Help me with Kurosawa Criterion Boxed set
 

After putting off buying any Kurosawa titles due to wanting to finish off my Godard and Hitchcock films first, I finally cracked down and bought Dreams, Red Beard, and Rashomon. Now I'm debating getting the set but I hear rumors about a new translation of subtitles for Seventh Samauri, and I'm also worried about them releasing the rest in anamorphic discs. Should I go ahead and pick this up or would it be safer to wait a while?

Also, does anyone think that Criterion will do some sort of trade-in for the loyal fans who own those pre-Insomnia titles if they do rerelease them in anamorphic discs, or will we have to buy them all over again? This is my hold up in purchasing High and Low.

Thanks!

I highly doubt they will offer a trade-in. When they recently re-released Beauty and the Beast they didn't. Maybe they figure, if you can afford to buy their discs, you wouldn't care about some trade-in or rebate.

I'd get the boxset. You can enjoy the movies now, while the rumors still swirl around. If/when they do re-release the Kurosawas, you can always do eBay and make alittle money since when you get the boxset, it's like buying 3 and getting one free.

Criterion rumors usually equal years and years of waiting. And sometimes with no results -- Evita, Trainspotting.

They have double-dipped exactly once (Beauty and the Beast) in 6 years. (Well, sort of twice, if you count 400 Blows.) I wouldn't avoid any existing Criterions in the hopes of a remastered edition.

I would *never* hold off on a purchase because of a rumored Criterion. Grab the box now. As TomOpus says, you can enjoy them now, and always throw your Seven Samurai DVD on eBay if they announce a new one (probably making a profit).

I've thought about all that, what mostly nags me is that they put something on their webpage about a work in progress of rereleasing their non-anamorphic titles, and all 4 of those in the boxed set could fall under that, plus I put a lot more stock in the rumor of the new Seven Samauri translationthan the others...although I guess I could always buy the new version...wait until Best Buy doesnt have any more in stock, put my old disc in and take it back claiming it skips and they'll just give me a store credit for the cost :).

Do not, repeat DO NOT listen to bboisvert! There will be a rerelease of Seven Samurai with improved picture and subs sometime in the future. Criterion/Cowboy commisioned a new translation of Seven Samurain for their traveling retrospective.

Bottom line, don't buy the box set. Better Seven Samurai is comming, Yojimbo looks like crap, it looks worse than crap, Sanjuro is only marginally better. Just buy Hidden Fortress, which is anamorphic and looks gorgeous, and wait for the rest.

When you're talking about Criterion "sometime in the future" could mean 2005. Or 2006. Or sometimes never. Who knows?

Does Criterion have a release date for an upgraded Seven Samurai? No. Have they even officially announced it? No. Therefore, I think it is pretty sound advice to not skip the current (perfectly fine) disc and wait. Kinda like those people who didn't buy Goodfellas back in 1997 because a SE was "in the planning stages". Almost 6 years later, people are still waiting... Why go without a great film for years and years because someone, somewhere is vaguely thinking of putting out a new edition?

I don't see why you should be telling anyone to "DO NOT" listen to me. I think the advice that you could get the box now and then just put a disc up on eBay when a re-release is actually announced makes a ton of sense. Certainly more sense than skipping the thing entirely.

I did exactly that. Why pay for a sub-par, non-anamorphic, bare-bones, flipper when you know it's from a director who loves doing commentaries and special editions? That's stupid.

As far as 7 Samurai: great disc! But since EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THIS BOARD craps a brick every time a studio double dips I can't recomend anyone buy it. If you're not going to be heart broken when the re-release comes along, then go ahead and spend your money. But rest assured IT IS comming.

screw that and buy the box. you can dump the 7S later....why wait? and pick up the new Masterworks of Ran and enjoy. just my opinion though...I dont wait for much, life is too short and besides, you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of the box set.

I disagree with this. (The picture and sound quality is great, I've watched it 5+ times, gotten more than my money's worth, and will easily get back the $$$ I spent by putting this on eBay when the new title is officially announced.)

However, even though I disagree with your opinion, I wouldn't call it "stupid". Nor would I instruct people to "not, repeat NOT" listen to you. But that's just me.

Non-anamorphic=No Sale
Flipper=No Sale

And you're telling me I would have got my money's worth for $15 bucks?

And you're telling me I would have got my money's worth for $15 bucks?

Yes, you would have, on the basis of the movie alone, and the fact that it's never been released in a better format or presentation.

No, I'm saying that *I* got my money's worth. I only paid about $6-7 or so...

And, yes, if someone:
* paid $15
* watched it several times over 6 years
* and then sold it for $15: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=2289

I'd say they got their money's worth.


Pants, my main point was that you have every right to not buy non-anamorphic titles and not buy flippers. And you have every right to advise xxjobseyes to do the same. But telling people that their valid (but differing) opinions are stupid or telling others to not listen to another poster really don't seem to be in the spirit of DVDTalk... especially when these opinions were specifically requested.

I just got the Kurosawa set a few days ago (click my DVD profiler link and you'll see they're my latest additions), but I haven't watched any of them yet. I did not hesitate about getting the set (even in light of a possible double dip) for a couple of reasons. First of all, I don't have a TV cabable of displaying anamorphic video, and sadly I probably will not be able to afford one in the near future. Second, all 4 of the movies were filmed in or before 1962, so I don't think that anamorphic video will be able to improve the video quality so much as to be worth waiting for a possible re-release of the set. That's just my opinion, though.

If I was you, I'd just buy them now. I bought them about a month ago, and I'm very happy with this purchase.

Well 1, i'm a poor college student, so i cant just go dump $75 again like it was nothing if it's re-released. Secondly, I'm not even worried about Hidden Fortress, Sanjuro and Yojimbo's non-anamorphic, but more importantly the remastered and re translated Seven Samauri that was in the theaters last fall....I suppose replacing one isn't too bad, but i've heard the quality on the others isn't even worth owning them but rather a rental.

I have almost purchased this set a couple of times as well, but haven't because of the rumor. My take is this though. I have so many freakin' DVDs that I have never watched that for now I can wait for quite some time before buying them.

It's worth noting that The Hidden Fortress is a wonderful disc w/ excellent anamorphic picture and great sound. Well worth picking up alone, but avoid the box set

spyzdope- Whether it's 1962 or not, anamorphic or not, just compare Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo. Yojimbo couldn't be saved if it were anamorphic. It's made from a crummy print. As for old movies being in anamorp, well I wouldn't want Ben Hur (1959) if it weren't anamorphic.

How about if i buy it and they do re-released Seven Samauri someone buys mine from the boxed set from me? :)

I've got that sorta of obsessive compulsive collectors thing in me (plus i'm a film student) so I'm trying to finish off collecting everything by Godard, Hitchcock, Truffaut, Kurosawa, Jim Jarmusch, Kubrick, Scorsese and Lynch at the moment...so there's just a few missing from each director, and the boxed set and high and low is missing from whats released of kurosawa.

Or you could always take Seven Samauri and head over to the Exchange Forum and trade w/a fellow DVDTalker :)