Criterian - explain it to me, and where can I rent?

[AET]

I take it that Criterian is a production company that creates and packages anamorphic dvds and are therefore the ones to watch.

1. Where's their website/website about them?

2. Where can I rent them from online?

[richie99]

1. www.criterionco.com this is the official site.

www.criteriondvd.com this one's unofficial, but good for news

2. In short, you can't rent them unless you're in the US / Canada !
No UK shop or rental place stocks them (that I know of anyway)

[AET]

Gah you're joking!! Surely they'd expect u to try before u buy?

So Criterion are R1 then?
Oh, and thanks :)

[AET]

Ahh I see. region 0

[f_drew]

Originally posted by AET
Ahh I see. region 0
Confusingly, yes to both ! :D

Most of their stuff is Region 0, but some companies insist on the discs being coded for Region 1. I think Beuna Vista (The Rock, Armageddon) and Toho (Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress) insist on R1 coding.

Be aware that they are extremely good, but some films have been produced in 'better' versions.
For example, Silence of the Lambs (now OOP on Criterion) has since been produced by MGM in a 'better' version (as will Robocop), Withnail and I is 'better' in R2, Long Good Friday is due for a better (than the R0 Criterion) R2 release.

There will be extras that are exclusive to Criterion, but it's worth garnering information first.

They are one of my favourite DVD producers for which I am grateful that the extras now prevalent on all discs were virtually invented by Criterion originally for their laserdiscs. That is, it might have been likely that we had only got the film alone on DVDs if not for the interest created in the extras on the SEs produced by Criterion in the laserdisc days !
:clap:

[Hex]

Originally posted by f_drew
Be aware that they are extremely good, but some films have been produced in 'better' versions.
For example, Silence of the Lambs (now OOP on Criterion) has since been produced by MGM in a 'better' version (as will Robocop)

and guess what two I have? :rolleyes:
anyway I didn't get them as an investment but because I like the films - I did however end up with two copies of Robocop because I had it on order with two suppliers as it was going oop and they both shipped at the same time.
*sigh*
anyone want a copy of Robocop Criterion for a reasonable price?:p

[f_drew]

To be fair, the chance of the Crtierion commentaries on both of these being on the new releases is next to zero. Although the new Robocop will have a commentary it won't be the same one. And the Criterion Robocop commentary is one of my favourites ! Gotta love that mad Dutchman !!! :D

BTW, I made a mistake in my previous post. 'Mona Lisa' is getting a new DVD in R2, not 'The Long Good Friday'. Oh well, Bob Hoskins appears in both ..... ;)

[Hex]

Originally posted by f_drew
To be fair, the chance of the Crtierion commentaries on both of these being on the new releases is next to zero. Although the new Robocop will have a commentary it won't be the same one. And the Criterion Robocop commentary is one of my favourites ! Gotta love that mad Dutchman !!! :D


He does do lively commentary tracks, mad as a brush - thank god. :D

[DeadKenny]

Robocop R2 is going to be 1.85:1 anamorphic PAL, whereas the Criterion is the director approved 1.66:1 version (i.e. 1.85:1 version is cropped), and the R2 is only to be available in a boxed set with the very inferior sequels. On the other hand, the Criterion is non-anamorphic and NTSC. Both versions of Robocop are the full uncut 'directors cut', though whether the 1.85:1 transfer is director approved is another matter. I can't believe it myself given that 1.85:1 does destroy the composition (it's not just open matt where the film was really shot for 1.85:1, you can see Verhoeven had a TV frame in mind which actually reflects the style of the film).

Criterion isn't about being anamorphic either, though with wider films in recent years they've been doing anamorphic releases, but most earlier ones (e.g. Brazil, Armageddon) were non-anamorphic (they argued that it was better in quality mainly because of problems in early days with 4:3 sets and anamorphic - failing to understand that anamorphic is for 16:9 enhancement).

Criterion is supposed to be about quality, though they seem to apply a principle of getting as close to "how it would have been in the cinema" (Robocop and Silence of the Lambs excepted) as possible which can result in films not looking as sparklingly remastered as many top-notch discs by other distributors (I find many criterions to be grainy and even show print marks - Life of Brian as an example, plus many are Dolby Surround as they don't believe in remixing. I believe they work on the basis of cleaning up prints and doing transfers rather than remastering the final digital transfer). I also think there's a bit of snobbery surrounding Criterion where many people think that the name and sheer cost makes them better than the rest. In the old days (especially laserdisc days) this may have been the case, but I don't believe so any more. However, they do a good job of restoring very old films, but I question the point of bothering with more contemporary films.

Most of their stuff is damn good, but my only advice is to not get into a blinkered view that the sun shines out of their arse just because of the name and price. Judge them for yourself on merits of quality.

As for rental... well, given the price and what I've said above, a "try before you buy" would be excellent but unworkable. Maybe in the coming years, broadband will enable something like this :)

[Michael Mackenzie]

Originally posted by DeadKenny
Criterion is supposed to be about quality, though they seem to apply a principle of getting as close to "how it would have been in the cinema" (Robocop and Silence of the Lambs excepted) as possible which can result in films not looking as sparklingly remastered as many top-notch discs by other distributors (I find many criterions to be grainy and even show print marks .... I believe they work on the basis of cleaning up prints and doing transfers rather than remastering the final digital transfer). That's my kind of company! How it should be done.