What are you talking about?
He’s talking about Criterion’s dvd of Ran being out of print, and the blu-ray being canceled.
This means no more copies of the dvd will be made, or shipped out of the factory, so the only copies that exist are the ones in stores right now, or in people’s collections.
what is happening?? WTF????
Well thank goodness I’ve got a copy!
“Stavisky…” is likewise out of print. Somebody shoudl put it back into print due to its timeliness re the Madoff scandal.
I have this and how relieved I am for that, but this makes me sad. It’s like a window has been closed and the house is a little darker.
As of right now, they still have the DVD in stock at Amazon (US) if anyone needs to grab one.
That’s a shame, luckily I have a copy already. Can anyone find out if any other Kurosawa’s are going out of print? If they are I want to make sure I pick them up.
@Ryan
Probably just Ran since CC only lost the rights to that title.
Never was a big fan, but it’s sad when anything they release goes out of print. There will be many a folk very upset by this.
Wow when I had some money for a DVD I was going to get Ran but then they announced the Blu-Ray so I decided since I plan on switching to Blu-Ray eventually so I decided against it. And now I have no money. Another detail to add to a crappy day.
Glad this one is in my collection, though I’m sad to see Criterion lose the rights for it.
I’m sorry, but I must have missed something —
The last I heard, Criterion would be releasing the film on Blu-Ray. This has changed? The announcement was only about 3 weeks ago. What happened?
And now the regular DVD is no longer available either? Yowsa! I’m glad I have mine!
How did this happen? Who would have gotten the rights if not criterion? They must be bringing it back, it is too important a film.
Their distribution rights just ran out, stewart. Obviously, they assumed they would just be able to re-up their contract, but something must of happened at the last minute.
I’m sure they’re trying to get the rights back as we speak.
that IS bad, I don’t own one and wanted this on blu-ray, may be now I got to get it from other sources like Amazon
All this chatter that it is OOP due to rights issues, but I see no source cited as back up to this claim! What is the source of your information? Seriously, why would Criterion announce a Blu-Ray one week and then announce the complete cancelation of the title from their cataolg another?
Up-date:
Well, now I see the fact that under Available Editions on Criterion’s site it says “Out of Print.”
Then, on Criterion’s Blu-Ray page, Ran is no longer listed:
http://www.criterion.com/library/bluray
Does this mean we won’t get the title from Criterion in the near future? Not necessarily, but maybe…
Well, I already own Ran, so I’m good.
Shrugs Sorry? There’s still the Masterworks edition?
—PolarisDiB
Anybody know how quickly these OOP’s disappear from store shelves? Probably depends on stock i would imagine. Will there be a mad rush like Walmart at Christmas time? A run on Ran? Should I run? Do I have time? Should I buy up every copy I see and sell them at obscene prices on the black market. Will the authorities chase me into the underground sewer system? Will Alida Valli fall madly in love with me? . . . so long Holly . . .
Don’t panic—I’ve been able to get a number of Criterion titles after they go out of print.
I got Port of Shadows out of print from overstock.com
There’s like 2 other versions of Ran out there. Not Criterion, so nont as good, but I’m just saying…
I own the “Masterworks Edition” of Ran as well as the CC. The former is an absolutely shameful presentation.
I’d also like to say how painful this news is. I love this film dearly and only hope that another capable company can rise to the challenge of presenting it to us on Blu.
i am betting criterion will get it back, if they were releasing it on Blu-ray then it is pretty important. Plus what other company would put it out on DVD? it makes no sense. There are several laserdisc releases of theirs that appeared on other dvd formats, but eventually made their way back to criterion.
Ran should be fairly easy to get a hold of for a while I think. I still see it at quite a few Borders and Barnes and Noble and amazon.com still has it. Some of these same copies have been on the shelves for a few years I think. So for the time being you guys that don’t have it yet should still be okay.
I’m sure there’s still plenty out there in circulation, so no mad-dash needed. I’m saddened by this, as I was looking forward to getting this visually stunning film on blu-ray.
I have a really good story to share. It involves this thread specifically.
One day I was taking a walk and found a $20 dollar bill lying in the grass. Of course I pick it up and keep it. I think about what I wish to spend it on, DVDs? iTunes? Japanese Pornography?
A few days later I read this thread. I am reminded of a copy of the Criterion edition of Ran I saw on the used DVD rack at my local FYE. The next day I go over to the store to check out the price: $21.99. I decide not to buy it. I tell myself I should really curb my spending. Plus I am not really a huge Kurosawa fan. I liked the film but I was not sure that I would like to on my already full DVD shelves.
I go to work that day where I worked an 11 hour day. It was originally an 8 hour day, but one of my co-workers called out. Plus I thought that the extra 3 hours would offset the $14 I spent that day. I would have an extra $7.15 (plus the two quarters I found) for that days work.
Along with this I was incrementally purchasing tracks on iTunes. I don’t like to spend in large chunks on iTunes so I make my purchases carefully. I buy one or two tracks and if I like what I hear, I will use the “Complete My Album” option. Recently, Mastodon (GREAT BAND, kind of like a cross between TOOL and Slayer) released two versions of their latest album Crack the Sky. One with 7 tracks one with 14 tracks (instrumental versions of the previous 7 tracks) plus a digital booklet. I figure I will purchase tracks off the 14 track $12.99 version and figure it will appear in the complete my album option. It doesn’t. And the album has two tracks “Album Only” tracks, so I can not incrementally buy too many of the songs. I write an e-mail to Apple about the issue (I should have also asked them why they don’t have a subtitling option for their foreign language films but that is another issue).
The next day I read that Criterion lost the rights to distribute Ran. So the film won’t even be coming out on blu-ray. Now I figure that that used copy of Ran would be a good purchase. I go to the mall with my $20 bill in hand. The store is bustling with activity. I walk by the Hagan-das (or however the f___ its spelled, it doesn’t mean anything anyway) and I look to the ground. There is this small green piece of paper with a purple tint. It is a $50 dollar bill! There was no one standing around it. I did not see it drop. It was on the ground when I first spotted it. No body was saying anything, like “Hey where did my fifty go”. I think, “It would be stupid for me to ask anyone if they lost it because they would immediately claim that it is theirs.” Writing this I now realize that I could have asked people if they lost any cash, without referring to the fifty. But hey, what is lost is found.
So I go to the FYE and the first thing I see on the new release rack, Mastodon’s Crack the Sky, on sale with a making-of DVD, for $17.99. I think “What the hey?” I immediately pick it up. Ran and a new Mastodon album and I would still have money left over. I go to the used DVD rack and Ran is still there. I pick it up and look around a bit more. In the action/adventure section and I notice they have a few steel case copies of Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django. I am a huge Miike fan. I have 10 of his movies in my collection. The movie has been on my wish list for some time now. It was $19.99 when it was first released, now it is on sale for $9.99. I pick that up.
I walk up to the checkout counter and I see the 3 for $10 basket. I decide to take a look through, and underneath a lot of titles not good enough to remember is the two disc edition of George Lucas’s THX 1138, for $4.98. Great movie! Great set! I pick that up!
I take my purchases to the take-out counter. The lady at the register sees the copy of Ran and said that there was a buy 2 get 1 free deal on used DVDs. I decide “What the Hell?” I go back to the used rack and there was a copy of the Criterion’s 2-disc edition of the theatrical version of Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, a film I actually rented from my local library and never watched. I pick that up along with the third season DVD set of Aqua Teen Hunger Force (the best season).
I take my load to the check out counter. The final total of all of this: $77. I managed to buy 5 titles, and music CD. A total of 11 discs at an almost positive expense to my budget! Thank you Auteurs!
Raysquirrel, awesome story!..
Very sad about no Ran blu-ray :( I was most looking forward to that.
Ok does anyone have any answers as to why or how? or how are we going to get it back (WE HAVE TO, IT IS THE GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME.) I’m surprised Ran, and not something else. How the hell is armagedan and the rock still available but not RAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ryan Estabrooks
Hey guys, in case some of you haven’t noticed the Criterion Collection edition of “Ran” is now officially out of print, which means no Blu-ray release coming up. So go out and grab a copy if you can before they all disappear. Major bummer, I hope this doesn’t mean that more Kurosawa movies are going to start going OOP for Criterion.