Criterion Blu-ray

[Svevan]

It appears that the BluRays will not have spine numbers, and I imagine they'll be released in the standard BluRay cases, which aren't the same size as regular DVDs and will thus look awkward on the shelf if mixed in with the rest of the collection.

Neither of these assumptions is guaranteed, or IMO, likely. The Blus are going to have the same sized art as the SDs, as far as we know, and Criterion is not going to squeeze that onto a smaller Blu case. As stated before, Criterion will probably put a label of some kind on the package to indicate it is a Blu-Ray release. I'm betting the spines will be the same - if it's the same movie, and the same special features (for the most part), why give it a different spine? Or no spine at all? Doesn't make sense.

[Doctor Sunshine]

It's subject to change, of course, but it looks like the BDs will have the same sized cases and art as the DVDs--although, I would assume that the thinner booklets indicate that there won't be any bluray digipaks, at least in the beginning--and that they're doing away with spines numbers.

I think it's clear that they're still testing the waters at this point. The couple titles that look to sell well each month will be available in both formats but they can still take chances on things like Blast of Silence on DVD only. If the format takes off, they can go nuts. Ostensibly, BD is the reason they've been making HD film transfers all along but it's still a small niche market--personally, I'm still on the fence about switching formats; the new titles looks alluring but I don't think I'd upgrade the older ones. It's too bad about the missing book and booklets but the resolution and pricing make it not hurt so bad. They've been honest about the spine numbers being a marketing gimmick from the beginning and the company's grown so much since laserdisc that they really don't need them anymore. Besides, they'll still "kinda sorta" have spines in that anyone who cares could treat them as having the same numbers as the DVD versions and shelf them among the rest, or not. Obsessive compulsives could even etch the numbers on themselves. Anyway, I like their approach.

[Narshty]

I suspect they'll put a huge "Warning: Blu-ray disc" sticker on the packaging, in place of the usual 'Director Approved' blurb, to keep the design basically intact.

[Jeff]

I suspect they'll put a huge "Warning: Blu-ray disc" sticker on the packaging, in place of the usual 'Director Approved' blurb, to keep the design basically intact.

The sell sheets make it look like they will have the same artwork with a slightly translucent version of this sticker on the packaging.

[fdm]

I would assume that the thinner booklets indicate that there won't be any bluray digipaks, at least in the beginning...

Fingers crossed.

[Morbii]

As for Man Who Fell to Earth, it's still good value without the book (at least for those, like me, who only own the Universal DVD) but I do wish (and wonder if it's too late to start petitioning) that Criterion would include the book as a PDF?

But that would probably require a supplemental DVD to even be useful for many of the buyers. You'd either have to have a BD drive in your computer (or possibly a PS3 could transfer it to its HD?) to take advantage.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Is that really the logo? Reminds me of Hustler magazine's "fully erect" rating for their porn reviews.

[editman]

Hmmm... Looking at the current specs, Bottle Rocket and The Third Man are the only two must-buys with every bonus features carried over (not sure if The Third Man BR comes with SDH though).

Not fussy about The Man Who Fell to Earth since I've already got the SD. No book, no sale anyway.

But it gets complicated with the two I held off and wanted the most. The Last Emperor doesn't come with the TV version, and Chungking Express doesn't come with the excerpt from Moving Pictures.

Pristine 1080p image quality or more bonus materials? Dammit, CC. Why must you make me choose? #-o

[jaredsap]

and Chungking Express [on Blu-ray] doesn't come with the excerpt from Moving Pictures.

I'm really hoping this is a typo on Criterion's part. When they announced their Blu-ray line they said the discs would include "all the supplemental content of the DVD releases." Already that's proven to be completely false, but in this case it would be inexcusable. Without that Moving Pictures excerpt the CHUNGKING Blu-ray disc is essentially bare.

[Darth Lavender]

But it gets complicated with the two I held off and wanted the most. The Last Emperor doesn't come with the TV version, and Chungking Express doesn't come with the excerpt from Moving Pictures.

Haven't really looked at the Chungking extras, but as for Last Emperor, there's a very important point which everyone seems to be missing...

The ($40) Last Emperor Blu-Ray is actually BETTER than the upcoming $40 Last Emperor DVD. You folks are all comparing the between the $40 Blu-Ray and the (currently available) $60 version.
Criterion announced a while ago that they are simultaneously releasing just the Theatrical cut on DVD (with a $40 RRP) and a Blu-Ray version (with the same $40 RRP) and the Blu-Ray version seems to have received considerably more extras than the $40 Theatrical Cut DVD that it's supposed to be duplicating. Actually, one quick look at all those extras pushed this straight from an "into the wishlist, to buy when/if it's cheap" to a "must buy on day 1"

[Narshty]

Without that Moving Pictures excerpt the CHUNGKING Blu-ray disc is essentially bare.

I agree it's pretty galling that Criterion would drop the interview (why? they didn't drop the BBC Omnibus doc from The Third Man), but no disc with a Tony Rayns commentary, especially one on such a touchstone of modern Asian cinema, could be described as "essentially bare".

[editman]

... the Blu-Ray version seems to have received considerably more extras than the $40 Theatrical Cut DVD that it's supposed to be duplicating. Actually, one quick look at all those extras pushed this straight from an "into the wishlist, to buy when/if it's cheap" to a "must buy on day 1"

That's all very well. But for those who want both the director's cut and the TV edit, the only option is still the 4-disc SD set.

Or, screw the new transfer for the TV edit. Keep the old Artisan DVD (with a.r. closer to 2.20:1 anyway) and take the BR for the DC and all the extras, which I may have to do in this case because I'm not being given an option to get a BR equivalent of the 4-disc set.

Either way, it's still a compromise. There's no win-win situation for the customers.

At least with Caligula (also an Image Ent. release), I can get everything released on SD on BR as well, so the hold-off was not in vain.

Perhaps I should ask Jon Mulvaney if there's any future plans to release the TV edit on blu-ray as well.

[Cinephrenic]

Does anyone know if The Man Who Fell to Earth Blu-ray will have everything, including the book with the release? I couldn't tell from their site.

[Matt]

Does anyone know if The Man Who Fell to Earth Blu-ray will have everything, including the book with the release? I couldn't tell from their site.

It appears not to include the book or the Jack Matthews essay, as noted here.

[Cinephrenic]

I thought Blu-ray should be all superior in whole against the DVD release. That sure sucks.

[Luke M]

Superior picture quality always trumps extras.

I can't see Criterion releasing the blu-rays in keepcases. It's not against Sony law, it's just backwards.

[Matt]

Putting Blu-rays in DVD-sized packaging (digipak or keepcase)--when all other Blu-rays are in small keepcases--would be like packaging CDs in longboxes.

[Cinephrenic]

Superior picture quality always trumps extras.

I can't see Criterion releasing the blu-rays in keepcases. It's not against Sony law, it's just backwards.

Yeah, but I don't want to have to buy the DVD too to get extra "extras" and a book. That means some of us will have to double dip or keep our DVDs.

[Darth Lavender]

Putting Blu-rays in DVD-sized packaging (digipak or keepcase)--when all other Blu-rays are in small keepcases--would be like packaging CDs in longboxes.

While I am all in favour of smaller cases (for dvd and blu-ray regardless) or cases that actually use the extra height (like those two or three disk cases with 'overlapping disks') the longbox reference is interesting in that, when Anchor Bay releases CDs (as in the Jodorowsky box-set) they are packaged in 'dvd type' cases.

Personally, if I had to choose, I'd say blu-SIZED cases, but avoid the gaudy blue plastic. Although, in the end, this isn't an issue that really bothers me either way.

What I think is a far greater concern is the dropping of booklets in ANY form (except for one essay) It's one thing for Criterion to omit an occasional extra for rights reasons and/or a cheaper price-point (in the case of The Last Emperor)or omitting the physical booklet, but it looks like we're going to be seeing a standard practice of Criterion omitting a sizable quantity of extras (in the booklets) from every blu-ray release.

I don't know very much about what's involved in publishing these booklets, etc. But even if Criterion can't produce the booklets, they should include it either as a PDF (I realise, this is a problem for non-HTPC users. But it would be invaluable to those of us with HTPCs, and even those without are bound to get them eventually (just as we all eventually got DVD-players in our PCs) or as text-screens in the menus (when you think about it, this isn't such a terrible idea on Blu-Ray as was on DVD. Blu-ray users tend to have big screens (or sit-close to 24" computer screens like me) so one could easily fit a whole page at a time (or, at least, half a page) on the screen. Or, if all else fails, even as just something on the website (a simple website for essays, etc. and maybe something that requires a password (included with the Blu-Ray) for things like the Man Who Fell... novel, etc.)

[Feego]

Putting Blu-rays in DVD-sized packaging (digipak or keepcase)--when all other Blu-rays are in small keepcases--would be like packaging CDs in longboxes.

The main page at DVD Beavershows the upcoming packaging of "Third Man" and "Man Who Fell to Earth." It appears that the packages are nearly square, which indicates that they will be in the smaller Blu-Ray keepcases, but without the blue outlines.

[Morbii]

I don't know very much about what's involved in publishing these booklets, etc. But even if Criterion can't produce the booklets, they should include it either as a PDF (I realise, this is a problem for non-HTPC users. But it would be invaluable to those of us with HTPCs, and even those without are bound to get them eventually (just as we all eventually got DVD-players in our PCs) or as text-screens in the menus (when you think about it, this isn't such a terrible idea on Blu-Ray as was on DVD. Blu-ray users tend to have big screens (or sit-close to 24" computer screens like me) so one could easily fit a whole page at a time (or, at least, half a page) on the screen. Or, if all else fails, even as just something on the website (a simple website for essays, etc. and maybe something that requires a password (included with the Blu-Ray) for things like the Man Who Fell... novel, etc.)

I think you actually missed a few closing parenthesis there

["membrillo"]

Since I'm not technical what does Third Man's "uncompressed mono soundtrack" and Fell To Earth's "uncompressed stereo soundtrack" mean for sound quality?

It means better sound quality (though the audible difference may be negligible). Like the difference between a high-quality mp3 and a CD.

Negligible of course is dependant on your equipment (speaker, pre/pro or receiver, cables) and room treatment (acoustics)

[hammock]

Might be old news in here (did not read all 24 pages) but I'm pretty bummed about the e-mail I got from John Mulvaney today:

Since our DVDs have always been published with region one rights only, I would be surprised if our BD releases did not carry region encoding. I hope this helps, and thanks for your email!

Best,

JM

Why does life have to be so complicated? Now I need to buy a US PS3 and place it alongside my EU PS3 - sux!

[criterionsnob]

I just noticed that when you click on the link to the Sortable List from the Criterion Blu-ray page, "Blu-ray" appears in the "Spine" column instead of a number.

[Jun-Dai]

Since our DVDs have always been published with region one rights only, I would be surprised if our BD releases did not carry region encoding. I hope this helps, and thanks for your email!

Aren't most CC DVDs region 0? I've always assumed that they're policy has been only to use region 1 when specifically required in their rights arrangement. I wonder if that's right, and also whether that will carry over to Blu-Ray as well.

Also, I assume the spine number thing is still an open question. Either way it could be a bit of a gamble on the success of Blu-Ray. If Blu-Ray takes off and they stop producing DVDs some day, it would be strange that most of their "spine numbers" never showed up on Blu-Ray. On the other hand, if Blu-Ray never reaches that level of success, having a separate set of spine numbers for essentially the same collection would also be strange. I'd put my $10 on "never reaches that level of success".