I've successfully avoided all the big expensive Criterion boxes so far, but I think they are going to get me with this one...
There goes the budget for the month that comes out. Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975 In 1954, an enormous beast clawed its way out of the sea, destroying everything in its path—and changing movies forever. The arresting original Godzilla soon gave rise to an entire monster-movie genre (kaiju eiga), but the King of the Monsters continued to reign supreme: in fourteen fiercely entertaining sequels over the next two decades, Godzilla defended its throne against a host of other formidable creatures, transforming from a terrifying symbol of nuclear annihilation into a benevolent (if still belligerent) Earth protector. Collected here for the first time are all fifteen Godzilla films of Japan’s Showa era, in a landmark set showcasing the technical wizardry, fantastical storytelling, and indomitable international appeal that established the most iconic giant monster the cinema has ever seen. Godzilla (1954) Godzilla Raids Again (1955) King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) Son of Godzilla (1967) Destroy All Monsters (1968) All Monsters Attack (1969) Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) SRP $224.95
Got my preorder in at the Criterion site for the Godzilla set. I can't wait for a sale and I don't trust amazon with packaging this. Can't wait as all of these other than the first will be first time views.
And while we're on the topic of the big boxes, don't feel like wading through CriterionForum to ask what may be a really stupid question: With the continued standalone releases and blu upgrades of Bergman films, are we assuming their intention is to individually release everything that's in the gigantic Bergman box on its own for those of us who already bought everything over the years?
Can’t wait for it- Criterion had a lot of these on the old FilmStruck streaming service as it was winding down and they were beautiful transfers
Hopefully they’ve added subtitles to the dubbed soundtracks. The Criterion streaming service doesn’t include them and it’s a deal-breaker for those of us who are hard of hearing. Ah, never mind. I see they have the Japanese language tracks with subtitles. For whatever reason the ones they were streaming were English only.
Anybody have the new Hedwig and the Angry Inch? Or seen it or any extras on Criterion Channel? I’ve got the Blu Ray and the packaging is beautiful. Now to find the time to watch it... My wife would kill me if I watched it without her.
I saw the Godzilla news over on Blu Ray.com. Trouble is, I'm basically only interested in the films up through Ghidorah and already have the first film (US and Japanese versions) and the US King Kong vs. Godzilla so I'll wait for the next Criterion sale to make a decision. Still, it is tempting.
Picked up Blu-Ray now of Jim Jarmusch film "Night On Earth" through B&N, nice to have that title upgraded.
Regarding that Godzilla box set, the artwork and overall graphic design is horrible. I know opinions are apparently divided down the middle from what I’ve read on other sites but imo, going for a cheap, tacky sub-mondo comic illustrator approach does the package and films no favors. Also, it sounds like Criterion is using all the old HD masters Toho used for their blu-ray releases in Japan that date back more than a decade ago. This is disappointing as Toho has done much more elaborate recent 4k scans and remasters over the last couple years including finding a much better complete 35mm film source for King Kong vs Godzilla which looks pretty poor on the Japanese blu-ray release due to being reconstructed from several various quality prints several decades ago.
Has anyone ordered directly from Criterion before? How well do they package their stuff? How close to release day do you receive it?
News Update: Due to a strong magnetic field pulling me into the B&N store,"Detour"& "Monsieur Verdoux" are no longer my last Criterion purchases.After being pulled into the store, these two titles (Modern Times & The Kid) flew across the store. I didn't want anyone to get hit so I caught them. While I had my hands up to catch them, my wallet popped out of my pocket & did a cashectomy on my credit card with the help of their cash register. I was concerned so I asked the cashier for a bag & I brought them home to see what I could do. Well, while at work I calmed down & decided it would be best that I keep these movies so they are now officially the last ones.
I have them all too & look forward to the next ones. On "The Kid" it says it included "Deleted scenes & titles from the original 1921 version" as part of the special features. I'd like to know their original location in the movie.
Sold many of my Criterion's off recently as my tastes in cinema are a changing... I've only got 'Black Moon' (1975) Blu-ray now which is like watching a bag of demented squirrels - that movie really needs a second viewing to understand (which I'll be doing next week when I'm off work).
I order from them during their Flash Sales. They package the shipments in cardboard boxes and fulfill there orders promptly. If I remember correctly, they mail them 1st Class USPS.
