Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles - Page 5

Jesse Blacklow · 08-22-2008, 01:53 PM

From Criterion's Blu-ray e-mail sent out today:

Quote:

Dear Criterion viewers,

It's been a week since we officially announced our first Blu-ray releases, and people have been writing in with a lot of questions. As we inaugurate a new Blu-ray section of our FAQ, we thought we'd share with you the five most common questions about our Blu-ray launch.

On another front, there are only three days remaining in our current special promotion. Any film in the Criterion Collection that has a spine number ending in 8 will be discounted an additional 10 percent off the regular Criterion store price. (This doesn't apply to out-of-print titles or those that can only be purchased in box sets without spines that end in 8.) Click here for a list of titles. Sale ends at midnight on Sunday, August 24.

Happy viewing!

Are Criterion's Blu-ray discs region-encoded?

Yes. Criterion is licensed to sell most of its editions only in North America.

Why should I buy regular DVDs when I don't know if Criterion will release a Blu-ray version six months from now?

If you love these films, keep buying DVDs. It is going to be quite a while before the Blu-ray marketplace can support many of the titles Criterion releases on DVD. For new releases, if we think a title has a shot of succeeding on Blu-ray, we aim to put out both editions at the same time, so you can make an informed choice. Where classics from our catalog are concerned, to give you a little extra comfort we'll be offering a $20 Blu-ray upgrade program for customers who have already bought the equivalent edition on DVD. You send us the movie disc from your DVD edition, and for $20 (plus tax and shipping) we'll exchange it for the Blu-ray version, simple as that. For more on how this works, click here.*

What is the packaging going to look like?

Our Blu-ray packaging will be similar to our DVD packaging, only in the smaller Blu-ray size. As with DVDs, we'll use a range of paper and plastic packaging, and we'll bring the same care and attention to the design. Where we're upgrading an existing release, the design will match right down to the disc labels, so if you want to take advantage of the $20 Blu-ray upgrade program, your replacement disc will fit right into the design of your existing Criterion DVD edition. In the store, if you want to be sure you're buying the Blu-ray edition and not the standard-def DVD version, you'll know it by the smaller size and the blue Blu-ray sticker on the front.

Will there be spine numbers?

Spine numbers on our Blu-ray discs will match the existing DVD editions. Our Blu-ray releases represent a significant upgrade when it comes to audiovisual quality, and many of our customers will want to take advantage of that, but we're not starting over at number 1, and we're not expecting our longstanding DVD collectors to do so either. Where content is concerned, we aren't planning on publishing anything on our Blu-ray editions that won't also be available on DVD. Whether you collect only DVDs or only Blu-ray discs or a mix, it's all part of your Criterion collection—and they'll all line up in spine-number order.

What will Criterion Blu-ray discs cost?

Criterion's Blu-ray editions will generally be priced to match our DVDs. It makes sense to us: High-definition mastering and restoration has been a part of our DVD production standard for years. And for our customers who might be on the fence about whether to buy DVD or Blu-ray, we thought the best thing we could do was take price out of the equation.

Kris Z. · 08-22-2008, 02:16 PM

That's the same answer regarding region coding as I got when I e-mailed Jon. And it doesn't make complete sense to me because they're still only selling them in North America regardless if it's Region A or ABC, they're not responsible for certain online stores and distributors shipping out the discs overseas.

Mike Frezon · 08-22-2008, 02:53 PM

I was interested in how the Criterion Blu-ray upgrade program is going to work, so I sought out the link for that:

Quote:

How will the Blu-ray upgrade program work?

Just mail your disc to:

The Criterion Collection
Attn: Jon Mulvaney
215 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003

Be sure to include your U.S. or Canadian mailing address inside the package, as we cannot ship outside of North America. Please also include your e-mail address in case we need to contact you. You can send in your disc for exchange anytime, but we won’t be sending out the Blu-ray discs until their release dates.

You can pay the $20 plus tax (New York State only) and $5 shipping and handling by a check or money order made payable to the Criterion Collection. You can also pay by PayPal by making a payment to store@criterion.com (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover welcome). If your shipping address is in New York State, the total is $26.50 for the upgrade of one DVD. If your shipping address is in any other state or in Canada, the total is $25.

We’ll mail the Blu-ray disc in a sleeve, and you'll be able to place the new disc in your existing packaging. This doesn't give you the new Blu-ray packaging, but it does give you an option if you want the Blu-ray version but don't want to buy the entire set again. This offer only applies to "like" editions. For example, you can return disc 1 of the rerelease of The Third Man but not the earlier, out-of-print edition.

If you have any questions about the Blu-ray upgrade offer please e-mail Jon Mulvaney at mulvaney@criterion.com. We reserve the right to change or discontinue this program at any time.

Jeff Ulmer · 08-22-2008, 04:53 PM

While the "trade up" program is better than nothing, I'm not sure whether it is worth spending $25 for a disc only upgrade when you can get the entire BR release for an extra $4 for regular (non box set) versions, which would allow you to resell your DVD version if you wanted to.

Mike Frezon · 08-22-2008, 05:03 PM

That's the way it looks to me Jeff.

I was thinking you'd be much better off selling the old SD set to make up for the upgrade...rather than spend $20+ to give up an SD disc to get a BD disc.

DavidJ · 08-22-2008, 05:49 PM

Yeah, at first glance I was excited about the upgrade program, but as I read how it actually worked the excitement quickly faded. It doesn't seem like much of a deal or upgrade pricing (yet, I tend to understand why they chose that price point). I think I will either just buy the Blu editions or do as Mike suggests.

Derrick King · 08-22-2008, 07:24 PM

The upgrade could be worth it for The Man Who Fell to Earth (since it seems that the Blu-ray will not have a copy of the novel.)

Jari K · 08-23-2008, 04:02 PM

"Are Criterion's Blu-ray discs region-encoded?

Yes. Criterion is licensed to sell most of its editions only in North America."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris Z.

That's the same answer regarding region coding as I got when I e-mailed Jon. And it doesn't make complete sense to me because they're still only selling them in North America regardless if it's Region A or ABC, they're not responsible for certain online stores and distributors shipping out the discs overseas.

Yes, and I know for a fact, that many of their SD DVD-releases are "R0" (some are "R1", though). Perhaps this is again something that they have to add to their "FAQ", but many releases are actually "R0" in "real life"? Well, I guess not.. I guess their policy is a bit old-fashioned.

I have US PS3, but this is very bad news for many fans out there...

Man-Fai Wong · 08-26-2008, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derrick King

The upgrade could be worth it for The Man Who Fell to Earth (since it seems that the Blu-ray will not have a copy of the novel.)

Would something like that be considered "like edition" though?

_Man_

ccfixx · 08-26-2008, 12:28 PM

The first five Criterion blu-ray discs are now up for pre-order on Amazon. I pre-ordered this morning. The average price is $28 per disc.

Being my first post, I'm can't post the links, yet, but they're at Amazon now.

CC