Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles - Page 3

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

1080p is 5 times the resolution of SD. The increase in resolution of SD to BD is in fact bigger than the increase in resolution of VHS to SD.

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

Fantastic and it's about time! MSRP matching the SD to boot!


Out of their initial 12 I'll be upgrading The Third Man and Wages of Fear. Didn't care enough for the others to pick up on SD so the same goes for BD.

I have to say with the exception of a few titles I'm a tad disappointed with their initial wave. I'm really surprised that many of their most popular titles (Brazil) were passed over and many of their flagship directors aren't represented like Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, Rashomon, Ran, Hidden Fortress, etc), Bergman (Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring, etc), Powell/Pressburger (Red Shoes, Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus), Hitchcock (39 Steps, Lady Vanishes, Notorious, Rebecca, etc), and Fritz Lang (M, Testament of Dr Mabuse, etc).

Beggars can't be choosers I guess. Still I'm glad they're about to take their first step into High Def.

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

Judging by the 16mm & 8mm archival footage used for In the Shadow of the Moon, it ought to look better than you expect. Of course, In the Shadow… used digital transfers direct from the archival elements, so the effect may be blunted in For All Mankind by a couple of layers of duping.

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Actually, Seventh Seal is already available in high def from Tartan, and it looks pretty good.

I don't know how other folks have found it, but generally I think older black and white releases in high def have been superb and for the first time (to me at least) they look truly 'filmic'. Casablanca in HD is a particular case in point.

I doubt I'll double dip all that much from the first releases. A lot of the movies on the list are ones I respect, but don't particularly like, if you see what I mean. However, Third Man is a definite (sorry to sound stupid, but I didn't know there'd been a re-release) and also Walkabout (nothing to do with wanting to see Jenny Agutter in the nude at five times the detail of course, but rather because I only have the somewhat indifferent R2 release).

What I will double dip for in a heartbeat from the Criterion back catalogue are the major Kurosawa movies (i.e. all of them), the works of Ozu (if there are good enough prints available), Spirit of the Beehive, Beauty and the Beast, some of Bergman (Cries and Whispers a definite must, some of the better-known black and whites as well, but I can happily leave all of the early and most of the late movies alone) and that's about it. Sorry to sound a Philistine, but a lot of the other movies in the list don't get enough airings in our household to merit changing from the excellent SD versions.

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

Don't feel bad -- I didn't know about that re-release either.

But now I know why everybody loves Walkabout so much!

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

1080 vs 480 - NTSC OR 576 - PAL.

Around double?

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

For NTSC. For PAL it would be 5x if I'm not mistaken.

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Great to see Criterion finally going Blu (and offering MSRP match w/ their SD titles to boot).

*BUT* The Last Emperor in MAR.

_Man_

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

Hopefully none of Criterion's releases will be region coded.

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

That is up to the licensing agreement with the owner of each movie. Many studios or distributors retain international distribution rights not only of the films but of digital recordings as well.

Many of the Criterion DVD releases were not region coded, but many others were.

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

Alas, if the SD issues are the template for this, there's no guarantee. I'm sure Criterion would be only too happy to be region free, but there are regional licences, etc that restrict what they can sell. The only thing we can hope is that if a Criterion BD release is Region A only, that a European distributor will obtain the rights for Europe and issue what is basically a Criterion disc but under a different title. I believe this has happened on several occasions with SD releases (The Rock being a case in point).

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

I am happy to see Walkabout as one of the first titles, but the move to BD (which I don't have yet) is making me seriously reconsider any more Criterion SD purchases - the two immediate candidates being Mon Oncle Antoine and Trafic.

Adding new extras is fine, but I'm hoping they keep Jenny's commentary on Walkabout - fixing the one bit that isn't in sync with what she's talking about.

I also hope that Picnic at Hanging Rock gets the BD treatment sooner than later, as long as these are done properly.

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

great news indeed

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hope they bring on a blu SPARTACUS soon

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And hopefully it is not the same transfer as Universal's HD DVD. Maybe Robert Harris can supervise once he finishes with The Godfather trilogy.

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second that.
the hd dvd is awful


must haves for me

Armageddon
Brazil
Charade
the Third Man
Chasing Amy
Do the Right Thing
Sparticus(remastered for hd)
Days of heaven
the Last Emperor (oar only)

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

Fantastic to see Contempt is getting an HD release. Saw a 35mm screening a few years back, but the print was severely damaged. I assume they're using the same master as the SD disc. If so, then it really will look absolutely beautiful.

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I think Disney will release this to Blu. They did a great job with The Rock and carried over all the extras that were on the Criterion release. In a way, you could say that The Rock is our first Criterion Blu-ray. I know it technically is not, however.

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i was going to say all that too, but by the time i put that list on there i forgot.

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On a side note, DVDBeaver just posted the review for "The Thief of Baghdad." from Criterion on their site.

Great news is that IT IS NOT pictureboxed!!!!

From the review, it looks liek the picture quality and supplements are, as usual, superb and in-depth. check it out!

The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

If they were smart, they'd release Armageddon. Buena Vista/Disney already dropped the goddamn ball there, as far as I'm concerned. There's too many super hits that are being ignored for no good reason, especially now that the format war is over.

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Couldn't agree more. I don't mind waiting for Criterion releases though, because the quality of presentation and content blows other studios away.

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Now that would be one yummy lossless audio track...

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

September's Sound & Vision Magazine has a nice in-depth article and interview on Criterion's Blu-ray plans. The online version is here:

Sound & Vision Magazine - Criterion Remastered

Here's the interview portion (although I suggest everyone check out the rest of the article):

Re: Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles

One of the potential "benefits" of Criterion sitting on the sidelines, one hopes, is that now a lot of the perils of DNR/EE/Grain removal are now being discussed. Let's hope that Criterion's been reading/listening and when they begin producing BDs they are able to avoid the pitfalls that other companies have fallen into with regards to using [or rather, overusing] those tools.

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Hmm mentioning Seven Samurai as a BR release is interesting indeed

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Thanks for posting this. It is a pretty interesting read and I am really looking forward to Criterion's first Blu releases. I too think black and white looks gorgeous in HD and look forward to having more titles available.

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It's good to see Criterion taking the inclusion of Blu-Ray seriously by ensuring the actual film is respected.

And black and white films can look unbelievably gorgeous in HD. I can only imagine how incredible Fellini's 8 1/2 will look.

It might be tough with a slow rollout of 1 or 2 movies a month, but if the right films are used - it makes it much easier to handle. Really looking forward to their BD release of foreign films as the BD catalog of titles out now is very lacking in this regard.