Criterion recently announced that starting with the September releases (which should be announced sometime tomorrow) it will no longer offer its films in the dual format packaging, something they've been doing for the past several months. I'm very disappointed in this decision for several reasons, which I'll go into below.
I should probably clear up a misconception. The "dual format" does not mean that a single disc contains a DVD side and a Blu-ray side (which I don't even think is possible), but rather that both are included in a single case. That packaging has been responsible for a lot of the complaints to Criterion, since in many instances, you're talking about a package that contains three discs: one for the Blu-ray edition, one for the DVD edition, and one for the DVD supplements. To accommodate three discs, Criterion often goes with a digipak package - like this release of Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent I recently bought.
Yeah, those discs aren't in the normal plastic packaging and they look a little funny on the shelf with your other discs, but so what? Yes, I know they're not as sturdy, either, but take care of your movies and everything's fine.
I like the dual format because I can loan movies out to friends who don't have a Blu-ray player, I can play them on my computer, I can take them on vacation, I can play them for licensed library programs... all sorts of reasons. And since the retail price of the sets remained $39.95 (same price as the individual formats), you're basically getting something for free.
I know these decisions are all about money, but many (I won't say most, because I haven't researched it) companies put out dual format editions of new releases anyway, and include digital copies (which Criterion still doesn't do).
Why not keep the dual format option and add a digital copy? Go ahead and bump the price up to $45. Heck, make it a print-on-demand and raise it to $50. See how many people want 'em. (I would, but I'd wait until the 50% off sales.)
If both discs together are currently priced at $39.95, then it seems the price of the Blu-ray by itself should drop to a retail of $29.95. The new one-disc Criterion DVDs are currently $19.95 retail; the 2-discs, $29.95. So you're making me pay $10 for supplemental features on a DVD? That's ridiculous. Make the 2-disc DVD $24.95 tops.
That's my solution. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.
1 comment:
I think the reason they probably don't do digital copies is as you said, they only have the rights for a limited period of time. Janus Films is the distributor for almost all of the Criterion films, but probably only for a limited time or only for the Criterion releases. (I'm still a little fuzzy on how all that works.)
Hulu Plus essentially does have a corner on the Criterion streaming market, but you do see some of those drop off from time to time and several films that have yet to make it to DVD/Blu-ray. What's interesting (and frustrating to many Criterion fans) is the fact that Criterion has severely limited its production of films in the Eclipse series, which are either early films in a director's career (such as Kurosawa, Ozu, Bergman) or films with a common theme. These aren't films that are "big" enough or "important" enough to get stand-alone Blu-ray releases (and they have absolutely no extras), but Criterion has been putting them out in DVD box sets. Again, those have practically come to a halt this year. I agree - streaming is the way to go. I just enjoyed the convenience of having the dual format, which, again, many companies are still doing.
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