Criterion DVDs aren't over-rated. They are a botique item. They are aimed at a group of people who will pay premium price for premium quality. They are aiming at an audience who truly are cinemaphiles. Not your typical movie lover who claims to love film but when you ask them about "Dr. Strangelove" they go and say "I've never heard of that."
First off, while many major brands have as many extras as a typical criterion release (or sometimes more), 99% of the time, Criterion extras are actually worth watching and aren't just fluff pieces. You know, they actually provide real content, not just "Wow, this was a fun movie to make. I respect the work of all my costars!"
Secondly, Criterion is aimed for the cinemaphile, not your standard 'movie-fan.' So, thus, alternate versions are interesting to this group because often times it creates a very different film, like in Brazil.
Now, name one movie of theirs that don't even feature the original language as an audio option. I have never heard of this elusive DVD that breaks the general rule of a criterion release.
Also, Criterion restorations are amongst the best in their classes. I don't know what films you are mentioning. However keep in mind - many films you may be speaking of may look bad until one considers the quality of the original stock. At some point, you are limited by the quality of the stock you have recieved.
The only point you have is English only subtitles.
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themovieking245
17 years ago
Yes I agree with you fully. Criterion is not for every one. There supplements are among the best or the best for any company. And as for the quality of there films go to WWW.dvdbeaver.com and click on dvd comparisons. It compares dvds to other. Most of the Criterion collection is there. They have pictures from each version of the dvd. It is unbelivable how good some of criterions films look to others.
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