What's wrong with me? It's everything I'm against. But I glance at my small collection of CCs; I see those little spine numbers, those artful covers; I allign them all in order and look at how the spine colors compliment each other; I think of the names "Kurosawa," "Fellini," "Truffaut," and "Bergman" and I say to myself, "I need more." And I start yet another Criterion thread.

Am I sick?

I just bought a couple OOP Criterions on the exchange forum (Robocop and Hard Boiled), and now I'm in. That's it. It's over. I want them all. I want The Killer. I want Rebecca. I want Spinal Tap. Oh God, I want Salo!

Who else has the bug? Anyone have them all, or nearly have them all? Also, for titles that have re-releases (like Seven Samurai, and the upcoming Salo), do you still find the need to own the original releases? Is a CC collection truly "complete" without these originals? If I never end up owning the original release of Seven Samurai with the restoration demo, do I actually have the entire collection?

I want to curl up and die due to this notion of impending obsession. My wallet wants me to as well.

That'd be a huge waste of money. Just buy DVD's of movies you love, or movies you think you'll love. You wouldn't buy every DVD Warner Brothers put out, would you? Of course there's going to be things put out by any company you don't like.

That spine # thing was a brilliant marketing move on the part of Criterion. They are the Pokemon of DVD collecting.

My favorite is Shoe.

why? I gave up trying to do those types of things ages ago. You'll drive yourself mad trying to get every one, assuming you get REAL ones.

Stick to the ones that you LIKE rather then having every one. Obsessive compulsive disorder can drive you to the poor house.

Caiman,

I'm in the boat with you. I've known about Criterion since the days of LD and had a few back then (Robocop, the John Woos), and when I got into DVD, I picked up the few that I had already seen. Whenever I would see one at a shop used though, I would pick it up, knowing that they were normally expensive, and that the films were usually rock solid.

As time went on, I had amassed a whopping 17 through various means, and had enjoyed them all immensely. I borrowed a few from a friend of mine who had some different ones and again, was thoroughly impressed. It was about two years ago when I decided I was going to take on the task of trying to "catch 'em all." I have a huge bug for collecting, as I have done everything from comics to baseball cards to music throughout my life. The difference here is that I actually enjoy these films, and absolutely hated baseball.

I started out working on getting some of the OOPs and found quite a few through the exchange forum. All I've asked for for Christmas and birthdays these past two years have been Criterions as well. I'm getting close, missing only 34 at the moment, and my birthday right around the corner. The only OOP I'm still missing is Salo, and there are strong rumors that it will be reprinted this year.

As for picking up the old editions of OOPs to be a completist, I haven't gone that far yet. I have the old version of Seven Samurai, since I had it already, and I got the new one for Christmas last year. I plan on grabbing the old Playtime and Amarcord at some point (since prices on it dropped drastically), just because I want the old spines (I think putting the new spines in with the old spines as an eyesore).

Best of luck to you, as it definately can be done. And it always feels great to add another one to the collection and fill in a gap here and there.

I am forever grateful that my DNA does not have the "completist gene".

I love the Criterions I have (about 100 right now), but there are many titles in the collecion that I don't really enjoy.
Basically, about 1/3 of their titles are must-haves, another 1/3 are ones that I may or may not pick up, and the remaining 1/3 are titles I probably wouldn't pick up even at rock-bottom prices (except perhaps for their trade and/or resale value).

This is my exact concern. When Salo is released and I pick it up, the spine is just not going to look right amidst the look of the spines that surround it (those older ones were all black, with the original logo). Plus it'll just be a completely different DVD, with different artwork. Just like Seven Samurai.

Do you suspect that once Salo is rereleased, that the original version will drop drastically in price?

I agree,
Buying a DVD just because you want to have every Criterion collection is pointless, buy movies you like not just because there from a certain studio.

So why did you buy them?

Because he loves them?

"The things you own end up owning you."

It's huge waste of money just to own something for the spine number. If you liked the movie thats something else, but to own just for a number? Think of all the other things you could do with that money. I don't know how much Criterions usually cost b/c I don't own any, but I'm sure there are other things you could do with the money. Like save for retirement or something.

I'm glad I have a little control over my consumption. I'm not a completist. I'll stop buying sequels or tv sets when I no longer like the next in the series. I would have no problem skipping the 1st season(s) of a show, or the 1st movie in a triology b/c I don't like it as opposed to owning it just so it looks good on a shelf.

I'm not trying to threadcrap, but learn a little self discipline and get over it.

I don't have the urge to own them all, but over the years as my tastes have evolved and become more broad, I've started to buy more and more Criterions. I don't have a huge amount, only 34 different Criterion movies, but to me that's a lot.

I have over 150 Criterions and I love all of them. I did try to collect them all at different times but I've recently given up. Even though now I have a higher paying job that I could actually afford to collect them but I don't.

I don't understand why people on here condemn people who want to collect them. Anybody can collect anything they want. I think Criterions are worthy of collecting, every movie is great or near great.

naw.

there seems to be a strong consensus as of late against the collector, but ill admit i have the fever as well.

good luck

Well I jumped the gun on Criterion with DVD Planet's sale. This month alone I purchased around 25 CCs but most had been on my wishlist. Now I do have a sick urge to own'em all but in my situation I can't because I'm simply broke.

I own a bunch of Criterions, but if I owned the whole collection I would own a lot of movies I hate. I love Criterion and what they did for Laserdisc and DVD, but owning them all is not an issue for me.

I cannot agree with you more.

Let's be realistic: probably over 95% of the copies on the market currently are bootlegs produced overseas to sell to the gullible or sold cheaply there to people who then sell them on the internet as "Genuine" but claim to have multiple copies available.

I love them too, got a bunch free while working for the company. But I'm getting to where I think I'm going to get rid of most of them. I've got originals of The Killer, Hardboiled, Seven Samurai, Robocop, etc. Might check out the exchange forum I suppose. But honestly, if I had the cash, or still worked there, I'd be doing the same thing. They are a great label.

It could be worse. You could be trying to collect all the Criterion LDs like I am.

Yes. Yes you are. Seek help immediately.

I'll take The Killer off your hands for you.

I could never do it, and it's not just that I'm not a completist and don't want to buy movies I don't like.

It's that I have this general policy of not paying higher than retail price for anything. I might bend it if it's a gift for someone I know who really wants it, but I just have a hard time paying someone $100 for a $30 movie just because it's OOP and very hard to find. I'd rather just do without.

I hope you have deep pockets.

Don't listen to the haters in this thread, I did it over the past two years (finished "catching up" with the re-release of Playtime last September). Some of the discs were pricey (Salo, in particular), but thankfully I had a lot of the OOPs before I started on the endeavor... but I had been buying titles from CC since '99, so I already had about a 100 when I said "screw it, I'm getting all of them."

I'm actually going in the opposite direction. I always thought that the Criterion edition was the best you can get for that film, but I've been selling some of my Criterions because I found out there are better/more complete editions of films such as Kwaidan, Onibaba & Withnail & I in other regions.