Why are Criterions OOP, are old versions worth anything?
 

Here is a list of the OOP discs, and all of the discs with new versions that I know of - I presume that most of the OOP titles are because Criterion's rights to the films expired:

• 002 - The Seven Samurai - first pressing - This has the restoration demo, so it gets big bucks.
• 005 - The 400 Blows - first pressing - Someone mentioned in another thread that this gets $90+ on E-Bay - why? Is the new version ONLY available in the box set?
• 006 - Beauty and the Beast - first pressing - Is this worth anything?
• 008 - The Killer - OOP
• 009 - Hard Boiled - OOP
• 012 - This is Spinal Tap - OOP
• 013 - Silence of the Lambs - OOP
• 017 - Salò - OOP
• 020 - Sid & Nancy - OOP
• 021 - Dead Ringers - OOP
• 023 - Robocop - OOP
• 027 - Flesh for Frankenstein - OOP - Expired rights, or new versions?
• 028 - Blood for Dracula - OOP - Expired rights, or new versions?
• 030 - M - first pressing - Will this be worth anything?
• 055 - The Unbearable Lightness of Being - OOP
• 057 - Charade - first pressing - Will this be worth anything?
• 078 - The Bank Dick - OOP
• 110 - Monsieur Hulot's Holiday - The original versions were put back in print.
• 111 - Mon Oncle - The original versions were put back in print.
• 112 - Playtime - There is talk of a newly mastered version, coupled with another film.
• 120 - How to Get Ahead in Advertising - OOP
• 135 - Rebecca - OOP
• 136 - Spellbound - OOP
• 137 - Notorious - OOP
• 182 - Straw Dogs - OOP

Forgot Robocop

Whoops...

Mon Oncle & M. Hulot's Holiday went back in print. They are the same exact versions. Playtime on the other hand is being re-released with a better print and rumored to be doubled with another film ala Lower Depths. Kinda sucks that Criterion loses the rights to so many films.

I think that is how they keep the interest so high on films.. not to mention all of us CC lackies.

Release a film with no intentions of reworking the rights and underprinting it.

this sounds like a receipe that was done in the late 90's with Beanie Babies...

God I hated the money I spent on them.... FOR MY MOM!... Yeah... my MOM!

Everything goes OOP. all it means is that it's out of production. Disney does this to keep things fresh. Lucas does this to re-release. Studios do it if there are to many of that one title already out there and there is a lack of people ordering it.

Just a cycle of business.

Unlike most studios, Criterion doesn't simply take things "out of production."

Directly from their website:
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/faq.asp

"'Why have certain Criterion titles been taken out of print? Will they ever be back in print?'

'All unavailable Criterion titles were taken out of print solely due to rights issues. Our distribution licenses expired and, despite our best efforts, we were unable to renew. Should Criterion ever recover the DVD rights to any of our out-of-print titles, we will surely re-release them.'"

I do believe most of us realize the reason why they pull them out of print. But if you sit back and look at this phenomenom with how all Criterion Collection films skyrocket in price (earlier realease; it makes your wonder)

Now I'm sure that most people are going to say...

The reason why they are so exspensive is because there are more CC Collectors out there now then there was 2 years ago, since the title is no longer available in print the aftermarket fluxuates with demand.

Not to mention there are guys out there that just collect hard-to-find and OOP DVD's just for personal collecting instead of personal profit.

Then there are those people on ebay that drive up the prices because they have way too much money and dont have anything else better to spend it on. (I.e; Spike Lee... heard rumors that he owns all the LDs & DVD's)

Say, do you treat the original letterboxed Charade and the new anamorphic Charade the same when it comes to collecting Criterion?

I personal am a collector. I have to have both versions...

But the way I look at it is the same with the Seven Samurai 1st print. I own both versions.

Its more of a completist mentality.

I also collect comics, action figures and CDs... When you go to looking at all of these other collectables you want to get what is more scarce.

Something collectable and something you enjoy. I dont go in looking for investment.

With technologies coming and going I cant do that. I'm not sure how many of you guys lost your ass with LD. But I'm reeping the benifits of it though. I'm purchasing films that I couldnt touch 6 years ago for next to nothing now.

I'm sure it'll be the same way with DVD's once this new blue-ray stuff...

Hell I dont even wanna talk about that.. lol

I think it's amusing that while 'Silence', 'Robocop', and a few others are 'oop', you can still get them for half price at 2nd spin.

I hadn't heard this concerning Playtime? Where are you hearing this?

This is most likely true and has been rumored almost since the three Tatis went OOP. If you want to read more, look around at CriterionForum.org or do a search here at DVDTalk.

Many of the OOP Criterions go for crazy money like Salo and The killer on ebay but these were only available for a short time. The Tati (M. Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle, Playtime) DVDs when they went out of print were going for ridiculous money but they were available for a longer period. Does anyone know the exact number of discs issued per title? How many "Legitimate" copies of Salo or the Killer are really out there to justify the price? And why do some collectors bring the price up for "Tati DVD's" and not for "Robocop or Charade"?

As for the phrase "will re-issue if we re-obtain rights" I remember Jon Mulvaney saying they would never re-release the Woo Criterions under any circumstances (Killer/Hard Boiled) so you can scratch off those two from the list of films Criterion will ever re-obtain rights to...

I own the OOP version, and I would prefer the anamorphic version, especially if the spine number and all extras are the same.

As for a title that is missing something from the second printing (The Seven Samurai) I would prefer the first, or possibly both.

Add to that the fact that not many people rushed out to buy 'Salo'... (at least, until they pulled it back).

Well, both 'Robocop' and 'Charade' did get more expensive when they went out of print. But, the difference is, they had already sold more than Tati ever would, so there were more available. Beyond that, in both cases, it was announced that the movies were going OOP so that the studios could release new ones. The Tati discs, there was no word on when (if ever) they would get re-releases.

And with 'Spinal Tap', which you didn't mention, it *should* fall into the latter category, but it has extras which are really interesting to a collector; the original short they shot is cool, and it's also great to hear them talking out of character about the movie (cool as the in-character commentary is). So it has gotten expensive too.

I'm guessing that there must have been some miscommunication somewhere between Criterion and the right's holder for Straw Dogs. How long did that stay in print...six months? It was well under a year. There's no way a company like Criterion takes the trouble to develop and press such a detailed edition only to have the rights expire so quickly.

There was no miscommunication. Criterion and the rights holder for Straw Dogs, Disney, both knew up front that the license to the film would expire at the end of 2003. This was the end of a long-term license deal for the ABC films library, and both parties knew perfectly well from the outset when that license would expire. Criterion even explicitly announced this fact on their website when the disc was released.

DJ

That's very interesting. So was Criterion banking on ABC films or whoever the rights would lapse to extending Criterion's rights to the film? I mean, this wasn't a Fox-Lorber VHS-port ultra bare bones release. A lot of time and money was spent on it and I'm amazed that Criterion would go into it knowing that their sales (and profit) window would be so severly restricted.

Ahh, here is a faq that explains why most of the titles are OOP:
http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=701

It looks like Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula are going to another studio, although they aren't saying who.

Wasn't there a sticker on the Straw Dogs:CC disc that stated "Limited Edition" or something like that?

I remember that when it was released, that it would only be available for a short time.

Is Armegeddon out of print?

Not according to the Criterion website...

I have a question:

While I collect Criterion (along with a couple thousand other dvds) i don't need to own them all.

Yesterday I found Seven Samurai 1st Printing for $24 at a used shop. I am thinking about picking it up to sell on ebay, as it looks like it goes for about $100. But I am a little baffled as to why its going for that much?

A recent ebay seller explained: the 1st edition has a restoration demo, is Region 0, and has 4 less minutes of film (he says more scenes were added for the 2nd edition). First, are these three things true? I am doubtful about these 'extra scenes' to a classic movie.

Second, why would someone spend $75 extra dollars on a restoration demo? I mean, those are one of my favorite extras on a dvd myself, but rarely are they longer than 5 minutes, and I can't imagine it being worth that much? The Region 0 thing doesn't make sense either, since it is available in other countries from other dvd producers. Finally, if the 'extra scenes' are true, it seems like the new one would be worth more, having more film?