The Criterion Collection

[PipesDonatello]

Sorcerer and Brazil, holy shite!

[Shane Rollins]

Dear Criterion,

I just got the news of Sorcerer coming to 4K, and while I'm excited, William Friedkin's track record of revisionism has me a bit concerned.

So far, all that's out there about the transfer are the two bullet-points on the back of the packages*and on all websites:

"-New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack approved by director William Friedkin
-Alternate 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack"

Can you please tell me some more about*the picture and sound on these releases? For instance, when the transfer and two soundtracks were prepared, what Friedkin's involvement was in them (or, if he had passed, that he wasn't involved in them), and what was consulted as a reference for how the film should look and sound?

I'll likely still get this no matter what, I'm just hoping I could know a little more about the release before it gets here.

Thanks, and I hope to hear from you soon!

And now we wait...

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Monday is St. Patrick's Day, so the lushes at Criterion don't want to waste a second of that day on announcements.

In addition, the likely Flash Sale on Tuesday may be more of the focus on Monday.

[Ned Brainard]

I'm in for Midnight.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

Maybe it's just me, but it kinda rubs me the wrong way that Criterion rejected SORCERER a decade ago when Friedkin (supposedly) offered it to them and they only decide to take it on now after he passed away.

Keep in mind that these films are usually in the production queue for YEARS. I mean, Kino spent two years doing nothing but waiting for him to come in and approve the grade for To Live and Die in LA. Those are the timelines video houses deal with. The likelihood is that they picked it up quite some time before he died, which was only about 18 months ago.

[KurtLazyhammer]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

And now we wait...

The way they worded it doesn't imply that Friedkin approved the new visual restoration, just that he approved the 5.1 audio, which isn't new.


This is how they word Paris, Texas:

New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

And Sorcerer:
New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack approved by director William Friedkin

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by KurtLazyhammer

The way they worded it doesn't imply that Friedkin approved the new visual restoration, just that he approved the 5.1 audio, which isn't new.


This is how they word Paris, Texas:

New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

And Sorcerer:
New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack approved by director William Friedkin

I just want all the info we can gather. I want to know exactly what's on that disc before I sink $25+ into it. Sure that's peanuts to some people but it's a lot of money to me.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

As I intimated a few pages back, The Exorcist was such a travesty that it literally unseated an almost-fatal kidney infection for the biggest pain in the ass I had that year. I'll be damned if I'm going to go through that same aggravation again on Sorcerer.

I’ll say this much - after the backlash and his backpedaling on French Connection, he seemed to have backed off his revisionism quite substantially. As much as he was an absolute prick to work with, Kino’s To Live and Die in LA transfer he approved was frickin’ *glorious.* Natural, film-like, just one of my favorite discs of the year.

(I also wonder if he died before he could come in and approve the grade on Sorcerer.)

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Omg the wiz!!!!!

Good to see you, Polaroid!

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Good to see you, Polaroid!

Aw thanks I lurk a lot… lot of health problems and work crap made me antisocial lol

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by DimitriL

I’ll say this much - after the backlash and his backpedaling on French Connection, he seemed to have backed off his revisionism quite substantially. As much as he was an absolute prick to work with, Kino’s To Live and Die in LA transfer he approved was frickin’ *glorious.* Natural, film-like, just one of my favorite discs of the year.

(I also wonder if he died before he could come in and approve the grade on Sorcerer.)

TLAD... was good, but some of the scenes were cranked up. While I still have all the copies of it, the MGM disc from way back when seemed closer to how it might've looked. It just seemed more natural, whereas the 4K master seems a bit garish and extreme. Neither disc was awful though.

The French Connection...yeah, that disc was bad. The second disc was better but not solid, and the first disc was an abject disaster.

Sorcerer, I only know from the Blu-ray, but lots of people have said the film had revisionism in the color palette (wouldn't surprise me at all). Is there any A/B comparison for that film anywhere?

Cruising, that one's been solved thanks to Arrow. That's probably my favorite film of his, so to see Arrow excavate it from the crap Friedkin did...it's just beautiful.

The Exorcist...that's the final battle with Friedkin...cause I'm damn ready to pick up that Japanese laserdisc and a player at this point. He oversaw both pucture transfers and all soundtracks for the 4K, and one theory I heard was "he cared how it looked and sounded, because he only futzed with some of it and left the rest intact". Really?

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it, that if WB or a boutique properly restores the 1973 theatrical cut of The Exorcist, at least at the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio (open matte would be cool as a bonus feature), with the correct color timing, with the properly restored mono track in either lossless or PCM, with the original Saul Bass logos intact, I'll buy it, and I'm sure tons of us will buy it. Honestly, it would likely outsell the previous 4K releases from 2023.

[javy]

Claudette Colbert 🖤

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

TLAD... was good, but some of the scenes were cranked up. While I still have all the copies of it, the MGM disc from way back when seemed closer to how it might've looked. It just seemed more natural, whereas the 4K master seems a bit garish and extreme. Neither disc was awful though.

You know, I have very distinct memories of seeing it in the theater, and even though color memory literally fades after a few minutes, one thing I remember is how cranked up it was. And the marketing campaign resonates with my memory of that - it’s all garish and exploding colors and harsh contrasts. That’s why I was kinda thrilled with the disc. More than any of his other films, he seems to have been having fun with that stuff at the time.

(I always thought he was seeing all the pastels on Miami Vice and said to himself, nope nope nope when we have color, let’s go nuclear with it, tell Robby Mueller to really amp up the blacks and whites too because they can’t do THAT on NTSC television. )

[DukeTogo84]

I decided to hold off on an essay long rant for this month as I'm just tired, but I'll build up my energy for next month if there are a ton of 4K upgrades of already good movies and no new to HD Japanese films.

For this month I'll just post a gif of how I felt after seeing the Criterion e-mail this morning.

[Jaymole]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I decided to hold off on an essay long rant for this month as I'm just tired, but I'll build up my energy for next month if there are a ton of 4K upgrades of already good movies and no new to HD Japanese films.

For this month I'll just post a gif of how I felt after seeing the Criterion e-mail this morning.

I will say that nowadays I get more excitement from Radiance & Imprint announcements due to them having so many new to blu-ray releases that interest me.

I also am not a fan of The Wiz which I consider to be one of Lumet's worst films.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

I will say that nowadays I get more excitement from Radiance & Imprint announcements due to them having so many new to blu-ray releases that interest me.

I also am not a fan of The Wiz which I consider to be one of Lumet's worst films.

Nobody beats The Wiz! Nobody!!

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

I will say that nowadays I get more excitement from Radiance & Imprint announcements due to them having so many new to blu-ray releases that interest me.

I also am not a fan of The Wiz which I consider to be one of Lumet's worst films.

I would have been pretty excited if we had gotten The Hill announced or almost any other new to BD Lumet film. Still need US release of Q&A too.

[jw007]

I'll take a Friedkin (wow, that cover art rocks) and Lumet film any day! Great June releases and a cool 4K upgrade of Gilliam's masterpiece.

Weirdly enough, last Thanksgiving I was showing a cousin of mine YouTube clips from The Wiz and we both were laughing cause neither of us had seen the movie. This was all in response to his seeing the new Wicked film earlier that day.

And by the way, welcome back POLAROID! Please snap a pic for me!

[The Sovereign]

I'm thrilled to see releases for the Monk and Gould films! I had both on VHS in the olden days. Sorcerer and Brazil warrant easy upgrades. I'm a bit surprised it's taken Brazil this long. Don't know Midnight, but it looks like a very safe blind buy. Not sure yet about upgrading Mishima, but maybe.

[Jaymole]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I would have been pretty excited if we had gotten The Hill announced or almost any other new to BD Lumet film. Still need US release of Q&A too.

That would have been much, much better. I personally would love to see A View from the Bridge which, as far as I know, has never been released on any video format.