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Release Dates & Specs for First Wave of Criterion Blu-ray Discs
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Posted August 15, 2008 10:40 PM by Lindsay Mayer
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 The Criterion Collection has posted details for their first five Blu-ray Disc titles. 'The Third Man' and 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' are set for release on November 18th, while three more titles - 'Bottle Rocket,' 'Chungking Express,' and the critically acclaimed 'The Last Emperor' - arrive one week later on the 25th. The films will be presented in their original (or director approved) aspect ratios in new high definition digital transfers, featuring lossless audio mixes. Each title will also contain a wealth of extra features.
'The Third Man' (1949) will featured a restored high definition transfer in 1.37:1, and an uncompressed mono soundtrack. Extra features include:
Video introduction by writer-director Peter Bogdanovich
Two audio commentaries: one by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy, and one by by film scholar Dana Polan
Shadowing "The Third Man" (2005), a ninety-minute feature documentary on the making of the film
Abridged recording of Graham Greene's treatment, read by actor Richard Clarke
"Graham Greene: The Hunted Man," an hour-long, 1968 episode of the BBC's Omnibus series, featuring a rare interview with the novelist
"Who Was the Third Man? (2000)," a thirty-minute Austrian documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
The Third Man on the radio: the 1951 "A Ticket to Tangiers" episode of The Lives of Harry Lime series, written and performed by Orson Welles, and the 1951 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of The Third Man
Illustrated production history with rare behind-the-scenes photos, original UK press book, and U.S. trailer
Actor Joseph Cotten's alternate opening voice-over narration for the U.S. version
Archival footage of postwar Vienna
A look at the untranslated foreign dialogue in the film
A booklet featuring an essay by Luc Sante
'The Man Who Fell to Earth' (1976) will feature a high definition digital transfer approved by director Nicolas Roeg, and an uncompressed stereo soundtrack. Extra features include:
Audio commentary by Roeg and actors David Bowie and Buck Henry
New video interview with screenwriter Paul Mayersberg Performance, video interviews with actors Candy Clark and Rip Torn
Audio interviews with costume designer May Routh and production designer Brian Eatwell
Audio interview from 1984 with author Walter Tevis, conducted by Don Swaim
Multiple stills galleries, including Routh's costume sketches; behind-the-scenes photos; and production and publicity stills, introduced by set photographer David James
Gallery of posters from Roeg's films
Trailers
Booklet featuring an essay by critic Graham Fuller
'The Last Emperor' (1987) features a high definition digital transfer approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, and a stereo track in DTS-HD Master Audio. Extras include:
Audio commentary by director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Italian Traveler: Bernardo Bertolucci, a 53-minute film by Fernand Mozskowicz, tracing the director's geographic influences, from Parma to China
Video images taken by Bertolucci in China
The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo Bertolucci, a 52-minute documentary that revisits the film's creation
A 47-minute documentary featuring Storaro, editor Gabriella Cristiana, costume designer James Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri
A 66-minute documentary exploring Bertolucci's creative process and the making of The Last Emperor
A 30-minute interview with Bertolucci from 1989
A new interview with composer David Byrne
A new interview with Ian Buruma examining the historical period of the film
Theatrical trailer
Booklet featuring an essay by critic David Thomson
'Chungking Express' (1994) features a restored high-definition digital transfer, as well as a remastered lossless soundtrack supervised by director Wong Kar-wai. Extras include:
Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
U.S. theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
Booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns
'Bottle Rocket' (1996) features a new, restored transfer supervised by direct Wes Anderson and a lossless soundtrack. Extras include:
Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/actor Owen Wilson
The Making of "Bottle Rocket": an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
Eleven deleted scenes
Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
Booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, and original artwork by Ian Dingman
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Source: Criterion Collection Blu-ray Titles |
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 Top reviewer |
lildon24
Aug 15, 2008
Let me be the first to read it
By the way, i dont know none of those films and i think im gonna pass |
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Top reviewer Top contributor |
Gamma_Winstead
Aug 15, 2008
I'm a little disappointed that Bottle Rocket doesn't have lossless but oh well... I'm sure that there is a
reason for that. |
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Top reviewer Top contributor |
PowellPressburger
Aug 16, 2008
World and eclectic Cinema for the Matrix generations on Blu-Ray. I will be buying Third Man, Man who
Fell to Earth, and The Last Emperor. |
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apollo92178
Aug 16, 2008
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what the hell!! Whose gonna this stuff anyway? Bring on movies or series we all been craving!!! |
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fragile-reality
Aug 16, 2008
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Ineteresting. I was just going to buy Chungking Express on dvd. Guess I'll wait till the Blu comes out. |
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Octavio
Aug 16, 2008
Now, this is REAL cinema. Finally the masterpieces are going Blu!
I was getting tired of so many foolish pop corn flicks being released on Hi-Def, while only a handful of art house films have gotten that treatment.
I wonder if criterion will add subtitles in other languages different than english or if they will stick to their policy of "only english subs" like they do with their DVD's?
Adding subs in the languages of the countries included in the region "A" (spanish, japanese, french, portuguese, korean, mandarin, cantonese, thai, etc.) will make Criterion titles far more marketable worldwide. |
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nathanp
Aug 16, 2008
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I'm gettin em all! CRITERION IS KING! |
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Drewza89
Aug 16, 2008
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The Third Man is one of the greatest movies of all time. I'll definitely be replacing my DVD for the Blu-ray. |
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The Shrike
Aug 16, 2008
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You guys are ******* stupid. These movies are great, and I will buy them all. Sorry it's not Shrek 2 or whatever weak-*** piece of **** movies you inbreds want. |
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diamondfoxxx
Aug 16, 2008
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Will definitely pick-up The Last Emperor. |
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Branden
Aug 16, 2008
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i'm glad to see criterion finally join the party. now bring on wes anderson! |
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RedIsNotBlue
Aug 16, 2008
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Hmmm. Why does every other movie that gets Dolby Digital gets slammed and not these? |
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pro-bassoonist
Aug 16, 2008
Indeed, more serious cinema on the way.
Pro-B |
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greyrocket
Aug 16, 2008
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never heard of one of these movies but more blu yeah |
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Top reviewer |
Bobby Henderson
Aug 16, 2008
I'm wondering about some specific details about "The Last Emperor" BD.
In the movie's original 1987 release, some theaters showed the film via 70mm 6-track Dolby Stereo mag-stripe prints. It seems odd that the audio format would be lossless DTS-HD stereo.
The other issue is whether Vittorio Storaro will have the original 2.35:1 anamorphic Technovision imagery cropped to a 2:1 aspect ratio (as has been done for much of his DP work on DVD).
I'm hoping for a great looking 2.35:1 image and 5.1 (or 4.1) discrete surround. |
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hostelmovies
Aug 16, 2008
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These should cost a cool $100 each knowing Criterion. |
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the Bass Mechanic
Aug 16, 2008
Now, now, no need for insults. I love all kinds of movies and am even interested in a couple of these. Some people like different movies, but there is not need to rag on these movies if they are not your cup of tea!
I'm not sure about "Bottle Rocket" (I know, I haven't seen it (yet), but I don't get out as much as I used to), but am definetly interested in "The Last Emperor" and "The Third Man". I have a few Criterion DVD's ('Silence of the Lambs', 'The Seven Samurai', and 'The Seventh Seal' among others) and look forward ot their Blu-ray releases as well. As for pricing, I sincerly doubt they will be $100 (OK, there are one or two that might be close to that), they will be priced higher that most BD's, but most of them should be in the $30-$60 price range, and that's retail, not MSRP. As for specs, they have always used the best possible source material, so if a 6 track mag stripe (discrete LF,CF,RF,LFE, SuR(mono),LFE,.. not Dolby Surround, which is a 4-2-4 2ch matrix encode/decode) exists, then it will be 4.0ch at least, if not 4.1ch or 5.1ch; regardless of what these early news briefs state.
I always take these news briefs with a grain of salt, especialy if they are this far out from the release date. There should be updates to the specs as the Blu-ray.com staff gets them. |
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the Bass Mechanic
Aug 16, 2008
Now, now, no need for insults. I love all kinds of movies and am even interested in a couple of these. Some people like different movies, but there is not need to rag on these movies if they are not your cup of tea!
I'm not sure about "Bottle Rocket" (I know, I haven't seen it (yet), but I don't get out as much as I used to), but am definetly interested in "The Last Emperor" and "The Third Man". I have a few Criterion DVD's ('Silence of the Lambs', 'The Seven Samurai', and 'The Seventh Seal' among others) and look forward ot their Blu-ray releases as well. As for pricing, I sincerly doubt they will be $100 (OK, there are one or two that might be close to that), they will be priced higher that most BD's, but most of them should be in the $30-$60 price range, and that's retail, not MSRP. As for specs, they have always used the best possible source material, so if a 6 track mag stripe (discrete LF,CF,RF,LFE, SuR(mono),LFE,.. not Dolby Surround, which is a 4-2-4 2ch matrix encode/decode) exists, then it will be 4.0ch at least, if not 4.1ch or 5.1ch; regardless of what these early news briefs state.
I always take these news briefs with a grain of salt, especialy if they are this far out from the release date. There should be updates to the specs as the Blu-ray.com staff gets them. |
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Top contributor |
HUNgaryBLU
Aug 16, 2008
All BEST oldies & goldies !!
HAVE TO BE GET INTO MY COLECTION !!!!
be more Criterion ..... |
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dmarvin
Aug 16, 2008
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No wonder Apollo's comment was hidden. Dumbest thing I've ever read on this website. The Third Man is one of the best films ever made, one heck of a crime noir thriller. Orson Welles turns in one of the better extended cameos in cinematic history. The casting and direction both are pitch-perfect. Not to mention that one of a kind zither score! |
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EvolutionCherry
Aug 16, 2008
I've never bought The Last Emperor, perhaps now it's time.  |
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bluskies
Aug 16, 2008
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The contents of the 4-disc special edition of The Last Emperor are on the Blu-ray release, except for the extended TV version. Darn! But the DVD set sells for street of $49.95. The Blu is cheaper! |
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chrisshea
Aug 16, 2008
DAM i read it wrong lol i thoguth it was First Wave The tv show on blu-ray lol that would be nice
considering its not even on dvd yet lol
too bad |
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Lucy Diamond
Aug 16, 2008
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I want to see Sid & Nancy come back to Criterion |
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ryoohki
Aug 16, 2008
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Humm funny, when Warner skip loseless on Catalog title, people crying to dead, but when C do the same thing (with at least 2 titles) and ask premium $, nobody cry... |
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Top reviewer Top contributor |
PowellPressburger
Aug 16, 2008
For those who were questioning LAST EMPEROR specs and Aspect Ratio Issues this is from
Criterion.com s website at the time of the standard def DVD release.
FEBRUARY 26, 2008
Emperor 2.0
We’re getting a huge amount of mail about our edition of The Last Emperor, specifically about the
aspect ratio, which is 2:1. Some people seem to believe that we’ve lost our minds, forsaken our
mission, and taken it upon ourselves to crop the sides off the picture. Others assume we just got
careless. Either way, a rising chorus is asking how we could do this to Vittorio Storaro’s Academy
Award–winning compositions. And to Bernardo Bertolucci’s framing. The answer is, we couldn’t, and
we wouldn’t, and we didn’t do anything to violate the filmmakers’ wishes. This is the way the
filmmakers want the film to be seen.
From the start of this project, Bertolucci has insisted that Storaro have ultimate approval of the
mastering of the feature. This master was made in Rome under Storaro’s direct supervision, with
Bertolucci’s approval. When we asked Storaro about the framing of the film, he unhesitatingly told
us that the correct aspect ratio for The Last Emperor was 2:1, even though the film was commonly
projected at 2.35:1. He told us that The Last Emperor was the first film he shot specifically for 2.0
framing, and Bertolucci backs him up. Our mission is to present each film as its makers would want
it to be seen, and in this case the director and cinematographer asked that we release their film in
the format they say they had always envisioned. We had quite a lot of discussion over this, and we
certainly knew it would be controversial, but in the end the decision was not made by us. It was
made, as it should be, by the filmmakers.
I can understand how people might be upset about this. The general rule of thumb where
widescreen films is concerned is that wider is better, but in this case it’s not so obvious. I recently
had the pleasure of joining producer Jeremy Thomas at a screening of The Last Emperor, and I
asked him about this issue. Was it really true that they had envisioned the film less wide than the
2.35:1 aspect ratio in which it was commonly screened? Thomas said that they had originally
hoped that all of the original release prints would be in 70 mm, framed at 2.2:1 or 2:1, but not
2.35:1 or 2.33:1. Thomas said Storaro and Bertolucci filled the wider frame knowing that there
would be 2.35:1 prints in circulation as well, but that they always knew they were shooting a
format wider than what they hoped to release.
So, in short, while some viewers may prefer the wider framing, the filmmakers must have the final
say. This is not a case of our losing track of our mission, but rather one of being true to it. |
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tkusterb
Aug 16, 2008
I have been buying films on Criterion since their first laserdisc release of Citizen Kane (which I still
have in mint condition)! I have always trusted their integrity and mission, to present films in the best
condition possible, and as true to the vision of the original filmmaker as possible.
Since I have never owned (but always admired) The Last Emperor, I can't wait for this blu-ray release
from Criterion. It should be a stunner. |
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Top reviewer |
Bobby Henderson
Aug 16, 2008
Here's the problem. The Technovision process is no different from anamorphic Panavision. You end up with an ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO IMAGE of 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 depending on frame lines.
If they really really intended to shoot "The Last Emperor" in a 2:1 format, why not just use the Super 1.85 / Super 35 process instead? It was already available during that time. A 2:1 ratio is much closer to the flat 1.85:1 format than it is to the various 'scope formats. So why put up with some of the photographic difficulties you get with anamorphic lens systems if you're not going to use the wide anamorphic ratio? It just doesn't make any sense at all.
Further, the claim that "The Last Emperor" was the first movie Storaro intended for 2:1 framing doesn't make sense either. If that was really true why has he insisted on applying the 2:1 framing to every DVD release of "Apocalypse Now"?
IMHO, the whole 2:1 framing thing is a ploy to make 'scope movies look more watch-able on ordinary 4:3 ratio televisions. This stunt really has no place in HDTV. A 'scope ratio movie doesn't look bad at all on a 16:9 ratio HDTV screen. The black bars are pretty minor in size compared to how they look on a 4:3 SD TV. |
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darkblueme
Aug 16, 2008
This is terrific news!! I am excited to buy a few, if not all of them. Criterion rules!!
A few people have pointed out that nobody is whining about lossless audio when it comes to The Criterion titles.
Here's why: Criterion sets the standard for showcasing a film in its truest form. They have a solid track record toward the film maker's intent. They are commited to bringing the best possible transfers to the home video market, and they have never failed to deliver.
Bottle Rocket, for example, is Wes Anderson's first movie and was shot with a very low budget. You can bet your life Criterion worked directly with Wes Anderson to create the best audio quality available for the Blu-Ray release. Criterion isn't interested in making a zilliion dollars by selling cheap crap like other McWarner studios. Criterion prices their titles a little high because they are a small company selling to a small consumer base. You generally get so much more from a Criterion release than you do from any other studio. |
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Top reviewer Top contributor |
PowellPressburger
Aug 16, 2008
Bobby Henderson take it up with Storaro and Bernardo, Criterion released the film in the ratio they
approved and Criterion did as they asked. Furthermore have you seen the old transfers of this film?
No comparison. |
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indiephantom
Aug 16, 2008
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What happened to Walkabout? That DVD needs a serious upgrade. |
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Top reviewer Top contributor |
PowellPressburger
Aug 16, 2008
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Walkabout will be out with many more titles in the upcoming months. |
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Top reviewer Top contributor |
pro-bassoonist
Aug 17, 2008
ClaytonMG: Bottle Rocket will have DTS-HD Master audio. I suggest you check and recheck your facts before you start unleashing sarcastic comments. Reconfirming the credibility of your sources also helps.
Dr.A |
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arbetet
Aug 17, 2008
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Great news, but I wish they'd release pictures of the cover art with the case. |
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daniel andrews
Aug 17, 2008
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Best news I've read thus far! I'll be getting every Criterion Blu-ray. |
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nathanp
Aug 17, 2008
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Criterion is the Michael Phelps of home video, every other studio is a distant second. |
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Seretur
Aug 18, 2008
I'm sorely tempted to get every Criterion Blu-ray, but I think I'll have to be more selective than that. This first batch consists of titles I do actually want in various degrees, although I might wait for The Last Emperor and Bottle Rocket to go on sale. The other three are personal favorites, and will be preordered the day they go up at Amazon.
Now that the quality of audio has been resolved, I'm eager to find out what kind of packaging these will actually have. I do hope for a happy compromise, with the size of standard Blu-rays and perhaps a slipcase or a digipack to set them off. DVD-sized cases would be a travesty.
And hopefully the disks will not have any of the old Criterion idiosyncrasies, such as windowboxing in the era of full-pixel mapping. Thankfully, the Blu-ray spec seems foolproof, but I'm still wary of their occasional tendency toward overcooked thinking. Well, fingers crossed. |
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