AfterDawn: News

Criterion begins its Blu-ray support

The Criterion Collection, the leading distributor of classic cinema, has announced that it will begin its Blu-ray support this year with at least 13 confirmed titles.

The announcement, through the company's official email newsletter, says that the first releases will hit retail shelves in the Q3 of this year.



The thirteen confirmed titles are 'The Third Man,' 'Bottle Rocket,' 'Chungking Express,' 'The Man Who Fell to Earth,' 'El Norte,' 'The 400 Blows,' 'Gimme Shelter,' 'The Complete Monterey Pop,' 'Contempt,' 'Walkabout,' 'For All Mankind,' 'The Wages of Fear,' and the 'The Last Emperor.'

Criterion adds that the new editions will feature "glorious high-definition picture and sound," and all the special and supplement content of their DVD cousins.

Another welcome situation is that of price. Criterion says the movies will cost the same as their standard DVD counterparts, a welcome relief from the expensive pricing of current Blu-ray films.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 May 2008 2:02

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• 8 comments

• iluvendo

  Well if Criterion was to offer their movies in high def, they really did'nt have much choice in the area of formats.

  12.5.2008 02:23 #1

• PantherM

  I've never heard of 80% of those movies.

  12.5.2008 07:51 #2

• juankerr

  Quote:There was no word on exact prices yet for the titles but it is safe to assume they will match the average for other Blu-ray titles on the market.
  DVDBack23: According to Criterion's e-mail to their newsletter subscribers, the prices of their BluRay titles will be the same as the price of the regular DVD releases:
  
  http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/07/crite...ray-in-october/
  
  Quote:They won't charge viewers extra for the privilege. That's right, according to the e-mail that went out to subscribers today, all Blu-ray releases will feature HD picture and sound (no word on what codecs, although we expect nothing but the best considering the company has been mastering and restoring all releases in HD for years now), all the supplemental content and a matching (unspecified) price to their standard DVD editions.This was discussed here too:
  
  http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2/659862

  12.5.2008 08:24 #3

• dblbogey7

  Originally posted by juankerr: DVDBack23: According to Criterion's e-mail to their newsletter subscribers, the prices of their BluRay titles will be the same as the price of the regular DVD releases:juankerr: Just remember that Criterion is not a mass-market label. It's essentially for the serious classic film collector and for serious film students. (That's why most people won't recognize majority of the titles in their catalog.)
  
  As such their regular DVD's are usually multi-disc special collector's editions and costs more than the usual releases from other studios. You definitely won't see them at Walmart.
  
  The fact that their BluRay releases will cost the same as their regular DVD's is a welcome development though.

  12.5.2008 08:39 #4

• rob0t3ch

  Regardless............these movies weren't recorded in anything even close to HD. Can't make "something from nothing" so the picture will be par.............at best. I can see The Rock - Criterion Collection looking pretty good but that is at least somewhat recent, using somewhat recent camera technology. We'll see.

  12.5.2008 12:13 #5

• eatsushi

  Originally posted by rob0t3ch: Regardless............these movies weren't recorded in anything even close to HD. You do realize that a 35mm film negative can hold in excess of 2400 lines of resolution. So converting a film sourced 4K master to HD 1080p is actually a downconversion. Refer to these articles and especially on the 4K mastering of "Blade Runner" for the HD release.
  
  http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defi...rm=4KRESOLUTION
  http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/feature...ml?print_page=y
  
  Quote:4K
  
  Horizontal Aspect
  Cinema Formats Resolution Ratio
  
  Academy Standard 3626x2664 1.37:1
  Academy Flat 3996x2160 1.85:1
  Anamorphic Scope 4096X1714 2.39:1
  
  
  2K
  
  Academy Standard 1828x1332 1.37:1
  Academy Flat 1998x1080 1.85:1
  Anamorphic Scope 2048x858 2.39:1
  Quote:Your typical theatrical film tops out with a rez of 3K to 4K (few actually reach the 4K level). The idea is to squeeze every pixel of detail out of the celluloid, essentially preserving the original movie in perfect digital condition forever. After all, who knows how long high-definition will last before higher definition nudges in? And even now, select digital cinemas are popping up with 4K projection.
  
  Although the 4K master gets downconverted to 2K for Blu-ray and HD DVD, Cookson and Price note that they still get better high-def detail if they work down from 4K.
  

  12.5.2008 12:54 #6

• DVDBack23

  Quote:Quote:There was no word on exact prices yet for the titles but it is safe to assume they will match the average for other Blu-ray titles on the market.
  DVDBack23: According to Criterion's e-mail to their newsletter subscribers, the prices of their BluRay titles will be the same as the price of the regular DVD releases:
  
  http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/07/crite...ray-in-october/
  
  Quote:They won't charge viewers extra for the privilege. That's right, according to the e-mail that went out to subscribers today, all Blu-ray releases will feature HD picture and sound (no word on what codecs, although we expect nothing but the best considering the company has been mastering and restoring all releases in HD for years now), all the supplemental content and a matching (unspecified) price to their standard DVD editions.This was discussed here too:
  
  " target="_blank">http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2/659862
  
  Thank you Juankerr, I will add that to the article.

  12.5.2008 14:02 #7

• beanos66

  Walkabout
  
  Jenny Agutter swimming in the billabong in Hi Def Wow!

  12.5.2008 14:28 #8