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I'm really curious to see what the sales will be like for My Own Private Idaho once it gets released. With two recognizable stars (one dead with a significant cult following) like Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix I'm sure it will do well.

cdnchris wrote:I figured Fear and Loathing had to be up there (though not number 1, which I figured was Seven Samurai for some silly reason

It's not that silly...Seven Samurai is the BFI's best selling disc...

I bet there are more Tenenbaums discs in circulation though. I mean think how many were bought by video stores from mom and pops to chains. I bet they don't include those.

...see what the sales will be like for My Own Private Idaho once it gets released. With two recognizable stars (one dead with a significant cult following) like Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, I'm sure it will do well.

I'm not so sure. It was a tough sell when it was first released, and although all principals are more reknown (Van Sant as well), it may still be too unseemly. A Henry IV+V framework, with Hal, Falstaff and friends updated to modern antisocial outcasts (broken homes, selling sex, drugs, hooliganism), and opening with

Spoiler

a male teen receiving a blowjob from a middle-aged man, with a highly stylized orgasmic metaphor

may not play well in George W. Bush's American living rooms. It certainly shocked both of my brothers (admittedly, red-staters) into stopping after 20 minutes or so. And I don't think it carries the "cool" drug-trip analog of Fear and Loathing for dorm-room parties. Maybe if they play the B-52's song near the DVD racks and on TV commercials, buyers will flock.

I bet there are more Tenenbaums discs in circulation though. I mean think how many were bought by video stores from mom and pops to chains. I bet they don't include those.

Not sure how it is done in the US, but company sales figures can be based solely on the amount sold to retailers, rather than the consumer.

I believe it's done both ways. That is to say, the "shipped" number is considered separately from the sales numbers, which are reported (somewhat contentiously) by a couple companies whose names I've forgotten (VideoScan or something). There is a problem with the latter figure, as it is calculated statistically, and the statistics are missing some valuable demographics (last I heard, which was like 3 years ago, they still weren't including Internet sales).

In journalism, however, it is rarely clear which figure is being mentioned, though when terms like "shipped" are used, the meaning is clear. "Sold" I generally infer to mean tracked, over-the-counter sales to end customers, but obviously it can and probably is used when what is really meant is "shipped".

Since everybody is mentioning Seven Samurai on this thread, does anybody else wish the price would be dropped? It's always been listed at $39.99, like an upper-tier release. That's what's kept me from getting it so far. And also the fact that it will be getting rereleased by CC someday....

Quite frankly if a betamax cassette were the only way to view Seven Samurai in the home,I would still pay $39.95.And buy a Beta player!Sure it is a crappy transfer, but one of the best 5 films you'll ever see!IMHO

Why drop it if it is selling?

bcsparker wrote:Since everybody is mentioning Seven Samurai on this thread, does anybody else wish the price would be dropped? It's always been listed at $39.99, like an upper-tier release. That's what's kept me from getting it so far. And also the fact that it will be getting rereleased by CC someday....

The #1 seller is Fear and Loating and it's priced at $39.99

BWilson wrote:

bcsparker wrote:Since everybody is mentioning Seven Samurai on this thread, does anybody else wish the price would be dropped? It's always been listed at $39.99, like an upper-tier release. That's what's kept me from getting it so far. And also the fact that it will be getting rereleased by CC someday....

The #1 seller is Fear and Loating and it's priced at $39.99

Fear and Loathing is also a double disc set loaded with features. Seven Samurai is, ahem, decidedly not.

I think all of us should know perfectly well by now that (excepting some peculiar titles):

Commentary = $39.99
No Commentary = $29.99

The commentary alone makes Seven Samurai $39 bucks.

BWilson wrote: Commentary = $39.99
No Commentary = $29.99

Damn, I never thought of that. Thanks. Although I think it should be more along the lines of single-disc, double-disc being the factor.

bcsparker wrote:Damn, I never thought of that. Thanks. Although I think it should be more along the lines of single-disc, double-disc being the factor.

. . . and then we could all gripe about which second discs are scanty and which are packed.

Anyway, there are lots of seriously loaded single discs in the collection that fully justify the top-tier pricing.

zedz wrote:. . . and then we could all gripe about which second discs are scanty and which are packed.

Anyway, there are lots of seriously loaded single discs in the collection that fully justify the top-tier pricing.

There are: Rushmore, Early Summer, Last Temptation of Christ, Night and the City etc.

I think the problem people have with Seven Samurai (and I have this same problem) is that, other than the commentary, it's a ghost town. If it were released now, I imagine Criterion would boost the features or (possibly) price it a bit differently. Or maybe not - I guess the thing sells. If it ain't baroque, don't fix it, right?

I think that Sevn Samurai will do for now. I would rather they work on other things, 'cause hopefully HD will be taken up in a year or so and they can bring out a new version then.

The commentary on the disc is really good though, in my opinion. Does he do any other commentaries for any other discs?

javelin wrote:I think the problem people have with Seven Samurai (and I have this same problem) is that, other than the commentary, it's a ghost town.

Yes, but it is a three hour twenty seven minute commentary! And as you say it was one of the earliest discs (spine number 2 from 1998!), when I guess DVD was still relatively untested. Extra features (and I guess even DVD authoring practices) have moved on a long way since then so it might be wrong to compare Seven Samurai to a more recent release such as The Hidden Fortress or something like Ikiru which was the first to include an episode of the It Is Wonderful To Create series which has featured on most subsequent Kurosawa discs.

I guess there are also the rights issues and licensing difficulties and whether the difficulties of getting materials for the DVD were greater because the format was newer and untested. It is perhaps much easier now that the groundwork has been laid to produce a DVD because there may now be precedents for how to work in this format.

I guess it might probably have been a combination of many factors, but I'm sure that when its rereleased Criterion will certainly try to add more material. After all it is one of the most famous Kurosawa films!

Michael Jeck also does the commentary for Throne of Blood, and he also interviews Bruno Dumont on the L'Humanite disc from, I think, Fox Lorber.

Sorry for not getting back on topic yet, but...

How is the commentary for Throne of Blood, I still haven't picked up the film but it may be worth it (is the film also very good? Is this a really stupid question? ).

How is the commentary for Throne of Blood, I still haven't picked up the film but it may be worth it (is the film also very good? Is this a really stupid question?

Excellent movie. fine DVD, much better than average commentary.

Walmart is now selling the Criterion edition of Fear and Loathing for 32 bucks.

the thing with 'Throne of Blood' is that it is an EXCELLENT film in and of itself... but... for any fan of Shakespeare, this is an absolutely HORRIBLE rendition of 'Macbeth', bad enough that i'm surprised that it is marketed that way. so, if you're a Shakespeare fan, you will probably hate it. but if you're a Kurosawa fan, it's beautiful.

back to the topic of these discs costing so much, i don't understand why people gripe about the costs of the expensive ones so much. anybody who is a serious collector should be best friends with dvdplanet.com by now, and/or dvdpricesearch.com. you can get coupons from dvdpricesearch that make sights light digitaleyes.net and dvdempire.com cheaper than the %35 off at dvdplanet, so effectively the $39 discs end up coming down to less than $25, and you get free shipping in most cases. that's really not that bad. i do agree that 'Seven Samurai' is a tough buy because of how scant it is, but like someone else mentioned, it's a long long film and it is still one of their top sellers - they have no reason to drop the price. i will always be willing to pay the extra money for the nicer discs and know i'm getting something with a good amount of special features than have them release the cheaper discs but with nothing on them, like the new 'Phantom of Liberty'.

Thats for the suggestions, I'll have to pick up the disc of 'Throne of Blood'.

The Criterion Kurosawa Samurai Classics box is a great way to get 'Seven Samurai' if you don't have the other movies either. All the other discs are bare, but it usually goes for a good price.

Mr Pixies wrote:Walmart is now selling the Criterion edition of Fear and Loathing for 32 bucks.

I saw that, hmm I wonder why??? Couldn't have anything to do with a certain author's death and their desire to cash in on that...nooo, couldn't be. I hate Walmart so much.

I thought it was because it was a good seller... they had a lot of copies too,

And I thought it was because Wal-Mart has a heart of gold.