I am on a "Classics Movies" trip & loving it! I've been getting Blu-Rays from Criterion, Puwerhouse/Indicator, Twilight Time & Olive Films & they've been fabulous! I'd like to know if there are other companies in this league. Thank you all for the help!
In addition to the ones mentioned, two major players are the BFI and Eureka/Masters of Cinema in Britain.
`Artificial Eye` are part of the `Curzon` group, they release about 30 DVDs and Blu-rays a year, mainly European `Art House` movies. Similar to `Criterion` but more obscure selection, and not the same quality. Curzon Artificial Eye
The Arrow Academy range may be a better fit for the OP’s taste than the main Arrow Video range, although both carry a worthy selection of titles.
And I would put in a plug for a company I do work for, Vinegar Syndrome, which specializes in cult films, horror films, exploitation films, and fairly rare 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s genre films... https://vinegarsyndrome.com/
Some other U.K. boutique labels worth keeping on eye on: Classic Film & TV on DVD, Blu-ray and On Demand Second Sight has really upped their game of late, with a stacked edition of The Colour of Pomegranates that tops the Criterion version. Box sets of Heimat and Berlin Alexanderplatz are forthcoming. Home - Signal One Entertainment A fairly new label, with a small, but interesting, selection of classic and cult titles. They are releasing the fantastic noir Nightmare Alley later this year, in a stacked limited edition. Network On Air Filling an important niche, Network release titles from the ITV catalogue. Their focus is vintage British film and television series, including The Prisoner, Department S, etc. Look out for their big summer sale; always great prices on almost everything in their catalogue.
Just to round things out, Mr. Bongo is a small niche label putting out a variety of lesser-known films, including Eastern European and Italian works: Mr Bongo Films – Mr Bongo
Their stuff is often ropey quality, though, and some people have even questioned their right to issue certain titles. I wouldn’t recommend buying a Mr. Bongo release, unless there is no other choice available worldwide.
I agree and I should have put in the caveat, since some of their titles (like 'Santa Sangre') are available from other companies. Pick and choose. I got "The Saragossa Manuscript" from them, and the transfer is quite high quality, if a bit too "scrubbed" for grain, so some titles are worth it for the rarity.
I have the 2001 Image Entertainment DVD of The Saragossa Manuscript, and never got around to upgrading it to BD. I did buy the Mr. Bongo BD of The Hourglass Sanatorium, though. I also have all of their Orson Welles BDs. I want their DVD of Antonioni’s Chung Kuo China, but it appears to be OOP and hard to find on the secondary market.
Image Entertainment was a terrific company in the 1990s, and I did a lot of work for them back in the day. I was sorry to see them go -- they really cared about their titles and the quality of their video releases.
Olive films is a mixed bag IMHO. They have improved quite a bit from their bare bones, so-so presentations.
You can also check out a "few" Blu-Ray titles from Flicker Alley/Lobster films/Blackhawk films group [Silent films, Cinerama, etc...] Good luck with so many choices today!!
Their Olive Signature line is excellent. Terrific editions of Johnny Guitar and Orson Welles’s Macbeth, amongst others. Plus, Olive gave us one of my favourite cinematic guilty pleasures, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, on BD; I’ll always love them for that.
They've been doing a bang-up job with their releases. The cult sci-fi Liquid Sky looked absolutely fantastic on their Blu-ray edition. Liquid Sky Blu-ray Review - DoBlu.com
Vinegar Syndrome rules. I never expected the kinds of films they release to get the level of attention and care that they've demonstrated time and again. It's almost like Something Weird Video and Criterion shacked up and had a bastard love-child.
I believe that is a compliment. We got some rave reviews on the 4K reissue of Liquid Sky recently, even in the NY Times. Many reviews said "this is the best this film has ever looked," which is what we want to hear. I was gratified by the reviews -- that took about 100 hours of work for color correction, plus dust-busting and all kinds of other technical restoration work, much of it supervised by ace cinematographer Yuri Neyman. Given that this was shot 36 years ago, it's amazing what a bold, stark, and colorful look the film has.