Criterion Prices

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Gordon · #26 Post by **Gordon** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 8:39 pm

I must be losing my mind.

mmiesner · #27 Post by **mmiesner** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:07 am

I can not agree more that they should drop the prices of some of the early ones down to the lower tier, or re-release them. As much as I loved 'Autumn Sonata', there is no way I'm dishing out that much for a disc with basically nothing on it.

That said, some of the single disc releases are still worth the extra in my opinion, most notably 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' and 'Beauty and the Beast'. I don't think anybody can reasonably argue that the extras included on here, combined with the high quality films they are, are worth paying a little more for.

Once again though, I am happier than a pig in shit that they seem to be leaning towards the lower price range now.

Gordon · #28 Post by **Gordon** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:10 am

... some of the single disc releases are still worth the extra in my opinion, most notably 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' and 'Beauty and the Beast'.

Absolutely: Beauty and the Beast is easily one of the greatest home video releases EVER. The film itself is eternally beautiful and magical and the restoration was one of the great triumphs of restoration. The Criterion disc is one of their finest achievements.

I have similar feeling regarding Eyes Without a Face. One of the many things I love about Criterion, is that you don't need a 2-disc SE to achieve the definitive home video release. Although, I would have loved a Tim Lucas commentary on Eyes Without a Face.

Narshty · #29 Post by **Narshty** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 1:37 pm

It seems that under the new pricing policy they're only charging $39.95 for either 2-disc sets or those with a hefty accompaniment (ie. the book that comes with Burden of Dreams). It's been a long time coming (they'll have almost certainly been feeling the pressure from Warner and Fox bargain-basement prices), but good on them nonetheless.

mmiesner · #30 Post by **mmiesner** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:01 am

True it is nice to see them lowering the prices, but I would still say that there are some 2 disc sets that still pale in comparison to some single discers. I'm notably thinking of 'L'Avventura'. A commentary and a sub-par documentary are not really enough when compared to the single disc sets of 'Eyes Without a Face' or 'That Obscure Object of Desire'. L'Avventura is one of my favorite films, but I still think that just because it's a two disc set is not enough to make it the higher price point.

I say that if they are going to start a trend of lower price points, they should seriously look into re-pricing some of the sub-par upper tier ones.

oldsheperd · #31 Post by **oldsheperd** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:19 am

Actually, if you have a Hastings in your area they have Hiroshima Mon Amour for 21.95. Unfortunatel, Night and Fog is the same price.

cafeman · #32 Post by **cafeman** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:58 pm

Three words: High and Low. If there ever was an overpriced disc, this is the one.

richast2 · #33 Post by **richast2** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:56 am

as excited as I am by this idea, it just makes me feel extra hosed by how much I paid for Sword of Doom.

The Digital McGuffin · #34 Post by **The Digital McGuffin** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:12 pm

The thing that makes me slightly skeptical of a price drop on older titles is that for years, they have refrained from bringing $39.95 barebones editions in line with their then current price structure. Here's hoping they have indeed had a rethink.

skuhn8 · #35 Post by **skuhn8** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:29 pm

cafeman wrote:Three words: High and Low. If there ever was an overpriced disc, this is the one.

yup. price vs. package this is definitely the saddest entry in the CC catalogue. I got mine used for $5 (scratched but played flawlessly) and would have been royally pissed if I'd bought blind at list price. But then, I never bought laserdiscs. I think a lot of the patience we see with CC buyers is due to their having paid much higher premiums during the LD days.

GringoTex · #36 Post by **GringoTex** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:40 pm

J M Powell wrote:Let's not forget it could just be an error on the website. But: if the $29.95 MSRPs on all 4 June releases are actually correct, then it looks like Criterion might finally be coming to terms with the state of the DVD market in America.

All the May releases are 29.95, too. Jules and Jim at 39.95 was originally an April release. (that's a double disc, anyway)

oldsheperd · #37 Post by **oldsheperd** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:51 pm

Burden of Dreams is still 39.95

swingo · #38 Post by **swingo** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:52 pm

oldsheperd wrote:Burden of Dreams is still 39.95

Because of the book, perhaps?

bcsparker · #39 Post by **bcsparker** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:11 pm

In the past year, I've noticed some interesting CC prices at Best Buy - That Obscure Object of Desire and Insomnia for $22, and discs like Naked Lunch and Fear & Loathing for $35. I bought The Tin Drum for $28 from there once. I actually wouldn't mind if CC used this kind of random lower pricing. It would definitely make buyers more receptive to getting into the Collection. I think it was a $28 copy of The Rock at Best Buy that originally got me started.

I never pay MSRP for CCs. I usually buy all my CCs used. How many of you guys do this? From the general gist of the forum, it seems like many of you pay regular retail outright, ALL THE TIME. That is insane to me. With a DVD collection hovering around 600 and no signs of the monkey on my back lightening up, I can't afford to do the $40 thing anymore. Used record stores are the best, because they don't know what the hell they're selling.
I found the Robocop CC for $6 once at a local place.

Sai · #40 Post by **Sai** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:37 pm

Seeing as how their 'old' discs are now relatively more expensive then their 'new' ones they can expect to see a decrease in sales of their old discs. This seems like the time for Criterion of bringing out more Collector's Sets of titles that are now overpriced, and releasing them together for a lower price. I asked Jon Mulvaney about it and he said they want to release more Collector's Sets in the future but that nothing is certain at this moment, which indicates none of them till 2006, I think. Even so, it seems like a logical step.

jedgeco · #41 Post by **jedgeco** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:29 pm

Sai wrote:This seems like the time for Criterion of bringing out more Collector's Sets of titles that are now overpriced, and releasing them together for a lower price.

I had this same thought. Issuing value-priced, themed boxes or bundles of older titles would be a great way to drop the effective price and spur sales of titles I'm sure aren't exactly flying off the shelves without making people who already bought them feel totally burned.

There are some pretty obvious combos too (Great Expectations/Oliver Twist/Summertime/Brief Encounter; Wages of Fear/Diabolique; Naked Kiss/Shock Corridor; Branded to Kill/Toyko Drifter).

GringoTex · #42 Post by **GringoTex** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:34 pm

All four July releases, including one with commentary, are $29.95.

I believe Criterion officially has a new pricing structure. =D>

mmiesner · #43 Post by **mmiesner** » Mon May 02, 2005 5:17 pm

yes, i noticed this as well. it's nice to know i will now be able to save money when purchasing, but i still say that i hope the structure is not simply singles are low and doubles are high. because obviously, some single disc sets are more stacked than the double disc sets. the day they announce a double disc set at the lower price i will wet myself.

THX1378 · #44 Post by **THX1378** » Tue May 03, 2005 12:06 pm

In the past year, I've noticed some interesting CC prices at Best Buy - That Obscure Object of Desire and Insomnia for $22, and discs like Naked Lunch and Fear & Loathing for $35. I bought The Tin Drum for $28 from there once. I actually wouldn't mind if CC used this kind of random lower pricing. It would definitely make buyers more receptive to getting into the Collection. I think it was a $28 copy of The Rock at Best Buy that originally got me started.

Best Buy is a little odd because prices vary from store to store. A disc that is $35.99 in Albany NY might be $28.99 in Wilmington, DE. I picked up the new "M" at Best Buy in DE for $28.99 and I know it was a lot more when I was shopping in NY.

Yeah it pretty much varys from Best Buy to Best Buy. Fear and Loathing here in Fresno sells for $28.99 while in Merced which is 40 miles away when I stopped in there it sells for $35.99. And even the other way around, M in Merced was $22.99 for the new 2 disc set and in Fresno it sells for $32.99. The other thing that I just saw was that Best Buy on all there Criterions depending on price knocks off up to $5 to $10 most of the time. Like My Own Private Idaho was at both places $28 but the list price was $39. I thought that it was odd that F for Fake was $39.99 the full list price and didn't have a knock-down of at least $5.

FilmFanSea · #45 Post by **FilmFanSea** » Fri May 06, 2005 1:59 pm

Quit making excuses and wet yourself already ...

mmiesner · #46 Post by **mmiesner** » Fri May 06, 2005 7:30 pm

nope, i'm saving that one for something special, like a box set of Maya Deren for 19.95.

or just Viridiana.

Taketori Washizu · #47 Post by **Taketori Washizu** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:18 pm

Does the inclusion of an audio commentary affect the overall pricing of the DVD? If you notice on Criterion titles, they charge at least ten-fifteen dollars on films with commentary tracks. Why? Should this make a difference?

dvdane · #48 Post by **dvdane** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:00 pm

The price of an audio commentary varies alot. Up until "Total Recall", the prices rose very fast, until the industry said stop, after Arnold demanded and got $10,000 for his commentary on "Total Recall".

What other companies spend on commentaries today, I don't know, but I know some who did commentaries for Criterion, and they didn't get alot. I won't mention names, as it was said in private "off the record", but one while producing one commentary, the commentarist recieved less than $1000 for a weeks recording (aprx 30+ hours), while the producer for Criterion spend about $2000 on hotel and various, and about the same on the airplane.

However in terms of a production, the costs for a commentary does not justify the price of Criterions DVDs. I rather suspect the $40 mark to be based on pricing politics. Criterion is the best, because their DVDs are the most expensive. If Criterion would drop their prices to standard DVD prices, they would simply lose marketshares.

Toshiro De Niro · #49 Post by **Toshiro De Niro** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:52 am

all 11 releases since Jules and Jim are $29.95. Criterion lists Harakiri as $39.95, but Amazon lists it as $29.95 ($21- for pre-order)

Tribe · #50 Post by **Tribe** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:55 pm

A number of Criterion collectors who shop at Amazon.com have written in to let us know that Amazon is not currently offering its regular discount on Criterion Collection discs. We have no control over Amazon's pricing, but we do encourage customers to shop around, because there are plenty of good deals out there. Tower Records is offering 10 to 25 percent off most Criterion titles, and you'll find discounts of up to 30 percent on selected titles at Barnes&Noble.com. CriterionDVD.com is an entire online store dedicated to Criterion discs, with most priced at 25 to 28 percent off SRP. At DVDpricesearch.com, you can quickly compare prices and shipping rates at a number of leading online retailers, and one store that consistently stands out for great prices is DVD Planet, where the entire Criterion catalog is 35 percent off and shipping is free on orders over $25.

We recognize that Criterion discs are a significant investment, and we're determined to do what we can to help our customers build their collections. If you find a retailer you think is doing an especially good job supporting Criterion customers, please don't hesitate to let us know, so we can spread the word.

This message is currently up at the Criterion site. A kindler, gentler, caring Criterion?

Tribe

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