The Complete Kubrick

[CriterionPhreak]

I got my set today. The box is beautifully designed, with all the detail lovely to look at, from page to page, cover to cover. But the disc sleeves are tough to handle. I had to use patient nudging, pivoting, and careful amount of force to pull out all 30 discs from their sleeves, which took me quite a bit of time. And I had a particularly hard time pulling out one of the discs. I used a flashlight to check out the inside of the sleeves -- nothing strange inside, no glue, or anything weird. The sleeves are just TIGHT, I guess. There is NO WAY I'm putting any of the discs back into the box.

Obviously, the high number of discs is why they used this packaging and cramped all the discs into as little space as possible. The Wes Anderson box set has 20 discs and is able to have individual disc cases. Maybe a 4K-only Kubrick set should've been made, which would've reduced the number to 13 discs.

[Finch]

Jason Gorber had the same trouble with retrieving the discs and he was also not going to put them back.

I would have included BDs for the extras only if it were me but they must have crunched the numbers and concluded that splitting the set into two separate 4k and BD exclusives would likely have meant prohibitively low sales of the BD only set. My guess anyway.

[Noiretirc]

I had actually given thought to getting this, BD discs for me (because I ain't doing 4k anytime soon), and 4k discs as a present to someone...

...But I'm the only person I know who does discs in real life.

[CriterionPhreak]

Jason Gorber had the same trouble with retrieving the discs and he was also not going to put them back.

The sleeves he uses are also not ideal because they don't prevent contact to the disc surface. Those sleeves touch the disc constantly, which is disconcerting and just as bad as Criterion's sleeves. The only ways to store discs safely are (1) storing them in cases that have hubs that prevent contact, and (2) stacking discs on a spindle, which also prevents contact. Discs have "ridges" at the center of the ring that prevent contact when discs are stacked. That's why stacks of blank discs are sold that way. (When you spin the first disc on a stack, it can spin freely because it doesn't rub against the disc below it, because it doesn't touch it. The downside of a stack is, of course, it's inconvenient to retrieve the discs near the bottom.)

[domino harvey]

Discs have "ridges" at the center of the ring that prevent contact when discs are stacked. That's why stacks of blank discs are sold that way. (When you spin the first disc on a stack, it can spin freely because it doesn't rub against the disc below it, because it doesn't touch it. The downside of a stack is, of course, it's inconvenient to retrieve the discs near the bottom.)

Interesting. I can’t believe I didn’t know this! Still never going to be okay with the Sony chocolate box thing they did with the NewsRadio complete series though

[CriterionPhreak]

I just looked through all 30 discs and noticed that there are actually pretty substantial new supplements from the titles that already have 4K discs from other publishers, such as 2001, A Clockwork Orange, and The Shining. A few of these are vintage documentaries over an hour long. Criterion didn't just port existing extras over, but they also spent time looking for worthy new ones, knowing that the fans probably wouldn't be satisfied with the same old extras for such an expensive set. That is commendable. The disc that has A Life in Pictures also has new extras too. By "new," I mean not having been released on US home video before.

Even though we can find a lot of rare videos online, Criterion often manages to find stuff that can't be found on YouTube or anywhere else online. That's true for some of the aforementioned new extras (and many extras in other Criterion discs). Maybe that's why they spent the effort to find them -- you have to buy their discs to see them.

[CriterionPhreak]

Discs have "ridges" at the center of the ring that prevent contact when discs are stacked. That's why stacks of blank discs are sold that way. (When you spin the first disc on a stack, it can spin freely because it doesn't rub against the disc below it, because it doesn't touch it. The downside of a stack is, of course, it's inconvenient to retrieve the discs near the bottom.)

Interesting. I can’t believe I didn’t know this! Still never going to be okay with the Sony chocolate box thing they did with the NewsRadio complete series though

The "ridge" is very tiny and barely noticeable even when seen up close. But it is just enough to put some distance between two adjacent discs -- a distance that is not too big to allow debris to come in, but still big enough to prevent contact. The spindle holds the discs in place and keeps them horizontal to make sure they don't "tilt" and touch each other.

[Noiretirc]

Isn't it wonderful that we are discovering all of this disc-technology in 2026.

[HinkyDinkyTruesmith]

For any New Yorkers, The Museum of the Moving Image will be doing a full retrospective in conjunction with the release of this box set, most of which are on prints.

[mfunk9786]

For any New Yorkers, The Museum of the Moving Image will be doing a full retrospective in conjunction with the release of this box set, most of which are on prints.

Lotta people are gonna be unhappy about that color timing!

[Zot!]

Discs have "ridges" at the center of the ring that prevent contact when discs are stacked. That's why stacks of blank discs are sold that way. (When you spin the first disc on a stack, it can spin freely because it doesn't rub against the disc below it, because it doesn't touch it. The downside of a stack is, of course, it's inconvenient to retrieve the discs near the bottom.)

Interesting. I can’t believe I didn’t know this! Still never going to be okay with the Sony chocolate box thing they did with the NewsRadio complete series though

The "ridge" is very tiny and barely noticeable even when seen up close. But it is just enough to put some distance between two adjacent discs -- a distance that is not too big to allow debris to come in, but still big enough to prevent contact. The spindle holds the discs in place and keeps them horizontal to make sure they don't "tilt" and touch each other.

Count me among those that didn't realize that stacked discs on a spindle don't touch the information areas. Still this really only works with a level spindle, because as soon as I try to get it them out, I no doubt tilt and bend them and make them rub. Still if it puts anyone at ease, I have been handling optical media for at least 35 years now, and I have never rendered ANY disc less playable due to handling or storage, that isn't remedied by a quick wipe. I do understand UHD discs might be more sensitive however.