Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.5

[mfunk9786]

Harold and Maude and The Gold Rush arrived today with the plastic slightly melted to the spine also, so I do think their packaging facility has changed something. Criterion used to be one of the few distribs immune to this. The melted-on part did scratch off fairly easily though.

I'm not sure why I'm the only person unable to scratch this off - it takes a lot of effort for me to get to the point where it looks somewhat presentable, but is still pretty gnarly.

[tenia]

Just got the issue yesterday on Summer With Monika (ordered on Amazon). I've only been able to peel half of it, unfortunately.
I will follow mfunk's advice and email Claire for replacement cases, knowing that I'm waiting for H&M and The Gold Rush too...

[Minkin]

They're (criterion) going to get bombed with these requests in about a month. They should probably be worrying now.

And yeah, I've come across this issue more and more. I first had this problem with Fat Girl and then it seemed like a 50/50 chance for having the problem (had to look around for a copy of Branded to Kill that looked the least f'ed up).

One would have thought that Criterion would have more foresight than this. As I said, I'm sure they'll be changing their mind about heat-sealing in a months time (the sale, for those not following along).

[tenia]

Just got a feedback from Jon (which is not especially convenient for me, living in France) :

Thank you for your email. We are aware of the shrink-wrapping issue
and are sorry to hear that you received one of the affected cases.
During the manufacturing of some of our recent Blu-ray releases, the
outer shrink wrap melted to the case spine because of excessive heat
in the wrapping equipment. If you received one of the damaged cases,
we would be happy to send you a replacement case for the following
affected Blu-ray titles: ¡ALAMBRISTA!, SHALLOW GRAVE, HAROLD AND
MAUDE, THE GOLD RUSH, and SUMMER WITH MONIKA. Please note that these
are the only titles that were affected.

If you have one of these damaged titles, please send the cover art
sleeve (cover art only) to my attention at the address below. Please
include your email and postal address, and please do not include any
additional packaging. When we receive the cover art, we will send you
a new Blu-ray case and cover art, and a $10 gift certificate to
Criterion.com. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have
caused.

[Minkin]

¡ALAMBRISTA!, SHALLOW GRAVE, HAROLD AND
MAUDE, THE GOLD RUSH, and SUMMER WITH MONIKA.

Just those titles? That's rather BS, it's been going on for about a year (though with sporadic titles).

That said, it's sure a classy response to the issue from Criterion. They sure like to dole out those gift cards.

I'd rather they say "yes, the process sucks, and we will be looking into eliminating heat-wrap altogether."

[mfunk9786]

Yeah, those definitely weren't the only titles affected. And I'm sad that I won't be getting the $10, but I suppose I'll live

[jindianajonz]

I just went and checked all of my cases, and found the following had issues where the packaging was melted to the case. In addition to the ones mentioned, I found the problem with:

The Lady Vanishes
Branded to Kill
Fat Girl
Kagemusha
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
Empire of Passion
The Killing
12 Angry Men

Of these, The Lady Vanishes, Fat Girl, and Harold and Maude were by far the worse. The rest seemed like they could be peeled off with a bit of patience, but these seemed like the case itself was probably damaged underneath.

[tenia]

Yeah, those definitely weren't the only titles affected. And I'm sad that I won't be getting the $10, but I suppose I'll live

Same to me here, I clearly had far more titles than these ones affected this past year.
I will ask Jon if pictures are enough, because I don't see myself sending to the US the cover arts, it will just take too long and cost me too much.

On the other end, I will be able to buy some spare cases with the gift certificate. \:D/

[ccfixx]

I received my blu-ray copy of The Samurai Trilogy today, and it appears that Criterion now has a 2-disc custom blu-ray case. It's an overlapping 2-disc case similar to their DVD cases. My top disc was knocking around in the case from coming unhinged, as well.

[Minkin]

I received my blu-ray copy of The Samurai Trilogy today, and it appears that Criterion now has a 2-disc custom blu-ray case. It's an overlapping 2-disc case similar to their DVD cases. My top disc was knocking around in the case from coming unhinged, as well.

Glad to see that the image I linked to previously turned out to be accurate then - saves me some embarrassment.

But I rather liked the Bluray digipacks and had hoped for one in this instance (to get more of that great artwork). Seems like this - along with the Painleve set were two oversights in terms of failure to have a digipack.

[tenia]

I saw on eBay some spare empty plastic cases for 2 discs and was wondering which release was like this. Now, I understand.

[krnash]

So it appears as though, just days after its release, the Harold and Maude DVDs and Blu-rays were pulled out of print so that a revised cover could take its place. Hence the backorder status on the Criterion site and the new, wordier cover including credits for Higgins and Stevens. This release has been put through a lot.

[domino harvey]

Everyone who got theirs already: enjoy gouging gullible collectors in the near future!

[med]

I got mine, only to find I didn't like the movie as much as I did when I was a teenager. So, if I decide to sell it, this news is a plus!

EDIT: It's still in stock at Amazon, though the wordier cover is pictured.

[cdnchris]

Why would they need to do that? I would guess it was contractual but the Paramount DVD has none of that. They just totally botched what was one of their best covers in a long while.

[med]

Let's email Criterion about switching the old cover for the new one and getting a $10 store credit in the process.

[mfunk9786]

I honestly don't understand the fuss. It sort of makes the Songs By credit make a little more sense visually

[captveg]

The main difference between the Paramount and original Criterion cover is that it credits the director. I would assume that they couldn't credit the director without crediting the writer and songwriter, which led to the re-design.

[mfunk9786]

By the way, 76 pages... isn't it the perfect time for a Vol. 6, yathink?

[knives]

Don't we normally go to 100?

[mfunk9786]

Oh, I thought it was just a "this thread is getting huge" thing

[knives]

Huge is probably a relative term.

[Calvin]

[mfunk9786]

Whether people end up considering it good or bad, this month has brought us some ballsy coverart

[knives]

I adore the Carnes