet Terror, but I've always loved Death Proof.)

I dedicate my QT list to you, Owl

Inglorious Basterds
Jackie Brown
Reservoir Dogs
Kill Bill
Django Unchained *
Pulp Fiction
...
...
...
...
...
Death Proof

* Only watched the once, and thus hard to truly rank.