[SIZE=6.5]THE CRITERION COLLECTION[/size]
Official site:
The Criterion Collection
Un-official site:
Criterion DVD Great for news and general info. Including comprehensive listings with details.
"A continuing series of classic and important contemporary films."
Thought of by many as the best collection of classic films available on the Laserdisc and DVD format, the story of the Criterion Collection can be summised as follows:
1) Fossilised Criterion and the hey-day of Laserdiscs.
Many of Criterion's most ardent supporters were initiated during Laserdisc's golden era, when the CC released a HUGE number of classic titles. The collection was first launched in 1984 with the Laserdisc premieres of Orson Welles'
Citizen Kane and
King Kong in the CAV format. Due to LD's high costs, and thus studios reluctance to fully support their integration into the mass-consumer market, Criterion had almost free reign over which titles they chose to release. Titles like David Fincher's
The Game and
Se7en had deluxe editions, along with Orson Welles'
The Magnificent Ambersons, Stanley Kubrick's
2001: A Space Odyssey, Ridley Scott's
Blade Runner and more. The dawn of DVD, and subsequent explosion of studio interest in Home Theater formats has seen Criterion's platform of releases shrink considerably. Whereas once they had achieved quality AND quantity, now there is only quality.
Here's a complete list of the Laserdiscs.2) The essential Criterion DVDs.
While personal taste should account for peripheral puchases, the following are a list of the disc that
YOU MUST OWN, and why:
Grand Illusion Widely regarded as one of the best movies ever made, a superlative restoration, and some superb supplemental material.
Seven Samurai One of the greatest movies ever made.
The Third Man The whole package. Another of the greatest movies. Stellar restoration and comprehensive, fascinating, unique extras.
Rebecca Arguably Hitchcock's finest 40's flick. His first Best Piicture winner, and a fantastic 2-disc special edition to show you why.
Spartacus A revelatory restoration (the soundtrack is especially impressive), and comprehensive extras on this essential 2-disc set of Stanley Kubrick's
Gladiator predecessor.
8 1/2 Fellini's Oscar-winning film is superbly treated by Criterion, including an absolutely essential documentary.
Black Narcissus Powell and Pressburger's most beautiful film, thanks to the legendary Jack Cardiff, is presented with a commentary by Martin Scorsese and the man Michael Powell himself.
Nights of Cabiria One of Fellini's most personal films, presented it the recently created Director's Cut, superbly transfered, and with plenty of great extras.
The Silence of the Lambs The lack of anamorphic enhancement (see below) turns some people off. For many, this transfer more accurately represents the tone and colors of the theatrical presentation. The deleted scenes are intriguing, and the commentary is superlative.
The Seventh Seal Bergman + Death + Chess + Criterion = must own disc.
Rushmore Wes Anderson's films looks marvelous on this, the only available anamorphic version of the movie. The MTV shorts, commentary and audition tapes are priceless.
L'Avventura One of the best documentaries I have ever seen on a Criterion disc.
Sullivan's Travels A superb documentary, another impressive restoration and rare audio recoirdings of Sturges.
I'm sure I've missed some important ones. To remedy that I'll say the following: they're all worth having!
Here's the complete list of the DVDs.3) Which films do Criterion release and why.
Numbered in order of release date, the CC is made of films from around the world, spanning almost every decade of cinema. While there seems only one perogative for entering the collection, namely that you are a classic film, the filmographies of some directors are more comprehensively catalogued than others. You will find Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Powell and Pressburger and Sergei Eisenstein among the best represented. But no one filmmaker, genre, or filmmaking style monopolises the CC. Itt's a record of cinema's finest achievements, complete only to the extent that time, resources, and copyrights allow.
Ultimately, the output of Criterion is limited to those films in the pulic domain, and those which are exclusively licensed to Criterion by the controlling studio. E.g. A contract with Buena Vista paved the way for Michael Bay's
Armageddon and
The Rock and Wes Anderson's
Rushmore Criterion DVDs. And will likely accomodate the release of Wes Anderson's other two films
Bottle Rocket and
The Royal Tenenbaums under the Criterion banner. New deals are signed regularly, and its always a thrill to learn that a favourite movie is 'getting the Criterion treatment', the most recent example of which is Steven Soderbergh's
Traffic.
4) The history of the 'special edition', and why Criterion discs are so special.
With the release of their very first Laserdiscs, Criterion introuduced special features to the world. Never before had a home video release contained supplemental materials, like theatrical trailers or production notes. Thus Criterion have been credited with literally 'inventing' the Special Edition. More astounding, is that Criterion are the pioneers of 'Original-Aspect-Ratio' presentations of movies on home video formats. "The only home video that had ever been presented in its original aspect ratio prior to Criterion was Woody Allen's "Manhattan," and that was at Allen's insistance." (Brian W., HTF Member)
Responsible for two of the most fundamental aspects of home video presentations today, Criterion distinguish themselves from the current producers of special edition content, by seeking out especially rare or unique extras to include on their discs. Ranging from exclusive documentaries, audio recordings of directors long since passed, complete radio plays (
The Third Man), restoration demonstrations, critic and film historian commentaries (included on early pressings of
Seven Samurai), improved subtitle translations and restored director's cuts, Criterion discs are the cream of any collection, and present the opportunity for collectors to own their favourite films in definitive versions.
5) "The Criterion bandwagon". On or off. Or: Common complaints.
3 main avenues of criticism are often taken.
1) NON-ANAMORPHIC!!! Until quite recently, Criterion were releasing discs with non-anamorphic transfers, citing the rarity of compatible TVs as the reason. The mistake has been corrected, and all appropriate releases are now anamorphically enhanced.
2) In order to compensate for the high costs of producing only a limited number of discs which WILL NOT interest the average DVD buyer, Criterion need to charge relatively high priced for their discs. Ranging from the standard RRP of $29.99 for bare bones, to $39.99 for most special editions, all the way up to $59.95 for super-duper special editions. As any self-respecting DVD buyer/internet user should know, that the RRP is not where the buck stops (
). Most prices can be knocked down by 30% if you find the right deal.
3) The inclusion of Michael Bay's movies
Armageddon and
The Rock are criticised by purists as 'inappropriate' for the collection. However, it has been widely discussed, and the general conclusion has been that
their place in the collection is an effort to appeal to a wider demographic of DVD buyer, exposing the collection to a broader base of movie-lovers, and financing the creation of discs that won't be anywhere near as popular. i.e. they're in there for a good reason.
