Criterion's gigantic Olympic box (1 Viewer)

[titch]

This must be one of the largest single Criterion releases in years. The new 4K versions of Olympia and Tokyo Olympiad will be especially welcome. The price, naturally, is eye-watering. Even with a Barnes & Noble 50% Christmas sale, it's going to be a major investment - and I'll probably have to build a separate shelf in my library to hold it .

https://www.criterion.com/current/p...627bdd4c6885af543&utm_source=Campaign Monitor

 

[Lord Dalek]

Wow this is apparently so big they didn't bother waiting til Monday.

 

[richardburton84]

Criterion's press release indicates that this will be released in December, so it wouldn't have been part of next week's announcements anyway.

 

[skylark68]

$320 isn't that bad considering the material that is contained. However, I won't be purchasing as I don't have the funds...

 

[bigshot]

All I want is Olympia. Standalone please.

 

[Ruz-El]

This is one of those sets that is gorgeous but I would never actually watch it.

 

[Charles Smith]

I'm afraid that's my feeling, too. I'd like to see the couple of "big ones", and I would indeed watch them closely and appreciatively. Otherwise, it's not the kind of big package that has my name on it. Kudos to Criterion, though. What an achievement!

 

[Angelo Colombus]

It's too bad Criterion did not add Walk, Don't Run (1966) film with Carry Grant in Tokyo for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games. Great news and glad they will remaster Tokyo Olympiad.

 

[titch]

The scope of this project is truly staggering. Just a couple of years ago we were discussing how remote the possibility was of seeing Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia presented in a pristinely restored version. Now we get one from the original camera negative. And all the scores Criterion has commissioned for the silent films....what a tremendous achievement.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I suspect they will eventually do individual releases of the three most significant films in the set - Olympia, Tokyo Olympiad, Visions of Eight - but it may be a few years.

 

[Brandon Conway]

You know, now that I've dug into the list of films for my pre-90s list, this is an incredible deal. There are at least 23 feature length documentaries here - and those were just the ones I could confirm via IMDB - plus once you get to the late 80s there's possibly several multi-episode TV shows.

Considering all this content, the $400 MSRP is actually quite generous. I may pick this up at the next 50% off sale in 2018.

 

[Brent Reid]

But haven't they heard physical media is supposed to be dead?

Seriously though: what a stupendous set – just incredible And considering the content, such a bargain. As the press release says, this is not only charting the history and development of the Olympics over the last 100 years, but also that of film itself. Well done, Criterion.

 

[moviepas]

I had been thinking of Olympiad recently and wondering... Little did I know it was already being prepared. I have the 16mm prints for the 1970s but forget which one of the businesses than doing 16mm & 8mm it was who had it. Might have been Thunderbird Films. The original stadium in Berlin apparently survived the bombing and was used at the of the color 1950s remake of Emil and the Detectives(the German one, not the later Disney and made since in Germany.

The cost is a lot for my pocket on a pension but good for what it is with a book of some sort and I will have to think about it. I would watch all and the 1956 Melbourne Olympics is in my memory as I was heading for 8 when this was on and watched the Marathon run along a highway a couple of minds walk from my home then. I went one night into the city that November to see a film with Dad he had a double ticket for. Mom was sick in bed and Dad has vacation from work to look after her. The weather was warm and the city, near the main stadium we used for many of the events, was swarming with visitors, the church bells of St Paul's Cathedral(Anglican) were ringing constantly near the basement theatre and it was a good night. The theatre is gone but the old building is still there and as a hotel it housed US Navy troops during WW2 which is where my Mom's older sister met her later to be husband. The Hungarian team decided to stay and compete independents as their country was brutally invaded by the Russians at that time. I don't remember the film I saw and always had in my mind a film that was not actually released until 3 years later!!!

A Radio manufacturer, who owned a record label and a string of Australian radio stations(they had formed in 1919 to make radio type equipment) issued two 10" LPs from these games and they were still available in the late 1960s. Thru circumstances out of my control I lost them in a fire. They were worth having. One of our famous athletes from those Games died in the last few days from a long bout(too long for her really) of MS. She was Betty Cuthbert. She was 79.

 

[dana martin]

But haven't they heard physical media is supposed to be dead?

Well this sort of proves that is a myth that hasn't happened yet

Seriously though: what a stupendous set – just incredible And considering the content, such a bargain. As the press release says, this is not only charting the history and development of the Olympics over the last 100 years, but also that of film itself. Well done, Criterion.

when i can swing it, this may be going on a shelf in my house, but i wonder, like some of the other boxes, at which point Criterion will release just of the few coveted as singles, thinking primarily Riefenstahl's film and the Tokyo, damn rereading, Brandon already beat me to the punch on that.

 

[dana martin]

December is early enough to digest all of this before the Winter Olympics in the following Feb,

i do wonder , since this is licensed from the IOC, how long the agreement is for for the distribution?

 

[Dick]

Considering all this content, the $400 MSRP is actually quite generous. I may pick this up at the next 50% off sale in 2018.

There should be another sale at B&N in November, if tradition holds.

 

[battlebeast]

I've seen a lot of posts hating on Criterion for releasing this set.

It's not warranted.

"Stick to movies,"

"Waste of time,"

Etc.

If you don't like it, don't comment. I think it's a remarkable set and I'd love to have it!

 

[dana martin]

for better or worse it's 100 years of documented history, what could be the complaint

 

[bigshot]

If they do broken down sub releases it will be fine. I just remember a big box of all of Verdi's operas. It was in the same price range. But they never broke it down into individual operas, so even though the box contained operas that had never been on blu-ray before, it didn't matter because the only way to get them was to peel out a wad of 100s. If they take something worthwhile, like Olympia and tie a great big boat anchor to it, it's the same as if they hadn't released it at all.

 

[Ruz-El]

Time will tell, but the license may be an all or nothing thing, hence the big box.