I did a search and came across like 25 pages and another forum which wsn't much help. Could someone give me a short explanation of what the # on the spine of the Criterion Collection DVD's mean? example: 2 on Seven Samurai? Thanks in advance. I will delete this post once answered so as not to repeat.

The first DVD they issued had a 1 on the spine.... the second DVD they issued had a 2 on the spine .... the third DVD they issued had a 3 on the spine ..

Not really that challenging of a problem to figure out....

You brighten my day. thank you.

Okay I'll admit that that was really funny, but to help the guy out at least . . .


. . . you can get all kinds of information on the Criterion Collection here: http://www.criterioncollection.com/.

#1 was not released first. At least 10 Criterions had been released prior to Grand Illusion.

I believe it is the order they announced the releases, not the actual order the DVDs were released.

If you look at the release dates of numbers close to each other you'll see they're all over the place, only generally getting later as the number increases. For obvious reasons.

I also seem to remember something about Grand Illusion being denoted as #1 because it was considered their most important release or the best movie ever made, something like that.

Isn't there any connection between the numbering of titles on LD and DVD? I thought that was the reason some of the numbers were all over the place because they were fitting in with the LD numbering as well.

but don't quote me that one.

Jackskeleton-

(29.95 posts per day)



will you be the very first dvdtalk god?

No, a combination of small ball fantasy threads and tweaky already passed me on that one.

... and just in case you don't know who tweaky is it is twikoff. He has 44,009 posts as of this one.

BTW, it is kinda ironic how jack spelt interesting wrong under interests in his profile. He probably already knows since it has been like that for the longest time.

Oh, my gammer is just another one of those nice dvdtalk staples you can always count on being a constant. So if you can't find a flaw in my arguments or stance on something, turn to the spelling.

P.S. you need to also mention the F.A.Q about the misspelling of Skellington in my user name itself.. that's a common question that hasn't shown up in a while.

The spine numbers mean keep buying them all.

they are all part of the grand combination that is required to get into heaven....therefore you MUST buy all of them unless you want your soul to burn in hell for all eternity....

gotta catch them all..

Using a Moonstone, I evolved my Armageddon into a La Règle du Jeu. I sense a Thunder badge in my future!

The Spine numbers are pretty...thats all you need to know...

Actually, they intended to release it first, but during production a better quality film negative was discovered, so they went back and made the DVD from it, delaying the release by several months. Ironically, almost the exact same thing happened with the release of Rules of the Game.

Pokemon humor! ...I'm such a geek...

How can you tell the number of posts one has posted? I'd like to know how many posts I've posted...


EDIT: Nevermind, I found out...

A subtle correction... They assign the spine number when they begin production on a title. Since they originally intended Grand Illusion to be #1, they began production on it first, and as people have posted it took longer than expected. Thats why it was released along side much much higher spine numbers.

They put the spine number on the DVDs so that you would want to collect them all. A few missing numbers in the midst of the collection stands out like a sore thumb for a collector.

Exactly. Just a marketing device to get obsessive collectors to buy them all, even if they aren't interested in some of the movies.

Not that there's anything wrong with collectors, but that's why criterion put the numbers on their IMO.

Thanks for the clarification about Grand Illusion.

As you can see from the list below, the release date of the early Criterions doesn't have much to do with the spine number.

#1 Grand Illusion 11/23/1999
#2 Seven Samurai 3/16/1999
#3 The Lady Vanishes 5/27/1998
#4 Amarcord 4/14/1998
#5 The 400 Blows 3/31/1998
#6 Beauty and the Beast 6/3/1998
#7 A Night to Remember 5/16/1998
#8 The Killer 3/30/1998
#9 Hard Boiled 3/30/1998
#10 Walkabout 10/1/1999
#11 The Seventh Seal 2/2/1999
#12 This Is Spinal Tap 7/8/1998
#13 Silence of the Lambs 7/14/1998
#14 Samurai I 7/21/1998
#15 Samurai II 7/21/1998
#16 Samurai III 7/21/1998
#17 Saló 8/12/1998
#18 The Naked Kiss 8/26/1998
#19 Shock Corridor 8/26/1998
#20 Sid & Nancy 10/28/1999
#21 Dead Ringers 10/14/1998
#22 Summertime 9/9/1998
#23 RoboCop 9/29/1998
#24 High and Low 10/14/1998
#25 Alphaville 4/4/2000
#26 The Long Good Friday 12/1/1998
#27 Flesh for Frankenstein 12/15/1998
#28 Blood for Dracula 12/15/1998
#29 Picnic at Hanging Rock 10/20/1998
#30 M 10/20/1998

Actually, nearly every DVD has a spine number.

You're just less likely to buy every release from Warner Bros. or MGM.

Mix 'em in with your other DVD's and sort them alphabetically and you won't even notice that there are missing numbers.

To me, Blade runner will always be #19.
I'm still holding out to see if #325 will still be trainspotting...