Jamezuva

Ok, I have hopelessly become addicted to Criterion dvds like many of you and was wondering what you guys suggest. Currently I have SOTL, Robocop, Rushmore, Charade, the Seventh Seal, and Last Temptation of Christ on pre-order. I just watched Night of Cabiria today but don't really feel like buying it and I plan to watch the Red Shoes in a couple days too. But, my college library doesn't have all of the criterion titles I'm interested in looking into. What other really good films should I get from the Criterion collection. Is Insomnia good?..I haven't seen it but I do like suspense. I'm also a Hitchcock fan but have never seen 39 step or the Lady Vanishes...how do these compare to his more popular American works? How bout the Seven Samurai? I haven't seen it yet, but just at a glance it doesn't seem like a movie with much of a re-watchability factor...of course I could be totally wrong, but that's just my impression since it seems to be such a deep movie. Thanks a lot guys

J-Flow

For sure get 39 Steps, I can't personally comment on Lady Vanishes, but I plan to get it, it is Hitchcock, so its a safe bet. Also highly recommended (from me) would be The Third Man, that is about all I can comment on, oh and if you like violence (I assume because you have Robocop), go to a retail store and pick up Hard Boiled before they all run out, pay retail for it, online retailers are all but out. It is out of print.

bboisvert

The Third Man is probably the best DVD I own. Fantastic supplements and (IMHO) one of the top-ten films ever.

Insomnia is also a great movie and if you like Hitchcock, you won't be disappointed with The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes.

As far as not having re-watch value, I could watch The Seven Samurai over and over again. I'm not sure what you mean by "deep" (do you just mean "subtitled"?) -- it's just a very, very well-constructed film. The story itself is rather simple. (Although the commentary helps with some of the historical stuff that you may otherwise miss out on...)

Those 4 should be great additions to your own personal Criterion Collection.

nemein

2nd the recommendations for Hard Boiled and Seven Samurai. If you like the whole Samurai genre then I also recommend Yojimbo and Sanjuro. A couple of good Gilliam films are Time Bandits (although not everyone likes this film ) and Brazil (which is a must have if you are a fan of Gilliam or the movie at all. [It's a 3 DVD set w/ 2 versions of the film and 1 DVD of production notes ].

I wish I could recommend The Third Man but Bigstar is still holding my hostage (or something... ).

Jamezuva

Heh..silly me..I totally forgot to list the Third Man as one of the ones I have (I don't have it in my hands but it's in the mail as we speak). I saw Time Bandits recently and didn't like it much unfortunately...I'm not a big Gilliam fan so I didn't care for Brazil that much either. Still don't quite get the hype surrounding that movie...I thought it was extremely hard to follow, but I've only watched it once. I've just ordered the 39 steps from reel on all the recommendations for that dvd. And I'll probably get Seven Samurai too, but I'm gonna watch it first. What is another modern suspense movie that compares similarly to Insomnia?? I'm also thinking of getting the Unbearable Lightness of Being too since it seems like a good dvd. Thanks again for all the feedback

Jamezuva

quote:<HR>Originally posted by bboisvert:
[B]
As far as not having re-watch value, I could watch The Seven Samurai over and over again. I'm not sure what you mean by "deep" (do you just mean "subtitled"?) -- it's just a very, very well-constructed film.<HR>

I meant that it might be a very emotional or just one of those movie experiences where you think the movie is extremely good but it's just so involving that you might get drained if you watch it too much...

Neitzl

I loved The Red Shoes. I never saw it, but heard great things about it. The disc sounded jam packed, and it is. I bought it sight unseen, and completely loved it. I was shocked at how much I really liked it! And this with me going in with preconceived notions, and it surpassed them!
I like the 39 steps more than The Third Man. Both are good, but 39 steps , for me, is much more entertaining.
Insomnia is really really good. Really! It's a great buy. Seven Samurai, I finally saw when I bought it, but didn't really enjoy it that much, I hope upon repeated viewings, I'll find it more enjoyable.
Try and get Spinal Tap, but don't overpay of course. I pretty much love all of my criterions, and won't ever trade them, unless I get doubles somehow.
Hope this helped....sorta.
Neitzl


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My DVD List

The Zizz

Oops. I was going to recommend Brazil.

Nathan Robinson

The suplemental material and improved video quality in Criterion's Silence of the Lambs makes it worth the extra couple bucks over the original DVD.

cloud

What about Monty Python:Life of Brian Criterion? Is that worth getting?

Joel Mathis

If you're a fan on any level of Monty Python, Life of Brian is worth getting. It's a marvellous disk packed full of special features including two commentaries. And of course, the film looks better than it has in years.

pastey

More votes for Sanjuro, Yojimbo, and Insomnia.

I would also recommend Wages of Fear, another foreign film. Many people consider it the finest suspense film ever made. I think that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but it is a damn good movie.

bboisvert

Ahhh... I forgot all about Wages of Fear. A great, suspenseful film. Highly recommended.

Like Insomnia, this one does not have any supplements, but (again, like Insomnia) it is priced less than most Criterions.

The Zizz

The Criterion Life Of Brian disc is great--one of my favorites.

redsoxwillwinagain!

In order of purchase: Silence of the Lambs(2 copies in case I damage the original), Robocop, Armageddon, Brazil, Charade, The 39 Steps, The Third Man, Life of Brian, Hard Boiled (6 Copies), Sid and Nancy, Seven Samurai, Samurai (I, II, and III).

Awaiting Shipment of: Amarcord, Insomnia, The Lady Vanishes, The Long Good Friday, and Rushmore
(Thank you AMEX for the unlimited $10 off $25)

To Order Soon: For All Mankind, The Red Shoes

My favorite is "Charade." This movie has so many twists in it that I probably blamed every character for the *******. (I won't spoil it) It stars Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Walter Matthau, and some other guys. The film looks amazing compared to a recent showing I caught a glimpse of this past New Year's Eve on PAX TV. In my (flawed ) opinion it is a better movie than both "The 39 Steps" and "The Third Man" However, they're all great films. (I'm only 23, so feel free to harshly disagree with my opinions on older films.)

Overall, the Criterion Ed.s are great values when you compare the quality of the transfer and the supplements included to the generic versions.

I'm stocking up on Hard Boiled, b/c I'm hoping to acquire The Killer and This is Spinal Tap.

(I can still picture that copy of "This is Spinal Tap" sitting in the top rack at the far end of the first aisle of a Best Buy. This was just days after I learned it was going OOP. Well it's a year later and now that I'm a college graduate I know better. I'll most likely have to pay three times orig. retail value to get "This is Spinal Tap")

ernestrp

I bought my first Criterion title last weekend, Peeping Tom and love it.

Gamblor187

Although it doesn't contain a lot of supplements like other Criterions, Fritz Lang's "M" is an excellent film.

jim

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http://www.dvdtracker.com/~gamblor187.asp

Big Dave

Now I may be in the minority as far liking the actual movie, but the Armaggedon Criterion is very good. It boasts two seperate audio commentary tracks, not to mention a whole seperate disk just for extras. I just spent the last two days listening to all the commentaries and extras and it was really worth the money. It offers something different then many of the serious titles and should be a part of every Criterion library.

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"You think just 'cause a guy reads comics he can't start some s***?" -- Brodie Bruce

cactus25

Life of Brian is my favorite DVD. The commentary tracks are almost as entertaining as the film, in my opinion anyway.

Hard Boiled is probably my second favorite.
The Killer is also awesome, but I only have that on LD, so it doesn't count I guess.

Dravensolo

Big Dave....you shouldn't be in the minority!
Armaggedon is one of the few DVDs I would
actually buy on Criterion (on the way),
and it is what DVD was intended for. It's
one of the best all around movies I have
seen in quite a while. It's not a trendy
low budget movie or Oscar winning title that
all the so called "artsy" people are into now, but a true FX thrillride. The perfect
Criterion title...picture,sound, and extras!

Jamezuva

Armageddon??? you are suggesting I spend money on that movie?? *shudder*...

Neitzl

Diabolique.
Barebones, but GREAT movie

Mac

Armageddon the movie does "suck the big one" as Michael Bay said of something else in the disc's commentary, but the DVD is actually very good and is almost worth getting even if you hated the movie. I hadn't seen Armageddon when I bought the Criterion disc (but I got it for like $13 from checkout so I can't complain too much). The talk about the disc here made me take it out again for the first time since buying it, and I watched the commentary with the director, producer, Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. It was actually quite entertaining.

First of all it shows what a jerk Michael Bay probably is in real life, but Ben Affleck's constant teasing about the plot holes and inconsistancies in the movie were worth the price of the disc to me. He was hilarious. He said almost everything that I had been thinking about the movie (which is interesting since I thought it was moronic). Funny that they let him get away with that, but it made the commentary much better than if it had just been Michael "I am god" Bay talking the whole time. Add to that all of the other supplementary stuff about the special effects and the excellent transfer, and it's actually worth getting, or at least renting.

One thing that I hadn't noticed before is the liner notes written by a film-school professor of Bay's. She spends the entire time defending Bay and the film and talking about how great it was. "Despite what you may have heard, Armageddon is a work of art..."

Dravensolo

Jamezuva... I guess you are shuddering in joy
over Armageddon. After all, you did buy (hopefully cheap)Robocop on Criterion !

John Sinnott

I haven't seen the Criterion, 'cause I just ordered mine, but I have to say that Seven Samauri is a fantastic film. I could (and will) watch it over and over again.

I also really liked "Life of Brian" great print, and wonderful extras.

-Videophile