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So, it is safe as well as unfortunate to assume that every 3-discs set will get a digipak treatment.

And thanks to Chris' pics, we can all see how they will arrive at our doorstep: crushed.

Yeah. I'm going to be buying fewer Criterions now unfortunately. I had a good run with B&N and Import CDs but my last orders have shown up dented so they all went back. There's enough stuff I want my wishlist that will get priority as they aren't packaged in paper.

Matt wrote:And thanks to Chris' pics, we can all see how they will arrive at our doorstep: crushed.

I don't care too much personally but it is unfortunate. At least Mr. Fox took the brunt of the impact in this case. I also think it depends on construction. Mr. Fox actually feels a little flimsy in comparison to Foreign Correspondent and Jules and Jim, which both arrived in excellent condition. Not sure if that has something to do with it.

Something tells me at some point they will look into keep cases.

I've had a few digis show up looking like the pics Chris posted above recently, but my copy of Citizen was absolutely demolished. One corner looked as if someone had jabbed it into a wall with all their might, one of the plastic trays inside was cracked and loose, both DVDs were loose and scuffed. I emailed Mulvaney or whoever just to leave a comment and didn't receive a response. I too won't be ordering anymore Criterion digis.

If people on this forum won't buy a movie because of dings and dents in their packaging, how did anyone here survive in the pre-video era of pink 35mm prints, wrong aspect-ratio 16mm prints and cut television viewings?

Yeah, I also tend to think that boycotting is a pretty extreme response to dinged corners. Now, dinged corners annoy me, too, but I don't buy movies for the corners. I'm certainly not going to stop buying them just because there's a slight bit of damage at the bottom of the case. I would prefer the plastic cases as well, but I doubt they'll go to the trouble of repackaging all of their latest digipacks, and there are some great films I don't want to miss out on just because of the packaging. That's just me, though.

Theres a simple solution (for some).

Buy in a store and see what you get.

Precisely. I'm not saying I'm boycotting Criterion by any means, but I'm certainly done having digis sent by post.

So long as the discs themselves are unharmed, I have a pretty high tolerance for packaging issues. I mean, bumped corners are nothing compared to punctures through the DVD/Blu-ray coverart thanks to those stupid fucking Eco-cut holders

So glad you brought those up, domino. I hate them so much. Aren't there less obnoxious ways to save the environment?

I don't mind the occasional dinged corner on a digipak release, but I do worry about shelf wear. My copy of "The Last Emperor" has bruised considerably at the bottom of the packaging from removing it on and off my shelf over the years.

As domino, I also tend to have a good tolerance. For instance, I kept my Lean / Coward set even if the spine is pretty damaged, but everything else if flawless, so that's fine. But usually, if the dent is bad enough to get the plastic disc holder damage, that's where I draw the line and ask a replacement copy.
But fortunately, I've never been in a position where the replacement copy wouldn't be enough to solve this (you know, like when the replacement copy turns out damaged too, etc etc). So it never prevented me to buy a release, even if some are more worrisome than others (for instance, I'm quite afraid of how my copy of IAMMMMW will turn out).

And overall, I like digipacks. But I'm also quite sure they will find a way to go to 3-discs keep case. It probably cost much more to use digipacks, and I'm surprised it's still going on after a few initial months.

Digipack/Keep Case debate aside those are gorgeous designs for the packaging of these two releases.

Tess
King of the Hill

"Full special edition to follow"...

Special Edition sticker.

Well, to be honest, that's their basic sticker, but yes, for such a specific release, it might have been fair to create a new sticker without this "special edition mention".

I'm glad I'm not the only nut job who really can't stand adding these digipacks to my collection (for all the reasons listed above) for the sake of some dvds I'll never use.
Here's 2 ideas:
- Offer blu-ray cover art that would fit in a standard criterion case, so we can print it off if we so wish.
- Limit the DVD contents to 1 disc, so the cases/packaging won't be affected.

My apologies if this was already posted somewhere else, but here is Gizmodo's look at how CC restored Foreign Correspondent, including the production of the cover design.

cdnchris wrote:Breathless

I'm gonna miss the thing in the case where it seemed like the writing on the disc imprinted on the other side of the case.

But I guess you won't be doing a review of the new edition? Does this mean there are no major differences between the original DVD/BD releases and the new one?

I probably will cover it but I'll feel a little silly: the discs are exactly the same in both cases.

The Blu-ray is most telling. When I popped it in for the first time it actually resumed from where I last left off with the film (my previous viewing being with the original Blu-ray) and all of my bookmarks were there. The transfer looks the same and the supplements are all there with nothing new.

The DVDs are also both exactly the same as the original DVD edition, including the same menus that changed colour as you highlighted options.

The booklet is the same one that was included with the original Blu-ray edition.

"Great" placement of the stupid sticker on Ace in the Hole