The Criterion Collection

[Gacivory]

Hoping for

A City of Sadness/Taiwan Trilogy set
Raise the Red Lantern
After Hours & Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Mudbound

[jshaide]

It’s December, so I’m curbing my expectations:

Dunno about 4K, but I don’t really think about it.

Blast of Silence
Mr Klein
Mudbound or The Learning Tree

That’s it

[Creasy47]

No clue what to expect but I'd personally love some more Kurosawa on BR (or even UHD).

[dvining]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Hoping for

After Hours & Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore Bringing Out the Dead

I agree.

[critterdvd]

Originally Posted by Azores26

I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about this possible Kurosawa boxset, is there any indication of it actually happening?

Man, I really hope so. I've held off buying any of the single releases in anticipation that this would hopefully come out someday. December 2021 sounds like the perfect time to release it

[dvining]

Originally Posted by critterdvd

Man, I really hope so. I've held off buying any of the single releases in anticipation that this would hopefully come out someday. December 2021 sounds like the perfect time to release it

I've upgraded all of my Criterion DVDs to Blu-rays except the Kurosawas.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by dvining

I agree.

What about all 3?

[Harvey Dent]

The Piano 4K and The Red Shoes 4K are a given to be announced .

Would be good to have some Kurosawa since nothing has been announced on him for a long time

[dvining]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

What about all 3?

I just find Alice to be a light little film that I don't need to revisit again. In a world of finite time and resources, I'd rather see Bringing Out the Dead than Alice.

I wouldn't exactly get worked up if they got all three out, though. That'd be cool.

[MifuneFan]

I wonder what others think. Do you think having a certain director's box set on Blu-ray hurts the chances of some of the films included getting a future UHD release? I feel like it would, because it sort of chips away at that set, and makes it seem like an "inferior" product.

Take something like La Strada for instance. It's finally getting an individual release, after first coming out in the Fellini set. It's from a 4K restoration. Now, if that Fellini set didn't exist, would this have been a title that Criterion may have put out as a UHD / BD title instead? The same goes for the Wong Kar-wai films. If that set didn't exist, would something like Chungking Express have come out on UHD in the future instead? I think these same kinds of concerns could be applied to any potential Kurosawa set too. By having a complete Kurosawa set, could we be forgoing any potential individual UHD / BD releases of Red Beard, The Bad Sleep Well, Stray Dog, Drunken Angel, and so forth.

I think we could see stuff from the Bergman set like The Seventh Seal (which has a UHD coming out internationally), Persona, and other major titles get a UHD release, but it's a bit different there since the box set still has lots of value. With the Fellini set, there's a greater ratio of titles there that would benefit from a UHD upgrade, and some that already have overseas like Nights of Cabiria.

Criterion obviously aren't going to upgrade every film to UHD, but there are some major ones in the collection that they surely will, and I think many of them are in these box sets, so only time will tell if they eventually get a 4K release or not.

[Azores26]

Originally Posted by dvining

And they have a few that still need Blu-ray upgrades like Red Beard.

I have to imagine that these box sets are hugely profitable for them. That the Bergman box set sold so much better than they expected (remember how hard it was to find a copy a couple of years ago?). And they've just kept at it.

Kurosawa, even if not complete but just robust, would probably be a huge money maker for them. The only question is do they just do it all Blu-ray or include some 4Ks in the bunch? My bet would be all Blu-ray with some individual releases in 4K later. Collectors will moan about it, but Criterion probably knows they'll still sell.

Quite a few Kurosawa films were restored in 4K in the last few years - I remember "Ran", "Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro", not sure if there were others. Would be amazing if Criterion released these ones on 4K blu-ray in a boxset with other of his films on "regular" blu-ray (like "Stray Dog" and "Red Beard").

But I guess I would be asking too much LOL!

[dvining]

Originally Posted by Azores26

Quite a few Kurosawa films were restored in 4K in the last few years - I remember "Ran", "Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro", not sure if there were others. Would be amazing if Criterion released these ones on 4K blu-ray in a boxset with other of his films on "regular" blu-ray (like "Stray Dog" and "Red Beard").

But I guess I would be asking too much LOL!

I'd buy that for a dollar.

(Also more than a dollar. I'm not that cheap.)

But dual format stuff seems to be a touchy thing with a surprising number of people.

[Mauve]

Something from Dreyer, Bresson, Ozu, Mizoguchi or Gosha would be most welcome.

Would also like to see either Red Beard, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs or Fires on the Plain get the treatment. Their Pialat films need upgrading too.

[Mister_Kidd]

I'd love to be able to upgrade this whole set:

[El Sleezo]

I hope by December 2022 we get a UHD of Colonel Blimp.

[Gacivory]

Shortbus isn’t getting a release from Criterion, it will be cumming from Oscilloscope!

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by Azores26

Quite a few Kurosawa films were restored in 4K in the last few years - I remember "Ran", "Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro", not sure if there were others. Would be amazing if Criterion released these ones on 4K blu-ray in a boxset with other of his films on "regular" blu-ray (like "Stray Dog" and "Red Beard").

But I guess I would be asking too much LOL!

Yeah, I've been wanting a Kurosawa boxset exactly like this too. Don't even label the boxset "4K," since most of the movies would be Blu-rays. You can make a big deal about the few 4K movies on the back of the box, though.

[JohnnyF]

Originally Posted by dvining

I just find Alice to be a light little film that I don't need to revisit again. In a world of finite time and resources, I'd rather see Bringing Out the Dead than Alice.

I wouldn't exactly get worked up if they got all three out, though. That'd be cool.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Paramount releases BRINGING OUT THE DEAD themselves. They’ve had a heck of a year so far after almost a decade of sadness.

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I wonder what others think. Do you think having a certain director's box set on Blu-ray hurts the chances of some of the films included getting a future UHD release? I feel like it would, because it sort of chips away at that set, and makes it seem like an "inferior" product.

Take something like La Strada for instance. It's finally getting an individual release, after first coming out in the Fellini set. It's from a 4K restoration. Now, if that Fellini set didn't exist, would this have been a title that Criterion may have put out as a UHD / BD title instead? The same goes for the Wong Kar-wai films. If that set didn't exist, would something like Chungking Express have come out on UHD in the future instead? I think these same kinds of concerns could be applied to any potential Kurosawa set too. By having a complete Kurosawa set, could we be forgoing any potential individual UHD / BD releases of Red Beard, The Bad Sleep Well, Stray Dog, Drunken Angel, and so forth.

I think we could see stuff from the Bergman set like The Seventh Seal (which has a UHD coming out internationally), Persona, and other major titles get a UHD release, but it's a bit different there since the box set still has lots of value. With the Fellini set, there's a greater ratio of titles there that would benefit from a UHD upgrade, and some that already have overseas like Nights of Cabiria.

Criterion obviously aren't going to upgrade every film to UHD, but there are some major ones in the collection that they surely will, and I think many of them are in these box sets, so only time will tell if they eventually get a 4K release or not.

Well Seven Samurai came out on blu-ray only about a year after they released the DVD-only Kurosawa centennial set. With that said, The Seventh Seal is the one "classic foreign Janus flagship, etc." title I could see them releasing on UHD sooner rather than later. Likewise Seven Samurai, assuming they don't do a blu-ray only Kurosawa set. It's hard to say though.

[MifuneFan]

The Red Shoes 4K is up!

https://www.criterion.com/films/233-the-red-shoes

SPECIAL FEATURES
In the 4K UHD edition: 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
In the Blu-ray and DVD editions: High-definition digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Introductory restoration demonstration with filmmaker Martin Scorsese
Audio commentary from 1994 by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with actors Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese
Profile of “The Red Shoes,” a 2000 documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team
Interview with director Michael Powell’s widow, editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, from the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
Audio recordings from 1994 of actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger’s novelization of The Red Shoes and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Red Shoes”
Collection of rare publicity stills and behind-the-scenes photos
Gallery of memorabilia from Scorsese’s collection
The “Red Shoes” Sketches, a 1948 animated film of Hein Heckroth’s painted storyboards, with the Red Shoes ballet as an alternate angle
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic David Ehrenstein and a description of the restoration by UCLA film archivist Robert Gitt