Criterion to re release Charade in April (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

AAARRRGGGHHHH!

Paul A,
i was just kidding, but thanks.
i don't live anywhere near there.

it would be nice if i could take it back to Borders, which is where i got it, but i think the UPC shows up as OOP/invalid.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

But the commercial said I had to collect all four!

Criterion offers some very good titles and excellent supplements, but they are not perfect. It wasn't our decision to forego anamorphic transfers on the early releases, that was a mandate from Criterion. They have also released a number of suspect transfers over the years as well, but in the balance of things, they still do a better job of handling lesser known titles than the majors usually do, but do have some real competition from some of the smaller players - who are also not infallable.

I have discovered a number of fantastic films through Criterion, for which I am thankful, but I do wish that the best version had been released initially. Such is life.

 

[Jon Robertson]

It's possible that Universal simply handed them the non-anamorphic transfer as part of the licensing agreement (that's the reason we ended up with such a rotten transfer of The Scarlet Empress). Criterion also wanted Armageddon to be their first anamorphic title (to make it the ultimate demo disc for picture, sound and extras back in early 1999), but Disney vetoed it.

As much as I love them, I'll be the first to admit many of their earlier discs are looking less-than-incredible nowadays, but it's great they're taking the time to redo several of them properly (Beauty and the Beast, The 400 Blows and Charade, as well as rumoured reissues of Playtime, Seven Samurai and M coming up in the next 12 months).

 

[Paul_Scott]

the one disc i wish they would redo is Nick Roegs Walkabout.
its only 1.66 so there isn't a whole lot of resolution loss, but by Criterion, and 2004 standards, the PQ is not really close to where it could be, and from the looks of it, its an extraordinarily beautiful film.

i would happily repurchase a remastered/newly transfered version.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Walkabout, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Night Porter, Brazil... there are many titles I wish I had better versions of, and probably one day will. In the meantime, there are many other titles I don't have at all that I would prefer be released first.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I really hope that Criterion does not issue the anamorphic transfer from the Charlie disc. The colors are awful. I'll stick with my non-anamorphic version any day of the week. I'd love for Gary Tooze to post a comparison so you guys could see how bad the Universal transfer is, even though the resolution is improved.

As for Brazil, my Korean NTSC version released by Fox fits nicely alongside my Criterion box which I kept for the supplements. I bought it for about $11 and the transfer is much improved over the Criterion.

Jeff

 

[Douglas Bailey]

What, you mean like this?

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I had forgotten he had done that. Anyway, there it is. You can see for yourself how much better the Criterion is.

Jeff

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Criterions' price gouging must be the reason that everyone who works for them drives a Bentley and lives in a mansion as opposed to the lowly executives at the major studios who are driving K-cars and living in trailer parks. They are obviously making money hand over fist off of us suckers.

Criterion knows that they could sell higher volumes at lower prices. It obviously does not make business sense for them to do it.

Regards,

 

[GlennH]

Well I hope the new one has the best transfer of them all. I just went ahead and sold my Criterion version yesterday in anticipation that Criterion will do right by the new one.

 

[Ted Todorov]

I have two words for you: MGM Bergmans. MGM messed up the AR on two of the films of their new boxed set. Every time someone other than Criterion releases a favorite art/foreign language film I cringe until the reviews are in. With Criterion, the chances of a F*ck up go down substantially. No other studio approaches "small" films with the care of Criterion.

Ted

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I'll have to admit that I'm also one of those who love Criterion. I put them on the shelf by spine number, but I don't feel the need to get them all, even though I'm up to about 90 now.

What so good about the Criteron Collection?

Interesting selection of titles (most of the movies in my DVD collection are 25-80 years old)

Quality (most of the time)

Extras with substance

I'm happy to see a new Criterion release of Charade since I never got around to buy the old one.

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

You can see screen capture comparisons here;

http://207.136.67.23/film/dvdcompare/charade.htm

 

[Brian W]

Good news! I only hope that Criterion will also do a new transfer of another title they released in the earlier days of DVD, that is the Katherine Hepburn/David Lean great SUMMERTIME. I had the Criterion laser disc first and then the DVD which is so pixelized that it is unwatchable in my opinion. The laser disc was actually better though it was the same transfer they must have used for the DVD, the higher resolution works against that transfer. Also this has always been a bare bones Criterion release for both the LD and the DVD. Would be great if they revisited this with a new transfer at least, one they are capable of doing today versus the late 90s. Anyone know if they still have the rights or if anything is in the works?

 

[ChrisRose]

Personally I'm grateful to Criterion for releasing two films I love (Pygmalion and My Man Godfrey), and doing their best to restore them. I don't mind paying more... it's worth it, to me.

I missed out on Charade the first time around so I'm thrilled I'll have another chance to buy it! Glad I didn't buy any of the cheap editions out there. Knowing there was a Criterion version (even though it was OOP and I couldn't find it) I just couldn't settle for less.

 

[Zen Butler]

Yes! Almost shelled out ebay cash for this one. Thank you for the information

 

[Brian PB]

From Criterion's website:

Criterion sets a new precedent. Bravo!

 

[Citizen87645]

Wow, that's great! I watched a bit of this the other night because I realized I hadn't seen it since I bought my RPTV. It is a great looking transfer, which makes me long all the more for the anamorphic version. I hope we don't have to provide receipts for the discount, b/c despite being a packrat, I doubt I could dig it up.

 

[Citizen87645]

So that would make it 24.95. If shipping is added it may just be as well to get it from DDD, which has it at 28.76.

 

[Dom]

$15 discount of retail, most sites sell it for this amount or close to it anyway..big deal