Quoting synner_man:

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Quoting Alien Redrum:

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Don't even get me started on their non-anamorphic titles. 

Their non-anamorphic titles... from almost ten years ago?  That's about how far you'd have to go to find them.  At the same time, you could find films from every major company that were also non-anamorphic.  Hell, Fox has yet to release The Abyss or True Lies in anamorphic DVD, let alone some of the obscure films that Criterion released in that way.  And Criterion fixed several of those early titles with new special editions, with more in the works.

For the price they charge, there is no excuse. For a company that gets so much props and supposedly pride themselves on video and audio restoration, there is zero reason why any of their titles should have been non-anamorphic.

I'll definitely give you major companies not doing the same, because they have no excuse, as well.

My biggest beef with Criterion is their price point for what they offer. Comparatively, they aren't doing anything spectacular with their editions to justify such a high MSRP. I don't buy the "small company" argument, as there are many small companies that release packed DVDs of lesser known films that don't charge as much as Criterion: Dark Sky Films, Anchor Bay (back in the day), Blue Underground, etc.

I'll give credit where credit is due, without Criterion's laserdisc releases, special edition DVDs would have taken longer to arrive I think. They did pack a lot of punch back in the day. But now their releases aren't as impressive to me when you take into account different regions and price. Their price is no longer justified.

I guess both companies are changing.

Quoting Alien Redrum:

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For the price they charge, there is no excuse. For a company that gets so much props and supposedly pride themselves on video and audio restoration, there is zero reason why any of their titles should have been non-anamorphic.

This was very early days of the DVD format. Widescreen TVs barely existed and the vast majority of players couldn't scale the image for a standard TV, only throw away every fourth line. Criterion made the decision to do non-anamorphic because they would look better than down-converted anamorphic transfers. You could argue this was short-sighted, but it wasn't just a cost saving measure so they could reuse LD transfers. The went anamorhpic as of Nov 16th, 1999 with Life of brian. Did you have a DVD player yet then?

Quoting AESP_pres:

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Quoting synner_man:

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cheap '70s and '80s horror films

A little bit judgemental no? I watch this genre of cinema (seventies exploitation) and I sure don't find it cheap. Remember all the taste are in the eyes of the watcher, you don't see me writing that most of the films released by Criterion are pretentious overated sleep enducing borefest

I didn't say anything about being cheap in terms of quality, but in terms of production (low budget films with limited demand) and cost to license.  That's what the issue was about, i.e. why can those companies release their films at a lower price.

Also of note: take a look at my collection.  I bought most of the output from Blue Underground, Dark Sky and Anchor Bay, as well.  But there is a reason I only paid $15 for a copy of Fulci's Conquest versus $25 for a copy of Melville's Le Cercle Rouge.

Quoting synner_man:

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Quoting Alien Redrum:

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I'll definitely give you major companies not doing the same, because they have no excuse, as well.

My biggest beef with Criterion is their price point for what they offer. Comparatively, they aren't doing anything spectacular with their editions to justify such a high MSRP. I don't buy the "small company" argument, as there are many small companies that release packed DVDs of lesser known films that don't charge as much as Criterion: Dark Sky Films, Anchor Bay (back in the day), Blue Underground, etc.

But look at the films that those companies release: cheap, lesser known films that cost far less to license.  What do you think the cost of licensing of recognized masterpieces of cinema like Seven Samurai or La Strada might cost versus the cheap '70s and '80s horror films that are the staple of those smaller countries?  They probably pay in licensing 5 to 10 times more for those films than those smaller companies.

And as for whether they are doing something "spectacular" with their bonus features, I completely disagree.  The features that Criterion put together are designed to be at a film school level, rather than a series of bonus features just thrown together.  This costs more, so the price reflects that.  And they are not hurting, as their year-end sales numbers showed that they were one of the few DVD companies to do well in the bad economy.  That is due to the loyal fanbase that is willing to pay for the quality they deliver.

I would hardly call films like Halloween, Dawn of the Dead, Hellraiser or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre "lesser known". These are staple films of the horror genre that have a wide base of fans. I'd argue that even people not big fans of the horror genre have at least heard of these movies and most likely seen at least Halloween. I'd even argue that the films I mention are more well known than a good chunk of Criterion's catalog. I would feel comfortable saying that getting the license to some of the films AB has released in the past is on par with Criterion's costs, because let's be realistic, your average person has heard of Halloween before La Strada.

When I say they aren't doing anything spectacular, I mean it in the comparative sense. At a time, yes, they were the end all be all with their features, but companies have caught up to them. Take White Dog for example. I have that disc, and you can't tell me that those features found on it justify a $27.49 price tag (currently at Amazon for that). It's an awesome movie, sure, but damn, the features are sorely lacking. The price does not reflect those features at all.  Yes, Criterion puts out some feature laden discs, but they also don't, and the ones that are light in features should be a $14.95 disc.

I will definitely agree with the loyal fan base. Criterion is brilliant at marketing (re: spine numbers) and quickly -- and again, deservedly -- established a name for themselves, but I also feel they take advantage of those same fans by putting out discs that are lacking at an exorbitant price. The Long Good Friday is a great example of this. There is no good reason why they haven't lowered the MSRP on it, especially since the R2 release absolutely crushes it in special features and can be had for under $15. And, for some reason, this is justifiable to the company's fans.

Quoting Ace:

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The went anamorhpic as of Nov 16th, 1999 with Life of brian. Did you have a DVD player yet then?

Sure did. Bought my first player in April of '99.

Unfortunately, it was a Sony.

Quoting synner_man:

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They did, back in September of 2006, both in the 3 disc set and a single disc version (since discs 2 and 3 of the original set were unchanged).

I believe the only ones that weren't re-released anamorphic were things like Robocop, This is Spinal Tap and Silence of the Lambs where they lost the rights.

Quoting Alien Redrum:

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...
I would hardly call films like Halloween, Dawn of the Dead, Hellraiser or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre "lesser known". These are staple films of the horror genre that have a wide base of fans. I'd argue that even people not big fans of the horror genre have at least heard of these movies and most likely seen at least Halloween. I'd even argue that the films I mention are more well known than a good chunk of Criterion's catalog. I would feel comfortable saying that getting the license to some of the films AB has released in the past is on par with Criterion's costs, because let's be realistic, your average person has heard of Halloween before La Strada.
...

Let's be realistic. La Strada won an Oscar for best film (the first ever for Foreign Language Film). I suspect it is at least as widely known worldwide as Halloween... at least among filmgoers who occasionally watch films outside the horror/fantasy/SF genre.

Criterion keeps great films available. The Red Shoes, many Kurosawa films, The Steel Helmet... many hundreds of films every film student needs to have seen at least once... that no one else will market to average film lovers. To judge Star Wars as a classic film without having seen The Hidden Fortress, or The Magnificent Seven without The Seven Samurai, or the man with no name westerns without Yojimbo and Sanjuro... and yet, who has them available in the US without Criterion?

If you love these remakes (and you should), knowing the originals is vital. I like Clueless more having read Emma.

Quoting samuelrichardscott:

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Quoting synner_man:

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Fox has yet to release The Abyss or True Lies in anamorphic DVD, let alone some of the obscure films that Criterion released in that way.  And Criterion fixed several of those early titles with new special editions, with more in the works.

Fox released The Abyss anamorphically in China through Excel Media and if you want an anamorphic copy of True Lies, just but it from any other country. I don't know if you are or not (can't be arsed looking) but you can go multi-region for the price of a couple of Criterions.

You really hate your black bars don't you Sam.