Criterion Blu-ray

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jurples · #501 Post by **jurples** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:07 pm

Looks like it's a work in progress, since they just added The Last Emperor to the "Browse by: Blu-ray" page.

#502 Post by **swo17** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:12 pm

The Coming Soon page has been updated with Blu-rays and only shows Bottle Rocket and Chungking Express.

rambaldi · #503 Post by **rambaldi** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:16 pm

Last Emperor on blu-ray is missing the TV version cut and other extras!

colinr0380 · #504 Post by **colinr0380** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:17 pm

rambaldi wrote:Last Emperor on blu-ray is missing the TV version cut and other extras!

But it does have a "DTS-HD Master Audio stereo surround soundtrack".

Narshty · #505 Post by **Narshty** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:24 pm

The Last Emperor can't really be a single-disc, can it? I don't know enough about the technology but that's insane.

It seems since their initial press release, Criterion is starting to realise how expensive Blu-ray editions are going to be to produce, so are cutting back on everything from booklets to supplements (and the television version of The Last Emperor was from a high-def master, so there's not much excuse there) in order to keep the prices in line with their DVDs. Still, it's a pity.

#506 Post by **swo17** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:27 pm

From Wikipedia:

A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a double-dual layer DVD (or more than 10 times if single-layer).

denti alligator · Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:27 pm

I'm surprised there's no Salo Blue-ray.

#508 Post by **domino harvey** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:28 pm

LOL @ everyone who sold their Criterions in anticipation of these feature-dropping releases

Narshty · #509 Post by **Narshty** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:32 pm

domino harvey wrote:LOL @ everyone who sold their Criterions in anticipation of these feature-dropping releases

In the meantime, we can sit and wait for the inevitable blog post.

kaujot · #510 Post by **kaujot** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:37 pm

A random bit of trivia: Criterion uses a PS3 as their reference Blu-Ray player

HelenLawson · #511 Post by **HelenLawson** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:37 pm

What, no Koko: A Talking Gorilla?

colinr0380 · #512 Post by **colinr0380** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:42 pm

They might also want to change the country of origin from Taiwan in the Last Emperor specs!

Doctor Sunshine · Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:06 pm

Were the bluray supplements not listed earlier? Because the only things I see missing are the Man book and the Emperor television version (which we already knew about). And the booklets will be a little thinner, I guess.

#514 Post by **swo17** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:20 pm

In case anyone was questioning whether Third Man, Last Emperor and Man Who Fell to Earth would be available immediately (since they don't show up in the Coming Soon page along with Bottle Rocket and Chungking Express), the front page has been updated and confirms they will all be available in November.

Cinephrenic · #515 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:31 pm

So Walkabout re-issue for December.

Tom Hagen · #516 Post by **Tom Hagen** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:38 pm

Are these releases going to get the same spine numbers as the SD editions, different/new spine numbers, or no spine numbers at all?

Cinephrenic · #517 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:40 pm

What about the new Blu-ray logo instead of the wacky "C"?

Morbii · #518 Post by **Morbii** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:45 pm

kaujot wrote:A random bit of trivia: Criterion uses a PS3 as their reference Blu-Ray player

As long as you don't need your receiver to tell you the quality of the audio you're listening to, it pretty much is the best player (and definitely the most common).

#519 Post by **swo17** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:57 pm

Tom Hagen wrote:Are these releases going to get the same spine numbers as the SD editions, different/new spine numbers, or no spine numbers at all?

Probably doesn't mean anything but I noticed that, whereas SD titles have web addresses that end in the spine number, the new Blu-rays end with the following:

20000 Bottle Rocket
20001 Chungking Express
20002 The Third Man
20003 The Man Who Fell to Earth
20004 The Last Emperor

daniel p · #520 Post by **daniel p** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:03 am

jeez - I could buy all 5 of them I reckon!

so what about the packaging, any mention of that anywhere?

kekid · #521 Post by **kekid** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:57 am

swo17 wrote:Probably doesn't mean anything but I noticed that, whereas SD titles have web addresses that end in the spine number, the new Blu-rays end with the following:

20000 Bottle Rocket
20001 Chungking Express
20002 The Third Man
20003 The Man Who Fell to Earth
20004 The Last Emperor

Should we assume that at least Chungking Express BD version will be released in November, with the SD version? If not, why would Criterion select that title for release in November, and keep those who want to buy the BD hanging for month(s)?

Darth Lavender · #522 Post by **Darth Lavender** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:02 am

Doctor Sunshine wrote:Were the bluray supplements not listed earlier? Because the only things I see missing are the Man book and the Emperor television version (which we already knew about). And the booklets will be a little thinner, I guess.

Personally, I'm impressed as heck with 'The Last Emperor' supplements. Not sure if you fellows recall, but wasn't this originally announced as being just the movie & commentary (both on Blu-ray and the $40 DVD version?)

As for Man Who Fell to Earth, it's still good value without the book (at least for those, like me, who only own the Universal DVD) but I do wish (and wonder if it's too late to start petitioning) that Criterion would include the book as a PDF?

I'm guessing the omission is because the increased costs of producing both blu-ray disks and a complete paperback book were too high (as opposed to rights/royalties issues with the book) But, it would be awfully nice to at least have the book in PDF format.

Great, great news, regardless. I think there were about five or six 'must have' disks for me in Criterions announcement, and 4 of them are going to be in this first batch.

And, I just want to reiterate again how darn wonderful the pricing scheme is. It's funny that Criterion used to be criticised for the high DVD prices, and now they're shaping up to be the very best value producer of Blu-Rays.

#523 Post by **swo17** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:19 am

kekid wrote:Should we assume that at least Chungking Express BD version will be released in November, with the SD version? If not, why would Criterion select that title for release in November, and keep those who want to buy the BD hanging for month(s)?

All 5 of the Blu-rays announced today will be released in November. I think it's safe to assume that Bottle Rocket and Chungking will be released on the same day as the SDs.

Darth Lavender · #524 Post by **Darth Lavender** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:46 am

The release dates are already on the site (click 'add to basket' and the release date will show up)

Third Man and Man Who Fell to Earth are on the 18th...
Last Emperor and Chungking are on the 25th (I think, I'd have to double-check)

AlanP · #525 Post by **AlanP** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 4:10 am

So now for the really tough question...

It appears that the BluRays will not have spine numbers, and I imagine they'll be released in the standard BluRay cases, which aren't the same size as regular DVDs and will thus look awkward on the shelf if mixed in with the rest of the collection.

So, for those of us who are BluRay-enabled but are also completists when it comes to the regular collection (i.e., spine numbers), will we buy both the BDs and the SDs of these titles?

The question also applies in those cases where the BluRay versions appear to be dropping some of the features from the SDs. Which will you get?

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