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Pale Flower is one of my favorite movies and I have to say I actually quite like the cover.
Diaboliques is pretty good and Solaris has convinced me about buying it again.
Have to agree about The Great Dictator cover being a great disappointment, though.

Great Dictator cover is great, obv

I quite like the Great Dictator cover (other than the Topsy Turvy being the new split cover template)

Although I feel this was a missed opportunity to harken to the Reclam series

swo17 wrote:Also, I get what they're doing with The Great Dictator, but why?

domino harvey wrote:Great Dictator cover is great, obv

I am old and uncomprehending. Could you youngsters please explain? Looks like total garbage to me.

I only like it to blow old people's minds

I think the Solaris cover is great. Pale Flower is the one I love, though.

Matt wrote:I am old and uncomprehending. Could you youngsters please explain?

What I "get" is that with it turned one way it looks like Hitler with a moustache and turned the other way it looks like Chaplin. What I don't get is why God lets things like this happen.

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:I think the Solaris cover is great. Pale Flower is the one I love, though.

Yeah, the Solaris cover is definitely the one I'd remember (and like) most from the bunch.

For a second I thought Diabolique was Man With the Golden Arm.

Something Wild is actually my favorite of the bunch, but that Solaris cover I hate, maybe I'll like it better the more I look at it.

Chaplin was ticked that Hitler was stealing part of his act.

So, looking at this film Olaris, and the American Footballs surrounding the text, is this film about a woman inspired by the American game, desperately trying to escape the Soviet Union?

I love that criterion is taking the covers for the Chaplin films and deliberately trying to induce apoplexy in conservative taste with bold choices. I liked Modern Times, and I like this. It's inventive, playful, more spirited and definitely better than screenshots covered by an ugly quadrilateral matte ala the BFI editions.

aox wrote:So, looking at this film Olaris, and the American Footballs surrounding the text, is this film about a woman inspired by the American game, desperately trying to escape the Soviet Union?

Her name is Olari, and yes, that's precisely what Tarkovsky was aiming at

You have to hand it to Criterion: I once thought that it would be impossible to disguise a Tarkovsky film as a Hallmark afternoon movie, but that risible image of Hari has proven me wrong (to be filed under the 'enormous spectral heads over landscapes' section of 'Worst DVD Covers...ever!').

movielocke wrote:I love that criterion is taking the covers for the Chaplin films and deliberately trying to induce apoplexy in conservative taste with bold choices.

Heavily aliased black text in Fraktur and Helvetica on a red background combined with a cover concept they just used (and executed brilliantly) is somehow a radical maneuver?

Cinéslob wrote:You have to hand it to Criterion: I once thought that it would be impossible to disguise a Tarkovsky film as a Hallmark afternoon movie, but that risible image of Hari has proven me wrong (to be filed under the 'enormous spectral heads over landscapes' section of 'Worst DVD Covers...ever!').

This was my reaction as well, I'd rank it among the worst CC covers and actually prefer the dull film still cover.

kaujot wrote:I'd love to know how much they paid that graphic designer who did the Great Dictator poster a few years ago. Though I think they treated the text differently.

They let Sam Smith design the cover for Hausu, so I'm sure they gave Olly the same opportunity. Not hiring him would be like Chicago passing on Jordan in 95.

Here's the original

I do like the original font better. Though I guess they were going for a more Der grosse Diktator olde germanic look?

It is just nitpicking but I did think it was a shame that Criterion didn't take the opportunity to go back to the original French title of "Les diaboliques". I know Diabolique was the title used for the original American release, but at this point (as well as considering the film about pairs of evil-doers) I tend to associate the singular title with that diabolical in itself Sharon Stone/Isabelle Adjani remake.

Other than that the cover is fine. Pale Flower is the standout of this bunch for me, far better than the relatively bland HVe cover. The Great Dictator isn't very good at all, but better than Modern Times at least - at this point they should really try and keep away from the far too obvious Chaplin iconography. (I'm unsure whether I like the way that in terms of the upside down text that "The Great Dictator" from the top block of text is tied in with the "A Film by Charles Chaplin" from the bottom block, and vice versa, or just find it too tricksy)

Solaris is OK but I much prefer the original covers allusion to a particularly important moment in the film (the second Hari questioning, after watching the home video, whether she is the same Hari on Earth while having all the memories from that life within her), which was something I've always liked about the best Criterion covers. It also tied into the general Tarkovsky mirror motif, which I thought was quite neat. The new one is, as Cineslob suggests, a bit too 'spooky floating woman connected to spooky swirly ocean' for my liking. But Natalya Bondarchuk, even in floaty head form, is as gorgeous as ever, so I can't complain too much (even if the first cover's focus on Donatis Banionis, with Bondarchuk seen from the back and cut off in the mirror was more appropriate in portraying the film as being from the perspective, and projections, of our main character).

And I'm sure I'll get around to upgrading Fat Girl on Blu-ray some time, so...thank you Criterion!

Oh, I get it now. Hitler's been a bad baby, yes he has.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:For a film like Something Wild, am I the only one disappointed at it's non-eighties design? It looks more like a Saul Bass imitation.

Turqoiuse and pink (magenta?) screams 80s to me. I think it looks pretty nice if a bit obvious.

I think the Diabolique and Solaris covers are shockingly good, and I really like the Pale Flower cover, too. Something Wild is just so-so, but good lord is The Great Dictator's cover awful! That may very well be their worst cover ever, and by a fair distance, too.

Just to add my two cents; I love The Great Dictator cover. I was a fan of the Modern Times cover and I'm an even bigger fan of this one. I can't wait to see what they do for the next one. I also really like the new Solaris cover. Well done Criterion.

Diabolique is astoundingly great and Pale Flower's really solid, too. Something Wild and Solaris are passable, not exceptional. I'd like The Great Dictator more if they removed the ridiculous flipped text. Actually, I think the cover could be pretty good if they left only the mirror image, or something similar. I think the iconography speaks for itself and they could put the title just on the spine and on the back. I know Criterion would never do that, but it could make for a bold cover.

DRSchwarz wrote:Just to add my two cents; I love The Great Dictator cover. I was a fan of the Modern Times cover and I'm an even bigger fan of this one. I can't wait to see what they do for the next one. I also really like the new Solaris cover. Well done Criterion.