The Criterion Collection

[mande2013]

I only buy North American physical Criterion releases these days if it’s one of my desert island films and there isn’t a competitive European alternative.

8 1/2 is a Criterion UHD I could see happening at some point. I’m just not sure whether a UK or French UHD that competes with Criterion would be in the cards or not.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by mande2013

I only buy North American physical Criterion releases these days if it’s one of my desert island films and there isn’t a competitive European alternative.

8 1/2 is a Criterion UHD I could see happening at some point. I’m just not sure whether a UK or French UHD that competes with Criterion would be in the cards or not.

Exactly my stance, currently. I used to be a very a Criterion-centric consumer of blu-rays, but between 2022 and now, I've only purchased 3 of their releases.

After going region-free a few years ago (I'm in the U.S.), I started to educate myself on blu-ray labels out of UK, EU, Japan, South Korea and Australia, and discs from these regions now make up the bulk of my purchases. I now buy more than I ever have -- it's amazing what's out there that doesn't have a 'C' on the upper left hand corner. And, I must say, U.S. online stores like Atomic Movie Store, OrbitDVD, DiabolikDVD, and Grindhouse Video also helps to make access to international releases easier, and in a cost-effective way.

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

I don’t ask for a replacement unless the disc has playback issues. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and money when the “damage” is superficial.

Also worth bearing in mind that there is no time limit on replacements, so if a disk does develop playback problems or doesn't work on a future player, chances are Criterion will replace it.

[cgpublic]

I'm sorry, but all of these recent posts and related obsession with checking discs for fine scratches before playback doesn't pass my smell test.

I've been collecting Blu-ray and UHD discs since their respective inception (2k+ collection in my profile), and I haven't experienced a playback issue due to scratches in nearly two decades.

Not one. Which is why I don't examine discs with a magnifying glass before playback.

Reproducible errors due to disc production flaws with multiple citations, sure, there's been a few.

Perhaps there's some correlation between player brands and or environmental factors (pets, dust, humidity, temperature, etc.) relative to disc error rates.

Or elevated undiagnosed/diagnosed OCD within the collector population that distinguishes between playback and purchase satisfaction. There are a number of studies where some collectors place purchase satisfaction over the actual product experience, i.e, buying the movie versus watching the movie.

I had a roommate in my college days that would lose his stuffing if the packaging box was beat up. The outside packaging box, mind you. I really felt sorry for the guy, especially that one time he was in a foul mood for an entire day and said the box was representative of everything wrong in society.

Jeez.

Or maybe this 'issue' is to seed discontent relative to US-based studios and boutiques in favor of European-based counterparts. I keep reading about this focus on Mexico. Wow. Some people really have others living in their head rent-free.

As a marketing exec, you wouldn't believe some of the online craziness I've been pitched. There are companies that operate as disinformation factories to target your competition. And that's not even half of it, based on what they don't say out loud but throw you a few breadcrumbs to hint at the path of competitor destruction.

Whatever it is, the day I start examining discs before playback and dedicating significant time to return discs is the day I stop collecting, especially with the decline of brick and mortar buying.

[Mushi Minion]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

I'm sorry, but all of these recent posts and related obsession with checking discs for fine scratches before playback doesn't pass my smell test.

I've been collecting Blu-ray and UHD discs since their respective inception (2k+ collection in my profile), and I haven't experienced a playback issue due to scratches in nearly two decades.

Not one. Which is why I don't examine discs with a magnifying glass before playback.

Reproducible errors due to disc production flaws with multiple citations, sure, there's been a few.

Perhaps there's some correlation between player brands and or environmental factors (pets, dust, humidity, temperature, etc.) relative to disc error rates.

Or elevated undiagnosed/diagnosed OCD within the collector population that distinguishes between playback and purchase satisfaction. There are a number of studies where some collectors place purchase satisfaction over the actual product experience, i.e, buying the movie versus watching the movie.

I had a roommate in my college days that would lose his stuffing is the packaging box was beat up. The outside packaging box, mind you. I really felt sorry for the guy, especially that one time he was in a foul mood for entire day and said the box was representative of everything wrong in society.

Jeez.

Or maybe this 'issue' is to seed discontent within US-based studios and boutiques in favor or European-based counterparts. I keep reading about this focus on Mexico. Wow. Some people really have others living in their head rent-free.

As I marketing exec, you wouldn't believe some of the online craziness I've been pitched. There are companies that operate as disinformation factories to target your competition. And that's not even half of it, based on what they don't say out loud but throw you a few breadcrumbs to hint at the path of competitor destruction.

Whatever it is, the day I start examining discs before playback and dedicating significant time returning discs is the day I stop collecting.

A few of us here are aware of a user on this very message board (whom I won’t name) who literally torched their slipcase for Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge on a barbecue because the chip box had some cosmetic damage. Mind you, they didn’t even bother contacting Arrow first, however justified it would even be. Most parties agreed the guy needed a doc.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

A few of us here are aware of a user on this very message board (whom I won’t name) who literally torched their slipcase for Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge on a barbecue because the chip box had some cosmetic damage.

The world's a big place. Nothing surprises me at this point when it comes to human behavior.

Don't get me wrong, if you buy a product, one should expect the product to arrive in good condition. In the specific instance of purchasing physical media, that includes playback and packaging.

But there's tipping point.

A hairline scratch? The fact is a disc must be physically placed on the packaging spindle. Sometimes the disc coating can be blemished if it is not aligned properly. It happens.

Slipcover with a bent corner? Steelbook with a slight scratch or minor dent?

Purchased online and sent by mail?

C'mon. Maybe it's time for a new hobby.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by mclellandj

The rise of people asking for new discs for scratches that don’t affect playback is going to have a cost passed along to the consumer. That is an obvious consequence to the actions of people unwilling to test discs to see if they play before demanding new product be shipped to them.

Originally Posted by cgpublic

I'm sorry, but all of these recent posts and related obsession with checking discs for fine scratches before playback doesn't pass my smell test.

I've been collecting Blu-ray and UHD discs since their respective inception (2k+ collection in my profile), and I haven't experienced a playback issue due to scratches in nearly two decades.

Not one. Which is why I don't examine discs with a magnifying glass before playback.

Reproducible errors due to disc production flaws with multiple citations, sure, there's been a few.

Perhaps there's some correlation between player brands and or environmental factors (pets, dust, humidity, temperature, etc.) relative to disc error rates.

Or elevated undiagnosed/diagnosed OCD within the collector population that distinguishes between playback and purchase satisfaction. There are a number of studies where some collectors place purchase satisfaction over the actual product experience, i.e, buying the movie versus watching the movie.

I had a roommate in my college days that would lose his stuffing if the packaging box was beat up. The outside packaging box, mind you. I really felt sorry for the guy, especially that one time he was in a foul mood for an entire day and said the box was representative of everything wrong in society.

Jeez.

Or maybe this 'issue' is to seed discontent relative to US-based studios and boutiques in favor of European-based counterparts. I keep reading about this focus on Mexico. Wow. Some people really have others living in their head rent-free.

As a marketing exec, you wouldn't believe some of the online craziness I've been pitched. There are companies that operate as disinformation factories to target your competition. And that's not even half of it, based on what they don't say out loud but throw you a few breadcrumbs to hint at the path of competitor destruction.

Whatever it is, the day I start examining discs before playback and dedicating significant time to return discs is the day I stop collecting, especially with the decline of brick and mortar buying.

Scratches on the playing surface of the disc are damage. That's all there is to it.

It has nothing to do with what you disparagingly refer to as being "OCD".

You pay money for something to be brand new, you should except it to be pristine.

If you buy a new car and there's a huge gouge in the driver's side door, would you accept that? Would anyone? Why not? I mean, the car will still drive fine, right?

The labels are aware of the scratched disc issue and are either turning a blind eye to it, or are powerless to do anything about it, so their tactic now is to flip the burden on to the consumer to just accept it.

The fact that blu-ray discs were touted as having a scratch-resistant coating on the playing surface as a remedy to DVDs often being scratched shows just how absurd this stance is.

[Massafaka]

Originally Posted by fdm

Since I got going with a couple posts earlier, figured I'd finally crack open my flash sale orders. For what it's worth, I ordered 13 items, in 3 seperate orders.

I'm keeping 5 of them (which were all in plastic cases), as they looked fine enough. All their discs looked fine too, with the exception of one likely negligible scratch on Executioners (I opted for the blu-ray version of that set). Even the booklets were in good shape (not really a deciding factor for me these days).

All the 4 cardboard ones had various degrees of corner dents, many of their corners severely dented. If I wasn't such a stickler, I might have kept one, possibly two, of them, but that ain't me and given I'm sending the other ones back anyway, they're going back too. So these are maybe all shipping failures, nothing to do with the manufacturer (no idea what their discs look like, so could still be issues there also).

Which left 4 others in plastic cases. For three of them the artwork was inserted quite crookedly and each was quite wrinkled up in places, some worse than others (nothing was going to fix those issues, and I don't really want to deal with replacements of just the artwork (ditto for the cardboard issues above))… one of those three also had a loose disc. And the fourth one was like the ones that had some pictures posted here a few weeks back, where the artwork was inserted down towards the bottom and there was a corresponding crease and some tears along the bottom of the artwork; were it not for the additional dent and long scrape on its backside, I might have kept it, as it wasn't too bad.

So keeping 5, 8 going back later today. I likely will be retrying most or all of the returned ones via b&n (stores) in July. Though I'm more and more wondering after each flash sale how much longer I'm going to keep going through this exercise before I just give up and shift over to the channel for most all of my future Criterion needs (ain't getting any younger).

It this supposed to be a joke? You would rather use the channel than owning discs with some minor issues of the packaging?

[apricissimus]

But is it really damage if there are no playback issues? I say no.

[Mushi Minion]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Scratches on the playing surface of the disc are damage. That's all there is to it.

It has nothing to do with what you disparagingly refer to as being "OCD".

You pay money for something to be brand new, you should except it to be pristine.

If you buy a new car and there's a huge gouge in the driver's side door, would you accept that? Would anyone? Why not? I mean, the car will still drive fine, right?

The labels are aware of the scratched disc issue and are either turning a blind eye to it, or are powerless to do anything about it, so their tactic now is to flip the burden on to the consumer to just accept it.

The fact that blu-ray discs were touted as having a scratch-resistant coating on the playing surface as a remedy to DVDs often being scratched shows just how absurd this stance is.

If the driver’s side door had a giant gash in it, it wouldn’t be new anymore. Also, there’s just a bit of a discrepancy in expectations between a $30 purchase and a $30,000+ one…

Physical media operates on razor-thin margins, and demanding replacements for every little thing cuts into that. You do you, but don’t play the victim when that cost gets worked into your next purchase.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

If the driver’s side door had a giant gash in it, it wouldn’t be new anymore.

Exactly. So you wouldn't be expected to pay for it and drive it off the lot as if it were.

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

Also, there’s just a bit of a discrepancy in expectations between a $30 purchase and a $30,000+ one…

The principle's the same.

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

Physical media operates on razor-thin margins, and demanding replacements for every little thing cuts into that. You do you, but don’t play the victim when that cost gets worked into your next purchase.

I'm not advocating for demanding replacements for "every little thing". I'm advocating for demanding replacements for items that are supposed to be "new" that are damaged.

If companies standing by their product and replacing damaged items is such a burden to them, maybe they should actually take action to get the problem solved. I don't care if they operate on "razor-thin margins", many people on here don't have money to burn to waste it on faulty product.

[MifuneFan]

New Janus Films poster for the 4K restored version of Le Samourai



And trailer:

Le SamouraÏ - 4K Restoration Trailer - YouTube

[Mushi Minion]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

The principle's the same.

It really isn't, or would you harangue a cashier because you arrived home from the grocery store only to find your "new" tomato has a scuff on it? You're comparing a $20-30 product to one that costs what most Americans make in a year, hardly an equivalency. Sorry.

[DukeTogo84]

I feel like the scratch conversation is happening more and more. It's interesting to see everyone's opinion on it. I personally don't check the back of the disc anymore and unless it doesn't work, I have no issues. Out of my entire collection I've had maybe 20 or so films not work or skip because of scratches and in each of those cases I've had them replaced.

For me if it has a scratch and works, then there is no issue. The main issue arises for those who buy a product that has a scratch and don't watch the movie for awhile. If you're someone who has major issues with scratches, I would say move that one up on your watch pile to see if it works.

Either way, I think it's fine for people to talk about the issue as at the end of the day it's still technically an issue.

[Mose Harper]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I feel like the scratch conversation is happening more and more. It's interesting to see everyone's opinion on it. I personally don't check the back of the disc anymore and unless it doesn't work, I have no issues.

This was my SOP too.

Recently I realized that I may not get around to watching a given purchase until years later. In some cases, a decade +.
I check now because I need to know which purchases to prioritize a watch so that if they are bad I have a hope of addressing them.

I just ran across a scratched 4K disc that's glitching from the Criterion flash sale back in October.

[javy]

Le Samourai looks pretty good judging by that trailer. Definitely more colorful than the current Criterion BD. Will have to upgrade on this one.

[jw007]

Criterion scratches: I stopped purchasing Criterion blu-rays at the end of the last decade of the 21st century (2010s) after already noticing early signs of quality control issues at their Mexican plant.

I would like to know more about this pressing plant though and what kind of workers run this joint. Are they part of the Mexican cartel? Perhaps these pressing machines are run by cocaine which explains the "speed" and lack of care in which they press the discs. After all, anyone on speed will talk a lot but say little of substance. It seems like this Mexican plant is low on quality and high on quantity.

Can Criterion hire a Private Eye? Or maybe I should contact CBS 60 Minutes for an undercover story on this Mexican mystery? Consumer confidence is of utmost importance, because the customer is ALWAYS right! Right?

[Mike0284]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

New Janus Films poster for the 4K restored version of Le Samourai

[Show spoiler]

And trailer:

Le SamouraÏ - 4K Restoration Trailer - YouTube

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

It really isn't, or would you harangue a cashier because you arrived home from the grocery store only to find your "new" tomato has a scuff on it? You're comparing a $20-30 product to one that costs what most Americans make in a year, hardly an equivalency. Sorry.

The scale is irrelevant. You pay for something that's new, it should be new. If you find that it is damaged and raise that issue with the person or company you are purchasing it from, it is up to them to make it right not to say "Too bad, deal with it."

I wouldn't "harangue" a cashier over a scuffed tomato that I picked out for myself, no, but if I buy a food product that's within its sell-by date and it turns out to be partially rotten, then yes I would take it back to the store and talk to the customer service person about it so I could receive a refund or replacement. I seriously doubt that person would tell me to just eat around the rotten parts because the rest is fine.

[playingphysicist]

For me the issues isn't so much scratches on the discs themselves, but broken O-rings in the cases (which can sometimes lead to scratches due the discs shifting around). It would be one thing if the cases were .99 cents each but I had to replace some that were about 6-7 each, which adds up pretty quick.