Criterion releases first wave of Blu-ray titles

Lee Stewart · 11-26-2008, 12:15 PM

Criterion releases first wave of Blu-ray titles

Packaging will not be traditional blue-colored boxes

Quote:

By Laurence Lerman -- Video Business, 11/26/2008
NOV. 26 | The first wave of Blu-ray Disc titles from the prestigious Criterion Collection will finally be issued on Dec. 19, following delays from their original release dates set in October and November. As far as Criterion’s technical director Lee Kline is concerned, the wait will be well worth it.

“If our Blu-ray discs are going to come out, then they’d better look right,” Kline told VB. “We had to make sure that the compression was right, that the audio encoding was up to par. And we had to make sure that the discs played on all players, particularly the older generation models, as well as PlayStation” 3.

Kline, who has been Criterion’s technical director for the past 13 years, is naturally excited about the high-end label’s entry into the high-definition market. He also is quick to point out that Criterion has been in the high-def business for the past decade with its library of standard-definition releases, approximately 90% of which are remastered in high-def and then down-converted for a standard-def release, giving them “a more film-like look.”

“We pulled the high-def masters that we’ve done [for the films in the first wave of Blu-ray releases] and looked them over—and we haven’t had to go back to change anything,” Kline said. “All the technology we’ve taken to make these high-def masters are still fine.”

Titles included in this first wave include Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket, Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express, Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor and, most intriguingly, Carol Reed’s The Third Man, a 1949 film noir classic known for its Oscar-winning black-and-white cinematography by Robert Krasker. Kline said that he and his team are “really surprised” at the perception of black-and-white films such as The Third Man on DVD.

“Grain in black-and-white films is something that we think [DVD producers] have been trying to cover up, but we feel that grain is part of the original film, and we want to reproduce the film as it originally looked,” he said. “Now, we can calm it down a bit, but people who are expecting there to be no grain shouldn’t buy our DVDs—they should buy films that have been made over the past five years.”

In a notable packaging decision, Criterion’s Blu-ray discs will not be housed in the traditional blue-colored Blu-ray boxes that the major studios have adopted. Nor will they carry the Blu-ray Disc logo. Rather, the Criterion titles will carry a small credit on the back of the box indicating that the title is in the Blu-ray format, and there will be a blue sticker on the shrink wrap indicating the same. All the titles will be priced at approximately the same price point as their standard-def counterparts and include most of the same supplemental materials.

Criterion distributor Image Entertainment will make a noticeable initial push for the new Blu-ray titles in December and January. The releases will be highlighted on Amazon.com, and an AEC distributor “boutique” program will feature them on such retail Web sites as SamGoody.com, Blockbuster.com, Suncoast.com and CircuitCity.com, among others. Additionally, early January will see a Criterion Blu-ray sale at BestBuy.com.

According to Image, a group of bricks-and-mortar stores known for strong Criterion collections, such as Seattle’s Scarecrow Video, will support the product by doing special promotions and window displays devoted to the new line.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6617808.html

sigill · 11-26-2008, 12:44 PM

Its interesting that they are not using conventional blu-ray packaging. Personally i would like the Blu-ray logo to be on it somewhere. I wonder whether this is going to be the start of a trend of new packaging?

**bruceames** · 11-26-2008, 02:17 PM

Thank you Criterion for not using the Jolly Rancher Blu cases.

jjufon · 11-27-2008, 11:14 PM

i ordered the "Third Man"; should be here soon.

Nikopol · 01-16-2009, 03:34 AM

additions:

The 400 Blows
The Wages of Fear
El Norte
The Last Metro
In the Realm of the Senses

http://www.criterion.com/library/blu...d/spine_number

dsskid · 01-16-2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

In a notable packaging decision, Criterion’s Blu-ray discs will not be housed in the traditional blue-colored Blu-ray boxes that the major studios have adopted. Nor will they carry the Blu-ray Disc logo. Rather, the Criterion titles will carry a small credit on the back of the box indicating that the title is in the Blu-ray format, and there will be a blue sticker on the shrink wrap indicating the same.

Consumer may have a problem distinguishing the BD from SD. It's probably best if all studios adopt a single type of packaging.

Quote:

All the titles will be priced at approximately the same price point as their standard-def counterparts and include most of the same supplemental materials.

That is great news for the consumer, and will help with BD adoption. I wonder if it will pressure the other studios to follow suit.

Lee Stewart · 01-16-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsskid

That is great news for the consumer, and will help with BD adoption. I wonder if it will pressure the other studios to follow suit.

- That's $39.99 MSRP.

**bruceames** · 01-16-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsskid

Consumer may have a problem distinguishing the BD from SD. It's probably best if all studios adopt a single type of packaging.

That is great news for the consumer, and will help with BD adoption. I wonder if it will pressure the other studios to follow suit.

They are in the same size cases, and there is a big Blu-ray sticker on the front shrink wrap. That should be obvious enough without being required to use bright blue cases. I applaud Criterion for not using those cheap, toyish-looking plastic cases.

**bruceames** · 01-16-2009, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikopol

additions:

The 400 Blows
The Wages of Fear
El Norte
The Last Metro
In the Realm of the Senses

http://www.criterion.com/library/blu...d/spine_number

The first 3 are great films, but I'll be getting all of them as part of my "I'm buying all Criterion Blu-ray because I want to be a film snob and because I don't know what I like anyway and also because they don't use DNR like the other guys" program.

wvradicalman · 01-16-2009, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

They are in the same size cases, and there is a big Blu-ray sticker on the front shrink wrap. That should be obvious enough without being required to use bright blue cases. I applaud Criterion for not using those cheap, toyish-looking plastic cases.

Right, Criterion has used an even cheaper case, one that will not hold up with use. Very surprising.

**bruceames** · 01-17-2009, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvradicalman

Right, Criterion has used an even cheaper case, one that will not hold up with use. Very surprising.

Right, I guess plastic is more durable than cardboard. Maybe if I was playing Blockbuster or having kids play with it, it might not last 50 uses. The disc is still housed in solid plastic and it also has a slip cover. If that's not enough protection, you can buy the blue cases for 50 cents each and the criterion slip cover fits just fine over them just the same.

Nikopol · 01-17-2009, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

The first 3 are great films, but I'll be getting all of them as part of my "I'm buying all Criterion Blu-ray because I want to be a film snob and because I don't know what I like anyway and also because they don't use DNR like the other guys" program.

I like your attitude.

Myself i pretend to have a keen interest in French cinema, so i'm very excited about The Last Metro and 400 Blows. Of course i have a HD DVD called '400 Coups' ... which i've never watched.

I'll probably get each and every Criterion as well, but they have to be on sale first. Me is cheap.

11-26-2008, 12:44 PM	#2
sigill High Def fan Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: United kingdom-Manchester Age: 30 Posts: 2,510	Its interesting that they are not using conventional blu-ray packaging. Personally i would like the Blu-ray logo to be on it somewhere. I wonder whether this is going to be the start of a trend of new packaging? __________________ Panasonic 37" LCD 720p/1080i Sony BDP-S350 Sony BDP-S300 Toshiba XDE-500 DVD player Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 AVR KEF1005.2 speakers Latest HD movies bought - Coraline - American Gangster - Moonraker 97 Blu-rays

11-27-2008, 11:14 PM	#4
jjufon CMMS Junkie Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Frisco Tx Posts: 965	i ordered the "Third Man"; should be here soon. __________________ JJufon

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11-26-2008, 02:17 PM	#3
bruceames Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: San Rafael, CA Posts: 10,127	Thank you Criterion for not using the Jolly Rancher Blu cases.

01-16-2009, 03:34 AM	#5
Nikopol Uwe Boll's my hero Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Maelstrom Blu-rays: 14 Age: 4 Posts: 6,374	additions: The 400 Blows The Wages of Fear El Norte The Last Metro In the Realm of the Senses http://www.criterion.com/library/blu...d/spine_number