OldBoy

makes sense now. i was watching Blood Simple and waiting for the M. Emmet Walsh scene to pop out behind Frances McDormand's character and it never did. i thought i imagined that scene and it was iconic or from another movie, but i guess it was just cut for some stupid reason.

milo bloom

Criterion seems to be losing their luster as archivists of important films. But I guess they did the math and figured it would only be a small number of people that wouldn't buy it with the changes.

rocket1312

They have almost always deferred to the wishes of the filmmakers and seem to involve them whenever possible. There's a certain virtue in that, but as we all know it can also go horribly wrong.

Josh Z

Even back to the early Laserdisc days, Criterion made a point of involving filmmakers whenever possible and allowing those filmmakers to present their movies as they wish. A number of Criterion titles are only available in "Director's Cut" form with no option for the original theatrical release. A few more off the top of my head include: Brazil, Heaven's Gate, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Thief.

This is consistent with their mission statement all along, even if it's sometimes frustrating for fans who disagree with the revisions those filmmakers foist upon their old work. (See also: Vittorio Storaro cropping The Last Emperor.)

Josh Z

That's the most notable change I've heard about so far, but I believe the movie is now two and a half minutes shorter in all.

BuckNaked2k

And Apocalypse Now until Coppola said, "Basta!".

OldBoy

i guess it's good Criterion doesn't have Fargo, No Country For Old Men, among others...

Hazel Motes

This is the second time in a year that Criterion has announced a film, I’ve sold my previous copy and I’ve had to rebuy it on the secondary market. At least the MC blu ray will be dirt cheap. I sold all my WKW blus in anticipation, then I had to go out and buy them all again. I lucked out and scored good deals on the KINO Happy Together Blu and the original Criterion Chungking Express Blu. But I have yet to find a good deal on a KINO Fallen Angel disc.


KINO has been releasing a lot of major classic titles on 4K. My rule in this situation has always been to wait for reviews on the new Kino discs before selling anything or buying anything. Looks like I’m going to have to start doing the same with Criterion.

Josh Z

At least that one never affected the Blu-ray. The cropping was confined to Laserdisc and DVD editions.

PhantomStranger

I found it funny how the director of Troma's Surf Nazis Must Die says he submitted the movie to Criterion, hoping they'd issue the movie. They got back to him after six months with a 'no'.

dex14

redbill

thought for sure we'd be getting a Flash Sale today

OldBoy

Even cable is getting re-edited shit. The Coens raped my semi-early adulthood.

LorenzoL

I guess I’ll keep my copy of Blood Simple from the Coen Brother boxset I have.

rocket1312

The director's cut for Blood Simple has been the default version of that movie for 20+ years. I could be wrong, but I don't think the theatrical cut has been seen since VHS.

OldBoy

there is at least one scene on the old Blu (from the boxset) that is not included in the Criterion version.

rocket1312

I hadn't heard that before. Which scene?

BuckNaked2k

Yeah, if someone could post the time stamp, that would be helpful.

Josh Z

VHS and Laserdisc, though all home video versions replace the Four Tops' "It's the Same Old Song" with Neil Diamond singing "I'm a Believer." I assume music licensing rights are at issue there.

The "Director's Cut" was created in 1998, and has been the default for all releases since.

OldBoy

I don’t know when, near end, the iconic Walsh jump out scene on McDormand was on version I saw and I only have set with it in it. Scene there, not on Criterion.

B5Erik

So I checked the comparison on DVD Beaver, and the new transfer, from the screen shots, looks better. SLIGHTLY brighter, slightly better contrast, and a bit sharper with better detail.

But then there's that minute and forty or so missing seconds of the movie. A minute and a half isn't necessarily a deal breaker, but it sure makes you think twice about which version you want. I've never seen the movie, but I am interested. The original blu ray is relatively cheap, so...

rocket1312

I assume you're talking about Miller's Crossing? The difference between the transfers on the Criterion Miller's Crossing and the Fox are pretty much negligible. Unless the extras on the Criterion are super appealing, spend half the money and get the old blu. Just make sure and watch with the 4.0 audio track. The 5.1 has a missing music cue. It's fixed on the Criterion.

Btw, I still haven't seen anything to backup Oldboy's claim that the Criterion Blood Simple is different than any version since the vhs other than a fullscreen UK DVD with the theatrical cut). I own the MGM blu, but fully admit that I'm not all that familiar with the movie so I'm willing to be proven wrong.

dex14

Lost Highway incoming?

T-bone22

The runtimes are the same between Criterion and other releases. I haven’t seen the Criterion version, but I don’t buy his claim, based off his remembering some “iconic” scene that didn’t show up, that may well have been from another movie.

OldBoy

There is a scene in a movie where, I believe, Walsh jumps out from shadows behind McDormand’s character. Near end, part of final kill scene, but prior. I dunno. I could be wrong, but swore it was an iconic thriller movie scene used in many montages of iconic scenes. I could’ve swore it was BS. Then what was cut from BS? That’s got to be somewhere…