Hey, everybody! The Third Man is out of print.

[perkizitore]

It's officially OOP. Buy the BD in droves!!!

[John Hodson]

My consolation is that no-one should feel a sucker for buying the best possible version of Reed's magnificent film. I'd have had it at some point.

[Blood Pie]

My consolation is that no-one should feel a sucker for buying the best possible version of Reed's magnificent film. I'd have had it at some point.

You won't regret owning it when you make the plunge and even if you don't it will likely hold extra value if it remains OOP a few years down the line when BD is more popular and people are clamoring for the early BD CC titles.

Are you going to open it for kicks or keep it sealed just in case?

[John Hodson]

I have the Criterion SD (I have the R2 Optimum set too), so I won't be opening it just yet. However, that Oppo BD player is now calling louder than ever...

I knew it would be Criterion who would lead me into a BD player upgrade, but I hadn't planned on it just yet.

[swo17]

Not a typo, unfortunately. We'd keep it in print if we could.

[aox]

oh man... I can't believe this.

[HerrSchreck]

Good lord-- this is like CC losing Seven Samurai or Rules of the Game or something.

Like I said earlier, it's simply impossible for me to even conceive of this film not a Criterion. Jeez, it's simply unbelievable....

[Highway 61]

Damn. Even though I own three different iterations of this, it still stings.

Do we have a list somewhere on the forum of the licensor for each film? I suppose I should start picking up as many Studio Canal titles as possible.

[swo17]

Thankfully for the consumer, there is usually a pretty reasonable window from the time these things go OOP to the time you physically can't find them anywhere. (You can still buy Ran and Contempt from various retailers.) But this still must be a blow to Criterion, who haven't even gotten a year's worth of sales out of all the work they did to upgrade Third Man to Blu. Hopefully most of the people that were planning to put off buying it will take this opportunity to get it now. It's such a landmark film, and I'm sure Criterion's Blu treatment of it will be the definitive version for years to come. It really looks spectacular.

[knives]

Damn. Even though I own three different iterations of this, it still stings.

Do we have a list somewhere on the forum of the licensor for each film? I suppose I should start picking up as many Studio Canal titles as possible.

Ask and you shall receive.

[Highway 61]

Much appreciated!

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I wonder how many copies there are left. I'd like to get it now, but I'd also like to wait with that B&N sale coming in November. Anyway, I'm with Schreck: I can't imagine anyone else with this film. Just the cover sums it up for me.

[John Hodson]

I have a feeling that all this is connected with the sometimes disappointing Studio Canal Collection, which they're punting out across Europe and, through Lionsgate, beyond. If they feel there are worldwide sales in pressing 'one-size fits all' BDs then they'll have them.

[Flike]

I have a feeling that all this is connected with the sometimes disappointing Studio Canal Collection, which they're punting out across Europe and, through Lionsgate, beyond. If they feel there are worldwide sales in pressing 'one-size fits all' BDs then they'll have them.

As I said in my previous post, I'm almost certain this is the case and yes, given the mixed bag that has been the 'collection' so far, it's infuriating to me.

[John Hodson]

Peeping Tom next to go?

[knives]

I would hate that, but it seems likely as the London films are the only ones to not have a weird thing yet and The Third Man seems like a start. The Fellini and Clouzot have already had a falling recently so they are probably more safe than the other titles.

[anvilscepe]

I wonder how many copies there are left. I'd like to get it now, but I'd also like to wait with that B&N sale coming in November. Anyway, I'm with Schreck: I can't imagine anyone else with this film. Just the cover sums it up for me.

You can always buy it from Amazon and then return within the month.

[cdnchris]

Do we have a list somewhere on the forum of the licensor for each film? I suppose I should start picking up as many Studio Canal titles as possible.

Ask and you shall receive.

There's also some hidden in these licenced-from-Rialto titles.

I'll just note that when I put together those lists I based it on what was on the back of the package or available online (or in some cases I guessed until I found out differently.) The lists may not be complete.

[Matt]

Good lord-- this is like CC losing Seven Samurai or Rules of the Game or something.

Or Contempt or Nights of Cabiria. It's a shame. Criterion has always done right by Studio Canal. Can't imagine why they're (apparently) driving such a hard bargain these days.

[Napier]

They still have Blu-ray's of this on Amazon, I just ordered one. There's already copies on private sale for a $1,000.00.

[anvilscepe]

Even though I don't own a Blu player (a Momitsu is hopefully coming for Christmas), I ordered The Third Man blu this past Saturday. It just arrived and I can happily report that it's in a plastic case. It's really quite attractive.

[domino harvey]

I ordered the Blu too. If I don't get a player, I can always retire on this in a year

[manicsounds]

I'm very satisfied with the DVD release... no double dip for me.

[zedz]

I ordered the Blu too. If I don't get a player, I can always retire on this in a year

You may be right. I haven't really been following this sort of thing, but isn't the availability window of the Third Man Blu-Ray the shortest for any Criterion release to date (10 months)? It's a hugely popular film, and chances are that whatever replaces it won't be up to the quality of this release (and surely won't have the same cachet), so unless Criterion manages to get the rights back, this is likely to be going for some serious money very soon. Good news for your retirement fund, anyway, domino.

[Murdoch]

I ordered the Blu too. If I don't get a player, I can always retire on this in a year

You may be right. I haven't really been following this sort of thing, but isn't the availability window of the Third Man Blu-Ray the shortest for any Criterion release to date (10 months)? It's a hugely popular film, and chances are that whatever replaces it won't be up to the quality of this release (and surely won't have the same cachet), so unless Criterion manages to get the rights back, this is likely to be going for some serious money very soon. Good news for your retirement fund, anyway, domino.

Amazon marketplace already has it going for $35 used and it hasn't even gone OOP yet! (Although, it seems all the sellers are private companies and not individuals) I picked up a copy, too, you know, for the retirement fund.