Amen
couldn’t have said it better!
I am also delighted to see that the Western genre is finally given the place it deserves in the Criterion Collection. Like jazz indeed, it is a part of American culture that is universally revered, and I remember loving to see John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and so many other talented actors grace our screens, at home or at the theater, as a child growing up in France. Can’t have an America without cowboys, or a Criterion without Westerns!
Jean-Michel Decombe,
Amen mon ami!
Love, love, love, Stagecoach! I share your enthusiasm. I hope that the special features are a plentiful.
Agreed. I’d love to see some Sergio Leone or John Ford films on Criterion.
This makes what, four editions of this film on DVD in region 1?
—PolarisDiB
oh lordy!
haha well said
At last… i was beginning to get tired of so much obscure european releases by criterion.
A good print of STAGECOACH will probably make even more obvious the shadow of the camera hidden in the shadow of some (moving) tree branches as the stage fords a stream!
Is it in 3D? I don’t want to watch it if it isn’t. 2D is just so passé…
One of the reasons why this film is so great is that it is a kind of cultural heirloom. I watched this with my father and I intend to watch it with my children. It’s an entertaining film, but it also has a powerful message: not judging people by their first appearances. Despite John Wayne’s profession, he is a righteous man for not abandoning that prostitute. In a weird way, it’s a kind of morality tale. Of course, that is one of the reasons why it is so great.
One thing that always bothered me about the Criterion Collection is that there have never been many films that I have felt comfortable showing my family. Sure, films like “The Furies” and “Seven Samurai” are family friendly, but I could never conceive showing them films like “Salo,” “The Night Porter,” or “I am Curious.” Not that I have anything against those films. But I can’t see myself pulling them off the shelf every now and then to watch with the people that I care about. That is one of the great things about the Western genre: it can unite families together. Who doesn’t love a good Western?
Communists, that’s who.
;)
“This makes what, four editions of this film on DVD in region 1?”
Polaris! Why must you rain on this parade?
“One thing that always bothered me about the Criterion Collection is that there have never been many films that I have felt comfortable showing my family. Sure, films like “The Furies” and “Seven Samurai” are family friendly, but I could never conceive showing them films like “Salo,” “The Night Porter,” or “I am Curious.” Not that I have anything against those films. But I can’t see myself pulling them off the shelf every now and then to watch with the people that I care about. That is one of the great things about the Western genre: it can unite families together. Who doesn’t love a good Western?”
I assume your family, like most people, is turned off by subtitles. Criterion has like 10 Ozus, a few Tati’s, Stuff with Balloons, Children of Paradise and many other films that are not at all risque. Also, if you’re going to sit around watching “family friendly” westerns where whites slaughter indians, why not watch some of Kurosawa’s japanese westerns in which japanese just slaughter each other? I’m not usually one to defend Criterion but your post seemed to ignore the non-english speaking films and imply that all they release is stuff like In the Realm of the Senses.
Wait, what?
That wasn’t what I was trying to say at all!
I wasn’t trying to insult the Criterion Collection! And I wasn’t trying to make a political statement about America’s interactions with Indians!
All I was trying to say is that for a normal family, they may not be interested in seeing things like Ozu, Godard, and Italian neorealists! As a film lover, I eat this stuff up! But my family does not share my beliefs. They watch movies to be entertained. There’s nothing wrong about that!
I’m sorry if I came off like I was insulting the Collection, but rest assured, I didn’t mean it like that at all!
“Polaris! Why must you rain on this parade?”
Eh, hate to say it, but this is a good case study for questioning what “being on the Criterion Collection” really means, and whether it’s all that important. Stagecoach is widely available in good transfers and critical and educative materials for it are accessible pretty much anywhere. I don’t really see the necessity of creating one more edition of it, even a “Film School in a Box” edition of it, especially at Criterion’s boutique-label prices, when I know from personal experience that Stagecoach already takes up half a shelf of any given DVD store. Also, when it comes to John Wayne in general, there are so many editions and releases of so many of his movies that for many consumers it becomes a real source of confusion, and results in pretty frustrating discussions about “which version is the classic one that I’m looking for?” So for students of film, the Criterion collection edition probably will not offer much that isn’t readily available and easy to find for cheaper, and for consumers of film, it will only provide distraction. With all apologies, I don’t see the point.
—PolarisDiB
Fantastic!
This is one of my favorite westerns. And I agree that more Ford/Wayne collaborations need the same treatment, along with other luminaries such as James Stewart, Lee Marvin, Yul Brynner, etc. as well as the westerns filmed by Wellman, Hathaway, and Hawks.
Nate, the indian thing was just my poorly worded commentary about the genre and had really nothing to do with your post. I figured your family, like most, wouldn’t be sitting around watching Ozu. Your bringing up Salo as representing something threw me off a bit but I completely get where your coming from.
@Polaris
I agree 100 percent with what you just said but I’m getting weary of having this argument. I’d like to take your paragraph and copy and paste it into the Barry Lyndon thread (I realize that’s about blu-ray, so it’s different) and any thread that calls for any film I see everywhere to released by “the collection.” It’s a lost cause however. People need that C and that spine number. It’s crazy to me that there are people out there who are almost as interested in seeing something like Out 1 as I am who would be upset if suddenly Kino or Facets announced they were releasing it instead of Criterion. I realize some of that would be over transfers, but even if all the reviews said the transfers were pristine some people would be miffed because it wasn’t Criterion. I have come to accept the fact that that’s just the way it is.
Hooray for Stagecoach! Where’s the Searchers? Citizen Kane? Potemkin? It’s a Wonderful Life?
I too weary of the argument, but nevertheless as a movie buff, film student, Criterion devotee, and consumer, I have no use for this release whatsoever.
—PolarisDiB
i love Stagecoach ever since i saw it thanks to the World Cup…
but seriously, is Criterion jerking off or what? so many unreleased films dammit……countless i should say….
Huh, that’s odd. I’d rather thought you’d hate it, considering that it’s a Western and Westerns are Western, and you’re pretty critical of Western culture as well as things that are canonized, so as a canonized Western Western I’d think you’d be pretty critical of it!
(Just joshin’ you, Dimitris! I just wanted to say “critical canonized Western Western.” How often does one get an opportunity for that?)
—PolarisDiB
@Polaris
“This makes what, four editions of this film on DVD in region 1?”
I will say that the supplements available on the 2 disc special edition are relatively similar to the Criterion Collection’s. However, between the 45 minute silent film and the “extensive” video interview with Ford (not to mention the nice box :oP), this release is understandably appealing to avid John Ford fans.
I am also delighted to see that the Western genre is finally given the place it deserves in the Criterion Collection.—-
In fairness, there were already Westerns in the collection, albeit more eccentric ones—Fuller’s I Shot Jesse James and Baron of Arizona, Anthony Mann’s The Furies.
“Just joshin’ you, Dimitris! I just wanted to say “critical canonized Western Western”
i know Dib…it’s just…you know how it is…i see an injun and my blood boils :P
I’m just gonna say it doesn’t bother me much either way if Stagecocach had/hadn’t been added. I haven’t seen it yet, but since it’s going to be that’s fine with me. If it hadn’t been, then oh well.
I hate to be a killjoy here and, don’t get me wrong, I plan to add it soon to my collection. But has anyone noticed that the the previous 2-disc release of Stagecoach was a pretty damn good one, packed with extras. Now we’ve got a new set of extras and the old release is out of print (on Amazon at least). Anyone going to miss the extras on the previous edition?
While its great that a masterpiece like Stagecoach has been given the criterion treatment, there are currently 3-4 versions of that film already available (the warners transfer is only average) there are so many films that have never ever been released on DVD period .Ken Russells The Devils and The Music Lovers, Michael Manns The Keep and Robert Aldrichs Twilights Last Gleaming just to name a few. And isnt it about time criterion re released some older titles anamorphically…Andrei Rublev anyone!!!
You guys are the GREATEST! It continues to amaze me how diverse your choice of films are. Within a month to put out films like; Bigger Than Life, Vivre sa Vie, The Fugitive Kind, Ride With the Devil and Stagecoach! Brilliant and a tremendous service to anyone hoping to learn about the power of cinema! Stagecoach is a remarkable choice. It represents the beginning of what defined Western as a serious genre. Thanks so much for that… as well as adding Sidney Lumet and Nicholas Ray to your great cannon of directors.
Clark Middleton
Nate
Dear Criterion,
Words fail me. I cannot express how deeply moved and touched I am that this incredible film has been selected for the Collection. I remember the first time that I watched this movie with my dad. When John Wayne came onto the screen for the first time, we both fell silent, for we knew we were in the presence of greatness. This film is truly one of the greatest works on genre film making ever created. I have always been saddened by how under appreciated the Western genre is. Sure, it’s known for being a good popcorn genre. But the Western is something distinctly American, like jazz or baseball. It is a testament to what we as Americans hold dear. Westerns are a cultural legacy that deserve to be taken seriously and valued for the great pieces of art that they are. I only hope that this will only be the first in a long line of Westerns (especially ones starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford) to make it onto the Criterion Collection. So, thank you again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
God bless you.