Scarcity (or lack thereof) of Criterion versions of Silence of the Lambs & Robocop (1 Viewer)

[Thomas Hampsey]

I recently (about two weeks ago) purchased two copies each of Criterion's Silence of the Lambs and Robocop. I intend to use one of each for viewing and keep one of each sealed for possible sale in the future--definitely a speculative investment. I picked up both copies of Silence at an FYE store in a Pennsylvania mall and both Robocops at a Suncoast Video in a New Jersey mall. I paid list price for all of them (approximately $42 each including tax).

I would welcome any opinions on the following related questions:

To what extent are these out of print DVDs scarce/rare at this point? Based upon my experience browsing the mall stores, I found that the Silence of the Lambs DVDs were more difficult to find than the Robocops.

Do you think this was a decent medium-term or long-term investment? (I am sure it wasn't a good short-term investment in any case!).

Best Regards,

Tom

P.S. Thanks to postings in this forum, I recently started using the DVD Profiler software. What a wonderfully efficient and easy-to-use piece of software it is. Thanks for the heads-up. Before discovering DVD Profiler, I was using Pumpkin MovieBrain--which I found to be terribly cumbersome and bug-ridden in its current 3.0 version.

 

[Rob FM]

Investments? Maybe...but it's usually based on supply vs. demand...and they (Criterion) made a LOT of these two movies.

I have a friend who works at Criterion, and most of the contracts to put out movies state that either party can cancel the contract at any time. The Killer, SALO, and 400 Blows were some of the lower produced movies, as the contract was cancelled early into production.

Another negative is that they (ROBOCOP. SILENCE) are both availble on different labels (not like SALO, which for a while was ONLY on Criterion) so people can just pick them up at Wal-Mart if they don't like E-bay prices.

Just my .02

~Rob

 

[Rob Lutter]

I used to see TONS of Silence of the Lambs: Criterion laying around the malls... but it has thinned out considerably. The movies have been out of print for almost a year and I have to say... I have seen 2 copies of Robocop: Criterion at Suncoast that haven't moved (for retail) and since Hannibal came out on DVD... I have not seen SOTL: Criterion.
Good purchase though... for investment's value... you can't really go wrong with OOP Criterions, and these are some fine DVDs.

 

[MikeM]

Well, in terms of the Criterion Robocop, there is an MGM Special Edition in the works that will include the extra "X-Rated" violent scenes, so that should certainly make the Criterion version less valuable.
...unless the MGM version is flawed or something...then who knows.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Both those criterion discs are non-anamorphic widescreen.

I don't care what "extras" are there.

If the film isn't presented in optimal quality I don't bother.

Either that or I get the disc and consider it an adjunct to the (proper) 16x9 movie-only release by another studio.

 

[Colin Chisholm]

Both those criterion discs are non-anamorphic widescreen.

I don't care what "extras" are there.

If the film isn't presented in optimal quality I don't bother.

Either that or I get the disc and consider it an adjunct to the (proper) 16x9 movie-only release by another studio.

I think this is a foolish attitude. Many people dismiss earlier Criterion DVDs because they aren't anamorphic. While anamorphic enhancement can result in a marvelous picture I don't agree that if it isn't anamorphic it must look terrible. Yes, I own a widescreen television so I have some idea what I'm talking about.

Criterion produces excellent transfers. Anamorphic or not. There's been a lot of controversy over the recent edition of "Silence of the Lambs" versus the older Criterion edition. I won't get into which is "better" but the general concensus I got was that the Criterion transfer, while not anamorphic, was closer to the film image while the newer anamorphic transfer was sharper but brighter and with less saturated colors.

For me the answer is clear. Criterion works with the original film-makers whenever possible to create their transfers. Yes, many of their DVD transfers are taken from the LaserDisc masters so they're a bit behind the ball in the latest technology. But Tak Fujimoto supervised their transfer of "Silence" and that's good enough for me, even with it's weaknesses.

I guess I'm trying to say that good work is good work. Whether it's sound (mono vs 5.1) or picture transfers (4:3 vs 16:9) good content is good content and we shouldn't blindly dismiss anything that doesn't have the latest bells and whistles out of hand.

 

[Dharmesh C]

I don't think they are worth as much as you think, seems the serious DVD collectors have them already. There are just to many out there right now.
:frowning:

 

[Thomas Hampsey]

The fact that both of these discs are non-anamorphic did enter my decision-making process. With some reservations, I decided to get them anyway, mainly because I've read (mostly) positive reviews about the very solid transfers of the films.

I certainly agree that the fact they are non-anamorphic may ultimately affect their value, especially with demanding DVD customers like us out there. Also, I didn't realize MGM is working on a special edition of Robocop. That won't help matters in terms of collectibility.

On the other hand, Criterion's Killer and Hard-Boiled, both non-anamorphic, continue to command unbelievable prices on Ebay. (And those titles, from what I've read, are not the best in terms of picture quality--although it may be impossible to make great transfers of those films considering the condition of the source material.) I remember seeing the Killer and Hard-Boiled on the racks of my local Best Buy back in 1998/1999 and I kick myself for not picking them up at the time. (I have Criterion laserdiscs of those titles, so I thought, why bother to upgrade).

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I would like to point out that Tak Fujuimoto approved the print the Criterion and recent SE of SOTL.

As to why the 2 prints - beyond the anamorphic issue appear so different - that is an interesting question to which I would like to hear the answer.

 

[Tony Lai]

Also both the new versions of SOTL and Robocop look different from the director approved Criterion versions.

Do a search for both in this forum and you'll see.

T.