Criterion U.K.

[dwk]

Isn't that more than 50% off?

I believe the MSRP is £24.99, so it would be 44% off.

Ah, so Criterion didn't convert the USD prices to GPB. That would be £32.70.

Well, if I'm not mistaken, when they launched £24.99 = $39.99.

[danieltiger]

Well, if I'm not mistaken, when they launched £24.99 = $39.99.

Ahhhhh. This is a post-Brexit issue. I hadn't really thought about it in that direction, that's fascinating.

[Costa]

Has anyone ever compared a UK and US criterion disc of the same film?
Are they IDENTICAL in quality?

I was wondering if any encoding/compression issues found on some US releases could be fixed in UK.

[MichaelB]

From what I gather, they are indeed exactly the same discs, the only difference being the region code.

From a production budgeting standpoint, there'd be very little point doing a full re-encode unless there was something obviously wrong with the US edition.

[Costa]

Thanks for your reply.
well, i thought maybe the region locking involved a whole new encode, since I don't know about these things.
I was obviously wrong.

[tenia]

Has anyone ever compared a UK and US criterion disc of the same film?
Are they IDENTICAL in quality?

Exact same product, save for the BBFC logos and the change of regions.

[MichaelB]

Thanks for your reply.
well, i thought maybe the region locking involved a whole new encode, since I don't know about these things.
I was obviously wrong.

David M can wax more eloquent about the precise differences, but my understanding is that it's literally a case of loading up the original encode and just changing the region setting. You certainly don't need to re-encode anything, and once you get past the player's initial region check the discs will be absolutely identical.

Even something like Arrow's US editions of Immoral Tales and The Beast (i.e. where the US and UK editions differ slightly in terms of content for local rights reasons) use the same encodes when it comes to the actual video files. They weren't broken so didn't need fixing.

[rapta]

Somebody on Blu-ray.com has just quoted the UK January titles are His Girl Friday and Black Orpheus.

Can Criterion really release the latter? Screenbound (aka Odeon) released it just a few months ago on Blu-ray...surely they still have the rights, or are there no strict rights for this particular film?

[domino harvey]

They prob meant Black Girl

[jwd5275]

But wasn't Black Girl just released by BFI...?

[domino harvey]

Oh good point!

[rapta]

I actually would have loved it to be Cocteau's Orpheus, but no. Apparently it's definitely Camus' film, so perhaps that film is public domain (either that or Criterion UK have made a mistake again like they did with the listing for Ivan's Childhood which was removed later on).

A little pointless if we already had a very affordable edition of Black Orpheus released earlier this year (£6 from Fopp/HMV at the moment), but I guess Criterion's will likely be a better encode and have more extras...

[HJackson]

I relented and bought In a Lonely Place and Gilda at £18 but these are all in 2 for £25 at HMV now which is good value. Picked up Day for Night and Cat People and will hopefully grab most of the others I'm interested in. Seems to be reductions on Amazon too.

[RossyG]

Yes, a lot - if not all? - are 2 for £25 at HMV, which seems a reasonable enough price.

http://store.hmv.com/blu-ray/criterion-blu-ray-2-for-25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dr Amicus]

And many seem to be £13.49 on Amazon - which is about £11.40 with VAT taken off

[MagicHour]

FOPP also selling 2 for £25 (unsurprisingly as they are owned by HMV)

[rapta]

I relented and bought In a Lonely Place and Gilda at £18 but these are all in 2 for £25 at HMV now which is good value. Picked up Day for Night and Cat People and will hopefully grab most of the others I'm interested in. Seems to be reductions on Amazon too.

Yeah, annoyingly I bought In A Lonely Place last night on eBay for £13 and then this offer started just a few hours afterwards (but I guess that's only 50p down the drain). Ordered Day for Night and Cat People, and asking for The In-Laws for Christmas...

[TMDaines]

There's a chance that they may join the 2 for £25 on Amazon I guess.

[HJackson]

And many seem to be £13.49 on Amazon - which is about £11.40 with VAT taken off

Note to self: move to Guernsey.

[Dr Amicus]

And many seem to be £13.49 on Amazon - which is about £11.40 with VAT taken off

Note to self: move to Guernsey.

Yes, but the cost of living is rather high here - the lack of VAT or GST is one of the few bright spots (as is the personal tax regime - as long as you're earning over the Higher Rate limit in the UK).

Slightly annoyingly, different e-tailers treat us differently - some take off VAT and a few treat us as overseas for postage purposes. The result is that Amazon is often the cheapest by far (especially as I'm a Prime member with free postage) - although if there isn't much in it, I will usually go direct (Arrow, Eureka) to support them more.

[dwk]

February releases:
Mildred Pierce
Cul-de-Sac

And FOPP is having a contest on Twitter to win a bundle of 8 Blu-rays (Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Samurai Trilogy, Easy Rider, It Happened One Night, The Royal Tenenbaums, Punch-Drunk Love, Gilda, and Dr. Strangelove), a tote bag, t-shirt, and mug

[HJackson]

Is Mildred Pierce the first Warner title they're putting out in the UK? I just dropped some big change on the US Asphalt Jungle!

Also, hasn't Cul-De-Sac just been released in the UK in a Polanski set by another label?

[eerik]

Is Mildred Pierce the first Warner title they're putting out in the UK? I just dropped some big change on the US Asphalt Jungle!

Nope, a handful of Warner titles have already been released or announced.

Day for Night
The Emigrants / The New Land
The In-Laws
Cat People
Dreams

[HJackson]

I own Day for Night and Cat People so I should have known better! (Although I had assumed Cat People from RKO was a Universal property in the UK)

[eerik]

I own Day for Night and Cat People so I should have known better! (Although I had assumed Cat People from RKO was a Universal property in the UK)

I don't thnk Universal have the rights for RKO titles anymore, Warner re-issued Citizen Kane in the UK recently.