ProfessorEcho

Hey, forgive me if this has been discussed previously on these boards, I'm new here, but does anyone know what the deal is behind Criterion DVD's lousy covers? They usually have great titles, great transfers, good extras (sorry, I don't agree with them that RSDL dual layer or close captioning is an "extra"), but, man, so many of their covers blow. They do have some good ones, but then they have ones like SOLARIS or THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. What the hell were they thinking?

RyoHazuki

I would say that 99% of Criterion covers are excellent. Almost good enough to make me want to buy some old indie foreign flick I've never heard of just because the covers are so damn cool.

farleyisgod

the Throne of Blood cover cancels out any and all bad covers

ProfessorEcho

LMAO @ "99%" Sure they are.

PopcornTreeCt

I concur with RyoHazuki. There isn't a single bad Criterion cover.

SNKapcom

I personally hate the slipcover to The Royal Tenenbaums, but the cover to the actual case is very cool.

GaryEA

They were thinking outside of the box.

We're all familiar with what most studios with produce - you'll get either a Photoshop job, a variation of the original poster art, or sometimes, you'll get the original art.

With Criterion, they go in a completely different direction. They know the major studios will do what I just described above, so they try to try to come up with something unique. They don't try to be commercial, but more dramatic.

Most of the covers they come up with are more about the tone of the movie than selling the actors or the title (save "The Rock" and "Armegeddon"). "Solaris" has a great cover, but that's just me. I'm not a fan of the "Dangerous Game" cover, but I don't think it "blows" either.

My favorite of thiers is the "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" - a clear outer sleeve with text and art over more original art. It summed up everything you could expect inside, both the film and Burroughs' take.

Just my two cents.

Gore_Hound_X

Chasing Amy looks like a "studio" cover. They even used a pic of Affleck without a beard. They should have just used the pic of Joey Lauren Adams and left the "others" off.

ProfessorEcho

GaryEA gives a very good analysis of the situation. I think you are right and I guess I can't fault CRITERION for trying to distance their brand from everyone else. I would prefer they stick to using the original poster art or alternate poster art, as they have in SPARTACUS and TIME BANDITS, simply because I am always interested in seeing how a particular film was promoted to the general public. Like the trailer I find it an integral a part of the original film's overall package.

I did say originally that there are some good CRITERION covers, but other ones just leave me scratching my head. To reiterate the example of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME a film whose original posters were beautiful works of art (reproduced faithfully on the old Roan laser disc edition). I will respect them more for, as GaryEA says, "thinking outside of the box," but sometimes they do have a snobby attitude about it all, which does not always translate into a superior product or presentation.

TopHatCat64

How is trying to push the envelope with good design being snobby?

They have an excellent design team and they're gonna use them to the best of their abilities and that sure isn't going to be by just using the original poster art (which they do occasionally).

Their percentage of bad covers is right around the percentage of good/unique covers from all the other studios.

DVD Josh

I will say this forever - Traffic.

Count_Zero

Do you mean that you do like the TRAFFIC cover? or don't?

I really dig their approach. They go for something more simple, elegant and refined than the regular studios.

The only covers they've put out that I can honestly say I don't care for are SISTERS and DO THE RIGHT THING.

Some of my favorites:

KWAIDAN
L'AVVENTURA
ONIBABA
THRONE OF BLOOD (I concur -- this is their best one yet!)
TRAFFIC
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
THE WAGES OF FEAR
IKIRU
THE KILLER
NAKED LUNCH
BOB LE FLAMBEUR
NOTORIOUS
SPELLBOUND
CRIES AND WHISPERS
ROBOCOP
THE VANISHING

Mikael79

Even though I'm a huge fan of the film, I have never liked the cover for Fritz Lang's "M"

I'm a much bigger fan of the cover to the recently released Region 2 version put out by Eureka. Since Criterion is reissuing a new restored version of "M", I'm sure they'll update the cover as well.

Damfino

Criterion's worst cover?

It's got to be The Bank Dick

Simpson Purist

I'm not a fan of the covers for Chasing Amy and Silence of the Lambs. Then again, the main poster art for Silence is such a classic that it would be hard to top.

ProfessorEcho

I tell you what: Since I don't display my DVDs the cover is not that important anyway, but I do think if Criterion or any other company would at least depict the film's original poster somewhere with the DVD, whether on the back or in a booklet or as an extra, I wouldn't care what crap they did or did not put on the cover.

Disc-Flipper

Their Last Temptation of Christ cover looks painful.

Psychlowne

Taste of Cherry is pretty weak.

ProfessorEcho

I have to admit some of the early replies to this post had me re-evaluating my idea that Criterion, on the whole, produces some really ugly covers. But just last night I had the opportunity to see their covers for SANJURO, YOJIMBO and the SAMURAI Trilogy. They were all awful. No one is ever going to convince me that a top notch art department actually put any amount of thought or effort into the designs of these covers, to make them stand out from the crowd, or for any reason. The SAMURAI cover photos aren't even in focus; they look like they were taken off of a tv screen. Criterion does have some good covers, I acknowledge that, but they have just as many that look worse than Ben Affleck's hair plugs.

RDYoung

I would say that from a style aspect, criterion covers do exactly what they are supposed to do. Intrigue the viewer. I would also say that given the sheer number of releases that other studios have, that they have made far, far worse covers than anything criterion has ever done, and that many criterion covers stand out among the best.

(not that others haven't made better custom covers--I downloaded a couple for seven samurai and the passion of joan of arc that were just awesome...)

r

Randy Miller III

Ugh...looks like a two-minute rough draft.
Remember the rough for Throne of Blood? At least they went with something else.

With that said, I can name 100 ugly mainstream covers for every ugly Criterion.

Damfino

I take it you haven't seen Le Corbeau have you? This artwork ties in with the movie and I think it's a great cover. Beats floating heads any day.

ProfessorEcho

I admit it, I'm not a fan of too many Criterion covers, but the one for Le Corbeau is excellent. It reminds me of Saul Bass, whose designs I love (Criterion used his work on the SPARTACUS cover).

However, I do think it's silly to compare Criterion covers with DVDs that are released by major studios, as many contributors to this thread have done. The ratio of DVDs released to Criterion releases prohibits any kind of accurate contrast between cover designs. Many of WB's releases have great covers, but the sheer number of them means there are an equal number or more inferior designs. My contention that too many of Criterion covers stink is not comparison based.

jough

Some of their earlier covers were less inspired, but in the past two years they've put out some of the best looking work I've ever seen.

Look at some of these recent and upcoming covers:

LasVegasMichael

The SOTL is a lame cover in my opinion, especially when compared to the SE or original One sheet.

Personally, I wish ALL dvd covers were original one sheets, but that's just me.