Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[Finch]

The Delta is a maybe and nothing else is of personal interest to me.

[jt938]

Body Heat has been speculated for ages so I'm glad to see it finally come.

[MichaelMiles]

Finally a new Kurosawa upgrade! Baffled though as to why Stray Dog before Red Beard.

[andyli]

Perhaps for the reason that it has a ready to go 4K restoration whereas Red Beard doesn't.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

Sholay coming from Criterion. This is huge.

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/shol ... 236663206/

[Saturnome]

Though I love the titles they choose so far, I hope the Film Heritage Foundation will do more mainstream bollywood. Worthwhile restorations are so rare, with b&w titles you tend to get colorized stuff with added lens flares and CGI. I'd love to get my hands on Mughal-e-Azam or Awaara.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

Though I love the titles they choose so far, I hope the Film Heritage Foundation will do more mainstream bollywood. Worthwhile restorations are so rare, with b&w titles you tend to get colorized stuff with added lens flares and CGI. I'd love to get my hands on Mughal-e-Azam or Awaara.

Mera Naam Joker, Jewel Thief, and Amrapali are dream releases for me.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

What are your thoughts on Janus owning Magellan. Do you think we’ll see the 9 hour black and white cut on disc or the theatrical stuffed on Criterion Premieres?

[Finch]

Probably just Criterion Premieres. Flow was the only film so far getting upgraded to the mainline after the initial budget label announcement, I think. Even The Shrouds didn't get moved up despite Cronenberg being canon.

[hearthesilence]

Was the 9 hour version really a polished cut? I was under the impression it was definitely a work-in-progress, not something that was in a releasable state (artistically speaking, not "commercially").

[kekid]

Though I love the titles they choose so far, I hope the Film Heritage Foundation will do more mainstream bollywood. Worthwhile restorations are so rare, with b&w titles you tend to get colorized stuff with added lens flares and CGI. I'd love to get my hands on Mughal-e-Azam or Awaara.

Mera Naam Joker, Jewel Thief, and Amrapali are dream releases for me.

Biggest blockbusters ("Sholay") are not artistically the most important to preserve (IMO).
"Mughal-e-Āzam," "Pyāsā," "Paper Flowers," "Mother India," "Gangā Jamnā," "Jāgte Raho," and "Pākeezah" would all have made a better choice. (This is by no means a complete list of Indian films worth preserving)
And then there are non-Bollywood great indian films, such as those of Shyām Benegal.
Indian Film Industry is the largest in the world, with many great choices. It is the one least represented on Criterion or for that matter any label globally in acceptable condition. (Exception being the films of Satyajit Ray).
"Second Run" needs to be acknowledged for making some good contributions.

[Matt]

What are your thoughts on Janus owning Magellan. Do you think we’ll see the 9 hour black and white cut on disc or the theatrical stuffed on Criterion Premieres?

Isn't the black-and-white version of Magellan just the same 164-minute film? From what I can tell, the original idea was for the film to be nine hours long, but it doesn't seem like that was ever considered a finished work or shown anywhere.

A Deadline article (from April 2025) says that the original intent of Magellan was to make a film about Beatriz called Beatriz, The Wife and provided some context on that early version:

Speaking in a masterclass at the Doha Film Festival’s Qumra event on Sunday, Diaz said he had just finished cutting a two hour, 45-minute version of the film, even though his long-term plan is for a nine-hour movie.

Talking to Deadline after the masterclass, Diaz said that the short version had been retitled Magellan and would focus more on the explorer, although the nine-hour cut would include more of Beatriz’s story.

Screen Daily (January 2026) says the footage that focused on Magellan's wife Beatriz has become a separate film altogether. So it seems like what might have originally been envisioned as a nine-hour movie has now become these two separate films.

As for the black-and-white version of Magellan itself, I can see that possibly being included on a second disc in a Criterion Premieres release, but my guess is that it's more likely to be a Criterion Channel streaming exclusive.

[Calvin]

Though I love the titles they choose so far, I hope the Film Heritage Foundation will do more mainstream bollywood. Worthwhile restorations are so rare, with b&w titles you tend to get colorized stuff with added lens flares and CGI. I'd love to get my hands on Mughal-e-Azam or Awaara.

It was announced a few years ago that they were working on 8K (!) restorations of Mani Ratnam's films. No idea what has happened to that project as I haven't even heard of any screenings, let alone releases. A title like Dil Se.. would have huge commercial potential.

[mfunk9786]

Have there been any rumors around either The Hudsucker Proxy or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs getting Criterion releases? Two different studio situations, of course - but the former has a pretty old looking disc, and the latter... well, that'd be a shoo-in for release of the year. I don't keep up with this stuff as well as I used to, so just curious if I missed anything.

[beamish14]

Have there been any rumors around either The Hudsucker Proxy or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs getting Criterion releases? Two different studio situations, of course - but the former has a pretty old looking disc, and the latter... well, that'd be a shoo-in for release of the year. I don't keep up with this stuff as well as I used to, so just curious if I missed anything.

I would kill to see the former get a release. Maybe their most visually interesting film, and it’s a personal favorite. I honestly think it might be their very best

[onedimension]

Though I love the titles they choose so far, I hope the Film Heritage Foundation will do more mainstream bollywood. Worthwhile restorations are so rare, with b&w titles you tend to get colorized stuff with added lens flares and CGI. I'd love to get my hands on Mughal-e-Azam or Awaara.

It was announced a few years ago that they were working on 8K (!) restorations of Mani Ratnam's films. No idea what has happened to that project as I haven't even heard of any screenings, let alone releases. A title like Dil Se.. would have huge commercial potential.

What kind of reputation does Film Heritage Foundation have? I know they restored a slew of Guru Dutt films, but some of the caps of Pyaasa I've found online look like they may have DNR-ed it to death so that it can premiere at Madame Tussauds..

[mnmlist]

I wonder if Criterion might possibly release Bullitt (1968)? I just happened to notice it was available for streaming on the Criterion Channel. A couple of things stood out:

1) The soundtrack is mono, or sure sounds like it. Which is great!
2) There's a weird digital cut that was done for the Warner Blu-ray that cuts away from the Dodge Charger just before it slams into the camera in the streets of San Francisco. The odd digital alteration from the Blu-ray is not here, the original scene is there, in tact.

[PerceptiveCoot]

Hello,

First time poster to the forums here. I was wondering if anyone here might know why Juzo Itami's films have all been available for some time on the Criterion Channel, but have not been made available on physical media in the past few years. Judging by Letterboxd, it seems as if his overall body of work has accumulated more attention outside of Tampopo and The Funeral. Is there some kind of rights issue that is preventing these movies from being released, despite them existing in good condition on streaming?

[knives]

Criterion just has a slow release schedule. Theoretically they could have released everything already, but haven’t.

[Beloved Aunt]

I'm curious, is there some sort of home media market wisdom that dictates that a boutique label must/should always release between like 4-7 titles per month? And if so, why? I mean, Criterion's pretty massive at this point aren't they, and yet they release as many titles a month as Radiance, basically.

[knives]

It probably has something to do with workload, right, given that the prolific distributors like Kino mostly just slap a master on a disc and call it a day whereas the more thorough companies are fairly limited.

[Beloved Aunt]

Through no fault of your own, I have completely lost interest in this subject. Knives, can you give me an idea of what's going on in the political thread? Is it exploding?

[Beloved Aunt]

Pretty please?

[knives]

I’m not in the political thread.

[Beloved Aunt]

Oh ok. oops! my bad