captveg wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2026 8:03 pm
I'm now assuming Criterion will also eventually release The Crowd as part of a Vidor silent set. The Big Parade is an obvious pairing, but is there a third film from Vidor's silent MGM days that would make sense to also add in? Proud Flesh? La Bohème? Or maybe break the set from being all silent and include Hallelujah?
I love Vidor's two films with Marion Davies, especially Show People, though maybe as comedies they don't pair well with the bigger titles.
I don't expect Criterion to release another silent film boxset so soon though, I'll get the Flicker Alley release.
captveg wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2026 8:03 pm
I'm now assuming Criterion will also eventually release The Crowd as part of a Vidor silent set. The Big Parade is an obvious pairing...
Or they could issue The Crowd with Our Daily Bread in a two-fer (or I suppose with The Big Parade as a trio). That grouping makes sense.
Saturnome wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2026 8:28 pmI don't expect Criterion to release another silent film boxset so soon though, I'll get the Flicker Alley release.
Oh, there's zero chance I'm skipping on FA's release of The Crowd. I've waited 25+ years for a quality release of it. If Criterion eventually releases it, so be it.
Maybe it's not so far-fetched Criterion would do a Vidor silents set or even Von Stroheim? I just realized that this Sjostrom trio is clearly modeled after the Tod Browning set. They could do The Crowd (I swear the clip in the Resillion demo reel is from a different element than what Flicker Alley/Blackhawk used), La Boheme, and Show People. Maybe throw in The Patsy, too.
Overall it's exciting. I'm not even upset having to buy He Who Gets Slapped Again, it's just funny that after having these MGM silents MIA from video for so long, we're already double dipping.
It's cool that they still have a working relationship with Netflix, but did we really need a 4K upgrade and an unremarkable Baumbach instead of home video debuts of The Other Side of the Wind and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs? I'm sure they'll eventually work their way there but something like a UHD of Roma will probably get prioritized before them.
Criterion/Janus has La Roue and the latest restoration is on the channel. I think someone said here that Netflix got a hold of the newest Napoleon restoration.
Lowry_Sam wrote:Criterion/Janus has La Roue and the latest restoration is on the channel. I think someone said here that Netflix got a hold of the newest Napoleon restoration.
Though the question is really whether Criterion's relationship with Netflix (The Irishman et al.) will result in a Criterion Napoleon- though I don't think it has been confirmed what Netflix are going to do with Napoleon in other territories
I'm kind of down on Netflix. I wouldn't hold my breath if they're the decider of whether NAPOLEON will eventually get a physical release.
I am excited about what now seems like a Criterion trend of 3fers of silent film boxes with Browning and now Sjöström. It deliciously opens the door to what else could come, as mentioned a Stroheim set anchored by GREED he says rubbing his hands together. I'll throw out some others for sets of DeMille and DW Griffith. I'm assuming these are all in PD and is open for multiple releases as just witnessed by FA and CC versions of HE WHO GETS SLAPPED.
If we do get Stroheim or Vidor sets, I do hope we get Carl Davis’ scores for Greed and The Crowd. Two of the best scores to silent films I have ever heard.
If Criterion can release a silent that another label has, will it release Metropolis on UHD in 2027? Seems to me that is the brass ring of silent film even if it has been released in prior iterations. Could Criterion beat Kino to the new restoration for its anniversary?
I would pay as much as I was going to for the Napoleon UHD before my order was just cancelled (2 times no less, 120€) for an edition of Metropolis that contained the Palle Vedel Soundtrack for the 2010 restoration that mixed various electronica instrumental music together in pefect synchronization with the film. Everyone at the screening I went to (Copenhagen's Cinemateket circa 2015) agreed it was the best soundtrack for it bar none (and most had seen it with other scores in order to compare). Licensing would definitely be a challenge as it contained instrumental portions of tracks by the likes of Portishead, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, New Order, Faithless, Cinema Orchestra along with the original material, almost like a 2.5 hr. dj mix but so carefully catered to the actions on screen it stunned the audience so much that that is what everyone talked about (and not the actual restoration) when the lights came up.
Lowry_Sam wrote: Sat Nov 14, 2026 10:16 pm
If Criterion can release a silent that another label has, will it release Metropolis on UHD in 2027? Seems to me that is the brass ring of silent film even if it has been released in prior iterations. Could Criterion beat Kino to the new restoration for its anniversary?
I would pay as much as I was going to for the Napoleon UHD before my order was just cancelled (2 times no less, 120€) for an edition of Metropolis that contained the Palle Vedel Soundtrack for the 2010 restoration that mixed various electronica instrumental music together in pefect synchronization with the film. Everyone at the screening I went to (Copenhagen's Cinemateket circa 2015) agreed it was the best soundtrack for it bar none (and most had seen it with other scores in order to compare). Licensing would definitely be a challenge as it contained instrumental portions of tracks by the likes of Portishead, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, New Order, Faithless, Cinema Orchestra along with the original material, almost like a 2.5 hr. dj mix but so carefully catered to the actions on screen it stunned the audience so much that that is what everyone talked about (and not the actual restoration) when the lights came up.
Criterion doesn't release a lot of silent films so I'd much prefer they use their resources on other silent films that don't already have releases of any kind (i.e. The Wind). Don't really need yet another Metropolis release in my opinion. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the film but I'm 100% fine with what we have already. Maybe I'm in the minority but I prefer availability over endless upgrades.
