Criterion THE HARDER THEY COME going OOP
 

The new Criterion email newsletter contains the following:

<i>THE HARDER THEY COME goes out of print in September.</i>

If this is something that you've been meaning to get - well, now's the time to make your move.

Edit: spelling correction -wink-

His first sentence?

(Thanks, btw. I have a feeling I'm the first of a long list of people who "have it on their list, but now it's at the top")

ahh. my bad. I'll delete it.

Yikes. That must suck if all we're left with is the Xenon release!

I still watch my CC every now and then. "De Hero cant' die 'til de last reel!"

The Harder the cum?

never even heard of it, let alone that it was Criterion.

oh well, I have too many other things to get between now and Sept. And besides, OOP doesn't mean I won't find it after September anyway.

Ordered - DVD Planet, 25.97 with free shipping / no tax

Get 'em while they last.......(unless, of course, this is all BS :-)

why would it be BS?

Hopefully it'll still be in stock in the next DDD sale (like Straw Dogs in this one).

Not to be taken as a negative, meaning - false alarm or retired to make way for a better edition...... in other words, relax, don't blow your money on this one, a better Criterion is coming to replace it.

According to DVDAficionado, more people own Salo than own the CC version of The Harder They Come. Now that's obscure!

they're probably buying the Salo bootlegs that are all over ebay

Did they give a reason for it to go out of print? Does someone else have the rights to it now? Are they planning on re-releasing a better version?

I think we all know the only important question about this so-obscure-I-doubt-the-director-remembers-he-directed-it film is: Will it be worth ungodly sums of money on Ebay after it goes OOP?

actually, this film, at its time, was not obscure, but a staple of campus, festival, revival screenings. very popular in its day.

At one point, the main character sees Django in the cinema and it supposedly changes his life... for this reason alone it might warrant a purchase by me. :)

I think Criterion would've said so if that was the case. That's what they did with M, Beauty and the Beast and Wages of Fear.

Xenon Entertainment's had their own version out for awhile now. It may be that Criterion had a fixed-period non-exclusive license that's only now expiring or something. I haven't seen any direct comparisons between the Xenon and the Criterion, but the Xenon appears to have a nice set of special features.

That's only happened a couple times in the past and in those cases the returning titles (M and 400 Blows) were fairly popular among criterion collectors. I haven't even heard of this one among the collectors so I see little reason why it should have great demand for re-release. Perhaps by a different company. *shrugs*

But a title going OOP means nothing more than Criterion's license ran out. Doesn't mean they're going to get the license again. Doesn't mean any other company is going to rush to get the license and make a disc either. It just means Criterion is no longer going to print their version. That's all.

Got the same criterion email. Here is the part...

http://www.criterionco.com/nl705/wackybird_1.gif

Likewise. I doubt this is going to skyrocket in value, but I don't want the hassle of not being able to find a copy very easily somewhere down the line.

EDIT: Got my order confirmation this morning, and noticed that it's on backorder. Looks like either a) a bunch of people jumped on this when they got the newsletter, or b) this isn't a high profile title (even though it is a Criterion) and they don't keep much stock on hand.

Either way, I hope they get this back in stock soon.

I seem to be the only person I know that has owned this for the last couple of years... A great movie, highly recommended.

And quite obviously a fantastic soundtrack. The title track is probably my favorite reggae song ever.

This release WASN'T anamorphic, right? I love this movie, own the Criterion LaserDisc, yet never picked it up. I think that was the reason I never picked it up.

I like the bird...very "harbinger of doom"-like.

It is non-anamorphic, and since Criterion has been releasing several of their older non-anamorphic titles in new anamorphic versions, I would think that this *might* be a reason for putting this title in OOP status.

Each time Criterion put a release out of print in order to do a remastered release, I believe they've always said so. After all, they want to trump up interest in the upcoming re-release. So while it's possible Criterion could get the rights back later on to do a new release, it doesn't appear yet that this will be happening.

DJ

I own the soundtrack (fantastic), have always meant to big up the DVD, looks like no time better then now.

Yes, I got the Xenon version as well for the special features but haven't had a chance to look at them or compare the picture quality.

Already backordered on DVDPlanet! Arrr. Should have picked this up during the DDD sale like I'd planned.... that'll teach me to limit my spending!! lol

this is hardly an obscure title. this movie is the reason reggae become popular in the US. The soundtrack was ranked as the number 119 album of all-time. This is not soundtrack albums but overall albums.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6598690

It seems that this is sold out everywhere. Borders can't even order this anymore. It appears that if you don't have it you won't be able to get it.

There were nearly 70 copies last night at Amazon.com. Now, there are only 34.

I was going to ask you how you can know how many Amazon has in stock.......but then I realized that you probably are talking about the marketplace sellers.

Seeing as how Criterion gave us a couple months notice, I didn't think it would be so hard to get. With DVDPlanet and almost everywhere else being on back-order, I haven't been able to locate one as of yet. I currently have three orders placed and the first one that ships gets my money and I'll cancel the other two. A bit of a pain in the ass, but I don't want to be looking for this come September!

I'm gonna get me share of what's mine...

>>a better Criterion is coming to replace it.
---
Dont bet on it. There are dozens of still in print Criterions waiting in line for anamorphic treament....and for a long time, too-like PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK. Its got to be VERY specail before they will re release something. And J. Mulvaney pretty much puts the kibosh on improving transfers that are already "good enough"-his words.

Maybe someone else is getting the rights and is planning a tie-in with the hip-hop remake.

I ordered this from DVD Planet not knowing it was out of stock. So then I went and bought a copy from an Amazon seller. And today DVDPlanet sent me a shipped notification. So, check the exchange board as I'm looking to trade!

Just received mine off of eBay. $25.99 shipped. Not bad, don't think they will be going at salo prices, but I didn't want to miss out just in case I ever did want it.

I ordered this from dvd planet after it went on backorder and got the shipping notice on it today. I would imagine most retailers will get more stock on this and everyone who wants one can get one.