Criterion Blu-ray

[hammock]

Le Samouraï, no I´m your rich, but cheap neighbour in the north (Oslo).

My point was, buy two Blu-ray player (region A and B), that would be cheaper than getting one modified through Stegen.

Your room would look like an electronic graveyard and you would not save much money. If you ever wanted a Region C disc you would have to add even one more player. Buy the region free from Stegen - best solution and they have awesome service.

[Matt]

I don't think we need this thread anymore. For general Blu-ray discussion, go here. For technical issues concerning Blu-ray and HD, go here. For speculation on upcoming Criterion Blu-rays, go here. For discussion on Criterion titles already announced or released on Blu-ray, see the individual thread for that title.

[gustaveii]

I recently bought an HP desktop with Blu-ray capacity. It uses DVD Play BD for playback. Eager to see how they compare to the older editions, I rented The Third Man and The Man Who Fell to Earth. Both Menus load correctly, but I can't find a way to click on any of the menu options to start the films or access the features. The menus are looped, so at this point I have no way to access the content. I will be getting a non CC Blu-Ray tomorrow, so I'll be able to check and see if this impacts the format in general, or just this line.

I've gone through the basic troubleshooting. The software has been updated. I've tried all of the buttons. I've stopped the disc and hit play to see if it will bypass the menu. I read the FAQ. I skimmed HP's site for feedback. I made sure that a standard DVD will play properly. I skimmed the menu with cursor hunting for hotspots.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue? If there's no way to correct things with the included software, is there a free codec or player that will play Blu-rays?

Thanks for any assistance.

[gustaveii]

I resolved the issue. Thankfully it wasn't any sort of disc authoring problem, but a quirk that wasn't noted in the documentation. The computer has a TV tuner and a remote. I had not set any of this up, but apparently when you have this sort of hardware, the software is set to only accept input from the remote. Keep this in mind if you buy a similar machine.

Since my question doesn't relate to Criterion anymore, feel free to move it to the tech help thread.

[Magic Hate Ball]

If Criterion doesn't do a Blu-Ray of Playtime soon they must be nuts.

[Jeff]

I don't think we need this thread anymore. For general Blu-ray discussion, go here. For technical issues concerning Blu-ray and HD, go here. For speculation on upcoming Criterion Blu-rays, go here. For discussion on Criterion titles already announced or released on Blu-ray, see the individual thread for that title.

[dx23]

Did anyone noticed the new pricing for the Criterion Blu-ray releases in October? $49.95? Why, specially in the economic situation that the country is in right now? I remember Criterion stating that they were keeping Blu-ray prices the same as the DVD releases. I don't think it's a good idea for them to raise the price on a technology that is not a niche market anymore and an item that is just a luxury purchase. Are their SD-DVD releases being affected that much by the BD sales?

By the way, I created this thread because the previous Criterion Blu-ray discussion one is closed.

[denti alligator]

I of course think this is a mistake. I could understand and even accept a $5 price hike. But $10 on top of what is already a high price (for the upper tier $39.95) is too much. Even with 30% off we'll be looking at $35 per release.

[Tribe]

It will likely be well into the 2020's before I adopt Blu-ray (hell, it seems not that long ago I made the switch from cassettes to CDs), however, that does seem awfully expensive (well, just as the MSRP for Criterions DVDs are)...are Blu-ray discs generally more expensive than regular DVDs? (I've never bothered to investigate)

[aox]

Are their SD-DVD releases being affected that much by the BD sales?

There are at least 5 new titles this year I am not buying because Criterion hasn't released a Blu counterpart. I have no reason to buy DVDs anymore. And the stuff I have been dying to see, if DVD is the only option, I will get from Netflix (and if I feel the need to own it, I am still waiting for Blu). Sure, I have spent some money replacing films I compulsively want now on CC Blu (Wages of Fear, Seventh Seal, Third Man, 400 Blows, Last Emperor, etc...); however, it doesn't compare to what I spent each year in the past 5 years on Criterion Editions of films I love and blind buys. I know they are balancing a tight rope in terms of SD v. HD customers that have to feed, but I am not going to start buying DVDs or $40+ Blu's.

and yes, retail prices aside, you can find any blu disc for the same price as what you paid for a DVD 3 years ago. Even most Criterion Blu's on Amazon and B&N tonight are $19.99; normally $26.99. Even 1-3 years ago I remember that was a sale price for SD's of Contempt, Playtime, Bicycle Thieves, etc... was around $24-33.

[souvenir]

It actually started with the film-only release of Monterey Pop in last month's announcements.

[Antoine Doinel]

The price jump is definitely disconcerting and doesn't lend itself to encouraging people to adopt the format. It's either Blu sales are far lower than they were anticipating, or production costs (HD transfers, manufacturing etc) have gone up. I certainly hope they will address the issue.

[Jeff]

If the pricing isn't a mistake on the website, they'll need to change item 29 on their FAQ:

29. Do Criterion Blu-ray discs cost more than DVDs?

Criterion’s Blu-ray editions will generally be priced to match our DVDs. It makes sense to us: High-definition mastering and restoration has been a part of our DVD production standard for years. And for our customers who might be on the fence about whether to buy DVD or Blu-ray, we thought the best thing we could do was take price out of the equation.

I don't recall where the article was, but there was one posted somewhere that said that Criterion's Blu-ray launch was very successful, and that half of their sales of new titles (Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express, El Norte at the time) were Blu. This was a significantly higher percentage than most studios/distributors. I'm very disappointed, but not terribly surprised they're trying to capitalize on that. The only $50 MSRP set I can think of for a single film is for the Close Encounters Blu-ray, which is a stunning set with the most thorough 2-disc Blu set imaginable, a nice book, and beautiful high-quality packaging.

[dx23]

At least Disney had an excuse when they raised the prices for several of their upcoming Blu-ray releases. They are releasing the BD along with a copy of the SD-DVD and digital copy of the film. Criterion is giving the same content they have before and they are raising the price without any explanation and completely contradicting their #29 item in the FAQ, as Jeff pointed out. Anyone emailing Mulvaney to see what's going on?

[Jeff]

Here is that stat I was looking for, from the April 2009 issue of Home Theater magazine:

Criterion's simultaneous Blu-ray releases have made up 30-50% of the titles' total sales vs. the less than 10% typical for big studio films.

[knives]

Since this seems to be the new crit blu thread I suppose I'll post this here.
Has anyone said anything about releasing the Eclipse sets on blu?

[MTRodaba2468]

I have to say, I'm very disappointed in seeing the price hike...

[colinr0380]

I'm sort of in the opposite situation to aox. Without the benefit of Netflix the few Criterion titles I have picked up this year have been the DVD only releases, while I put the dual Blu-Ray and DVD releases to one side with the idea that one day I might get a multi-region Blu-Ray player, not to mention the HD TV to play them on!

So I wonder if I'm anything to go by whether the Blu-Ray discs making up half of total sales for that month has to factor in a drop in the DVD sales for the same titles too?

[Davidspector]

Could these be typos - or has the criterionforum outrage reached in blinding speed the Criterion powers that be - website this morning shows 39.95

[Flike]

Could these be typos - or has the criterionforum outrage reached in blinding speed the Criterion powers that be - website this morning shows 39.95

The MSRP is still $49.95. The discs are discounted on Criterion's website.

Now would be a good time to announce the Blu case trade-in program, to offset the basement rage...

... and so that I know whether or not I should nab Chungking Express and El Norte for $20 a pop at B&N.

[Tribe]

That's the discounted price on the Criterion website...the retail price is still 49.95.

[ccfixx]

If anyone is interested, the "Howards End" blu-ray currently has a pre-order price of $29.99 on Amazon. The MSRP is still listed as $39.95, though, so you might want to pre-order now before it increases.

CC

[souvenir]

That's the discounted price on the Criterion website...the retail price is still 49.95.

The retail prices are all at $39.95 now on the Criterion site (except Monterey Pop).

[Jeff]

That's the discounted price on the Criterion website...the retail price is still 49.95.

The retail prices are all at $39.95 now on the Criterion site (except Monterey Pop).

Ha. So they are. The MSRP is down to $39.95, and the Criterion Store price is $31.96, as it should be. All is right with the world. I'd like to think that our little grass-roots uprising changed their minds. "Power to the People" and whatnot.

I think it's more likely though, that the Blu-ray pricing default inadvertently got switched to $49.95 last month when Criterion put in the specs for the Monterey Pop single disc. It would make sense for it to cost more due to music rights. When they put in this month's Blu-ray titles, they may have forgotten to change it. Happens all the time with the "non-anamorphic" thing.

In light of this very good news, this thread seems a bit unnecessary. I'll leave it up for today, then dump these posts into the locked "Criterion Blu-ray" thread.