i already pre-ordered mine, yeah. and i can dig box-sets by multiple directors, but for me it’s mostly a question of whether or not the set, through the frame its very existence creates around the collected elements, offers a context that i’m interested in. the bbs production group is an interesting one, for me, even if i have no idea whether or not i’ll like “drive, he said.” a set that was, like… “here’s five movies about cowboys,” or something, less so.
What is BBS?
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
I’m torn. For me, Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens are the only musts of the set (though the others are fine films).
I really dislike these box sets. I would love to have The Last Picture Show. Maybe Five Easy pieces, but the others I either haven’t seen or don’t care for so I won’t be buying it. Hopefully Criterion will come to their senses and release these individually. I won’t blind buy anything.
I think it is a box set worth a blind buy even for someone who has never seen any of the films. When supplemental features are taken into account, the BBS set is a time capsule from a fleeting, yet important, moment in American cinema history. I’m really looking forward to seeing “Head” for the first time and revisiting the classics of the set.
As soon as I get paid on Friday, I am ordering the blu-ray box set. And yes, I actually do prefer films from different directors in one box set. I like the variety of all of the visions in one set.
Nope, not shelling out the bucks. I met netflix a couple of them.
It’s not a must-have for me. What I would like is to see “The King of Marvin Gardens” on the screen one more time, just to marvel at Laszlo Kovacs’ cinematography. As a whole, it’s a very good film, but his work is mightily impressive.
I see they included Head! Good for them!
Only one I’m interested in is Drive, He Said. I love that still. But it’s nothing I’m going to buy, I already own Easy Rider and most of the others are on Netflix right now.
The only reason to buy this is for the Blu-ray, really.
Not a chance. Never much taken by “Easy Rider” or I confess, “Three Easy Pieces”. “King of Marvin Gardens” is interesting.
I have a good print of “Last Picture Show” and the others don’t really grab my interest.
More hype than substance, especially for the price.
I love blind buying! It broadens my horizons, by exposing me to things I never would have known about until Criterion releases it on DVD. The films, like I am Blue/Yellow might not be as earth-shattering now as they were when they were released, but they still provide an interesting context and historical review that I find necessary to truly understand film as a whole. i hope to acquire the Bluray set as soon as possible.
HELL YES
HELL PROBABLY NOT
The commentaries will be really good listening to a lot of old hippies waxing poetically about drugs, how revolutionary the times were, and how their consciousness was exploding and new avenues were opening up.
The most self-agrandizing and self-patronizing of all generations.
I’ll likely pick up the blu-ray set during a B&N 50% off sale. I love the box sets.
I’ve only ever seen Five Easy Peices. Not extremely impressed with it, though it would be good to own it individually.
I’m not a fan of boxsets with numerous directors, or even boxsets with numerous films that aren’t part of a continuous story. There’s always SOME film in there that I just don’t care about.
As a sidenote, I agree with SPP on the point that the Barnes & Noble 50% off Criterion sales are awesome. I walked away from the last one with BAND OF OUTSIDERS, BREATHLESS and YOJIMBO. So stoked.
_The commentaries will be really good listening to a lot of old hippies waxing poetically about drugs, how revolutionary the times were, and how their consciousness was exploding and new avenues were opening up.
The most self-agrandizing and self-patronizing of all generations._
What Jason said.
Still, I’m curious to see Drive, He Said and King of Marvin Gardens
Just got this set in the other day. So far, I’ve watched Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces. Love both of those films and the bluray transfers were truly superb. Can’t wait to watch the rest of the set!
the blu-ray was reduced at B+N for a short time just before New Year.
can’t wait to see it, especially King Of Marvin Gardens and Five Easy Pieces. F.E.P transfer is pretty ordinary on the old Columbia disc.
this is one of the box sets truly worth having
I’ll get it during the (hopefully) next B&N sale. I know it was just half off, but I really couldn’t afford to get it so close after dropping $220 during the November sale. The only film in the set I’ve seen is “Easy Rider”, which I though was pretty good. Also, as a Monkees fan who thinks that the “HEAD” soundtrack is easily their best record, I desperately need to see that film.
I’d like to know why these releases are not available on netflix
I agree with Rossi. My life is so much easier when stuff is available to see on Netflix. I have a dream of a world where you can watch special features through the instant viewing feature.
How frequently does B+N have these sales? Is it predictable or do I have to keep checking in, but I don’t typically go there and I’m afraid I’ll miss the next sale.
Holy crap. I just checked the list price…… I really need Five Easy Pieces and King of Marvin Gardens but not sure the others are keepers (although I’ve been curious about Drive, He Said for a while). I wish 5EP and KMG were sold separately.
Clayton, B&N has had 1/2 off Criterion sales two times a year the past two years, one in the summer, July I think it was, and one in November, ending just before Thanksgiving. There are rumors that B&N may not run these sales as new management is taking over, but they were pretty successful events and I think it’s likely that they’ll have at least one bigtime Criterion sale, probably in the summer time.
Ari: I found “Drive, He Said” a fascinating and often unpredictably moving look at 1960s revolutionary unrest and college basketball. “Head” and “A Safe Place” are also idiosyncratically brilliant. The collection’s worth the price.
Actually I could be wrong, but I think netflix has a rule stipulating they won’t make a new criterion release available unless its the only in print release of that film. For example, since the regular dvd releases of paths and glory and night of the hunter are still in print, they won’t start making the criterion edition available yet.
Rossi: Netflix is actually pretty quick (in most cases) replacing the extant version with the Criterion one. They’re savvy enough to know that cinephiles are eager to see (a) the newest, ostensibly best transfer and (b) the supplemental disk. They also keep Criterion OOPs in circulation as long as the disks are viable.
Z. Bart
And, in a related question, are you a fan of box-sets by multiple directors? I often find myself wanting to own 2/3 of the included films, and that 1/3 makes me wonder of the cost is worthwhile. Thoughts?