The Criterion Collection

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That GIF makes Andy Griffith look as though he's pleasuring himself.

Thanks, you made me laugh out loud, AGAIN. Honestly, I did not think that the first time I looked at it. You are sick man, Owl.....

[crackedknee]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Much like The Third Man, M is available in a region-free, English friendly edition that's from a newer restoration:

I almost forgot about this one. And yes, Eureka Masters of Cinema edition that has better picture quality, better framing I think? But I thought it was Region B? I remember seeing a copy in Munich, was going to buy it but did not at the time (but wanted it, then forgot about it).

[SeanJoyce]

I've held off on upgrading Night and the City and The Manchurian Candidate because the U.K. editions seem to offer superior all-around packages.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That GIF makes Andy Griffith look as though he's pleasuring himself.

Now that you point it out its kind of creepy and that image is going to stick in my mind now for a while.

[Blu Titan]

I must have seen Seven Samurai more times that I can remember...thought I knew all about it. I was watching it last night with my brother as he noticed that Tatsuya Nakadai is one of the Samurai seen wondering about town .

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by crackedknee

And has print damage that the Criterion does not have, and does not have the general picture quality that the Criterion has, i.e. Criterion's restoration work is very well known to exceed the Studio Canal version. Other than the OOP price, the Criterion version is the one to have (if you have no choice because of price, you get stuck with the Studio Canal set).

Maybe you're thinking of the first StudioCanal release? They re-released it in Europe in 2015 with a pretty nice 4K restoration and I think it's superior to the Criterion disc.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That GIF makes Andy Griffith look as though he's pleasuring himself.

that is all.

[crackedknee]

Originally Posted by Rizor

Maybe you're thinking of the first StudioCanal release? They re-released it in Europe in 2015 with a pretty nice 4K restoration and I think it's superior to the Criterion disc.

Yes, I think so. I don't remember seeing the 2015 edition in any shop, nor reading about it anywhere. I still can't find any tech review info about it though either.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

Arrow:
The Killers ‘46
My Darling Clementine
Sullivan’s Travels
Thief
StudioCanal:
Last Year in Marienbad
Mulholland Drive
The Third Man

out of curiosity what makes Arrow's version of 'Sullivan's Travels' better?

[Rizor]

Here are some I'd recommend with better transfers:



These two have newer restorations from StudioCanal, but the encoding/compression on the discs is not great:

[Dubstar]

I think the first Japanese bluray edition of 'The Last Emperor' has gone out of print, but it's the only version in its original theatrical aspect ratio and 5.1 soundmix.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

out of curiosity what makes Arrow's version of 'Sullivan's Travels' better?

Slightly better grain structure and supplement material.

[5meohd]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

I think the first Japanese bluray edition of 'The Last Emperor' has gone out of print, but it's the only version in its original theatrical aspect ratio and 5.1 soundmix.

An aspect ratio that the director didnt want to use btw. Criterion respected his wishes in their decision.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by crackedknee

Yes, I think so. I don't remember seeing the 2015 edition in any shop, nor reading about it anywhere. I still can't find any tech review info about it though either.

Yeah, well, maybe next time make sure you are fully aware of the facts before throwing in your two cents.

Btw, there was a review on this very site of the French release which uses the same transfer:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-T...130550/#Review

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by 5meohd

An aspect ratio that the director didnt want to use btw. Criterion respected his wishes in their decision.

true, but not using the 70mm 6-track soundmix which Criterion early on did say they were going to implement but ultimately didn't, but later wound up on the Cannes 3D DCP restoration, is a disappointment IMO.

[Christian Muth]

I disagree re: THE FISHER KING. The single "misframed shot" ( https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&...=57879&i=2&l=1 ) goes by very quickly, and other than that the image quality is almost 100% identical between the Criterion and the Image Blu-rays. The Criterion wins by a landslide thank to the boatload of excellent extras that are missing from the Image version.

Chris

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by 5meohd

An aspect ratio that the director didnt want to use btw. Criterion respected his wishes in their decision.

I would be interested in reading any info on that. I know the cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro wants to reframe all his past movies in the 2.00:1 aspect ratio.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

I would be interested in reading any info on that. I know the cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro wants to reframe all his past movies in the 2.00:1 aspect ratio.

Criterion's explanation over the aspect ratio:



Emperor 2.0
By Peter Becker

FEB 26, 2008

We’re getting a huge amount of mail about our edition of The Last Emperor, specifically about the aspect ratio, which is 2:1. Some people seem to believe that we’ve lost our minds, forsaken our mission, and taken it upon ourselves to crop the sides off the picture. Others assume we just got careless. Either way, a rising chorus is asking how we could do this to Vittorio Storaro’s Academy Award–winning compositions. And to Bernardo Bertolucci’s framing. The answer is, we couldn’t, and we wouldn’t, and we didn’t do anything to violate the filmmakers’ wishes. This is the way the filmmakers want the film to be seen.

From the start of this project, Bertolucci has insisted that Storaro have ultimate approval of the mastering of the feature. This master was made in Rome under Storaro’s direct supervision, with Bertolucci’s approval. When we asked Storaro about the framing of the film, he unhesitatingly told us that the correct aspect ratio for The Last Emperor was 2:1, even though the film was commonly projected at 2.35:1. He told us that The Last Emperor was the first film he shot specifically for 2.0 framing, and Bertolucci backs him up. Our mission is to present each film as its makers would want it to be seen, and in this case the director and cinematographer asked that we release their film in the format they say they had always envisioned. We had quite a lot of discussion over this, and we certainly knew it would be controversial, but in the end the decision was not made by us. It was made, as it should be, by the filmmakers.

I can understand how people might be upset about this. The general rule of thumb where widescreen films is concerned is that wider is better, but in this case it’s not so obvious. I recently had the pleasure of joining producer Jeremy Thomas at a screening of The Last Emperor, and I asked him about this issue. Was it really true that they had envisioned the film less wide than the 2.35:1 aspect ratio in which it was commonly screened? Thomas said that they had originally hoped that all of the original release prints would be in 70 mm, framed at 2.2:1 or 2:1, but not 2.35:1 or 2.33:1. Thomas said Storaro and Bertolucci filled the wider frame knowing that there would be 2.35:1 prints in circulation as well, but that they always knew they were shooting a format wider than what they hoped to release.

So, in short, while some viewers may prefer the wider framing, the filmmakers must have the final say. This is not a case of our losing track of our mission, but rather one of being true to it.

[leoganzi]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

I would be interested in reading any info on that. I know the cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro wants to reframe all his past movies in the 2.00:1 aspect ratio.

So true. Let's not forget his vision of Bird with the Crystal Plumage which was re-framed in 2:1 aspect ratio in the 2010. His obsession with 2:1 Univisium aspect ratio he created is not a joke. Storaro was a legendary cinematographer once, but now crazy.

[Bonzi]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

I've held off on upgrading Night and the City and The Manchurian Candidate because the U.K. editions seem to offer superior all-around packages.

The Criterion's Candidate comes from a 4K restoration, while the Arrow's release comes from an older master.