Of those, A Night to Remember, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Brief Encounter are the only previously available Criterion entries receiving Blu-ray upgrades; the rest are new to the Criterion Collection.
Furthermore, the Kalatozov, Hegedus & D.A. Pennebaker, and the three remaining Lean films are making their respective debuts onto the North American Blu-ray format.
Quoted below are Criterion's release date and disc specifications for each film.
Update: It appears that for the time being, the four David Lean Blu-rays are only available if purchased through the four-disc bundle.
The Last Temptation of Christ (March 13th, 2012) —
Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and editor Thelma Schoonmaker
Audio commentary featuring director Martin Scorsese, actor Willem Dafoe, and writers Paul Schrader and Jay Cocks
Galleries of production stills, research materials, and costume designs
Location production footage shot by Scorsese
Interview with composer Peter Gabriel, with a stills gallery of traditional instruments used in the score
An essay by film critic David Ehrenstein
Letter Never Sent (March 20th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restoration
Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
New English subtitle translation
A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Dina Iordanova
The War Room (March 20th, 2012) —
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by directors D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus
2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Return of the War Room, a 2008 documentary in which advisers James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, and Paul Begala and others reflect on the effect the Clinton war room had on the way campaigns are run
Making The War Room, a conversation between the filmmakers about the difficulties of shooting in the campaign's fast-paced environment
Panel discussion hosted by the William J. Clinton Foundation and featuring Carville, Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan, journalist Ron Brownstein, and surprise guest Bill Clinton
Interview with strategist Stanley Greenberg on the increasing importance of polling
A booklet featuring an essay by writer Louis Menand
David Lean Directs Noël Coward (March 27th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital transfers of the BFI National Archive's 2008 restorations
Uncompressed monaural soundtracks
Audio commentary on Brief Encounter by film historian Bruce Eder
New interviews with Noël Coward scholar Barry Day on all of the films
Interview with cinematographer-screenwriter-producer Ronald Neame from 2010
Short documentaries from 2000 on the making of In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter
David Lean: A Self Portrait - a 1971 television documentary on Lean's career
Episode of the British television series The Southbank Show from 1992 on the life and career of Coward
Audio recording of a 1969 conversation between Richard Attenborough and Coward at London's National Film Theatre
Trailers
A booklet featuring essays by Ian Christie, Terrence Rafferty, Farran Nehne, Geoffrey O'Brien, and Kevin Brownlow
A Night to Remember (March 27th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restoration
Uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentary by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall, author and illustrator of Titanic: An Illustrated History
The Making of A Night to Remember, a sixty-minute documentary from 1993 featuring William MacQuitty's rare behind-the-scenes footage
Archival interview with Titanic survivor Eva Hart
En natt att minas, a forty-five-minute Swedish documentary from 1962 featuring interviews with Titanic survivors
Trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Sragow
Adam_ME: I'm assuming that was a joke, so . If it's not a joke, it's probably coming out for the 100th anniversary of the actual sinking. We're getting James Cameron's film in 2012 and I think another 1950's Titanic film is coming out soon too. Definitely a good time to release Titanic films.
Really... is it to much to ask to get The Game??? I mean it's Fincher. F I N C H E R! (I spelt that right, right?) It's not like i'm asking for the Criterion Ghostbusters... I just want the GAME!!!!!
This are a bunch of boring films!, David Lean is no cinema at all, he's boring..........bring out more Jean Luc Godard, Nick Ray and John Cassavetes films!!!!
It's the definitive Titanic film, if you ask me. Just as long as you aren't one of those people who don't like old black & white films, who can't see a film for what it truly is.
Good lord, that's one of the best Criterion lineups I've ever seen in one month. "A Night to Remember" is the one I'm most stoked about (Titanic fever will be in full effect right around then) -- but "Brief Encounter" (from the Lean/Coward set) is one of the finest dramas/love stories ever put to film. And who can argue about a Scorsese upgrade?? The political doc "The War Room" is the icing on the cake.
What an exciting lineup, especially if you love the old classics.
As expected, The Last Temptation of Christ is coming in March (the month of Easter, right?) and I definitely plan to pick that up, given that it's one of Martin Scosese's more intriguing films.
Aside from Scorsese, the strong preorders for me from this list would be Roy Ward Baker's A Night to Remember and especially the David Lean Directs Noel Coward box set. Looks as if my fledgling collection of Lean films will soon get a little shot in the arm.
But, The War Room and Letter Never Sent also look appealing. I'll perhaps save both for a sale, down the line.
Lean and A Night to Remember?? I'm there!!!!
As someone mentioned, Brief Encounter is a wonderful film. But I have seen no one talk about In Which We Serve. It is one of the best war movies ever.
In for The Last Temptation... too. I don't believe I've ever seen any of the others and Critierions prices are too steep for blind buys, which thanks to redbox and streaming, is about the only way to rent movies anymore around here.
@OldPangYau: The current Uni release of Brazil actually has a nice transfer, too bad it doesn't have extras. I'm hoping the eventual Criterion release has the other two versions of the film.