Brazil Criterion - Hard to Find?
 

I went to Toronto yesterday, and I decided to do some DVD shopping. I usually tend to find a lot of great deals there. One of the stores that I went to was "The World's Biggest Book Store," which I believe is associated with Chapters/Indigo. In their DVD section, behind the counter, they had some Criterions. While looking, I noticed that they had four copies of, "Brazil," for approximately $100 CAD. It's the first time I've ever seen it, but I'm not about to pay that much.

Is it really obscure, or is it relatively easy to come across?

It's not out of print or anything, and its MSRP is US$ 59.95. Online stores still carry it, so it should be easy for you to find it for at least half the price you saw in that store.

You can buy it today from DeepDiscountDVD for under $36.

Check your local Barnes and Noble or Borders, if you have any. They usually have at least one copy at the stores near me. For around $60.

Your first mistake is trying to buy DVDs from the World Biggest Bookstore. Their prices for DVDs tend to be on the high side. Go to Sam's or HMV close by, and you'll find better prices for B&M stores.

However, going online will save you money.

Thanks for the replies. I noticed that the prices there were incredibly cheap, and never planned to buy anything from them. I just wondered how rare the DVD is, because I remember reading that it's highly sought after.

I have a copy I bought several years ago and earlier today I decided I would sell mine since it's still sealed and I'm getting rid of some DVDs.


I checked eBay and it looks like it goes in the $40 range.

its real easy to find, its over on my dvd shelf

It's not easy to find, in that not many stores like Wal-Mart or Target have copies of it laying around. But it's not really hard to find either, you just have to order it online.

if you can get the universal bare bones version for $6 I would get that instead. it is the SAME video/audio transfer. Personally, I was dissappointed in the Criterion supplements - an empahsis of quantity over quality in my opinion. Battle for Brazil doc was great - but the rest was 'eh' for me. Poorly designed menus, difficult to read text (without chapter stops), poorly lit/recorded interviews, etc.

take this with the undestanding that I am in the distinct minority with this opinion.. : )

Don't you have to get the Criterion box for the vastly superior director cut of the film?

Correct.

The reason you hardly see it in a B&M is probably because it is a) a Criterion title which doesn't usually fly off the shelves after a title's initial release and b) it is an oversized title so it takes up the space of 3 new release titles that might sell better.

With online retailers who stock that title, I think you'll find more and more that specialty titles like this one will eventually vanish from B&M stocks completely. It makes no sense to buy them at exorbitant prices compared to online.

The Universal cut is the exact same cut as the Criterion. From the Digital Bits:

"You see, the Universal edition is the Criterion edition. . .the time listed on the back spec chart lists the Universal edition at the original American length of 2 hours 11 minutes. But it is, in fact, the full director's cut of 2 hours and 23 minutes. That means, if you don't have 60 bucks to buy the Criterion edition, and have no desire to see the extras or the alternate version of the film, you can rest easy buying the movie only edition."