Criterion releases on Blu-Rays
 

from the newsletter....

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Good news!

Link?

There goes my wallet.

Dear Criterion Collection Newsletter subscriber,

We’ve got some exciting news for this fall, and we wanted you to hear it first.

Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer; we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time.

Theatrical Last Emperor? In correct aspect ratio? ok ok, I am just stirring up trouble . . .

This is great news. Especially on the pricing. Surprised at some of the initial choices. I have 132 Criterions and only 5 of these titles. But I am cool with that.

Criterion announced Blu-rays for October
 

Dear Criterion Collection Newsletter subscriber,

We’ve got some exciting news for this fall, and we wanted you to hear it first.

Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer; we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time.

I'm surprised they didn't add a Kurosawa film in there, but I certainly am not complaining at the list.

Poor people (edit: me) version of the newsletter:

El Norte, Chungking Express, Bottle Rocket, and a re-release of Walkabout coming soon from Criterion.

Awesome news, either way. I'm especially glad that Criterion's Blu Ray titles won't be more expensive than their DVDs! Now perhaps we won't see so many complaints about their DVD prices.

This is maybe the most welcome part of the news:

I have been pretty ambivalent towards Blu-ray but this has pushed me closer. Problem is, I have a front-projection system that I'm happy with and it's 1080i, not 1080p (it may even be 720p upconverted to 1080i, I'm not sure, it's the Panasonic AE900 projecting onto a 106-inch screen). I have DirecTV HD and the upconverting Oppo DVD player. I don't foresee getting a Blu-ray player for a while yet.

i got the e-mail too. awesome news! the initial selections are a little puzzling, but i'm sure there are a number of factors that went into those decisions.

if the wording of the e-mail really means that the BDs will be priced identically with their DVD counterparts, then i am utterly and pleasantly shocked.

Oh my ... :drool: I believe that's the very best Criterion e-mail I've ever received.

Chungking Express Criterion Blu-ray. WOW.

Wow! I'm buying every last one of those.

Well I can see the two concert films. There was an article today on CNN about music going Blu Ray. And For All Mankinds space footage makes sense. A few of those type of releases are out or coming already. Bottle Rocket is sure to be a popular new release and probably why it's included.

I wonder if they were blocked from releasing Brazil. Surely that would have been a top seller.

Excellent news!

Contempt! Bottle Rocket!

-ohbfrank- October is going to HURT.

The Panasonic AE900U is a 720p projector (though it accepts 1080i inputs). That display would most definitely shine with a Blu-ray player. You won't be seeing the full 1080p that is on the discs, but you will still be seeing much better than standard def @ 720p with more vibrant colors and far fewer compression artifacts, not to mention the advanced features that are possible with Blu-ray.

I would have liked to see The Ice Storm in this list since they just did the master, but for now I'll be getting Last Emperor for sure and probably 400 Blows.

Dear DVD Planet,

Please postpone the sale-that-shall-not-be-mentioned until October.

Thank you kindly.

I only care about a few films on Criterion....excited about Bottle Rocket. Now where's Rushmore?

Yes. They probably went for transfers that are of high enough quality as well as those they could get the rights to release on the new format. And I really hope this means the BDs will be the same price as the DVDs. I can barely affored to buy Criterion as it is let alone if it were more expensive.

shit shit dammit shit.

well, this officially means ill be looking for a blu ray player. the holdout is over.

I also hope they do something artistic with the pillars on 4:3 material... maybe add a subtle textured pattern or something (shifting imperceptibly so as to avoid burn-in)... hate staring at those blocks! LOL

um. i usually stare at the movie between the "blocks"... usually more interesting.

BEST NEWS EVER! Just got the email and my jaw is still on the ground. Chungking Express!!!!!!!!!!!!

The black bars create a potential burn-in issue for plasmas and all that dead space could at least have something pretty going on... it could always be made optional. ;)

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The 400 Blows

Ho. Lee. Crap.

Uh, please no textured pattern (though I guess it could be optional). I still don't understand why some people eagerly accept letterboxing but hate side bars. Both can cause burn-in.

Anyway, back on topic, I'm not that surprised they're charging the same price. I think their DVD pricing was outdated anyway. It will interesting to see what Amazon prices these at, as they don't discount Criterion DVDs as much as they do titles from studios and other distributors.

I hope Brazil is in the works. Surely they wouldn't need 3 discs this time, would they?

Great news. Also wishing The Ice Storm was in the first group.

excellent news but make sure you realize that they said they will START rolling out in October and not that all of these will be in October. I expect 2-3 at most for october.

This is amazing news. After all these years, finally Bottle Rocket. Time to upgrade my VHS. :)

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

And El Norte too! I haven't seen that movie in 11 years. That one's even out on R1 DVD.

Crap, I just bought The Last Emperor in SD. I'll get that, Third Man, and Gimme Shelter.

Great news, no doubt.

I'm guessing if this wave of announced titles don't sell well, they may not do more.

I cannot buy 13 titles in one month...
well, I can... but the girlfriend won't be happy...

I'm surprised that "Seventh Seal" isn't on the list, given the region-free release by Tartan in the UK (which I suppose I'll order now)... "Black Narcissus" is also about to get a BR UK release, which I believe will also be region-free. Ah well, the more quality titles available overall the better. This is definitely welcome news... now to decide which "Last Emperor" to purchase (theatrical or box set).

Will we get Bottle Rocket SD? That's my only question from this.

Yeah, Great Expectations is also coming to BD in the UK.

Seventh Seal is well worth the import, btw.

Oh, I forgot about the most important issue: spine numbers. :)

Will these just use the same numbers as the DVDs? I think they'd be better off starting over. A collection would look awfully strange if lined up. That won't change in the future, since they probably won't get to do some of the DVD titles again, like This is Spinal Tap or Robocop.

Yes, "they will be priced to match our standard-def editions."

Unless that's a clever way of hinting that they'll be raising their DVD prices. ;)

A great selection of titles to come out swinging with. I want almost all of them.