Hi there,

There was a site some time ago that made a nice comparison between the two DVD editions of this great movie: the one put out by Criterion and the other made by Toho in Japan.

Does anyone happen to have the link to that side-by-side comparison? I tried google, but I got swamped with bad links...

were you looking for this perhaps?

edit: were there not some rumours of a CC rerelease of seven samurai in 04/05?

You can also find a comparison here :-

http://www.dvdbeaver.com

under the DVD comparison section

I once saw a DTS edition of Seven Samurai: Criterion at the used section of FYE...wish I had bought it...but I cant seem to find any info about it...has anyone heard of such a thing?

a dts criterion version is a bootleg

Either that or a rare test pressing that contains the lost DTS track for this excellent classic.

DTS track for one-channel... what's the point? You don't need to use a lossy compression scheme for a mono track; LPCM would be better. (Bootleg or no.)

I just found it really weird since I had never heard of a DTS Seven Samurai...

I'm still hoping Seven Samurai gets re-released this year!

I heard Criterion is redoing the subtitles (I assume to make them more accurate). Anyone heard of any other differences?

yes... the DVD Beaver comparison (with screenshots) is what I was looking for. Thanks!

If Criterion is redoing this, will it come with a better transfer?

Absolutely, and from better elements (which was the main problem with the current release--they were stuck using the substandard elements Toho provided). Most of us expect a definitive 2-disc set, but whether we see it in 2004 or 2005 is anyone's guess.

Unlike Ikiru and Rashomon, the original negative for The Seven Samurai still exists, so I hope they'll be able to work from a sterling interpositive.

Criterion is supposedly on the case, but they will take their time and put this out when they're done with it.

I'll wait. I have the current version and my bootleg DTS version* to tide me over until then.



* I had bought SS: CC on Ebay thinking it was the real deal (since the auction claimed it was the real item - no mention of a DTS track in the listing). After filing complaints with Ebay, Paypal, the FBI, and the AMPAA, no one seemed to care or be willing to help me get my money back. The FBI would have helped except the seller was in Canada.

So, my only recourse was to provide negative feedback for the seller. Big whoop. But I opened it just to see if there really was a DTS track. I was actually kinda impressed - it was a real DVD-9 dual-layer factory made disc with the full Criterion menus, etc. The image quality is exactly the same as the real disc (since they probably just copied the VOBs) and the DTS track, while not sounding any better, was at least a true DTS track (albeit with no separation).

In any case, I'd avoid the bootleg and pick up the current version if you're unwilling to wait for the eventual re-release.