Criterion's 50 Janus film box set revealed (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Conway]

http://store.prostores.com/servlet/c...o/Detail?no=31

Titles in the set not yet announced for individual release:

Fires on the Plain (Nobi) (1959)
Le Jour se lève (1939)
Miss Julie (Fröken Julie) (1951)
Three Documentaries:
- The Great Chase (1962)
- The Love Goddesses (1965)
- Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979)

I suspect these will be December/January titles.

It seems to me that there are no bonus discs. 53 films, 53 discs.

(They say 50, but the three docs at the end are being counted as 1 it seems, and Ivan the Terrible Part I is on the same disc as Part II, but only Part II is listed in the 50 films. So the actual title # is 53, unless they do a new pressing of Ivan the Terrible I & II. So, that would be 53 titles on 52 discs, but the disc # is 53 due to Seven Samurai being on 2 discs).

 

[seanOhara]

Part of me says, "$650 will blow your entertainment budget for the rest of the year."

But another part says, "C'mon, fifty Criterion DVDs! And only a couple will be double dips, and you can sell those for a decent price."

Hopefully it'll be available from DDD in November.

 

[James Luckard]

What a terrible design. All 50 discs seem to slide out of little folders in a huge book. Unless I totally misunderstand this design it's just like the awful Star Wars trilogy soundtracks from 1997 that had to be slid out of a book, and quickly got scratched beyond belief. Who would possibly want this?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

How do you figure only a couple double dips?

As far as I can see, most of these titles have already been released by Criterion?

I count at least 26 already existing in the collection...


I have to admit, it is a very nice package and a convenient and affordable way to collect these films (especially considering what an individual Criterion release goes for), but I'd much rather purchase the titles seperately in a proper DVD keepcase with Criterion's excellent cover art than a fancy CD book.

It would be nice if they somehow made the hardcover book available seperately though.

I'd definitely buy that!

 

[PaulP]

I have most of the films in this box. Not that I'd plunk down over six hundred anyway...

 

[Rich Malloy]

I have most of the old titles, and yet this is a very bizarre selection (not even one Godard?).

But I'm gaga over the Ichikawa! Hopefully this will soon be a separate, single disc release.

 

[Brandon Conway]

There's no way it won't be. Criterion has a hard enough time making these projects profitable with a regular release. Not putting those titles out in individual releases would be very financially unsound.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Rich --
That's because the Godards are not Janus titles, I think they mostly belong to Rialto. This box is strictly from Janus.

I haven't a clue who the target audience is -- any person who would be willing to spill $650 on Criterions is guaranteed to own most of the individual DVDs already.

Ted

 

[Jon Martin]

I agree. It is a great set, but I already own all the titles I would want from it. And for that price, I really don't see the audience either.

Maybe a serious film fan who only this year got a DVD player? And how many of those are there? Six? Maybe seven?

Or, the Criterion spine number collectors. This may even be a bit much for them.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Oooh... I'm be sorely tempted. I haven't been Criterion-crazy, but $13/pop plus a book that involves my beloved Brattle Theater (from whence Janus came) is very enticing indeed.

Of course, I also know that the Brattle is basically giving November over to the "50 Years of Janus" series, so I'll be able to see these on film, which often diminishes my need to get a DVD right away.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Isn't that amazing that they're doing that? So many that I want to see! I find that I don't get out to the movies enough these days but this might make me rethink that. I almost don't want to get the specific schedule and just show up on random days and see whatever's playing.

 

[Jason Seaver]

It is pretty exciting. I'll be looking for the schedule, just because the days the Brattle schedule comes out are among the happiest six days of the year, but there's going to be a lot of greatness there. I'm getting a little nervous about their ability to stay in business and extend the lease again (folks, if you love Criterion, check out The Brattle's website and their fund-raising efforts; that tiny Cambridge theater is a huge part of foreign/independent film history), but they stand a chance of doing very well by me over the next few months.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Again, please issue that hardcover book seperately Criterion and you will easily part me from my money!

 

[Lew Crippen]

Intriguing—if they would only decide to get on the HD bandwagon, I’d probably get the whole set and not worry about a few (or more) titles I already own.

 

[lscd]

Does anyone know if they'll keep producing this, or if it'll be a very limited release? I can't see buying so many duplicates, but I would hate to change my mind later only to find that it has gone OOP.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Criterion is too small a company to go into HD before the format war is over. Could be years.

So far as this set is concerned many of the older transfers used in it were not HD -- so Criterion couldn't do it even if they wanted to before re-transfering a bunch of movies.

Ted

 

[rich_d]

Agreed. And anybody new to Criterion DVD collecting isn't likely to take the plunge on this set particularly with no supplemental feature discs and with hi-def looming in the background.

I'm guessing that this set is really targeted at the distributor/movie houses. Give this set away to those that get these films shown (and the DVDs on the shelf) would be a very nice way to grease the skids.