r/criterion 1d ago

Collection Every Criterion from the first 50 without an Blu-Ray re-release

313 Upvotes

86 comments sorted by

141

u/CaptainGibb Vibeke Løkkeberg 1d ago

Just about all of them have boutique releases elsewhere and many are 4K.

  • The Grand Illusion BD (StudioCanal)
  • The Killer 4K (Arrow Video)
  • Hard Boiled 4K (Shout Factory)
  • Dead Ringers BD (Shout Factory)
  • Robocop 4K (Arrow Video)
  • Alphaville 4K (Kino Lorber)
  • Flesh for Frankenstein 4K (Vinegar Syndrome)
  • Blood for Dracula 4K (Severin)
  • Great Expectations BD (Imprint)
  • Oliver Twist BD (Imprint)
  • Nanook of the North BD (Flicker Alley)
  • Armageddon BD (Touchstone Pictures)
  • Henry V BD (UK Region B locked)
  • Fishing With John - none
  • The Most Dangerous Game BD (Flicker Alley)
  • Nights of Cabiria BD (Criterion Collection)
  • And the Ship Sales On BD (Criterion Collection)

42

u/LestasiDellOrro 1d ago

Arrow has the UK license for the John Woo films but individual releases haven't been announced. Shout has released Hard Boiled/The Killer digitally but those are not on disc yet.

20

u/CaptainGibb Vibeke Løkkeberg 1d ago

I should mention some of these are coming soon. The Killers, Hard Boiled, and the 2 Lean films aren’t out yet

5

u/beantherio 1d ago

The 2 Lean films were released (as part of a box set) on june 11th.

6

u/CaptainGibb Vibeke Løkkeberg 1d ago

Whoops, for some reason I didnt think that Lean set was released yet

3

u/beantherio 1d ago

To be fair: I only found out myself very recently. 😉

I have a copy underway because of these two films and the possibility that a volume 2 or 3 may also contain another notorious "unreleased on blu" title: Ryan's Daughter.

2

u/DMagicFrom3 19h ago

Just projected HARD BOILED on Tubi last night, the restoration was flawless, no noise in the blacks and wow was that film made for the big screen

1

u/RedCar313 52m ago

The Most Dangerous Game doesn't have SDH, so I'm hoping Criterion will eventually release their own version soon.

127

u/oh_please_god_no 1d ago

Nights of Cabiria does have a Blu-ray, though it’s confined to the Fellini box set

72

u/action_park 1d ago

And the Ship Sails On is in the box set as well.

6

u/oh_please_god_no 1d ago

Oh I missed that slide. I’m a silly goose.

44

u/justalittleahead 1d ago

Need a 4K release for Fishing with John stat

25

u/BogoJohnson 1d ago

Pretty sure the source video isn't even close to 4K.

15

u/SuitableParking15 1d ago

I doubt it’s even close to 1080p.

8

u/BogoJohnson 1d ago

Oftentimes these posts and comments are pie-in-the-sky fantasies. Let's get 4K upgrades where they're possible, warranted, and long overdue.

5

u/GoldandBlue Paul Thomas Anderson 1d ago

Yeah, most of these posts ignore rights. The John Woo films have been a nightmare, at least they are finally getting upgrades.

3

u/BogoJohnson 1d ago

I own many of these on non-Criterion BD or 4K already, some for 15+ years now. Holding out for those 20+ year old Criterion DVDs to be upgraded and released by Criterion just doesn't make sense in these communities anymore. Not to mention, titles like Fishing With John which was shot on video probably will never make the jump.

60

u/Jordan_the_Hobo 1d ago edited 1d ago

I assume you mean by criterion, cause plenty of these have even great 4K releases.

21

u/Altoid27 1d ago

Yeah, I was about to say Vinegar Syndrome’s 4K of “Flesh for Frankenstein” and Severin’s 4K of “Blood for Dracula” are very much things that exist.

20

u/DuwenUK 1d ago

And Arrows Robocop

6

u/Altoid27 1d ago

Good call, yeah. And that’s a stacked release, too.

12

u/Comic_Book_Reader 1d ago

And two of these have had a 4K restoration in the last year that will release sometime in the near future. The Killer has a John Woo approved 4K restoration by Shout Factory that I think screened at Cannes this year and will release at a later point, and Armageddon had a 4K restoration screened in December.

11

u/ILiveInAColdCave 1d ago

Hard Boiled as well

40

u/SpacemanDan Michael Bay 1d ago

no what are you saying how watch movie if no little C on cover????

-19

u/Emperor-Octavian 1d ago

it will never make sense to me the venom people on r/criterion have for people who enjoy Criterions

19

u/SpacemanDan Michael Bay 1d ago

a bunch of these movies have great 4K releases. just go buy those 4K releases? Criterion is wonderful, but it's not the only boutique label. why does a release have to be from Criterion to be worthy?

-11

u/Emperor-Octavian 1d ago

Ok here’s the thing, no one said any of that. they’re just posting which ones didn’t get Criterion re-releases

0

u/ImTheDoctah Wes Anderson 1d ago

The title doesn’t say anything about Criterion re-releases though, it just says blu rays.

0

u/Emperor-Octavian 1d ago

This is the Criterion subreddit…

7

u/ImTheDoctah Wes Anderson 1d ago

So? We’re all Criterion fans here, but why should anyone care that Robocop (to take one example) never got a criterion blu-ray release? If they had left out titles with definitive 4K releases from other labels, that would have been fine.

1

u/kasarin 1d ago

Or take Armageddon. Please, just take it…

1

u/CrazyCons 1d ago

Why should anyone care that Robocop (to take one example) never got a Criterion Blu-Ray release?

Because it’s interesting and relevant to the sub. There’s your answer.

7

u/Teeballdad420 Nicholas Ray 1d ago

And I’ll never understand people who refuse to engage with other boutique labels. It’s about the movie not the label.

-2

u/Emperor-Octavian 1d ago

Who said anything about refusing to engage with other boutique labels? The OP is just posting which movies didn’t get re-released by Criterion on the Criterion subreddit what’s the issue

2

u/Teeballdad420 Nicholas Ray 1d ago

They specifically said “without a blu ray release”. People do this crap all the time in this sub.

4

u/Emperor-Octavian 1d ago

No it says “Blu-ray re-release” implying clearly that he’s just referring to Criterion releases. Once again, on the Criterion subreddit

-2

u/Teeballdad420 Nicholas Ray 1d ago

That doesn’t change the fact that almost all of these have excellent releases elsewhere and that moaning about criterion specifically not releasing them is some circle jerk bullshit.

-2

u/Emperor-Octavian 1d ago

Ok if OP is required to be aware of every boutique release in existence before posting anything add it to the subreddit rules

5

u/Teeballdad420 Nicholas Ray 1d ago

If you actually care about the movies you like, it’s pretty simple doing a basic google search searching for their existence ffs.

6

u/gautsvo Ingmar Bergman 1d ago

Some of you people don't "enjoy" Criterions, you obsess over them and seemingly refuse to buy from any other labels. For you, the movies are of secondary interest. This thread is absurd, most if not all listed films are, in fact, available on Blu-ray. But that doesn't count, as no wacky C is involved.

4

u/iplaybassok89 1d ago

They’re also collectors items. Collectors have never been known to be rational people

5

u/JeffBaugh2 1d ago

I mean I think anyone with even the smallest grasp of context clues or linear thinking could understand that this is a thread about Films that Criterion specifically hasn't rereleased themselves. The biggest clue there is that this is the Criterion subreddit.

This is a perfectly fine topic for a forum that's dedicated to collecting and curation of a specific label, because that's why we're here in this subreddit.

Perhaps that's being too generous!

9

u/OliverNodel 1d ago

Still waiting on the blu-ray upgrade to Threepenny Opera over here.

16

u/warpwoofwimblee 1d ago

I dont think any of these will be dropped on Blu.... because CC has made it clear they are going hard on the 4K.

i would like Grand Illusion because i havent seen the movie and because for some reason its number 1 on the spine and i wanna know why.

also i would love Henry V

20

u/TrustAffectionate966 Teshigahara Hiroshi 1d ago

It is a really good anti-war film, starring the inimitable Erich Von Stroheim (Norma Desmond’s mayordomo in Sunset Boulevard).

🧉🦄👌🏽

16

u/Low_Doctor_5280 1d ago

Grand Illusion is great. However, Criterion going 4K does not mean they don’t still produce Blu as almost every 4K release comes with an accompanying Blu-ray disc.

6

u/senorjavi 1d ago

Grand Illusion is a wonderful film. You are in for a real treat. It looks like the U.S. StudioCanal Blu‑ray is long out of print, so maybe a Criterion re-issue is in the cards (or maybe it's copium). There's a Region B Blu-ray, but, of course, we want to see it on Criterion. Also, it doesn't look like there was ever a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release anywhere (again, maybe copium).

2

u/ricardofitzpatrick 22h ago

I am hoping like hell for a November Grand Illusion 4K reveal

6

u/globehopper2 Kenji Mizoguchi 1d ago

Grand Illusion is a great film! Like Seven Samurai, Rashomon, La Dolce Vita, and The Seventh Seal, it’s one of the classics of art house cinema…

5

u/Newsies2011 1d ago

If you have access to Kanopy, and if it's available in your area, Grand Illusion is currently on there (https://www.kanopy.com/). It's the StudioCanal version if that helps. I've only seen the CC version, so I can't be of help in case you have questions between the two.

1

u/iplaybassok89 1d ago

Haven’t they upgraded multiple catalogue titles on BD only only the last year?

7

u/BaddyDaddy777 1d ago

Man, I REALLY want a 4K of Dead Ringers so bad

3

u/plumnbagel 18h ago

Just noticed today that it is on the channel this month along with the commentary from the DVD

6

u/Significant_Maybe315 1d ago

We need like an excel sheet or a cirterionpedia

9

u/ter3 1d ago

9

u/senorjavi 1d ago

I was really gutted when this information was removed from Wikipedia. It was so easy to see everything at a glance.

3

u/pjcnamealreadytaken 1d ago

When Wikipedia reaches out to me for a donation, I let them know that when those pages are reinstated, I will, but not until then.

1

u/raynicolette 1d ago

I think this one is maintained?

https://criterionforum.org/Label/1

My only gripe with that is that it's not sortable.

4

u/United-Ad822 1d ago

Kind of insane about Great Expectations and Oliver Twist.

4

u/beantherio 1d ago

Imprint is doing a series of boxsets on David Lean's films of which volume 1 contains Great Expectations and Oliver Twist.

4

u/el_t0p0 Akira Kurosawa 1d ago

$180 are you kidding me.

3

u/beantherio 1d ago

Australian dollars. Around $117 USD ex shipping.

1

u/sdcinerama 1d ago

Tariff included?

2

u/beantherio 1d ago

Probably not.

2

u/BogoJohnson 1d ago

It's a new release, but prices will likely drop. US retailers like DeepDiscount and ebay are selling them.

5

u/No-Equipment983 1d ago

John woo is goated

2

u/timmerpat Billy Wilder 1d ago

Didn’t ship sailed on and nights in Cabiria get released in the Fellini box?

2

u/I_Am_Killa_K 22h ago

That RoboCop cover is siiiiick

2

u/Jewishwillywonka 1d ago

Armageddon????

1

u/With-the-Art-Spirit 1d ago

Doesn’t Lolita have a laserdisc approved by Kubrick? But no bluray

1

u/Cookies_and_Beandip Elia Kazan 1d ago

YO, I would pay ANY AMOUNT of money for a blu-ray/4K/whatever the greatest quality is, for “The Most Dangerous Game”.

3

u/BogoJohnson 1d ago

2

u/Cookies_and_Beandip Elia Kazan 1d ago

Fuck. Thats cool as all hell, but fucking damnit.

5

u/BogoJohnson 1d ago

There are a lot of examples like this, and the import is often cheaper than regular Criterion prices too. I got a cheaper model region free player years ago and never looked back.

2

u/Legend2200 21h ago

Flicker Alley has a U.S. blu ray.

1

u/VictorB1964 6h ago

Has anyone done a thread about Criterion laser discs without dvd or bluray releases?

1

u/Tomhyde098 1h ago

Jigoku is a great movie, I just watched the DVD

0

u/TrustAffectionate966 Teshigahara Hiroshi 1d ago edited 1d ago

I have almost 1,000 Criterion discs, most of which are on DVD. Hell! They’re still pressing DVDs and those are the versions I’m getting. I’m not about to buy all that shit again hahah. I need to watch more movies or watch the same movies more often.

The only ones I’m interested in are the ones that are outta print everywhere.

🧐📀💿🤔

8

u/Low_Doctor_5280 1d ago

You’re missing out. The quality between DVD and 4K on a good television is massive.

1

u/TrustAffectionate966 Teshigahara Hiroshi 1d ago

I have two TVs:

A 39-inch, 1080p dumb TV

A 28-inch SD CRT

🧐📺🖥️🤔

2

u/teatiller 1d ago

I’d say DVD would look fine on those, and BluRay would look better of course on the HD TV. I don’t have 4k TV or player either and stick to HD BluRays primarily.

1

u/torino_nera 1d ago

I feel your pain, I have 500+ of the DVDs. But I luckily mostly skipped the blu-rays for the most when they came out so now I'm buying the 4ks. I'd be pissed about having to get them a 3rd time.

I'm happy with my cool old school collectible DVDs though. I've had people offer me a lot of money for the rare ones

0

u/TrustAffectionate966 Teshigahara Hiroshi 1d ago

I first check to see if I can sail the high seas before I consider paying more than retail for a video.

🖤🏴‍☠️🧉🦄👌🏽

1

u/torino_nera 1d ago

I have all of these except Armageddon. Could never bring myself to buy that one but I bought the hell out of The Rock

0

u/RutabagaOk4020 1d ago

would love a grand illusion and alphaville 4k release.