Gore_Hound_X

I know it's Criterion and the *have* to charge more for there DVDs to make up for high cost of licensing (sp?) but why is Floating Weeds a 2-Disc set? The extras seem slim and I bet both films could have fit on 1 disc w/extras

Disc One (1934 version)
Audio Commentary By Japanese-Film Historian Donald Richie
New Score Composed by Donald Sosin
Disc Two (1959 version)
Audio Commentary By Film Critic Roger Ebert
Stories Of Floating Weeds, an Essay By Donald Richie About the Differences In Ozu's Two Versions Of the Film (TEXT ONLY)

Randy Miller III

Although I'm sure the primary reason was to allow a higher bitrate, these two films are seperate works and should be presented that way. It's one thing if it's a 'Director's Cut vs. Theatrical version' with seamless branching, but two different movies on one disc just seems a little cheap IMO.

clappj

I don't think both films, along with commentary and other extras could fit on a single disc, without sacrificing video quality.
IMO of course.

jmj713

Let's see: Two films, 89 and 119 minutes (208 minutes combined), 4 audio tracks... Double-disc set is the way to go, I think. I like Criterion 2-disc sets.

Gore_Hound_X

I thought both films together were 119mins, that's they way that DVDEmpire made it sound. I have never seen the films and never heard of this Ozu guy and since the Ebert commentary is/was THE only reason I was going to pick it up I think I might wait and rent it from netflix. At least the other movies with Ebert commentary had tons of other extras at a cheaper price and were movies I had at least heard of, made those purchases easier.

slop101

It's not like they're charging that much more for it - for example, it retails the same as 3 Women (which comes out on the same day), which is only one film on one disc with only a comentary.

jmj713

Ozu is one of the best Japanese directors ever, so get it without hesitation.

drjay

Ozu makes it worth paying for. Ebert is like a bonus. But since CC discs are so much cash (relatively), it might be worth a rental to make sure if you're on Netflix.

DVD Smurf

Quantity with quality so to speak...

Cheers

DVD Smurf

TomOpus

Dang... another thread taking challenging us Criterionphiles...

and I thought we sprayed.



(just kidding, folks)

ThatGuamGuy

I would expect part of the reasoning behind '3 Women' being so expensive is that the film has never been available before on any format because the music rights were never secured beyond "theatrical screening" and, thus, when companies tried to get the film released, they were met with prohibitive costs for music rights.

I know that music rights held up '3 Women', along with 'California Split', 'H.E.A.L.T.H.', and one more Altman [I can't remember if it's 'Quintet' or 'A Perfect Couple'], plus 'Jazz '34' which isn't really a film, per se, but was still held up from release because of music rights. I assume that Criterion took care of the music rights (though I'm going to buy the disc immediately on the off chance that they didn't, and wind up having to recall it ... but I'd buy it immediately anyway, 'cause I love Altman), but I'd also expect that that's why it's more expensive (if only because I can't think of any other reason why it would be).

slop101

Licensed from Fox, maybe? But then again, so was Pickup on South Street - and that had a much lower suggestd retail (along with more extras).

FilmFanSea

Commentary tracks are expensive (around $10,000 each). I'm unaware of any Criterion releases with a full audio commentary track which retails for less than $39.95. (Someone will, of course, correct me if I'm wrong.)

bboisvert

Most Dangerous Game? Chasing Amy?

There are some... although I think your general point is sound. Those titles are the exception.

ftsoh

They are the exceptions because

1. The Most Dangerous Game is a rather short film (70+ minutes). The same reason apply to Shadow and Fog.

2. Chasing Amy is a collaboration with Buena Vista. The same apply to The Royal Tenenbaums.

FilmFanSea

Well, that's what I get for talking off the top of my head ...

For the record, there are at least six Criterions released at a retail of under $30 which have full audio commentaries:

Walkabout
Fishing with John
The Most Dangerous Game
Chasing Amy
Beastie Boys Anthology
The Royal Tenenbaums

But, I agree, that these are the exceptions to the rule.

Also, not all Criterions priced at $39.95 and above have full commentaries, and some of the earliest, higher-priced titles are barebones. To wit:

Amarcord (Spine #4)
High and Low (24)
Great Expectations (31)
Oliver Twist (32)

The Nature Boy

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but I gotta say, the documentaries on Ozu on the Tokyo Story disc are just phenomenal. I don't quite get the magic of Ozu, but I understand more seeing those Docs. Just as comprehensive as you could ever dream to ask for on Ozu, and if you are a fan, completely worth the price for the docs alone, never mind Tokyo Story.

Pants

slop101

Hey, if that's what it takes for him to be exposed to some Ozu, then I say great.

jough

Admittedly, the Criterion set for Tokyo Story was my first viewing of an Ozu film. I plan on picking up this set when it's released.

Not only are there two versions of the film (yes, both are feature-length and at three and a half hours long for the two of them, there's no way they'd fit on a single platter, along with a commentary track, without quality faltering) but some decent extras and an Ebert commentary, which is probably worth the price of admission right there (based on how great his previous tracks were).

What I like about Ebert's tracks is that they're informative yet informal - so even those who don't listen to commentary tracks can listen to them and understand what he's talking about.

markdclark43016

"Commentary tracks are expensive (around $10,000 each). "

Where the hell did you get that idea? I know a few people who have done several audio commentaries, including one for Criterion, and none of them were paid a nickel.

FilmFanSea

First of all, I don't appreciate your tone, Mark. I'm always happy to admit when I've made a mistake.

$10,000 is a figure I'd heard bandied about (the figure probably comes from this article originally published by Variety). The article cites $10,000 as an upper limit commanded by "a couple of stars." I probably should have tempered the figure with "so I've heard," or researched it a bit before stating it definitively. I don't have your inside knowledge, so you may certainly be correct (though anyone who would put the time and effort into a Criterion commentary for free needs to have his/her head examined).

DVD companies don't tend to disseminate this kind of information (for obvious reasons), and the payment is probably negotiated based upon the expected sales of the DVD, the talent involved, and the preparation that goes into it. There are also costs for editing and synching more complex commentaries (especially when two or more participants are recorded separately, e.g. The Marriage of Maria Braun).

So how much does someone like Peter Cowie or Donald Richie get for an audio commentary? I don't have a clue, but I agree it's probably much less than $10,000, and is unlikely to be done gratis. I stand corrected. I'd be happy to here from any others with "inside info."

jamieoni

Well, from a business standpoint, some of their discs may be more expensive due to two factors:

(1) how many they estimate they sell
(2) the cost of acquiring and restoring the materials

These aren't going to be blockbusters, so in order for the boutique to keep running, they need to offset the costs. Was it a Chicago paper that ran an article on the company last year, and noted that in the days of Laser Disc, they had to charge near $100 because they were the only high-end game in town, and only sold a couple hundred copies of Andrei Rublev.

jough

I don't know about the $10,000 number, but most Criterion tracks are NOT simply a guy sitting down in front of a live mic. They usually are well-edited jobs that take MANY hours to do right.

There are costs involved (and yes, they DO pay their participants - every single one of them):

1) Renting the studio
2) Paying the talent
3) Paying someone to edit the track(s)
4) Transfering the track to the DVD audio stream (authoring)

These things aren't cheap, and they add to the overall budget for a particular title.

slop101

All true - but it doesn't have to drive up the price of the dvd itself - for example, in the new King of New York dvd, Abel Ferrara says that the only reason he's doing the comentary is that they paid him a few thousand dollars, yet the dvd retails for only $12 - less than half of a typical Criterion.