Criterion - Blu-ray Release Thread

I just watched Haxan again in February and it was a lot of fun. It looks relatively good too (and that was an early DVD) so if they use that same magic that made a lot of the recent silents so spectacular this'll be a must buy.

 

If anyone hasn't picked up the Criterion Night of the Living Dead blu-ray it is down to $15.41 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Night-of-the...65953&creativeASIN=B077H8N7PP&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

DVDBeaver comparison between the old Criterion DVD and the new Blu-ray (quite a revelation): http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film7/blu-ray_reviews_99/haxan_blu-ray.htm

 

24-hour flash sale going on at criterion.com. No coupon needed. Orders over $50 qualify for free shipping, and when you go over $500, you get a $50 gift card. The $500 is cumulative. I started buying discs from them directly in 2014, and I only reached $500 today.

 

A little late to post this, but there was another flash sale this week. Anyone hit it up? I used my $50GC from last year to get
All That Jazz
Eating Raoul
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams.

Now just $490 till I get another one.

 

I got a few things yesterday. I finally used my $10 gift card for being a charter subscriber of the Criterion channel from a year ago. I got Blue Velvet, The Brood, and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders for $50.

 

You know you bought some weird shit when you buy three movies, and the Cronenberg film is the most straight-forward and sensical of them.

 

***NEW TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT***

BRUCE LEE: HIS GREATEST HITS coming to blu ray from The Criterion Collection on July 14th!

Set includes:
The Big Boss
Fist of Fury
The Way of the Dragon
Enter the Dragon
Game of Death

4K digital restorations of The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Game of Death, and The Way of the Dragon, with uncompressed original monaural soundtracks
New 2K digital restoration of the rarely-seen 99-minute 1973 theatrical version of Enter the Dragon, with uncompressed original monaural soundtrack
2K digital restoration of the 102-minute “special-edition” version of Enter the Dragon
Alternate audio soundtracks for the films, including original English-dubbed tracks and a 5.1 surround soundtrack for the special-edition version of Enter the Dragon
Six audio commentaries: on The Big Boss by Bruce Lee expert Brandon Bentley; on The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Game of Death, and The Way of the Dragon by Hong Kong–film expert Mike Leeder; and on the special-edition version of Enter the Dragon by producer Paul Heller
High-definition presentation of Game of Death II, the 1981 sequel to Game of Death
Game of Death Redux, a new presentation of Lee’s original Game of Death footage, produced by Alan Canvan
New interviews on all five films with Lee biographer Matthew Polly
New interview with producer Andre Morgan about Golden Harvest, the company behind Hong Kong’s top martial-arts stars, including Lee
New program about English-language dubbing with voice performers Michael Kaye (the English-speaking voice of Lee’s Chen Zhen in Fist of Fury) and Vaughan Savidge
New interview with author Grady Hendrix about the “Bruceploitation” subgenre that followed Lee’s death, and a selection of Bruceploitation trailers
Blood and Steel, a 2004 documentary about the making of Enter the Dragon
Multiple programs and documentaries about Lee’s life and philosophies, including Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend (1973) and Bruce Lee: In His Own Words (1998)
Interviews with Linda Lee Cadwell, Lee’s widow, and many of Lee’s collaborators and admirers, including actors Jon T. Benn, Riki Hashimoto, Nora Miao, Robert Wall, Yuen Wah, and Simon Yam and directors Clarence Fok, Sammo Hung, and Wong Jing
Promotional materials
New English subtitle translations and subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Jeff Chang
New cover designs by Gian Galang

In the early 1970s, a kung-fu dynamo named Bruce Lee side-kicked his way onto the screen and straight into pop-culture immortality. With his magnetic screen presence, tightly coiled intensity, and superhuman martial-arts prowess, Lee was an icon who conquered both Hong Kong and Hollywood cinema, and transformed the art of the action film in the process. This collection brings together the five films that define the Lee legend: furiously exciting fist-fliers propelled by his innovative choreography, unique martial-arts philosophy, and whirlwind fighting style. Though he completed only a handful of films while at the peak of his stardom before his untimely death at age thirty-two, Lee left behind a monumental legacy as both a consummate entertainer and a supremely disciplined artist who made Hong Kong action cinema a sensation the world over.

https://www.criterion.com/…/3205-bruce-lee-his-greatest-hits

 

I hope Criterion gives the Bruce Lee transfers a new color correction.
Both the 4K remastered HK Blu-Ray's and the french UHD discs, suffer from ugly teal colors and grey black levels.

Fist of Fury:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d1=8721&d2=12264&s1=83652&s2=121574&i=0&l=0

Big Boss:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d1=8853&d2=12272&s1=85069&s2=121703&i=7&l=0

 

That's pretty awesome news. I've actually never even purchased any of his other films (although I have seen them) except for Enter the Dragon, and have always wanted to get the others...but shied away from them due to the transfer issues, etc. But this new set is going to be impossible to stay away from getting.

 

I'm under the impression that Criterion did not color-correct the L'Immagine Ritrovata 4K restorations of Police Story and Police Story 2, and I have a sneaking suspicion the same will hold true for The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon and Game of Death.

I think I'll be hanging on to the 2016/17 Shout Select standalone releases of Fists of Fury [The Big Boss], The Chinese Connection [Fist of Fury], Return of the Dragon [Way of the Dragon] and Game of Death. Those releases also feature the L'Immagine Ritrovata 4K masters (unlike their 2013/14 boxset) and Shout! Factory did apply corrections to the color-grading (unlike the Hong Kong / French releases).

 

https://www.criterion.com/films/29942-the-war-of-the-worlds

 

Too bad they don’t release War of the Worlds on UHD. I got the 4K version, with Dolby Vision, on Itunes, and it looks amazing. The battle between the Marsians and the military looks jawdropping, thanks to Dolby Vision, and the contrast is far superior compared to the old HD transfer, as the scene in the house, where the leads first encounters the alien, looks properly dark and creepy now. On the old HD transfer the scene was too bright.

 

DVD Beaver reviews Bruce Lee - His Greatest Hits: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film9/blu-ray_review_125/bruce_lee_his_greatest_hits_blu-ray.htm

 

Blu-ray.com reviews The Big Boss: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Big-Boss-Blu-ray/265338/#Review

Blu-ray.com reviews Fist of Fury: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Fist-of-Fury-Blu-ray/265339/#Review

Blu-ray.com reviews Way of the Dragon: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Way-of-the-Dragon-Blu-ray/265337/#Review

Blu-ray.com reviews Enter the Dragon: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Enter-the-Dragon-Blu-ray/267536/#Review

Blu-ray.com reviews Game of Death: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Game-of-Death-Blu-ray/265340/#Review