The Criterion Collection

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

I wouldn't choose either current-gen gaming console for a UHDBD player; no Dolby Vision from discs on either one, demonstrably worse PQ than most decent standalones. This ain't the early days of BD when the PS3 was THE best BD player on the market bar none, so much so that Criterion put a PS3 in its viewing room as its first BD player.

You're the second person to tell me that here... Guess I'll have to rethink my plan.

I'll have to import an affordable standalone player, then. Hopefully, it won't be worse than the Xbox.

[MifuneFan]

It was for Citizen Kane the whole time!

[bradnoyes]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

You're the second person to tell me that here... Guess I'll have to rethink my plan.

I'll have to import an affordable standalone player, then. Hopefully, it won't be worse than the Xbox.

I agree with those who recommend a stand-alone player. I sometimes use my consoles as a back-up player but the quality you get from a stand-alone is undeniable and I think it's a must-have if you plan on having a significant library of discs.

[Mike0284]

Menace II Society getting rescued from the Laserdisc archive.

https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/05398...pecial-Edition

[NeoNical]

Insta buy on The Piano. Love Menace II Society. Might consider going for Citizen Kane since I’m planning to get all 6 anyways. Criterion pulling a smart move into the 4K business by releasing a few popular titles, especially Mulholland Dr., which I think the r/criterion and this community would have a field day with. I know a lot of people really love Lynch.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about what the price tag may be. I was thinking it would’ve been something like $49.99 or $54.99. Really hoping it’s $49.99 or lower ‘cause this and the two Kier/Dallesandro 4Ks are already taking much more money than I initially intended to for this year. And I don’t even want to know what the December releases may be, even though December is normally a slower month for announcements for Criterion.

[kuzronk]

My Sony 4K player always freezes, shame the PS5 can't do Dolby and stuff.

[Cooper67]

Originally Posted by kuzronk

My Sony 4K player always freezes, shame the PS5 can't do Dolby and stuff.

I have 2 panasonic 820 4k players and neither one has ever froze yet after a couple of years

[AdmiralNoodles]

Originally Posted by Audiopusher

I’m honestly curious as to what metrics you’re using to make such a statement as this? I realize that we all perceive things differently, but I personally have yet to see a Criterion title look anything less than superb. Of course, I watch on my 75” set from about 8 feet away, so any banding or macro blocking that may occur (if it does at all) is minimal. That said, I’ve gone up close to the screen (or viewed from the side) and have seen such artifacts before, at least on non Criterion titles. But, from my actual viewing point, it’s simply not noticeable to me. If you could point out some titles that have bad compression, I’d be interested in checking them out.

As to the HDR / Dolby Vision argument, that’s a huge kettle of fish. As a newer convert to 4k, I’m half impressed. I think a lot of it has to do with the source elements used for the scan, and the desire to remain as true to the source as possible. The Shining was a 4k scan from the negative (which had never been done before) and the results were lovely. Colors looked excellent, not over saturated, and fine details (especially clothing and wall textures inside the Overlook Hotel) were off the charts. If this scan were from an interpositive (or worse, a screening film print) the detail simply would not have been there.

Other 4k titles have looked terrible to me. “The Hunt For a Red October” is a personal disappointment. The colors are muted (it looked positively electric in the theater), and the overall brightness was off (tending toward extra dark - the underwater scenes looked pretty awful and the star at the tip of the Tupelov’s final torpedo was totally lost on the 4k).

As Criterion tends towards film preservation, I suspect they will honor the filmmakers’ wishes (where possible) and deliver 4k material that truly delivers a cinematic experience.

Finally, as an audio professional who cuts sound effects for films and TV shows, I’m on the fence as to Dolby Atmos. If the original intent of the filmmaker is to have overheads in the mix, and it truly aids in the storytelling, by all means go for it. Repurposing for Atmos (especially older films that were mixed in LCR or mono) is a different story. I tend to think of it as the equivalent to colorizing black and white movies. Of course, if the original filmmakers feel the need to open up the sonic palette, so be it. I don’t think it will affect my enjoyment of the film one way or the other. Unless the mix is so far off from what the original was (in terms of relative balance of dialogue, music and fx).

My $.02.

I heavily prefer original cinema audio, especially in lossless. The titles which Criterion doesn't need to bother releasing on 4K UHD disc and should remain on BD are in this thread. Easier to compare those 4K disc titles Criterion only has on BD.
Other companies have better priced sales. I do own quite a few monochrome titles on the format, especially The Elephant Man released by Studio Canal in the UK. Would much rather see the films presented as originally were in cinemas without any tweaks and I'm calling out the weird Storaro (spelling?) aspect ratio nonsense. There's another thread comparing compression but a lot of titles were released early on the BD format with outdated masters.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has a better master, being from a new 4K scan, from Arrow compared to Criterion. BUT, the master used for the Criterion is a far older one and the Arrow much newer. Being John Malkovich is better compressed through Arrow compared to Criterion but once again exclusive bonus features on both. The former I bought in one of Arrow's far more affordable sales through their site. (No wonder why I have so many of their releases in my collection compared to Criterion.) etcetera with comparisons and compression, being I have far more releases through other boutique labels compared to Criterion since said boutiques are far more affordable (through sales once again.)
Will still buy majority of Criterion BDs second hand since the MSRP is still ridiculous, but will of course want to buy many of the 4K+BD packs when the wallet permits. Glad that Criterion is managing to re-license the a lot of titles which originally were on Laserdisc on current formats.

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

$50-60 MSRP is pretty reasonable for UHD-Blu combos. I'm usually paying around $40-45 for Arrow's "ultimate" UHD limited editions like the Argentos, which don't even include a Blu-ray disc most of the time.

Criterion putting supplements only on the Blu-ray discs is a wise move, as that'll keep the dual format whiners away. While I think it was a little silly for DVD + Blu-ray, it makes way more sense with 4K + 1080p.

What I bolded is nearly their MSRP for Laserdisc. They need to lower it drastically. IMO, you might find better prices if you searched around more. BUT, I am guilty for paying more than I wanted to for many Limited Editions, of course.


I'm not right or wrong. Just been importing and collecting too long.

[jw007]

Alright, you heard it here first.

I have officially announced I am upgrading to 4K blu-rays after Wednesday's announcement from Criterion.

What this means is I am going to start researching which of my favorite films already have 4K upgrades and assemble a list of "to buy" titles come the holiday season later this year.

Of course included in these purchases will be all of Criterion's 4K blu-rays.

Additionally I will have to upgrade my TV and player to be 4K compatible.

So this is it! I'm finally making the plunge into the 4K world.

Thanks Criterion for making it finally happen for me. I needed that extra push, and now I got it.

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I hope Citizen Kane comes with a snow globe

That'd be cool if they made a limited first run with a snow globe.
Hopefully already neatly packaged and protected, otherwise I can just see
all the reports of smashed, cracked, leaking arrivals from Amazon.

Look, there goes one leaving the hands of a UPS package handler....

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

We gonna get black stickers I bet

[Mothravka]

Originally Posted by Warm Gun

The main reason I wouldn't use a console as a player is that, in my experience, they're all way too loud. Fans running at full or half capacity even though no 3D graphics processing is going on. I remember reading some review when the PS5 came out, stating that it uses like six times as much power as a normal 4K player during UHD playback.

For me, the PS5 is only loud when you load a 4K UHD disc, but it's pretty quiet during playback, at least for me. My Xbox Series X was much louder when playing a disc, it was a bit distracting.

[AdmiralNoodles]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, you heard it here first.

I have officially announced I am upgrading to 4K blu-rays after Wednesday's announcement from Criterion.

What this means is I am going to start researching which of my favorite films already have 4K upgrades and assemble a list of "to buy" titles come the holiday season later this year.

Of course included in these purchases will be all of Criterion's 4K blu-rays.

Additionally I will have to upgrade my TV and player to be 4K compatible.

So this is it! I'm finally making the plunge into the 4K world.

Thanks Criterion for making it finally happen for me. I needed that extra push, and now I got it.

Why Criterion and not other companies?

[CrossRhodes94]

Criterion is probably his favorite

[Sifox211]

I love those large dual format digipacks - like A Hard Day's Night - and will be delighted if they continue to issue some titles in them. They feel special to me (in the same way that boxsets tend to feel special compared to single releases). I haven't had any problems with damage or wear - what do people do with them?

I hope the price point is $50. It would be even better if it was $40, which would be in line with the previous change. When they started issuing BDs they were at the same $40 price as their DVDs.

I think it was a big mistake when they later on dropped the price of DVDs to $30, allowing the moaning about paying more for a dual format. If they hadn't done that I'm sure they would have carried on with the dual format releases.

Excited about most of the new titles, The Red Shoes especially, which I expect I will have to import (at great expense).

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

I love those large dual format digipacks - like A Hard Day's Night - and will be delighted if they continue to issue some titles in them. They feel special to me (in the same way that boxsets tend to feel special compared to single releases). I haven't had any problems with damage or wear - what do people do with them?

Same here. Like them, and never had a problem.

[Mothravka]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

I love those large dual format digipacks - like A Hard Day's Night - and will be delighted if they continue to issue some titles in them. They feel special to me (in the same way that boxsets tend to feel special compared to single releases). I haven't had any problems with damage or wear - what do people do with them?

I prefer the more thicker and sturdier slipbox variants.

There is usually no big problem with damage or wear when you have the Criterion digipacks, but the bigger problem is during the shipping route when you order them online. That's when they tend to get damaged, especially if they are not packaged good enough. Not all of us live in the US or have stores that carry Criterion Blu-rays, so ordering online is the only way to get them. Getting replacements can be a minor or bigger hassle too. Although I must say that I myself have been lucky most of the time.

[kemalettin]

is this 4K thing gonna be on streaming or disc only?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by kemalettin

is this 4K thing gonna be on streaming or disc only?

Disc

[SteelyTom]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, you heard it here first.

I have officially announced I am upgrading to 4K blu-rays after Wednesday's announcement from Criterion.

What this means is I am going to start researching which of my favorite films already have 4K upgrades and assemble a list of "to buy" titles come the holiday season later this year.

Of course included in these purchases will be all of Criterion's 4K blu-rays.

Additionally I will have to upgrade my TV and player to be 4K compatible.

So this is it! I'm finally making the plunge into the 4K world.

Thanks Criterion for making it finally happen for me. I needed that extra push, and now I got it.

Just in time for the single-disc Vertigo 4k release in September.