Criterion to Release Classic Films On Blu-ray

Posted by Baff on May 8, 2008 at 12:58pm in About Movies

I know there are some big Criterion fans here. They just announced they will be releasing the following titles on Blu-Ray in the fall (at the same price as regular dvds).

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

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Permalink Reply by clockwork983 on May 8, 2008 at 1:06pm: I may be out of place here, but I am completely terrified of Blu-Ray/HDDVD. Before Netflix, I had a slight DVD addiction, and am not looking forward to a time when there is no modern hardware to play them anymore...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Baff on May 8, 2008 at 1:24pm: Blu-Ray players play DVDs too, plus they upscale them to look better. So, nothing to worry about. It's not like VHS which was made completely obsolete by DVD.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by clockwork983 on May 8, 2008 at 1:32pm: They make them look better?!! Dude, I think you just made my day. Are there any brands that are prefered right now?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Baff on May 8, 2008 at 1:40pm: The current cheapest Blu-Ray player is the Playstation 3 at $400. It plays video games, mp3s, and other stuff too. I am very happy with mine.

To give you a rough idea of the qualities, on a scale of 1 to 10
VHS: 1
DVD: 6
Upscaled DVD: 8
Blu-Ray: 10

Around xmas there should be some players for under $300.

If that is too steep for you, you can get an upscaling dvd player for under $100.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Whatchawatchin on May 8, 2008 at 2:57pm: Oh man. I bought my son the X-Box 360. Should've waited for the prices to come down on the PS3...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by mighty on May 11, 2008 at 10:32am: I won a PS3 and it looks good but I still really can't tell too much of a difference, but I am able to get my DTS to work with blu-ray. Nothing wrong with 360, but if yours came with an HD player pretty soon all HD will be extinct from what I am hearing. As for Criterion releasing Blu-Ray, I am excited especially about checking chungking express out. My only issue with some of the films criterion releases are they really going to make the image quality any better than a regular DVD? Sometimes making the image quality better isn't always the best with some of the older films.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Baff on May 11, 2008 at 11:27am: I doubt Criterion will be modifying the image quality, they will just be transferring it at a quality closer to that of the original film. Seeing these movies closer to what they look like in a movie theatre should always be a good thing.

Eventually there will be some companies that try to "improve" the resolution in old movies the way Turner tried to color old movies, but I doubt Criterion will be one of them.

Watching dvds on an upscaling dvd player is actually artificially upgrading the quality. If you try watching a regular dvd in an old dvd player then watch it on your PS3 (which upscales it) you should see a noticeable difference (assuming you are watching on an HDTV).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by eviltimes on May 11, 2008 at 1:12pm: Without a 1080p TV and HDMI cable it matters not.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Baff on May 11, 2008 at 2:00pm: The difference is plenty clear on a good 720p TV, too (picture quality of the TV is more important than the resolution). Component and HDMI offer equal video quality. The advantage of HDMI is that it is 1 cable and offers 2-way communication.

Permalink Reply by Movie Man Andrew on May 16, 2008 at 8:06pm: As long as it looks the best it can be. Let's not forget, there's HD sound too. And let's just say, If you have 5.1, it really is a blast on some movies.

That's why HD movies are developed now, so that the content is Native HD encoding and not artificially upscaled.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alex DeLarge on May 11, 2008 at 1:55pm: The image quality is actually worse on standard DVD due to the formats storage limitations! The image is downgraded from its original print to fit on an 8meg dual-layer disc! High-Definition finally allows a film to be viewed at home (if you have the proper hardware) exactly as it was filmed. CASABLANCA in HD is a true epiphany! It probably looks better than it ever did in a theatre because there are so many factors that influence a presentation: film print damage, older generation copy, out-of-focus projector, dirt on the screen, etc.
So yes, the image quality will be about 10 times better. And I haven't even mentioned the sound!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Movie Man Andrew on May 16, 2008 at 8:04pm: It helps to train yourself to the differences. Here's what I do, I connect the HD cable that's sold separately and the yellow video cable that comes with the machine simultaneously and flip between the inputs on the tv. That is where the biggest differences can be spotted. Pretty soon, you'll see the HD without having to do that(I can now). You just have to have a large tv, and a bit of focus in areas.
Oh and if you're talking about HD DVD being extinct, it's already buried(Pity, it was the better format, blu just carried more blockbusters.)

Image quality isn't always top-notch with newer films either.; ▶ Reply to This