So what's the big deal about Criterion Collection? (1 Viewer)

[Charles_Y]

I guess this has become an unofficial Criterion Collection thread. I remember the bygone days in Laserdiscs and their deserved reputation there. They may have started the SE disc with Citizen Kane but other studios joined in as well, particularly, 20th Century Fox and their J. Cameron SEs (i.e. The Abyss, Aliens, etc.).
Does anyone know if they will consider releasing "Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)" on DVD anytime in the future? Though I thought the LD orange and brown packaging, supposedly redolent of the martian environment, rather ugly and drab, the film itself and extras on the disc(s) were excellent. I fear any other release of this title will be a stripped down nothing. This would be a great one for those of us who remember it fondly. :frowning:

 

[Jon Robertson]

I'm sure they'd love to, but you'd have to write to Paramount to persuade them to licence it out again (or conversely arrange for the commentary and other materials to make it over to the DVD edition).

 

[Ted Todorov]

I guess this has become an unofficial Criterion Collection thread.

In that case: The January Criterions have been announced: Kagemusha, Touchez pas au grisbi, Casque d'or, Fighting Elegy & Youth of the Beast
Also criterionforum.org is down. Does anyone know what happened?
Ted

 

[Jon Robertson]

According to them:

Apologies. We have suffered a catastrophic loss of data and may not be back up for several days. Thank you to those generous folks who have contributed to our recovery fund (we are moving to a new hosting service ASAP).

 

[Ocean Phoenix]

Does anyone think that 12 Monkeys will get the Criterion Collection treatment since some of Gilliam's most popular movies (Brazil, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas) already have? It went out of print, and I'm wondering if this might be the reason.

Another question- do criterion collection DVDs of movies ever have the same special features as their previous DVD releases? I heard that the 12 Monkeys DVD has an excellent documentary on it, and want to know what's more likely- would the criterion collection DVD replace it with different special features, or add others to go along with it?

I'm wondering about Wes Anderson's films too. Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums have Criterion Collection DVDs, but what about Bottle Rocket? Who decides which DVDs become part of the collection? Does anyone know what the criteria is for eligibility into it?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I highly doubt that 12 Monkeys will ever see a Criterion release -- they're generally reserved for films that don't get a decent release from the studios that own them. There's a decent chance that Universal will simply re-release it though. It is pretty amazing.

I don't know of any Criterion titles that repeat features that are on other releases (due to rights issues, if nothing else). Very few (if any) Criterion titles even have releases from other studios that include any features at all.

Criterion negotiates with the studios that own the rights to the films that they want to release. Some studios will deal with them, and others won't. Criterion won't bother putting out a film that has another release unless they are really adding something new.

I've heard rumors of a special edition of Bottle Rocket for years now, but I don't remember whether Criterion was involved. I'd like to see one, though.

I'd also love to see them release Velvet Goldmine -- they've done plenty of Miramax titles, and that one really needs a better disc!

 

[Mike-McG]

From the Criterion Collection's website:
How does Criterion decide which films are to receive the "Criterion Treatment"?
Many factors enter into our decision to release a particular film. At the outset, we must ask ourselves: Do we consider the film interesting, important, and worthy of the other films in the collection? Is this film something we believe our loyal customers will appreciate? Are the DVD rights available? Is it cost effective? Are there quality available film elements and supplements? These questions and many others must be answered before we begin production on a DVD. Every title is different and each undergoes a unique process as it finds its way into the collection.
Many of our fans are under the impression that we have access to every film ever made and that our releases are matters of personal taste. Of course, it's not this simple. We do believe that every movie in the collection can justify its existence as a Criterion title, but there are also a huge number of titles to which we would love to release under the Criterion banner, but for one reason or another, we cannot do so. Many of the most frequently requested titles are owned by other companies and are unavailable to Criterion. But please don't take this as a discouraging word against your suggestions, which we take very seriously; it's just that some are more realistic than others.

 

[Ray H]

I'm wondering about Wes Anderson's films too. Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums have Criterion Collection DVDs, but what about Bottle Rocket? Who decides which DVDs become part of the collection? Does anyone know what the criteria is for eligibility into it?

I'm not the most knowledgable guy about Criterion, but I believe Anderson has a sort of relationship with them. He knew it'd be part of the collection before it was complete (the second disc features an intro by Ben Stiller and the kids during a take of a shot).

I don't really know about criteria. I'm sure Criterion would take any "important" film if studios would be willing to license them out like they did in the laserdisc era but DVD's grown to be such a profitable format, there's no advantage to that. That's probably the reason we haven't seen a Bottle Rocket Criterion. Columbia might not want it to be licensed to Criterion for whatever reason.

 

[Jay E]

12 Monkeys is being re-issued by Universal which is why it is currently out of print.

 

[oscar_merkx]

could be good news indeed

 

[Ted Todorov]

Another question- do criterion collection DVDs of movies ever have the same special features as their previous DVD releases?

Yes, absolutely. A good example is Criterion's The Adventures of Antoine Doinel boxed set which includes practically all the numerous special features from the MK2 (Region 2, France) DVDs. Criterion omitted the commentary tracks from four of the films, but kept all the rest.
Ted

 

[Ocean Phoenix]

12 Monkeys is being re-issued by Universal which is why it is currently out of print.

And this means what? Would the "re-issued" version be any different from the previous one? If not, I don't understand the point of making it out of print.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

I have not bought a Criterion DVD in years although many

of their titles are musts for cinephiles.

The reason is that many of their DVDs are based on HD transfers. And I want the HD. I'm not interested in rebuying all the classics again. So hopefully they have the HD rights and start releasing in 2005/2006.

 

[Ray H]

A good example is Criterion's The Adventures of Antoine Doinel boxed set which includes practically all the numerous special features from the MK2 (Region 2, France) DVDs. Criterion omitted the commentary tracks from four of the films, but kept all the rest.

I actually watched the Criterion set of all the films over the past week and I'm disappointed by the lack of commentary on the sequels after finding out the French releases include them. Even if they were subtitled, I would've enjoyed the recollections of the participants. :frowning: