Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.4

[cdnchris]

Revanche DVD
Revanche Blu-ray
Lola Montes DVD
Lola Montes Blu-ray
Hunger DVD
Hunger Blu-ray

Eclipse 20: George Bernard Shaw on Film

[Highway 61]

Hunger DVD

I've never seen a magnetic tag like that before. If I had bought this, I would have been pissed.

[cdnchris]

Can't really bitch about it.

[tajmahal]

Hunger DVD

I've never seen a magnetic tag like that before. If I had bought this, I would have been pissed.

They peel off easily, and I haven't had one yet that has scratched a disc. The bitch-awful strips across the top can be another matter.

[Tribe]

They peel off easily

Not off of paper they don't.

[zachhh]

are there certain retailers that attach them to the booklets? that'd be a good warning to try and stay away

[mfunk9786]

That disc art on the Hunger DVD is the most creative use of that space in the history of the Criterion Collection (although Simon of the Desert, For All Mankind, and The Royal Tenenbaums are up there (off the top of my head)).

But the real question: why'd they wuss out on the Blu-Ray release? That's a huge disappointment and makes very little sense.

[kaujot]

They still released a Blu of it. Blu-Ray.com just recently reviewed it.

[mfunk9786]

I was referring to the disc art. It's different on the Blu-Ray version than it is on the DVD version based upon Chris' photos.

[cdnchris]

are there certain retailers that attach them to the booklets? that'd be a good warning to try and stay away

Retailers don't actually attach them. It's something done, to my understanding, during packaging at the plant.

[mfunk9786]

I have a feeling that it was loose in the case when it was sealed and that's where it ended up sticking.

[reno dakota]

I was referring to the disc art. It's different on the Blu-Ray version than it is on the DVD version based upon Chris' photos.

The Blu-ray disc art is different from the DVD disc art for every film released in this set. Maybe they are trying to make the discs easily distinguishable from one another.

[kawest]

The Blu-ray disc art is different from the DVD disc art for every film released in this set. Maybe they are trying to make the discs easily distinguishable from one another.

Perhaps a way to make them more "collectible"?

[mfunk9786]

Well that sucks. Blu-Ray should have gotten the [literally] shitty art, not the [figuratively] shitty art.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Good lord - I say as I've just seen it - the package for the Lola Montes DVD is horrible. Is it as fragile as it looks, Chris? I'd get the BD just for a better case/package alone.

[cdnchris]

It's similar to the other Ophul titles but it's actually sturdier than them. It's not too bad, but getting the discs are snapped in there a little too well and they're somewhat hard to get out.

[godardslave]

Good lord - I say as I've just seen it - the package for the Lola Montes DVD is horrible. Is it as fragile as it looks, Chris? I'd get the BD just for a better case/package alone.

Good lord - I say as I've just seen it - the package for the Lola Montes DVD is absolutely exquisite and beautiful. Is it as beautiful in real life as it looks, Chris? I'd get the DVD just for the sublime packaging alone, let alone the fact the film itself is a masterpiece of cinema. Thanks Criterion for another beautiful digipack.

[Amazing Goose]

i'm sad to see that the initial backlash against the blu cardboard cases seems to have frightened them from giving any blu-disc a digipack. it's kind of ironic that the dvds sometimes get the better-looking packaging.

[Mikos Stenopolis]

Why is was everyone against the blu digipacks again? I never understood it. Is there just a common dislike for criterion digipacks altogether on this board? I love them and wish Criterion would digipack more of their releases.

[godardslave]

Why is was everyone against the blu digipacks again? I never understood it. Is there just a common dislike for criterion digipacks altogether on this board? I love them and wish Criterion would digipack more of their releases.

I like digipacks best also. Something I find strange is that in the best DVD producing countries in the world, namely those with the nicest limited editions, that is France, Korea and Japan, digipacks are used for nearly all high end limited edition releases.
Digipacks are regarded as the ultimate luxurious form of packaging in such examples.

There was also a thread with a poll recently which showed the majority of people on this forum preferred digipacks to keepcases. I can not find the thread/poll now.

I believe the voting results were roughly

digipacks 65%
keepcases 35%

I cannot remember exactly.

People who do not like them tend to rather vocal and extreme in their dislike of digpacks (see Mr Garbo above for a good example).

[zachhh]

are The Last Year at Marienbad and The Spirit of the Beehive only available in digipak form and not the clear plastic? they're such an eyesore

[aox]

Why is was everyone against the blu digipacks again? I never understood it. Is there just a common dislike for criterion digipacks altogether on this board? I love them and wish Criterion would digipack more of their releases.

I love digipaks (The Last Emperor, Bicycle Thieves, Seven Samurai, Human Condition, etc), but the Blu Digipaks were pieces of shit and having them for every single disc was an eyesore. I hate, as well, that this backlash might have scared Criterion from using them ever (It was interesting what they didn't do with Che when comparing the Blu with the DVD), but if it one or the other, I am happy with the current status of things.

[Cinephrenic]

It's not the digipacks in general, but how they are designed for Blu. All of mine came flat, smashed, flimsy...just plain shitty. Probably much sturdier for DVDs.

[HistoryProf]

It's not the digipacks in general, but how they are designed for Blu. All of mine came flat, smashed, flimsy...just plain shitty. Probably much sturdier for DVDs.

yeah...the spines were always off kilter - nothing squared about them - because they were incredibly flimsy and wouldn't hold their shape. They just looked like shit.

I don't mind the digipacks for dvd releases - some of them are quite nice (The Furies, Bicycle Thieves, Vampyr) but the Lola Montes digipack looks crappy. When it's done to include a larger booklet/book it looks great, when it's done just to be different it looks like crap and I'd rather have a keep case if there isn't some exceptionally large booklet necessitating the cardboard case.

The thing about dvd collector's, a great percentage have serious OCD issues, so changing things up so dramatically to throw off the symmetry of their collections can cause seizures. The blu ray digipacks didn't match anything, were flimsy, and generally look like shit as well as offering very little protection for the delicate blu ray inside it.

[HistoryProf]

Well that sucks. Blu-Ray should have gotten the [literally] shitty art, not the [figuratively] shitty art.

I was very disappointed in the film, but that shitty disc art is brilliant and makes me want to buy it! =D>