Criterion Releases in HD Thread

Considering that they began releasing DVDs as late as November 1999, I expect they'll wait for at least a year before releasing anything on any of the new formats.

Also, and paraphrasing them, DVD and hidef disc rights are often discrete entities and ownership of one does not necessarily imply ownership of the other.

We know now that they won't be releasing Armageddon or Robocop, for one thing.

But for more arthouse stuff, I really hope they go to the next level .

So will Criterion retain it's current licensed film catalgoue in the HD format or will they have to start from scratch and strike new deals with all the major studios to release their films again in HD?

...and restart the numbering scheme again...

Can somebody please post on the Criterion foum and ask about this, I'm really curious about the license agreement for HD / Blu Ray titles.


Thanks.

Thanks Ed.

I'm aware fo the discrepencies between laserdisc and DVD, mostly due to the fact that there's been a decade plus interval in which time studios have shifted ownership, merged, licenses have expired, new deals struck.

But with the exception of currently discontinued titles on DVD, I don't see why releasing their properties in high-definition should pose any legal issues?

I suspect (I have no evidence for this) that the answer will be neither, until the format war is over.

Criterion is a small company, that has a hard enough time to keep up with its current DVD only schedule. The idea that they would suddenly start releasing three versions of every film (it's not like they'll abandon DVDs) is preposterous.

So if you want Criterion on HD, cross your fingers that the format war will be over before it starts. Otherwise it might be a VERY long wait.

Is there ANY studio that will do simultanous HD DVD & Blu-ray releases?

FWIW: this is the official answer from "Jon Mulvaney":



Ted

I hope they start releasing in 2006. I have not bought any Criterion DVDs for many years (and others) exactly because I was waiting for HD. They have many films I buy at once if the transfer is high quality.

Considering how long it took Criterion just to figure out that it was "ok" to use the 16x9 feature of DVD, I'm not holding my breath for reference-setting HD versions of Criterion BD/HD DVD titles any time soon...

In the early life of DVD they actually argued *against* using 16x9 since most people only had 4x3 TVs when DVD first came out and Mr. Mulvaney had a 4x3 TV and a cheapo-DVD player and didn't like downconversion artifacts...so he decided to compromise Criterion DVD software rather than simply upgrading his player (to a model with decent 16x9->4x3 downconversion) or display until someone finally got through to him. The notion that videophiles would want their software to be the best quality on the best gear since they planed on keeping their DVDs for a while didn't seem to occur to him...as though no videophile collector would ever plan to upgrade from his/her 4x3 480I NTSC TV.

When I contacted folks at Criterion in the early 2000's to express my displeasure for their lack of 16x9 support they even fed me the "full 16x9 WS transfers would have too many compression artifacts...the wasted space on black bars makes it easier to compress" argument. Funny how they never had a problem with 1.33:1 OAR titles using all those 720 x 480 pixels for active picture area...



In any case, they finally got their act together and except for some issues with EE and filtering (Royal Tenenbaums looks pretty bad projected), they've been improving steadily.

Maybe they've learned.

Maybe I shouldn't be such a cynic...



Thanks for letting me share! I've got Issues!!!

RT has horrible EE but I thought that was Bunea Vistas fault as CC had to use what they were given.

I could believe that...it has the classic "Live action Disney DVD" look of too much HF filtering and edge-ringing.

It is true that when Criterion can't do a film-digital transfer themselves that they are forced to accept whatever the studio chooses to give them.

You do know that "Jon Mulvaney" is a fictional character, right?

As for HD Criterions in 2006, no way. I'll be totally amazed if any such appear in 2007.

Ted

The Criterion techs kept telling me that the president/head of the company (I thought they said "Jon") had a 4x3 TV and didn't want to see downconversion artifacts and that 4x3 mastering was "just fine" for videophiles.

I'll dig through some of my old emails to see what name was mentioned (I could have sworn it was Jon)...

"Jon Mulvaney" is the person who responds to customer e-mail -- a task done by many different people at Criterion. The president of the company is Peter Becker. For more info Criterion's wikipedia entry.

Ted

Ted,

who was the guy in charge back in 1997/8 when Criterion published those silly articles about how "laserdisc was better because it stored the whole picture and didn't use compression" blah blah blah? That's the guy who had the 4x3 TV whatever his name is.

The only email I found saved in my folder from Criterion was from April 13, 1999 from the guy who did the transfer for "Insomnia" which was Criterion's first 16x9 transfer/title on DVD.

Here are his comments, some of which pertain to what we've discussed:


I wish I could play back for you the phone calls with the techs all trumpeting the benefits of 4x3 transferring...I'm glad this fellow finally got through to them with Insomnia!

I'm curious if Criterion will be able to release Brazil boxset in HD or if Universal will release it themselves ever?

Criterion at present has no HD transfer for this film. In fact...when they did the transfer for the laserdisc...despite the fact that other studios were already doing HD transfers (Sony) and at minimum other studios were doing 16x9 SD transfers (WB) and downconverting to 4x3 for LD, Criterion elected to do a 4x3 lbxed-only SD transfer. This is why the DVD edition was only 4x3 lbx and not 16x9.

I can forgive them not going with a full-blown HD transfer back in the day due to cost issues, but at least having gone 16x9 wouldn't have cost anything additionally and provided a more 16x9-friendly/higher-resolution SD alternative while we wait.

Ok...working out my non-anamorphic Criterion issues...

In any case...I'd hope if Universal let them use this title again for an HD release that Criterion would finally have the chance to do this one all-the-way. Whether Universal would let them do their own film-digital transfer or just hand them their own digital master would be the question...

...or wait for Fox Blu-ray from Europe...

Well, from the looks of their DVD's sourced from HD transfers, I'd expect some very high quality HD discs.

FYI, here's a list of the discs they've utilized HD transfers for (according to their website):

The 400 Blows (SE only)
Beauty and the Beast (SE only)
Picnic at Hanging Rock
M (SE only)
The Wages of Fear (SE only)
Charade (16x9 re-issue only)
Life of Brian
The Element of Crime
Alexander Nevsky
Ivan the Terrible - Parts I & II
Kwaidan
The Blob [Camera negative]
Fiend without a Face
All That Heaven Allows
Written on the Wind
Do the Right Thing
L'avventura
Gimme Shelter
Cries and Whispers
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Spartacus
Coup de torchon
The Rock
My Man Godfrey
Rififi
The Hidden Fortress
Diary of a Chambermaid
Salesman
The Vanishing
Rashomon
8 1/2
Children of Paradise
The Last Wave
That Obscure Object of Desire
The Cranes Are Flying
Bob le Flambeur
George Washington
The Horse's Mouth
Tokyo Olympiad
Hearts and Minds
The Royal Tenenbaums
Red Beard
Hopscotch
Solaris
Man Bites Dog
Down by Law
Monterey Pop
Jimi Plays Monterey & Shake! Otis at Monterey
Contempt
Pépé le Moko
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Band of Outsiders
The Killers
Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
My Life as a Dog
I Am Curious—Yellow
I Am Curious—Blue
Straw Dogs
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
by Brakhage—an anthology (all films)
Stolen Kisses
Bed and Board
Love on the Run
The White Sheik
Throne of Blood
Jubilee
Coup de Grâce
Quai des Orfèvres
Il Posto
I Fidanzati
Hiroshima mon amour
Night and Fog
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Schizopolis
Honeymoon Killers
Umberto D.
Indiscretion of an American Wife & Terminal Station
The Marriage of Maria Braun
Veronika Voss
Lola
The Pornographers
Through a Glass Darkly
Winter Light
The Silence
Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie
Richard III
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Knife in the Water
The Rules of the Game
Tokyo Story
Le Cercle Rouge
La Strada
Naked Lunch
Ikiru
Diary of a Country Priest
Maîtresse
Pickup on South Street
Tunes of Glory
Onibaba
Le Corbeau
Salvatore Giuliano
Scenes from a Marriage
3 Women
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds
Stray Dog
The Tin Drum
The Leopard
Mamma Roma
Smiles of a Summer Night
A Woman Is a Woman
The Lower Depths
Early Summer
The Golden Coach
French Cancan
Elena and Her Men
Port of Shadows
I Vitelloni
Slacker
Videodrome
The Battle of Algiers
Shadows
Faces
A Woman Under the Influence
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Opening Night
Secret Honor
Fat Girl
Eyes Without a Face
Fanny and Alexander—The Television Version
Fanny and Alexander—The Theatrical Version
The Making of Fanny and Alexander
Short Cuts
The King of Kings (roadshow version only)
Kagemusha
Youth of the Beast
Fighting Elegy
Casque d’or
Touchez pas au grisbi
La commare secca
Thieves' Highway
Night and the City
Tout va bien
The River
My Own Private Idaho
L'eclisse
Young Törless
The Sword of Doom
Jules and Jim
A Generation
Kanal
Ashes and Diamonds
Divorce Italian Style
Burden of Dreams
F for Fake
The Phantom of Liberty
Heaven Can Wait
Unfaithfully Yours
The Flowers of St. Francis
The Browning Version
Crazed Fruit
Le notti bianche
Au hasard Balthazar
Gate of Flesh
Story of a Prostitute
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (4K source)
An Angel at My Table
Harakiri
Bad Timing
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Boudu Saved from Drowning
Le samouraï
Naked
Masculin féminin
Ugetsu
Samurai Rebellion
Sword of the Beast
Samurai Spy
Kill!
Pickpocket
Shoot the Piano Player
Ran
The Tales of Hoffmann
Forbidden Games
The Bad Sleep Well
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Virgin Spring
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
The Children Are Watching Us
La bête humaine
Kind Hearts & Coronets
Metropolitan
Murmur of the Heart (2K)
Lacombe Lucien (2K)
Au revoir les enfants (2K)
Fists in the Pocket
Elevator to the Gallows (2K)

A lot of significant titles lack HD transfers, it seems. The Passion of Joan of Arc could really use a Metropolis-level 2K digital restoration. Not to mention Criterion's DVD is single-layer and the avg. bitrate is about 4.2 mbps.

Also, it's important to note that there is an HD transfer of Brazil of the director's cut.

Impressive list. Would love to see some of those lovingly-transfered films make it to 1080P HD disc...




Where did you hear that? Unless Criterion recently made a new HD transfer of that film "just to use at some point down the road" it's not accurate (unless Universal made an HD transfer and that's what you mean). They certainly didn't have an HD transfer at the time that the initial Criterion DVD release was made, and it seems odd that they'd (Criterion) spend the $$ to do a new transfer and not have already taken advantage of new DVD sales potential before HD formats steal the thunder and slow DVD adoption by cash-strapped videophiles.

David:

Universal apparently made it. A clip appears in The Cutting Edge (on the Bullit SE), which was produced in HD for Starz.

Re: Criterion Releases in HD Thread

When pondering the issue today of the Criterion Collection's eventual foray into the world of High Definition software, several questions overcame me. I wonder, theoretically, how would the release schedule work? Would they begin to re-release their SD collection? Or would they continue with films to new to Criterion, though in HD or Bluray discs? For example...

Criterion is about to release Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" in SD. This DVD has for many been a long time coming. It joins other titles, like Godard's "Pierrot le fou," and Lee's "The Ice Storm," wonderful, important films that are new to the collection. But if they enter the HD foray, would they release their entire SD catalogue, say, Renoir's "La grande illusion," Bergman's "The Seventh Seal," and Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai,' and cease production of new titles? Because if this is the scenario we can expect, I frankly wish for Criterion to NOT enter the High Definition market. There are too many unreleased films in Region 1, that deserve the level of excellence that Criterion brings to the table, for me to get excited about reissues of titles I am already perfectly satisfied with. Enhanced picture quality aside, it seems to me that entering the HD foray and ceasing production of new and exciting titles seems to go against Criterion's mission statement of releasing important and unavailable films in digital format in Region 1.

Criterion is FAR from done releasing important films. I'm curious, would those interested in Criterion commencing the production of High Definition discs wish for them to release previous films released in SD at the expense of other important films that could be new to their collection? Titles like Malle's "Le fou follet," Godard's "Weekend," Cronenberg's "Crash," Anderson's "Bottle Rocket," titles we may never see if they focus their energies on reissuing Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes," Fellini's "8 1/2," etc., in HD. It's a question I have pondered, and I'm curious what other's opinions are.

Re: Criterion Releases in HD Thread

I don´t want to drag the format war into this, but Criterion has stated that they wait until there´s one HD-format, before releasing any of HD-titles.

I personally want Criterion to release HD-titles, since I don´t see any reason why not (apart from the "format war")? They have also stated that many HD-masters are ready etc.

I have several Criterion-titles, but I have to admit that I´m missing MANY of them. So I would be happy to buy them in HD and I could also double dip some of them.

The pricing will be a "problem" with Criterion, though, since I would assume that they ask 40$ - if not more of their HD-releases..

But yes, I hope that one day Criterion releases films in HD.

Re: Criterion Releases in HD Thread

YES! For all I care they can cease releasing on SD until their catalog is completed in HD ............but..........it's probably not a good business decision..............however.................ther e's a happy middle ground somewhere in between that could make both the HDM crowd and the "SD is good enough for me" crowd happy. I don't see why it has to be an either/or situation.

Personally I just can't think of much unreleased content which would fall under the Criterion domain that would get me all that excited in comparison to getting High Def versions of Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, Ran, Throne of Blood, Brazil, The Third Man, The Killers, Brute Force, Night and the City, Thieves Highway, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Kwaidan, Spartacus (done right), Onibaba, Sword of Doom, Sulivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, My Man Godfrey, Devil & Daniel Webster, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, M, The Testament of Dr Mabuse, The Fallen Idol, Diabolique, Notorious, Rebecca, The Lady Vanishes, The 39 Steps, etc, etc but that's me.

Re: Criterion Releases in HD Thread

I am fairly certain their earliest releases were in late 1997 (maybe 1998). I bought A Night to Remember, The Killer, and Hard Boiled from that initial 10 offerings.

Though I agree...I don't need their Armageddon, but I definitely need their comprehensive looks at other seminal work

Re: Criterion Releases in HD Thread

Josh, I highly doubt that Criterion would stop releasing new titles in favor of re-releasing earlier releases in HD. I imagine we'll see a mix of both. Here's hoping they do THE SEVENTH SEAL first. :-D

Re: Criterion Releases in HD Thread

I´m sure you know that it´s already out in the UK (region free Blu-ray)? I just did a review of that, and it´s pretty good. Not perfect, but very good.