Criterion.....overpriced?

[AWP82]

I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here. I'm sure most of these movies are pretty good and deserve the editions they get. But I cannot understand for the life of me why they're SO DAMNED EXPENSIVE. $25-35 is understandable for most special/ultimate/extended/anniversary editions and director's cuts. But $40-50 plus??? That's fucking ridiculous! And some of these are only single-disc editions. So far, the only reasonably priced Criterion DVD I've seen/bought was Chasing Amy. What the hell is up with the other ones though? Are those discs made of gold or platinum or something? Are those "directors' signatures" worth that much? I've been wanting to see some of those movies really bad for quite a while now but the only thing stopping me is the ridiculous price. I've checked every blockbuster in my area and none of them carry any of these movies (not even bare bones/non-Criterion editions). Some of the movies in question are Straw Dogs, Slackers, and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, and a few others I forget the name of...all $40 plus. Can someone explain this to me please???

[DaveyJoeG]

You can get most of them for much cheaper in the 25-30$ range, you just have to know where to look.

www.criteriondvd.com is a good start.

[HeavyFknMetal]

It takes a lot of time, work, and money to restore the films Criterion puts out. Films such as The Royal Tenenbaums, Chasing Amy, Lifa Aquatic, ect. don't need much attention or effort put towards it so they are usually found cheaper. In Criterions words...

The Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. Criterion began with a mission to pull the treasures of world cinema out of the film vaults and put them in the hands of collectors. All of the films published under the Criterion banner represent cinema at its finest. In our seventeen years, we've seen a lot of things change, but one thing has remained constant: our commitment to publishing the defining moments of cinema in the world's best digital editions.

The foundation of the collection is the work of such masters of cinema as Renoir, Godard, Kurosawa, Cocteau, Fellini, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock, Fuller, Lean, Kubrick, Lang, Sturges, Dreyer, Eisenstein, Ozu, Sirk, Buñuel, Powell and Pressburger. Each film is presented uncut, in its original aspect ratio, as its maker intended it to be seen. For every disc, we track down the best available film elements in the world, use state-of-the-art telecine equipment and a select few colorists capable of meeting our rigorous standards, and take time during the film-to-video digital transfer to create the most pristine possible image and sound. Whenever possible, we work with directors and cinematographers to assure that the look of our releases does justice to their intentions. Our supplements enable viewers to appreciate Criterion films in context, through audio commentaries by filmmakers and scholars, restored director's cuts, deleted scenes, documentaries, shooting scripts, early shorts, and storyboards. To date, more than 35 filmmakers have made our Director Approved library of laserdiscs and DVDs the most significant archive of contemporary filmmaking available to the home viewer.

Theres a lot of places you can find cheap Criterions. If you care try www.criteriondvd.com or www.deepdiscountdvd.com You can also find some great deals on ebay as well if you don't mind picking up used editions. I'm sure MacReady, Tayzlor or Mikey2Dope could give you better places to find cheap Criterions though.

[beastieben21]

The reason they're so expensive is because they're dedicated to finding the best films, no matter what condition they may be in, and restoring them, adding suplements and packaging, all for future generations of film fans to enjoy. You can get a 12 pack of Budwieser for 5 dollars, or a micro-brewery that tastes 50 times better for 4X that. When it comes to quality, you usually get what you pay for. A lot of the films that Criterion gets ahold of haven't been sitting in the Universal archives being protected; they require intensive work to restore and also produce.

I'd rather pay an extra 5 dollars to see something like a double disk version of Hitchock's "Rebecca" than I would pay 13 dollars for an "uncorked" edition of Wedding Crashers that was slapped together just to make a quick buck.

[AWP82]

....................Wow.

I stand corrected.

[Tyler_Durden_208]

I think this is a good a thread as any to ask... Which is the best way to go for the Kurosawa films? I'm mainly interested in The Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Ran, Throne of Blood, Kagemusha, and Rashomon. I know there's a four pack of Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, Sanjuro, and Yojimbo, but is it cheaper and is there any difference between the single releases? And what would be the best way to order them? I know Deepdiscount DVD is the cheapest, but I tried to order a Godzilla 7-pack a while back, and it kept going in and out of stock, so I had to order from somewhere else. Any suggestions?

[HeavyFknMetal]

Criterion is rereleasing Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, and I think Yojimbo later on in the year so I'd wait to get those. Try your luck at www.criteriondvd.com and check out their prices.

[Tyler_Durden_208]

Alright, thanks for halting me on those. Will they be upgraded picture and sound or just features? Cuz I mostly care about picture and sound:D

[DaveyJoeG]

They'll definitely have new transfers and most likely they'll throw some new features in there.

[Tyler_Durden_208]

Awesome, thanks for the info, I'll definately wait, although they'll hopefully re-release the box set.

[jackson13]

A place I frequent has numerous copies of Armageddon C.E. for $25. Used. I really want to buy it, because I love the movie, but everytime I see the $25 price tag I think "well is this thing gonna have sex with me after I watch it?". $25 used is too much.

Hell, $25 new is too much. It's just a movie.

[TheAxeGrinder]

It depends on the release. I'd be hard pressed to shell out $40 for a single disc DVD. The best deal I've gotten would've been the Videodrome SE off of eBay for $45.

[DaveyJoeG]

Originally posted by TheAxeGrinder
It depends on the release. I'd be hard pressed to shell out $40 for a single disc DVD. The best deal I've gotten would've been the Videodrome SE off of eBay for $45.

Dude you got ripped off. That DVD is in print and the retail is 39.95. If you go to www.deepdiscountdvd.com or www.criteriondvd.com you could've gotten it as low as $23.97!

[MacReady]

Originally posted by DaveyJoeG
Dude you got ripped off.

Canadian exchange my friend.

Videodrome would cost over 50$ around here in regular music stores. The two-discs (and some one disc) sets usually cost a whooping +62$.

[DaveyJoeG]

I don't really know how things work in Canada but isn't there a way around that? I mean I know I've ordered DVDs online from Canadian websites before. Can't you just choose to order it cheap from one of those sites I listed?

[JurassicMik]

I've only ever bought 1 and it was at a discount. I understand that they cost a lot of money to make and are of the greatest quality, but $50 for a dvd is just completely ridiculous in my mind. A lot of criterion films are available in other dvd editions from different companies and I usually just buy those. Not a huge fan of bonus features anyway.

[kibble48]

I agree that 40 and above is a bit busted but 25-30 is understandable for them I think. Although it depends on the set some of them are like box sets or two or three disc packages which is also understandable. But it would be nice to own an Akira Kurosawa movie sometime that I don't have to drop almost 40 bucks on.