You bring up a very good point, Richard. Tech vs. Art. At what point are you focusing more on the presentation than the film itself? This question must be answered by each of us on our own, because there is no definitive answer. I get giddy when I see a classic film print struck from a new restoration at my local theater. I’ve seen the film, love it, but this new experience is something special. More special than sitting at home watching the DVD. If I own an HDTV and Blu-Ray player, my feelings are that it is a closer approximation of that experience. Bringing that feeling of “something special” home.
There is a fine line though, and there are plenty of tech enthusiasts who simply embrace Blu-Ray because it is new, or drool whenever they hear “1080p.” These people represent neither the general buying public nor the film community at large.
DVD looks great when done right (as Criterion almost always does). I own a PS3, and use it as my DVD/Blu-Ray player. It does a great job upconverting my DVDs, and they do look a lot better than if I was using my previous player on the same HDTV (I tried it).
It is smart to wait and let the dust settle and see where Blu-Ray stands a few years from now. Prices of both players and discs will come down, the library of titles will have nearly doubled. You won’t be left behind by waiting, as DVD is still top dog, and new releases will still arrive on store shelves for a long time. Maybe digital downloads will be more popular, as broadband speeds increase and new codecs decrease the file size, yet keep the image quality high. It’s a personal choice, a rather expensive choice, and one that doesn’t have to be rushed into.
Well put Robby.
so far the blue rays criterion are offerings, looks really fine…but are they going to have spanish subtitles any time in the future?
Reading these posts, I can’t believe the attitude of a couple of people, especially when they don’t seem to understand the reasoning behind their main bone of contention, which is of course, Criterion’s lack of Blu-Ray releases so far.
Strawdawg – you state “It almost seems like Criterion is punishing the people who have made the investment in the better format”. I cannot believe how quickly you found this out. Don’t tell anyone, but I overheard the last board meeting at Criterion, and the managers were actually sayings: “how can we punish people, including our regular buyers, for investing in Blu-Ray”. The response was: “well, why don’t we annoy people, like Strawdawg, and just not put them out. Or, at the very least, maybe one or two a month. That should really piss them off”. I mean, c’mon Stawdawg, it’s not a conspiracy, there are reasons why Criterion are not whacking out Blu-Ray discs left, right and centre, and some of these I will explain below.
I will comment first, that you yourself seem to contradict some of your own statements. First you say: “So why not go that extra step and put it out in hi-def. If it is a matter of cost, then charge me for it.” In your next post, you clearly state: " I’m a very frugal shopper (call me cheap) and I have managed to get my Blu-rays used or online. I’m also willing to wait for the prices to drop. I don’t need to get anything the week it’s out and doing that saves a great deal". Seriously mate, you can’t have it both ways.
You also state: “It was their bold attitude in releasing only product of the highest quality, and that attitude is gone”. Says who? I think you will find out that they are continuing to do exactly as they did when they started. Remember, they have a catalogue of over 450 titles and they did not release all of them overnight when DVD’s came out.
From one of your posts: “the people who say that it’s not worth it to Criterion to release everything in hi def, I say BS. Obviously they are in business to make money”. This is just nonsense. Obviously any business has to make money to continue, that’s logical. But I think you will find that Criterion isn’t just doing what they do, just to make money, and I will also explain below. You might be surprised that a company like Criterion do not make as much as you probably imagine.
In regards to a couple of comments by Divinem, which I feel impelled to reply to: “It appears that Criterion is not really that enthusiastic about releasing Blu-rays. . . . It seems threatened by the word “Blu-ray” for some reason.” Once again, and no offence Divinem, but this is just garbage. Criterion are obviously movie lovers. If you look at where they have come from, to where they are now, they have indeed embraced technology, from laser discs, to DVD, to computer streaming. I don’t think there would be any reason then that Criterion would be threatened by Blu-Ray, especially as they would be aware that to continue to survive, they would have to turn to Blu-Ray. I would be betting that Criterion would in fact be embracing this new technology, especially for the possibilities that it can help in improving the movies they already put out.
Divinem, you also state: "I attempted to order the 5 coming on the 16th, but Amazon says it won’t be available until the 29th. Oh, well…” You are seriously not going to cry because these films are going to be released two whole weeks later are you? There are in fact a number of reasons that film dates are pushed back and sometimes they are not always because of the distributor. The same happens for film releases at the cinema – movie dates are pushed back all the time, sometimes by months. Take the new Harry Potter for example, and I am only using that as an example.
Okay, so I have listened to the complaints, and I understand your frustrations. I don’t mean my post to start of some bitter argument between certain parties, its just that some of this whining makes it sound like a five year old, having a tantrum, because their mummy would not buy them some candy at the supermarket.
A few of the posters on here have pretty much stated some of the points I am about to reiterate on, especially Withnail, but I will elaborate further on some possible reasons as to why Criterion are not dumping you with dozens of Blu-Rays every week.
PLEASE NOTE: when I talk in terms of prices I am mentioning Australian prices, as that is where I live, though if you want to find the American equivalent, I am sure you can find some Internet sites that will convert these amounts into the current exchange rates. I only use the pricing to provide examples.
1. Sales: pure and simple. It has been noted that Blu-Ray is outselling DVD when they first begun. This might be true, but if you put things into perspective, you might remember that DVD’s were not selling like they are today, when they first came out. That too was a new technology and took time to grow in sales. Compare the amount of DVD’s out today compared to when the first came into existence.
You can also get the latest release DVD from the Hollywood studios for less than a fifth of the price as when they first came out. But this has taken time – it didn’t just happen over night. People had to become use to the format before the prices started falling i.e. the more people that bought DVD’s, the more the prices came down, because the distributors could afford to make the prices cheaper. And they are obviously going to get a better deal pressing up 10 000 DVD’s compared to 1000.
This was the same for CD’s. I remember the other day seeing a CD re-release for $20 AUS. I had to smile simply because this was the very first CD I ever bought, and I remember that when I did first buy it, it was a whopping $37 AUS. This was back in 1993, when the format first came out. So that is nearly half the price.
Another cost to take into consideration is the Blu-Ray players themselves. They are not exactly cheap at the moment, but once more people buy them, then they will come down in price and thus the more people that embrace the technology will mean that they will buy more Blu-Rays and thus the cheaper Blu-Ray discs will become. I remember when video players first came out and it was such a big thing to have one because they were so expensive. Er, anyone else remember video players? Buy one now, you would probably get them for a few dollars. When DVD’s first came out? Same thing, they were a few hundred dollars, but now you can pick them up for a fraction of the price. And so eventually, this will happen with Blu-Ray players.
2. Cost of Blu-Rays: So this brings us onto cost of actual discs. At the moment, in Australia, Blu-Ray’s are expensive – just under $40 AUS, which is a lot more than a DVD equivalent. Obviously a lot of people are happy to carry on buying DVD’s. Once they discover and embrace Blu-Ray discs, those prices will eventually come down. I am sure that in America they might be cheaper than where others of us live, but this is usually because of population.
In regards to this, some may wonder why Criterion DVD’s and Blu-Ray’s are a little more expensive than the big studio pictures? The simple reason is because of the type of movie they are. Something like Batman is going to sell millions of DVD’s or Blu-Rays, which means the studio’s can afford to put them out at a cheaper price. Its basically bulk selling. A company/distributor like Criterion sell movies that are considered a niche, so because not as many people are going to buy these types of movies, they cannot afford to lower the costs like the main studios. Also take into account though, that they do take a lot of care in putting their releases out and by that, I mean, all those extras. This also costs a lot of money, which I will talk about further along.
3. Quantity: If you look overall, at Blu-Ray releases, compared to DVD releases, there are only really a fraction of movies out there, and this includes product from the Hollywood studios. In other countries, like Australia, we have even less movies come out on Blu-Ray. The same would be for other countries around the world. This once again, comes down to bringing the Blu-Ray technology into the common market place and making them more popular. The Hollywood studios have also not bought out every movie they have on DVD onto Blu-Ray. You will find that it is mainly popular titles or titles that they know are going to do well. This is basically to build up a following, and once they sell more Blu-Ray discs, then more titles will appear. Kind of a Catch-22 I know but this is the fact with any new product like this. And ironically enough it takes popular movies like Dark Knight to boost the number of people onto Blu-Ray, to get some of the more independent titles onto Blu-Ray.
4. Unrealistic sales: Criterion has over 450 releases released on DVD. Do you imagine that, even if they did release all their titles onto Blu-Ray all at once, that this would be realistic? Imagine Criterion placing orders with all of their wholesalers/retailers and other revenue avenues:
Retailer: “so, what new Blu-Ray’s titles do you have for us today to add”
Criterion: "well, we have 450 new titles out today, so get your pen and paper ready. "
Now, add into the equation all the other film studios – if they were to do the same thing. That would be thousands of titles that all these companies would be trying to sell (and compete with) at the one time. Sorry, it’s just is not going to happen. This is the reason why distributors will only bring out a few titles per month, and why a smaller distributor like Criterion will only release several a month – because it is more realistic to bring out a steady flow. And remember they are also competing against all of these other studios that all want their films stocked. And of course whether it is a bricks and mortar store, or Amazon, these places only have so much floor space to stock titles. And realistically, if Warner Brothers rings up offering Dark Knight the same day as Criterion rings, offering Zentropa – which company do you think is going to sell the most Blu-Rays?
Then there is the problem of competing against yourself. If Criterion put out several Blu-Ray titles per month, then this is a good steady release schedule. They might do okay with sales. But if the put all 450 + titles out at once what do you think is going to happen? They might sell a couple of copies of each Blu-Ray if they are lucky. I mean, are you going to buy all 450+ titles at the same time, if they all came on Blu-Ray tomorrow? I think not. As much as I would love to, I know I certainly could not afford to, and most people couldn’t either. So you would have all these Blu-Rays sitting on the shelves, not selling. This also makes it harder for Criterion to sell later, when the format is more popular, because the retailer will just look at all this unsold stock, think that they not a good sellers, and just not re-order it in the future. Which means no more Criterion as a viable company. Three or four titles a month is much more realistic. And also keep in mind, the more Criterion monopolise on their own titles, the more they are eating into their own profits, which would just be foolish.
Remember, Criterion has been going for 24 years now and we are only now catching up to movies like Zentropa on DVD. Why? Because there are so many films yet to be released and only so many of them that they can put out at one time.
5. Title Range: I know it might be frustrating not to have your favourite titles released straight away, and some might question why certain titles are coming out, and why they are not in the original spine order as the DVDs. I would imagine that this is probably because of what sells the most or what Criterion imagines is going to sell the most. All their movies are probably considered obscure by people only into Hollywood Blockbusters, but putting that aside, something like 400 Blows is probably going to sell more than certain other titles. It therefore makes sense for Criterion to put out films on Blu-Ray, that are going to do better than others, at least to begin with.
Taking this into account, remember that 400 Blows is not going to sell anywhere near Dark Knight. Being an independent distributor it is probably a fine line for Criterion. These guys probably don’t make anywhere near the money you think, and if they put out the wrong release or one or two Blu-Rays that don’t sell very well, then that could be the end of the business. At the end of they day, they might be playing it cautious but that is for obvious reasons. Blu-Ray, being new, is probably a testing ground for all the distributors.
6. Format: speaking of testing grounds, remember Blu-Ray is a relatively new format and many companies are probably still being a little sceptical. Remember laser discs? They never really took off the same as DVDs. And it was less than a year ago where we had the war between HD and Blu-Ray. Everyone knew that one would dominate the other but no one knew which. Each studio gambled on one or the other, and as we know, Blu-Ray won out. But you will probably find that a lot of small distributors like Criterion deliberately waited to see which format won, before they converted. The major studios could afford to lose some money, but if a company like Criterion put all their eggs in one basket, like HD, they would have been left with a lot of stock that did not sell, and that would have been the end of that. Remember, Criterion did start with laser discs, and then moved to DVD (with over 450 + titles) and now onto Blu-Ray. So yes, we will eventually get all those titles on Blu-Ray, just a matter of time. Having said that, by the time we do, there will probably be a new format in ten years time that will replace Blu-Ray. That’s capitalism.
7. Technology and extras: Embracing new technology is an enormous cost – it’s not as simple as turning a DVD into a Blu-Ray. It costs money for transfers etc and it even costs more to press a Blu-Ray than a DVD, though they may essentially look the same to you. Same with things like the Blu-Ray casings.
Strawdawg: you directed us yourself to the review of ‘The Third Man’ where the reviewer himself mentions the fantastic differences of the Blu-Ray version on Criterion compared to the DVD version. The picture is apparently clearer; the sound is better and so forth. These things don’t instantly happen. To ‘clean up a picture’ takes a very long time, it is time consuming and there are only so many qualified people than can actually do a lot of this. The same with the sound. Obvious Criterion cares enough about their fans to make sure they get the best quality possible. And they are obviously using this technology to embrace these processes even further. Now imagine if they want to take the care and dedication, as they should, for ALL their films – over 450 titles. This is going to take a huge amount of time and its not going to happen over night. I would rather wait and see a film with superior sound and picture quality, than something done half arsed.
In relation to this, it is also a huge cost involved to clean up a picture, and yet Criterion are willing to spend this extra money for us, the film fans, though it will also probably take them a long time in sales, just to recoup those cost. If you look at some Blu-Ray’s put out by the major studio’s, they have not even bothered to do any more than put a standard DVD transfer onto Blu-Ray, and you can notice the difference. But then you take some movies, like the Godfather trilogy, where the studio have spent an awful a lot of time and money in making the quality even better than the original. This has only been able to be done with recent technology. So if Criterion wants to do this I am not going to complain and nor should you.
Then there are the extras. Do you know what Criterion are planning with each Blu-Ray release? By the sounds of it, going by ‘The Third Man’ Blu-Ray, they have added even more extras, something that a lot of studios are not even bothering to do with Blu-Ray. Are you complaining about this? I am sure that a lot of fans will be appreciative that they will get even more extras, and will also be an added incentive for others to purchase a Blu-Ray machine, if they don’t yet have one.
Now, imagine if Criterion are planning on putting more extras on most of their Blu-Rays?. Something they don’t have to do, but for all we know, they are in the background now, planning all this work, while some of us moan and groan that the films are not available on Blu-Ray yet. They could just put out a standard Blu-Ray for you to buy, and then do this later, but who would be the first one to complain that you got ripped off by buying the Blu-Ray first time round, only for it to come out later with more extras?
Hollywood does things like this all the time – Lord of the Rings a big example – where they re-release the DVD every six months with more extras, purely because they know the die hard fans are going to part with their hard earnt cash yet again. Once again, that is capitalism. No, I would rather wait so I only have to buy them once. Putting all these extras is also an extraordinary cost, usually because they have to hire a producer to put these packages together. It would be even harder for Criterion, because there is probably not a lot of material around, like with modern day releases. After all, no one back twenty odd years ago, let alone sixty, probably even considered the possibility of the technology we have today, and thus did not even bother with preparing extas. So these producers have to try to track down any extra material that may be about, or chase up people from decades ago, to organise interviews etc. with them. This can be extremely time consuming, which is why it costs so much. Not to mention that any material they may come across, would probably be in the same state as the film, which means this too would need ‘cleaning up’. Yet more cost.
8. Copyright and overseas sales: you will find that most independent films will have a different distributor for each country or territory. This means that these distributors will usually own the copyright of a film for a certain period of time. They will also probably come with different terms and agreements and these will vary from country to country. This basically means that if a producer in the US sells the rights to their film to a particular distributor in France, then this usually means they have exclusive distribution in France. If someone from within France, or elsewhere, try’s to show that film, then they are most likely breaking copyright agreement. You will find this is why companies like Criterion, and Kino, will not sell to countries outside the US. A lot of the movies they put out are older movies, and some may even be public domain, but I think that you will find that Criterion would only concentrate on the US, because to get permission for every country, where they don’t even have offices, just in the hope of selling a few discs, would be far too costly and time consuming. Copyright is a legal quagmire and you will find out that it would probably cost Criterion quite a lot of money to track down exactly who owns the copyrights, to the movies they put out, even just for the US. Imagine trying to find out who owns the copyright for a film from 50 years ago? Even if you track down the original distributor you might find that they have ended up selling certain films, or their back catalogue, to another company. Or a film might now belong to a deceased producers estate, and you would not only have to track these people down, but also negotiate a deal with them to release the film.
Now, I am not saying this is the case, but it is possible that Blu-Ray might actually change the copyright contracts that Criterion has. For example, though many contracts will include a clause to release their films on all formats, if it only mentions for example DVD, and then along comes a new technology like Blu-Ray, they might have to redo new contracts for their entire back catalogue. It is a possibility.
And in regards to copyright Strawdawg, keep in mind that at least you are able to get hold of these Blu-Ray and DVD’s a lot easier from Criterion, than those of us who are living overseas. For example, in Australia, we have even less of a selection of those titles. Many of them won’t even be released here because there is even less demand – our population is only 20 million, compared to 300 million + in the US. And the distributors that put out the same titles that Criterion does, usually only put half the effort that Criterion do i.e. fewer extras. Even the movies that are released here at the cinema might be put onto DVD a few months later, but it will be a long, long time before they become available on Blu-Ray, because, as mentioned above, if they did so, they would not sell enough to even recover their costs. They just have to wait for the format to become more popular.
It might be easy enough to import these DVD’s from Criterion, but this is not as simple as it sounds. A lot of stuff coming into a country is often checked by Customs. Any kind of disc is usually a big target because of the possibility that it might contain child pornography. At least that is the way they view things. From a personal point of view, I have had both CDs damaged by Customs, as well as having a DVD banned and confiscated, because it was unrated in Australia.
Unlike the US, we don’t have a voluntary rating system, and everything has to be rated before it can be purchased. The Classification Board here can be harsh and a couple of examples of films that are banned in Australia include ‘Bas Moi’ and even ‘Salo’, though the latter is especially considered as a classic, and one of Criterions titles. If I ordered that into the country I would risk a fine, and possible jail sentence. We even have our own state censorship board where I live, with movies like Michael Winterbottoms ‘Nine Songs’ banned. Which means I can buy that movie anywhere in Australia, except the State I live in. So yeah, even importing has its problems.
In regards to movies that are in public domain, which is usually a period when a movie falls out of copyright, this various from country to country. Though copyright can be a pain in the arse, it is still very important, because it protects companies from piracy. And, think about it, if another 20 companies like Criterion want to put out the same product in the same country, this would just canabalise the market. It’s not like putting out fridges or TV’s; these DVDs (and Blu-Rays) already have a limited appeal as it is. Having said that, some movies out of Public Domain have been released by several companies. Black Pirate being a good example.
Well, I will stop here. There are probably a few more reasons that I could listed but don’t want to bore you too much – I just hope that I might have helped explain things more. And I am not saying all of these above reasons are necessarily reasons why Criterion are only putting out a few select titles to begin with, but probably an indicator.
I understand that some of you are probably looking at things from one point of view, and don’t necessarily see things from Criterion’s side of things, but at the end of the day, I just think it is wrong to go slagging off the company when they are doing so much good. Remember, we are all on here because we like independent/foreign/classic movies of some kind. And who’s bought us all together? – Criterion. And this forum is a great example of how Criterion is also breaking boundaries. They didn’t have to create this forum, but it is a great idea, and I am finally glad that I have a forum to discuss things with real film fans. I am sure that most of us can attest to be frustrated that most of our friends probably don’t get our passion for film, or the types of movies that we see, so this is a forum where we can all actually relate to this passion.
And Strawdawg, remember, if you are that frustrated at certain favourites of yours not being released, why don’t you email the guys at Criterion and ask them if, and when, they intend on releasing the titles you want. They might not have a set release date, but the might be able to give you an indication. Who knows, they could just be around the corner. Also, if you want a title, and enough people request from Criterion that they want that particular title and the company can see enough of you want it, then they might also take that into account.
La Samourai, you’re my hero.
Aw shucks Kevin, I’m blushing, ha ha. But seriously, just stating the facts. Thanks for your kind comment though friend.
Holy crap, that was the longest post I’ve ever read. My eyes are spinning. I have a wee bit of New Years eve hangover. First let me address the points you made about me contradicting myself. About me being frugal AND buying Criterion, I can and DO have it both ways. I can’t possibly see how one couldn’t, given access to the internet. Things might be different for you, if you’re shopping in Australia, I don’t know, I’m speaking for myself here. Criterion is selling their Blu-rays at the same prices as their DVDs. The couple I ordered from Amazon actually dropped in price when I was finally billed. They sold around the 26-27 dollar range. That’s what I’ve been paying for Criterions all along.
quote: “Remember, they have a catalogue of over 450 titles and they did not release all of them overnight when DVD’s came out.”
I never said they should be releasing all of their previous DVD releases in Blu-ray. Give me a break. But they should be releasing all new ones from now on in Blu-ray. I will not purchase from them standard def discs when I know they will eventually get released in Hi def. This is double-dipping at it’s worst and I’m surprised criterion is doing this. When they began years ago, they released only laser discs – skipped the whole vhs thing. Why? Because it was an inferior format. When they started releasing in DVD, they released EVERYTHING in that format. Now hold your horses for 1 second, I’m not saying they should stop selling DVDs, now that Blu-rays are here. I’ll get crucified for even bringing that up. But they, of all companies need to make the effort if they want to keep their reputation of giving the consumer the highest quality product out there.
I’m not going to address all of your other points. You yourself said somewhere that you were repeating yourself and that post is way too long to re-read. I might add, it is more than a little patronizing in places too.
one more quote: “I just think it is wrong to go slagging off the company when they are doing so much good”
Yes, they are doing good and you are correct when you say that they didn’t have to create these boards. But these boards are a great way for Criterion to hear what movie freaks like you and me want. I’m sure they want to hear what bugs us as well as what pleases us. What company doesn’t? I had been emailing them weekly to go hi-def when the format war ended. Now that it has, I want them to improve their services. I don’t want them going backwards.
Happy New Year!
I can’t wait for that Salò Blu-ray. There I said it. Now see how ridiculous that sounds.
Leave it to someone with a name like “La Samourai” to present his position a scroll. (Insert smiley icon here. No offense intended.)
I don’t think a Salò blu-ray sounds all that ridiculous. The extra disc capacity will eliminate the need for 2 discs.
Hey Strawdawg, yeah, I have a tendency to ramble a bit, but hopefully I made some good points. Always good to test those with a hang over as well, ha ha.
Anyway, I will keep things short here this time. And just to let you know, my ramblings were not intended just to offend. You do bring up some good points in your new post and I don’t disagree with you – it would be great if Criterion did release DVD and Blu-Ray at the same time. As mentioned, I am assuming that it would not be financially viable to do both at this stage. But the more people that do request the Blu-Ray format the more they are likely to do so. But as you mentioned, you are already do this – now you just need to get others to do the same.
Happy new years to you as well.
Shaun Lamont Carter: I would be happy to see Salo in ANY format, considering it is currently banned in Australia, where I live. Hopefully one day I am able to sneak it past customs, ha ha.
Salo in blu-ray hahaha I don’t know why but that made me laugh. I could see their advertising saying “Experience humans eating tubs of shit in glorious 1080p high definition”. They could cut clips of Salo into those Blu-Ray commercials.
Thank you for seeing my point Ryan. While Salò is a great movie, which I own, I don’t think I need to see it in high definition to get the picture. Something like the Ice Storm, Le Samourai, or Fear and Loathing … in Las Vegas I would love to see go to bluray. By the way that really sucks that Salò is banned in your country La Samourai, I didn’t think Aussies were that uptight.
Salo blu-ray? I have already seen Caligula on blu-ray. I can just imagine Salo now. Every pore, piece of shit, and ounce of sadism in glorious high definition!
Hey Shaun,
Well as a population we are not that uptight and don’t really care much about censorship but we do have the Office of Film and Censorship Board which consists of people like priests so they, every now and again, like to ban things. I thing Salo will eventually become unbanned but who knows. Even Cannibal Holocausto was recently un-banned. Yes movies like Base Moi were banned. 9 and a half songs passed through and even went to DVD then a year or so our State censorship board banned the movie because some Christians banned it. So unavailable here but can cross the border and get the movie, ha ha.
When I got my blu-ray player, the first film I watched on it was Criterion’s standard dvd of TWO-LANE BLACKTOP. It looked as damned-near as good as any actual blu-ray disc. Texture heaven!
That said, I get sad when I see that Criterion is being (or has to be) selective regarding which films get the blu-ray treatment. What I wouldn’t give for MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION in hi-def.
That’s a good point M.V.D. Some of the recent Dvds I have purchased look so good, it’s hard to imagine them looking better in HD. Naked Lunch is one. But until you can do a comparison, you don’t know what the difference will be. But why I am upset at Criterion is that they are releasing so few in the format. There is another article today on Blu-ray.com which talks about the declining sales of dvd and increasing sales of Blu-ray. How some studios are looking to Blu-ray as a life preserver. Criterion is a company that sells product at a premium price and for good reason. They always have been. To keep up to their own standard, they must give their customers what they want. I refuse to buy any more standard dvds from Criterion or anyone else (yes, even Zentropa). I know there is a higher quality release just waiting around the corner and it makes me mad that Criterion is playing this game.
Here’s the Blu-ray.com article: http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2399
I love Blu ray. Bring ’em on Criterion.
I just wrote an email to Criterion about this. I am interested in the films that they are planning to release on Blu-ray. It was when I saw “Good Night and Good Luck” in standard definition that I switched. Seeing that film in HD is a thing of beauty. I was even more impressed by Criterion’s transfer of “The Seventh Seal”. I have little reason to buy DVD, unless I know that there is no chance of seeing the film being released on Blu-ray. This is why I am interested in how Criterion is planning their release schedule for Blu-ray films. I no longer see it as a question of DVD or Blu-ray. They are to co-exist. No question. What I wonder is, which films from their library will show up Blu-ray?
I actually kind of like that they are releasing about two or three Blu-rays a month. I don’t feel overwhelmed, and it gives me a chance to digest the films before the next batch is released. Also, I’m trying to collect as many of these suckers as I can, so it’s much easier on my wallet.
Hey new here, just upgraded to blu-ray as well, returned the criterion DVD’s and bought the blu-rays for Seventh Seal, For All Mankind, Chungking Express, Last Emperor, El Norte and 400 Blows. Also recently just bought the new blu-ray releases Kagemusha and Playtime.
Still gonna get Wages of Fear and The Third Man, also does anyone think The Last Year at Marienbad or The Last Metro are worth getting? I heard these two movies aren’t that great, and can be kinda slow.
Last Year at Marienbad is an incredible film, and it is easily the best looking Blu Ray I own.
I’m sure there’re are a lot of poor lads like myself who don’t have a 40-inch LCD/plasma TV to enjoy the prowess of the Criterion blu-ray. Yeah, the blu-ray discs are very reasonably priced, but it won’t be significant enough unless the TV is nice and big enough. So until all that became the majority of consumers, there is not a real rush for them to put everything on blu-ray.
I’ve only upgraded with Repulsion, Chungking Express, & Bottle Rocket Blus. & that was only because those were personal favorites. While I do admit they do look significantly better than their dvd counterparts, I will probably be more selective on what I make the jump with (no blind buys), & what I feel will be beneficial in higher resolution. I’m perfectly happy owning a DECENT copy of a film, not necessarily the definitive version…unless it’s a film I love.
Oh I see Drew, might have to check it out.
And the reason why I upgraded to Blu-ray was that the Criterion Blu-rays were the same price or almost the same price as the DVD, that’s never the case for other companies or mainstream distributors. They usually have the DVD for 25-35 and the blu-ray version ends up being 30-50 bucks, so props to the Criterion Collection for not going that way and keeping the DVD and Blu rays evenly priced.
Gurp: I highly recommend you check out Repulsion. One of the creepiest, disturbing, but also very beautiful films out there. It has taken many years for this film to get a proper release and this Criterion disc is absolutely stunning. The extra features are great too. Don’t waste your time with the dvd, go straight to blu-ray. You won’t regret it.
Strawdawg: Yeah dude, I was thinking about getting that one, but I don’t think it’s gonna be a suitable movie to watch with the whole family (see Family Criterion movies thread I made). So I might pass on that one for now.
Gurp: No it’s probably not suitable for small kids. There is no sex, hardly any violence, but the entire movie has a very disturbing quality to it. A woman going insane. Not a family flick for sure. I will recommend one though you may not be aware of. THE FALL by Tarsem Singh. This movie IS great for the whole family, but it’s not a typical family movie. It’s on blu-ray and is absolutely stunning visually. Some crazy assed loser tagged this one with an R rating and it by no means deserves it. That in itself has created a lot of criticism and far more people would have seen this film without the unjustified rating. It’s by the guy who made The Cell, although it’s nothing like that one. Below is a link, check it out:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/
Oh I see, gonna find out more about it, what about Polanski’s other film Knife in the Water, hows that one, I heard it also has some kinda sexual themes in it as well, would it be suitable?
Nice man, I’ve been looking for that movie for a while now. I saw the trailer at Bestbuy once, and it looked very interesting, but I couldn’t ever find that movie. But thanks a lot man for telling me about that movie and the name The Fall, looks like an underrated movie, gonna check it out for sure, thanks again man.
Mark Penny
I just upgraded to blu ray very recently and I agree completely with you Richard. Current DVD releases are very nicely rendered with today’s standard tech anyways. I only have 3 blu rays in my collection, and apart from PAN’S LABYRINTH, not great ones. The only other title I have in mind of purchasing are THE SEARCHERS, and the upcoming March ‘09 release of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. (that’s in 3 months!!)
I kept going to Bill Hunt’s Digital Bits website for reviews and upcoming DVD news, but since BLU RAY, all Bill has been on around is describing exactly what Richard is saying….tech over art. I can’t say I’m too enamored by the whole thing, I rather like film for its own sake, not because of the “WOW” effect. Even after buying into Blu, I’m still rather confused over the whole thing now; I just finished watching EARLY SPRING by Ozu on my OPPO in 720p and I got lost in the film completely; did not care that it was not a blu ray or HD or whatever. It was still a very beautiful film and the main reason I’m in love with movies I suppose.