The Criterion Collection

[JediFonger]

XORP!!!!! hahaha, what're YOU doing here? .

if the world kept LD but use blu-ray spec... wouldn't we have like multi-TB/PB storage on the size of LD? lolz.

[krisstivers]

Any chance of Criterion releasing 'In The Mood For Love' and 'Yi Yi' on Blu-ray?

[captveg]

Originally Posted by krisstivers

Any chance of Criterion releasing 'In The Mood For Love' and 'Yi Yi' on Blu-ray?

Any catalog spine # prior to the first Blu-ray release (Bottle Rocket #450), aside from OOP titles, has a chance. Some chances are greater than others. The only confirmed titles in the pipeline so far, aside from officially announced titles, are:

#2 - Seven Samurai
#10 - Walkabout
#29 - Picnic at Hanging Rock
#30 - M
#44 - The Red Shoes
#185 - By Brakhage: An Anthology
#235 - The Leopard


Some titles that were licensed to Criterion from major studios for DVD have been released by those studios on Blu (despite the Criterion DVD not being OOP), so I wouldn't ever expect them from Criterion on Blu. These are:

#61 - Monty Python's Life of Brian (Sony)
#75 - Chasing Amy (Disney)
#97 - Do the Right Thing (Universal)
#108 - The Rock (Disney)
#175 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal)


Outside of these titles, it's anyone's guess what else is on their schedule for a Blu upgrade, though some would be better guesses than others (Tokyo Story, Wild Strawberries, Breathless, The 39 Steps, Jules and Jim, etc.)

[aggienader08]

Originally Posted by captveg

Some titles that were licensed to Criterion from major studios for DVD have been released by those studios on Blu (despite the Criterion DVD not being OOP), so I wouldn't ever expect them from Criterion on Blu. These are:

#61 - Monty Python's Life of Brian (Sony)
#75 - Chasing Amy (Disney)
#97 - Do the Right Thing (Universal)
#108 - The Rock (Disney)
#175 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal)

What about #40 Armageddon? has that license expired, or is Universal waiting for it to so they can do there own transfer?

I know #12 Spinal Tap, #13 Silence of the Lambs, #23 Robocop, #171 Contempt, and #316 Ran (which we should all learn a lesson from) all have been, and there's probably more. Although MGM didn't exactly benefit in any form or fashion from the first 3. LOL!

Originally Posted by captveg

Outside of these titles, it's anyone's guess what else is on their schedule for a Blu upgrade, though some would be better guesses than others (Tokyo Story, Wild Strawberries, Breathless, The 39 Steps, Jules and Jim, etc.)

I'd like to see:

#1 Grand Illusion
#3 The Lady Vanishes
#51 Brazil
#65 Rushmore (although I know that license has since expired and it's OOP on DVD)
#105 Spartacus (Universal did HD-DVD, so I guess this won't happen b/c they'll shamefully port it over in a stupid Blu/DVD combo disc)
#136 Spellbound
#151 Traffic (doubtful)
#157 Royal Tenenbaums (my favorite Anderson and somewhat likely for CC)

along with the rest of Kurosawa's films

[captveg]

Originally Posted by aggienader08

What about #40 Armageddon? has that license expired, or is Universal waiting for it to so they can do there own transfer?

I know #12 Spinal Tap, #13 Silence of the Lambs, #23 Robocop, #171 Contempt, and #316 Ran (which we should all learn a lesson from) all have been, and there's probably more. Although MGM didn't exactly benefit in any form or fashion from the first 3. LOL!

The Criterion Armageddon DVD is still in print, though I agree that Disney (not Universal) are likely to keep it for themselves on Blu.

Those others are all OOP, which is why I didn't list them.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by aggienader08

#65 Rushmore (although I know that license has since expired and it's OOP on DVD)

Rushmore is not OOP. It is simply backordered.

[Yankees0222]

Originally Posted by captveg

Any catalog spine # prior to the first Blu-ray release (Bottle Rocket #450), aside from OOP titles, has a chance. Some chances are greater than others. The only confirmed titles in the pipeline so far, aside from officially announced titles, are:

#2 - Seven Samurai
#10 - Walkabout
#29 - Picnic at Hanging Rock
#30 - M
#44 - The Red Shoes
#185 - By Brakhage: An Anthology
#235 - The Leopard


Some titles that were licensed to Criterion from major studios for DVD have been released by those studios on Blu (despite the Criterion DVD not being OOP), so I wouldn't ever expect them from Criterion on Blu. These are:

#61 - Monty Python's Life of Brian (Sony)
#75 - Chasing Amy (Disney)
#97 - Do the Right Thing (Universal)
#108 - The Rock (Disney)
#175 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal)


Outside of these titles, it's anyone's guess what else is on their schedule for a Blu upgrade, though some would be better guesses than others (Tokyo Story, Wild Strawberries, Breathless, The 39 Steps, Jules and Jim, etc.)

I hope you're right about Wild Strawberries. We need more Bergman BD's. They've already released (or atleast officically announced) multiple Kurosawa, Truffaut, Godard, Wenders, etc.... But we've been stuck on the Seventh Seal for some time.

[aggienader08]

Originally Posted by captveg

The Criterion Armageddon DVD is still in print, though I agree that Disney (not Universal) are likely to keep it for themselves on Blu.

Those others are all OOP, which is why I didn't list them.

My bad! I knew it was Disney/Buena Vista. It just slipped my mind. Thanks! I'm wondering though, once a studio allows rights for Criterion to start the transfer and distribution process, are they allowed to pull it from Criterion anytime they want, or do they have to wait until a contract is up before the rightful studio can do it?

Originally Posted by captveg

Rushmore in not OOP. It is simply backordered.

Oh ok! I thought it was OOP. I thought that Universal was distributing their own copy, but I just looked it up and it was made in 99' and CC was 00'. I guess Universal is distributing it before and CC is just the definitive special edition like the case with "Traffic".

[fdm]

^^ There's rumors of Armageddon getting a blu-ray release, also for Tombstone fwiw (a news item from less than a week ago at this site). Not likely from Criterion.

[aggienader08]

Originally Posted by fdm

^^ There's rumors of Armageddon getting a blu-ray release, also for Tombstone fwiw (a news item from less than a week ago at this site). Not likely from Criterion.

That's good news. I'm not at all concerned about Disney/Buena Vista transfers. I'm sure others share the same feeling.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by aggienader08

I'm wondering though, once a studio allows rights for Criterion to start the transfer and distribution process, are they allowed to pull it from Criterion anytime they want, or do they have to wait until a contract is up before the rightful studio can do it?

The license would usually be for a set time, with a possible option to extend it. In some cases, such as Do the Right Thing, it makes sense for Universal to extend the DVD license and allow Criterion to still release the film on DVD even if Universal releases the BD. Why not? Getting money from Criterion through a license is probably more profitable than making their own DVD to supplant the Criterion.

[aggienader08]

Originally Posted by captveg

The license would usually be for a set time, with a possible option to extend it. In some cases, such as Do the Right Thing, it makes sense for Universal to extend the DVD license and allow Criterion to still release the film on DVD even if Universal releases the BD. Why not? Getting money from Criterion through a license is probably more profitable than making their own DVD to supplant the Criterion.

Agreed, but can Universal pull the rights at anytime, or dist. their own along side CC?

[kndy]

Originally Posted by aggienader08

Most likely if it is released in Japan it will not have English subs. That's what I would guess. You may know more about this than me. I'm just going to plan on keeping my OOP CC copy since there's pretty much no difference between the 2.

I'm glad I purchased the OOP copy from BN when they had that sale. Seriously, just checking prices on "Nights of Cabiria" and other Criterion OOP's lately...yikes!

[captveg]

Originally Posted by Yankees0222

I hope you're right about Wild Strawberries. We need more Bergman BD's. They've already released (or atleast officically announced) multiple Kurosawa, Truffaut, Godard, Wenders, etc.... But we've been stuck on the Seventh Seal for some time.

Wild Strawberries seems like an eventual no brainer. There are certain "staples" to international cinema, and Criterion has quite a few of them. Barring any future rights issue, one has to believe Criterion will eventually upgrade to Blu on these films that are known not only to world cinema lovers but to the average public at large.

However, if I were a betting man, I would think the following titles (not counting the OOP titles) are unlikely to ever get the Criterion Blu treatment:

#37 - Time Bandits (Starz (formally Anchor Bay) will likely keep it for themselves)
#40 - Armageddon (Disney)
#42 - Fishing with John (shot on SD video?)
#86-88 - Eisenstein: The sound Years (with the trouble Criterion has had with securing Russian film elements lately, I don't see them getting good enough elements for this to be possible, as much as that pains me to say)
#100 - Beastie Boys Video Anthology (mostly shot on SD video)
#105 - Spartacus (Universal)
#151 - Traffic (Universal)
#197 - Night and Fog (short film, probably not worth production cost of Blu)
#289 - Hoop Dreams (shot on SD video)
#336 - Dazed and Confused (Universal)
#411 - Berlin Alexanderplatz (too long)
#433 - Patriotism (short film, probably not worth production cost of Blu)

Other titles licensed from big studios, like Universal's Brazil, Charade, or The Lady Eve, seem like they have a shot to stay with Criterion as they have always been handled correctly by them. Just a gut feeling on my part.

[captveg]

Originally Posted by aggienader08

Agreed, but can Universal pull the rights at anytime, or dist. their own along side CC?

They can't "pull" the rights. They can refuse to renew the agreement when the initial time period is expired. They can do their own release alongside, but that's unlikely to happen on Blu for the foreseeable future.

[depooter]

I'd love to see:

M Hulot's Holiday
Mon Uncle
Dazed and Confused
The Life Aquatic
Rushmore
The Royal Tenenbaums
Short Cuts
Dead Presidents

[Kevtronn]

Originally Posted by krisstivers

Any chance of Criterion releasing 'In The Mood For Love' and 'Yi Yi' on Blu-ray?

That would be astonishing

[OhDamaso]

Apologize if this has been posted, but are there scans available of the plastic case-size covers of the replacement Criterions? I ordered my 4 replacements today, but I wouldn't mind printing out a few temporary covers to toss into some empty PS3 cases until the official ones arrive.

Thanks

[substance]

Originally Posted by aggienader08

I have both Apollo 13 and Jurassic Park on LD just because they are still today the superior sounding versions of both films. The DVDs even though they are encoded with the same track and DTS still don't sound as good to me for some reason. I think they're compressed even more.

2ch PCM tracks were 16 bit 44.1khz basically CD quality
Dolby Digital 5.1 used the constant bitrate of 387kbps vs DVDs 448kbps
DTS 5.1 used the constant bitrate of 1.4mbps vs early DVDs 1.5mbps(about 25 titles) 754kbps for the rest of the DTS DVDs

You are right most cases LD sounded better even than the DVDs with higher bitrates because Dvds used different codecs that were backward compatible which means they had to be able to downmix to 2ch.

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I agree with the last post, the sound quality even just stereo sounded even better than the DVD counterparts to me. The video wasn't as good as DVD, but the audio always seemed so full in comparison.

true. but after I bought my Pioneer HLD-X0 and my Pioneer PRO-141FD plasma display this changed. none-anamorphic dvd vs LD there was no competition some good mastered dvds were even comparable to anamorphic dvds. but then I bought a Denon DVD-A1UDCI blu-ray player now my LDs even on Pioneer HLD-X0 is not any competition to DVDs lol

[jason00]

Originally Posted by captveg

Other titles licensed from big studios, like Universal's Brazil, Charade, or The Lady Eve, seem like they have a shot to stay with Criterion as they have always been handled correctly by them. Just a gut feeling on my part.

Charade is public domain, so I would bet that it hits blu from Criterion sooner rather than later.