criterionforum.org

It's the same thing. I'm assuming this will be the only way to get these titles via Milestone (as opposed to their own stateside editions)

Folks, just to put in a word in our defense. A total of 700 sets have been made for the entire world and this is our allotment. Most will be sold in Poland or given away to funders. It was going to be cheaper but the shipping costs to the US alone were $1400 (not including the large tip to the driver who had to help me unload the 50 boxes to our storage facility) and the cost of publishing the discs and boxes was astronomical. Each box weighs four pounds!

The Polish distributor will not be selling to the US in deference to all our work to release the films theatrically in the US, but I'm sure there will be sub-dealers who might be able to get them to you cheaper. One thing to know -- approximately 70% of the monies grossed by Milestone is going back to Poland to bring out more films.

It is possible at a later date that more sets will become available, but there's no promise of that and it would take a good deal of time.

I saw somewhere that the Polish sets are Region B locked. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Is Milestone's allotment a separate pressing with Region A locking?

The set that I received from Poland plays fine on my region A player.

vertovfan wrote:The set that I received from Poland is region-free.

I am thinking of biting the bullet and butchering a credit card account. Region coding is not a problem for me as I have region free player. I hope you don't mind if I ask you few questions. As you have already received your copy and it seems hard to obtain any detail information from either sites, could you please tell us -
1. From the couple of pictures of the weird packaging, it seems like there are some materials inside. Are there any other materials besides the 8 discs?
2. Is there any booklet?
3. I am guessing that the films and extra features (if there are any) are provided with English subs. In other words, the set is English friendly. Correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks.

There are 8 discs and one 32-page booklet with brief write-ups (in English) on the films and directors. No extras on the discs, except a trailer for the whole project (voiced by Scorsese in English) and restoration demos for the individual films. The opening menu allows you to choose Polish, French or English, and there are English and French subtitles for the films. I do hope this set prompts more interest in Polish cinema - there are some amazing films out there.

vertovfan wrote:There are 8 discs and one 32-page booklet with brief write-ups (in English) on the films and directors. No extras on the discs, except a trailer for the whole project (voiced by Scorsese in English) and restoration demos for the individual films. The opening menu allows you to choose Polish, French or English, and there are English and French subtitles for the films. I do hope this set prompts more interest in Polish cinema - there are some amazing films out there.

Excellent, thanks a lot for sharing the information. I just placed my order.

Milestone, it's a bit of a sticker shock to be sure, but we understand it's a limited edition and you're probably not taking much of a profit anyways on it. Plus, given the story of how one of these sets made it over the ocean, I think I'll gladly take some safe stateside packaging and shipping at a premium!

vertovfan wrote: I do hope this set prompts more interest in Polish cinema - there are some amazing films out there.

One of the reasons I split the discussion off into a dedicated thread for the set itself is to encourage those of us who have the set to talk about the films as we watch them!

Well, that didn't take long -- the set is showing as sold out. I knew I should have ordered it when I was at work!

mogwai wrote:Well, that didn't take long -- the set is showing as sold out. I knew I should have ordered it when I was at work!

I was just able to order one, so check the site again.

It looks like it's still available to me...

Thanks guys! Not sure why it was showing sold out on my end, but I was able to get an order in now.

Now looks to be sold out (again?)-- wonder how many of the ninety copies went to forum members?

I wonder if the Polish site will ship to the US again once Milestone confirms they've sold all their copies...

Milestone on Twitter says:

ALL 90 Blu-ray box sets of Masterpieces of Polish Cinema sold out in just 16 hours! Now we just need to try to get some more in from Poland…

We're all a little surprised to say the least. So yes, we're trying to get more from Poland...

Wow. Really wishing I hadn't slept on this now. Could they print more?

90 copies allocated to the U.S. and Canada out of 700 seems way too low. Don't we make up like 95% of the world?

In other news, my box already shipped. \:D/

swo17 wrote:90 copies allocated to the U.S. and Canada out of 700 seems way too low. Don't we make up like 95% of the world?

In other news, my box already shipped. \:D/

Amy's printing up the orders, I'm packing and Adam (our son home from college) is taping and labeling.

rwaits wrote:Wow. Really wishing I hadn't slept on this now. Could they print more?

Pretty sure most of this will make its way to individual Blu-rays somewhere in the world. Some with Criterion, some in the UK, some in France, etc.

swo17 wrote:In other news, my box already shipped. \:D/

Mine's shipped too!

I would have jumped on this if I was home in time, but I think I'm content to wait and see more individual releases, especially since I already have Hourglass... on Blu-ray.

Ordered mine shortly before shadedpain4's post, after encountering mogwai's first post. I'd managed to ignore the internet most of the afternoon/evening and it could have easily been one of those days where I continued to ignore it into the early wee hours, but fortunately it was not.

Ship baby ship...

(edit: it did)

Any update on The Daughter of Dawn?

L.A. wrote:Any update on The Daughter of Dawn?

Yes, it's being authored and compressed now. We're waiting on the designs for the cover and label.