The Criterion Collection

[themp3000]

Man, Criterion can’t win for anything with some folks around here. They have months where they have no Japanese releases, people complain Criterion don’t care. And then when they do have a month where they do, same people still complain.

Anyways, I was hoping for Salo 4K tbh. I’m devastated. Gonna go process this disappointment. See you fellas in a month!

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

And? Ive seen plenty where humans of it and there are still mistakes. But $1.50 a minute isn't a "ton" of money for human translation, but way to ignore that part because there is no excuse then.



Again, take a step back and ask why you choose to attack me, when I posted facts against the pother guy's misinformation. But you'd rather have that misinformation and carry out personal vendettas because Internet—sorry your "hesitation" for believing facts comes at a price.

Reading comprehension is a good thing... You missed every single point that everyone made to you, and attacked them for points they weren't even making.

Someone hesitating to support you =/= hesitating to believe facts. It's not even in the same ballpark.

[The Sovereign]

Criterion isn’t a charity and no one here is obligated to cheerlead & stroke them when they lay an egg. Calling it what it is: weak sauce.

[Snicket]

Lot of people mad the imaginary box set they had in their head does not exist.

[AreaFive]

Kurosawa fans (myself included) requesting more 4K releases from Criterion

[fred25_Ca]

At this point I just want the last few gems like Stray dog, red beard, The bad sleep well and Drunken angel to get blu ray releases. That's all i'm asking. If we can at least get these four on blu ray, I think most fans would be quite happy. But yeah, 8 years has been ridiculous. I've stopped hoping at this point and just moved on (kept my dvds).

Stray dog especially is maddening.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Lot of people mad the imaginary box set they had in their head does not exist.

Most people are mad that instead of getting a new remaster of some of their nearly 20 year old Kurosawa releases from the LD/DVD Era, they are following the trend of re-issuing fairly recent titles that already had 4K/2K masters and re-issueing them in the exact same packaging with the exact same extras, most without even an HDR pass.

It's very lazy.

If they announced ANY other Kurosawa title, people wouldn't be reacting as negatively.

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

At this point I just want the last few gems like Stray dog, red beard, The bad sleep well and Drunken angel to get blu ray releases. That's all i'm asking. If we can at least get these four in blu ray, I think most fans would be quite happy. But yeah, 8 years has been ridiculous. I've stopped hoping at this point and just moved on (kept my dvds).

Stray dog especially is maddening.

10000000% this.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by themp3000

Man, Criterion can’t win for anything with some folks around here. They have months where they have no Japanese releases, people complain Criterion don’t care. And then when they do have a month where they do, same people still complain.

If it was say an upgrade to 4K for a title that never had a Blu-ray that would be great, but they are upgrading titles that already have had EXCELLENT Blu-rays. Like a lot of the Gilliam titles, Dreams, etc. I know some people want that extra push for some more popping colors and clarity, but man Dreams looks amazing on Blu-ray.

[MifuneFan]

Again, Toho is almost certainly the reason. We don't really know what's happening behind the scenes with them, or what they're asking for in order for these films to be put on 4K. We don't even know if they would allow that at all. Toho are releasing many of Kurosawa's films on 4K this year, it's extremely unlikely they would simply license them out to Criterion, which would directly hurt their own direct sales.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by RevolverOcelScott

It's very lazy.

If they announced ANY other Kurosawa title, people wouldn't be reacting as negatively.

100% this. I remember when Criterion was considered the innovator in the industry, but it seems like they are now beached whale that doesn't know how to move. Arrow, VS, Kino, hell even labels like Severin are running laps around them with new to Blu and 4K titles. I'll give them July as being a good month. July. That's 1 out of 8 months of the year. Again, what was once promising, has now become frustration. Any Kurosawa title outside of Dreams would have been big news. Any. Even if it was a simple Blu-ray upgrade for a title that's probably not going to get a 4K like the Quiet Duel.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Again, Toho is almost certainly the reason. We don't really know what's happening behind the scenes with them, or what they're asking for in order for these films to be put on 4K. We don't even know if they would allow that at all. Toho are releasing many of Kurosawa's films on 4K this year, it's extremely unlikely they would simply license them out to Criterion, which would directly hurt their own direct sales.

I do agree that this would be the most logical reasoning. But this line in particular is where I don't see the logic...

Toho are releasing many of Kurosawa's films on 4K this year, it's extremely unlikely they would simply license them out to Criterion, which would directly hurt their own direct sales.

It probably would hurt the Japanese market, but they could region lock the US releases, other labels have done it (not many). While I'm sure their fear is the US release canabalizing the JP release, by not having them out in the US, they lose those sales (licensing fee) as well, which would probably offset the loss.

Obviously those are just my thoughts and opinions on the matter, they might have other reasoning.

I wouldn't mind if it needed a price hike too. Put a disclaimer "Due to the increased cost of licensing this title, Crtierion is setting the MSRP $X.XX higher".

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

100% this. I remember when Criterion was considered the innovator in the industry, but it seems like they are now beached whale that doesn't know how to move. Arrow, VS, Kino, hell even labels like Severin are running laps around them with new to Blu and 4K titles. I'll give them July as being a good month. July. That's 1 out of 8 months of the year. Again, what was once promising, has now become frustration. Any Kurosawa title outside of Dreams would have been big news. Any. Even if it was a simple Blu-ray upgrade for a title that's probably not going to get a 4K like the Quiet Duel.

I used to set a reminder in my phone calandar for Criterion release day to remember to check. I haven't bothered in some time, I forgot today was even the 15th until I saw the Dreams 4K thread pop up. Arrow, VS, Severin have definitely stepped up the the plate.

[BoydR12]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

100% this. I remember when Criterion was considered the innovator in the industry, but it seems like they are now beached whale that doesn't know how to move. Arrow, VS, Kino, hell even labels like Severin are running laps around them with new to Blu and 4K titles. I'll give them July as being a good month. July. That's 1 out of 8 months of the year. Again, what was once promising, has now become frustration. Any Kurosawa title outside of Dreams would have been big news. Any. Even if it was a simple Blu-ray upgrade for a title that's probably not going to get a 4K like the Quiet Duel.

I’m really not sure I trust your intentions with your posting here. You’re criticizing criterion at every given opportunity. I think they’ve had a hell of a year so far, but that’s just my opinion.

This is in far contrast to how hard you dick ride radiance in that thread. And I really like radiance! But the contrast between your perceptions of reality between those 2 labels is just so nonsensical. It truly does make me think your intentions are mischievous

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by gbm82

Reading comprehension is a good thing... You missed every single point that everyone made to you, and attacked them for points they weren't even making.

Someone hesitating to support you =/= hesitating to believe facts. It's not even in the same ballpark.

Sorry you're also so triggere. SWhen you can show me where $1.50 per minute is "a ton of money" for adding subs, then maybe you have an argument. Until then, attack the guy posting misinformation. Channel your faux rage elsewhere. Bye!

[Brad1963]

August announcements are awesome. Thank you Criterion.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by RevolverOcelScott

I do agree that this would be the most logical reasoning. But this line in particular is where I don't see the logic...



It probably would hurt the Japanese market, but they could region lock the US releases, other labels have done it (not many). While I'm sure their fear is the US release canabalizing the JP release, by not having them out in the US, they lose those sales (licensing fee) as well, which would probably offset the loss.

Obviously those are just my thoughts and opinions on the matter, they might have other reasoning.

I wouldn't mind if it needed a price hike too. Put a disclaimer "Due to the increased cost of licensing this title, Crtierion is setting the MSRP $X.XX higher".

Reverse importing has been a huge concern in Japan, at least as far as Japanese studio's are concerned. Toho specifically are pretty terrible, and still are living in the past. Just look at how badly they screwed Criterion over with the Godzilla Showa set, only allowing them to have inferior versions of some films, likely because of their own plans to do 4K releases fo those films. It was already a nightmare to apparently get the original Gojira from them, so I can't imagine the hurdles they must have faced with a 15 film set. It wouldn't surprise me if Criterion working on that s Godzilla set completely affected their relationship with Toho.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Again, Toho is almost certainly the reason. We don't really know what's happening behind the scenes with them, or what they're asking for in order for these films to be put on 4K. We don't even know if they would allow that at all. Toho are releasing many of Kurosawa's films on 4K this year, it's extremely unlikely they would simply license them out to Criterion, which would directly hurt their own direct sales.

I tend to believe this is the main reason for the lack Kurosawa upgrades. After all it's not as if BFI, who has historically released the most Kurosawa in the UK, has had any new releases of his films for a long time. Even Carlotta (France) who recently released big blu-ray box sets of Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Tanaka has not done any Kurosawa. I can't believe it's a lack of will with those companies either.

[Rayjg]

Criterion musta known we'd all be poor after the July B&N 50% off sale. They just taking it easy on us is all. Chill.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Reverse importing has been a huge concern in Japan, at least as far as Japanese studio's are concerned. Toho specifically are pretty terrible, and still are living in the past. Just look at how badly they screwed Criterion over with the Godzilla Showa set, only allowing them to have inferior versions of some films, likely because of their own plans to do 4K releases fo those films. It was already a nightmare to apparently get the original Gojira from them, so I can't imagine the hurdles they must have faced with a 15 film set. It wouldn't surprise me if Criterion working on that s Godzilla set completely affected their relationship with Toho.

But that in itself is a limiter of profit.

Sell 10,000 Blu-rays at 70 bucks
Sell 40,000 Blu-rays at 40 bucks

By isolating your audience (I know TOHO tends towards this) you actually limit your exposure and profit.

(Prices are made up obviously, but I know that Japanese media is VERY pricey)

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by BoydR12

I’m really not sure I trust your intentions with your posting here. You’re criticizing criterion at every given opportunity. I think they’ve had a hell of a year so far, but that’s just my opinion.

This is in far contrast to how hard you dick ride radiance in that thread. And I really like radiance! But the contrast between your perceptions of reality between those 2 labels is just so nonsensical. It truly does make me think your intentions are mischievous

I don't think Radiance is perfect either, well at least in terms of their US bundle deal, but in terms of title selection and even encoding? They are currently blowing Criterion to pieces.

My priority is always Japanese cinema and Criterion has hundreds of those that never even had a Blu-ray. Add another 200-300 titles that are not Japanese that haven't made it to HD disc from countries all over the world.

For me they are simply playing it too safe with titles like Dreams and Time Bandits. When you have over 500 titles that don't have HD releases, that just seems like a wasted opportunity. My intentions are not mischievous in the slightest, I'm just frustrated with them.

[fred25_Ca]

I get the lack of 4k upgrades for the Kurosawa movies (knowing how notorious Toho are) but I just don't understand the lack of blu ray for movies like Stray dog and Red Beard.

Have Criterion released any Toho films since the Godzilla set? Maybe like Mifunefan said, there's bad blood now between Toho and Criterion. That would explain a lot, honestly.