criterionforum.org

TMDaines wrote:Very disappointed with the Touch of Zen packaging. The slipcase is utterly shit: a thin piece of cardboard that isn't even under the shrinkwrap. Please don't bother in the future. Your special packaging is usually of good quality: nice chunky slipboxes for boxsets or Steelbooks. This feels like a token gesture to try and justify the higher price point of a limited edition. Half the concept of Arrow's Limited Edition model is that you are generally happy to pay a higher price because the releases increase, or at the very least hold, their value if you keep them pristine. This is impossible to do if the packaging is so flimsy to begin with and everything arrives damaged.

I ordered two copies and both came bent. Both will be going back.

Please, please, please don't repeat this for the Vertov set. Go the Joan route or something.

I'll admit, I was hoping for a set similar Joan of Arc for A Touch of Zen, but soon realised that would be impractical considering there wouldn't be enough writing on the film to justify a booklet that wouldn't fit inside the Amaray case.

The slipcover isn't 'utterly shit', it's actually better stock than most slipcovers you receive from mainstream releases - and you say that Arrow don't do the same but I own several Arrow titles with flimsy slipcovers or slipboxes. Examples: all of the early Academy titles ('windowbox' sleeves that fall apart before you've even opened them), Cinema Paradiso, Koyaanisqatsi+Powaqqatsi, Thief, Withnail & I, and My Darling Clementine/Frontier Marshall. Other labels like BFI, Third Window Films, StudioCanal and Second Sight have done the same before too, with mixed results.

You just had bad luck it seems! I myself received a dinged-up copy from Amazon so asked Eureka and they sent me a mint slipcover since I asked so nicely.

RE: price-point - this is a 3 hour film, so almost certainly all the budget went on subtitling and BBFC fees. Not to mention licensing the documentary (which cost quite a lot, and also had to be subtitled), newly produced extras, and the booklet content. I'd say £17.99-£19.99 for this one was completely fair, considering the recent price has been about £13.99 for a regular title.

As for MoC titles having slipcovers, I agree that it's maybe shouldn't be a regular thing but I wouldn't mind it for certain limited edition titles. For example, Shane would've looked excellent with the artwork on a slipcover! I reckon Man with a Movie Camera will be more like The Passion of Joan of Arc, if it's any consolation - you'd have trouble trying to fit 4 discs and an 100-page booklet in a card slipcover!

I liked the slipcover too. Arrow and Shout Factory are the only labels I've ever seen put their slipcovers underneath the plastic wrap, so I don't think that's a big deal here either. To each their own, of course, but I thought the overall package was quite sharp and lovely

I got two BDs with slipcovers in the mail last week--Touch of Zen and Third Window's Hana-bi. I honestly didn't see the point in the first one--it presents all the same art and information as does the cover sleeve. I usually just toss ones like this (though apparently I could be making beaucoup cash off the Blu-ray.com crowd with them). The Hana-bi one was a nice touch though.

I know people here can be derisive of slipcovers in part because they don't want to be associated with the mouth-breathers on the Blu-ray.com forums, but a slipcover can mean a measurable difference on the resale market in terms of what I can expect to collect total when putting something up for sale, and for that alone I love them. Plus, just generally, I like slipcovers. Not enough to pay extra for one on eBay or something, but I think they're nice and a little part of me dies inside when I hear about one of you just throwing away your slips! Or worse, I remember Matt telling tales of how he's destroy all the beautiful DVD packaging of boxed sets etc to fit inside standard library DVD cases. Oh the horror!

I liked the slipcover better than the cover inside the keepcase because Kevin had the good sense to not touch the original still unlike Craig Keller who had to apply the fucking watercolour filter to it.

The moment there's a Blu-ray on your shelf that doesn't have a slipcover, though, is the moment that none of them matter anymore. And if they come with a huge Ultraviolet sticker that is impossible to get off without screwing up the cardboard below or something? Trash. Too many variables with slipcovers.

swo17 wrote: The Hana-bi one was a nice touch though.

The Hana-Bi slipcover was wonderful and should have been the original cover, too.

But then the slipcover wouldn't feel as special...

My Touch of Zen one looks fine so I'll keep it, but last year the one that came with my BFI Chaplin set was all banged up and it looked better without it. (And again, it looked identical to the cover sleeve, so I didn't feel it was even worth trying to get a replacement.)

Also, one thing that mildly bothers me is when a slipcover houses a case with those giant recycle symbol holes. It makes things sturdy again, sure, but where's the ideological consistency?

domino harvey wrote:I liked the slipcover too. Arrow and Shout Factory are the only labels I've ever seen put their slipcovers underneath the plastic wrap, so I don't think that's a big deal here either. To each their own, of course, but I thought the overall package was quite sharp and lovely

Generally that's a bonus because it means you're less likely to receive one that's bashed to shit, but my pre-order for My Darling Clementine was damaged underneath the wrapping. So it's not entirely avoidable! Best bet is to not include them...but sometimes they're nice. I dunno why these UK labels don't use the same stock Second Sight seem to use, which is almost thick enough to throw at someones head and still be intact.

swo17 wrote:I got two BDs with slipcovers in the mail last week--Touch of Zen and Third Window's Hana-bi. I honestly didn't see the point in the first one--it presents all the same art and information as does the cover sleeve. I usually just toss ones like this (though apparently I could be making beaucoup cash off the Blu-ray.com crowd with them). The Hana-bi one was a nice touch though.

Ditto - those are the two I most recently received with slipcovers. They're both nice! Particularly Hana-bi (and Kikujiro should be arriving this weekend to go with it).

domino harvey wrote:I know people here can be derisive of slipcovers in part because they don't want to be associated with the mouth-breathers on the Blu-ray.com forums, but a slipcover can mean a measurable difference on the resale market in terms of what I can expect to collect total when putting something up for sale, and for that alone I love them. Plus, just generally, I like slipcovers. Not enough to pay extra for one on eBay or something, but I think they're nice and a little part of me dies inside when I hear about one of you just throwing away your slips! Or worse, I remember Matt telling tales of how he's destroy all the beautiful DVD packaging of boxed sets etc to fit inside standard library DVD cases. Oh the horror!

I guess that includes me then...though like everybody I try to breathe through my nose in the company of others. I too am a bit of a packaging fan, but not obsessively so - my steelbooks have small scratches on some of them, for example. As you said, resale value is a factor for some potentially rarer titles like this (not that I plan on selling the vast majority of them).

Finch wrote:I liked the slipcover better than the cover inside the keepcase because Kevin had the good sense to not touch the original still unlike Craig Keller who had to apply the fucking watercolour filter to it.

Didn't know it was Keller's fault! I wondered why they'd applied that filter to Dragon Inn...and then had to do the same for A Touch of Zen. After the earful they got when the Dragon Inn artwork was revealed, you'd think they'd had the sense to change it! Then there wouldn't be a problem whatsoever...

mfunk9786 wrote:The moment there's a Blu-ray on your shelf that doesn't have a slipcover, though, is the moment that none of them matter anymore. And if they come with a huge Ultraviolet sticker that is impossible to get off without screwing up the cardboard below or something? Trash. Too many variables with slipcovers.

Yeah, I stopped caring whether things came with a slipcover or not a long time ago, particularly when those UV banners were introduced on mainstream titles. Now I only really give a shit if it's a label I like, and even then it's not a deal-breaker - somebody pointed out BFI seem to have one planned for their upcoming release of Watkins' Culloden + The War Game.

Finch wrote:

swo17 wrote: The Hana-bi one was a nice touch though.

The Hana-Bi slipcover was wonderful and should have been the original cover, too.

Yeah, I don't get why they used different artwork on the actual insert for the slipcover version of Hana-bi. Apparently the non-slip version has the same commissioned artwork as the slipcover. Kikujiro and Dolls will have the same artwork on both the slipcover and insert apparently...so initial copies of Hana-bi will be inconsistent with the others! My inner perfectionist is seething (not really, I'm just happy to finally see more Kitano on Blu-ray in all honesty).

swo17 wrote:But then the slipcover wouldn't feel as special...

My Touch of Zen one looks fine so I'll keep it, but last year the one that came with my BFI Chaplin set was all banged up and it looked better without it. (And again, it looked identical to the cover sleeve, so I didn't feel it was even worth trying to get a replacement.)

Also, one thing that mildly bothers me is when a slipcover houses a case with those giant recycle symbol holes. It makes things sturdy again, sure, but where's the ideological consistency?

Depends how much you like Chaplin, I guess. I have contacted the BFI in the past to moan about their packaging and they have sent me replacements, but only with a couple of box sets when they've fallen apart in-transit (and I got the impression they were a little reluctant to sort it out for me, so I wouldn't bother chasing them for a slipcover if I were you).

Fuck those eco-cases. I get rid of them every time, and thankfully that's not very often!

Well, at least I started the conversation. I just do not see the point in non-standard packaging that is more easily damaged and highlights it so. It beats the whole point of it being special in the first place. Taking receipt of Shane meanwhile was lovely as there was nothing battered on the outside.

Criterion are pretty bad for this too as their boxsets are so thin compared to MoC's or Arrow's recent ones, for example.

Finch wrote:

swo17 wrote: The Hana-bi one was a nice touch though.

The Hana-Bi slipcover was wonderful and should have been the original cover, too.

Touch of Zen and Hana-Bi arrived in the same box from Amazon and sadly Hana-Bi didn't have the slipcover.

Oh dear, I hope this is temporary. That text is horrible.

Not a fan either, but at least we know the internal covers will be gold.

I on the other hand am quite enamoured with the concept. Far superior to most 'the artist at work' hokum.
Granted the font is a bit bold but slightly toned down in all respects and I think it's a winner. So there!

I'm a big fan of Murnau, but I've never seen, or even heard of, one of the films included this set.

So, can anyone here recommend 'The Bast Baugh'? - it sounds intriguing.

For those wondering about packaging and extras, from Facebook:

2 Blu-ray cases (containing 3 Blu-rays) and a 100 page book in a slipcase. Similar to what Man with a Movie Camera will be

Alphonse Tram wrote:Oh dear, I hope this is temporary. That text is horrible.

Didn't they announce a name change from Early Murnau? If so, this cover will need to be revised.

jindianajonz wrote:Didn't they announce a name change from Early Murnau? If so, this cover will need to be revised.

As of yesterday, MoC were still calling it 'EARLY MURNAU: FIVE FILMS 1921-1925' on Facebook and Twitter.

That Cold Day in the Park

Original poster, for context...

Alphonse Tram wrote:

jindianajonz wrote:Didn't they announce a name change from Early Murnau? If so, this cover will need to be revised.

As of yesterday, MoC were still calling it 'EARLY MURNAU: FIVE FILMS 1921-1925' on Facebook and Twitter.

They initially called it 'F.W. MURNAU: FIVE FILMS 1921-1925' but the Amazon listing said 'EARLY MURNAU: FIVE FILMS 1921-1925'. So it seems they've now settled on the latter, which is fine by me. Even though a couple of the later films in the set aren't really 'early Murnau' in my eyes, they're all prior to his move to Hollywood, so can collectively be classed as 'early'.

'EARLIER MURNAU' doesn't really look right...

I quite like the cover for That Cold Day in the Park. Not sure about the Murnau set, but I'm sure it'll look fine in-hand.