Ruthee,

But if Straw Dogs is only 20 dollars instead of 35... how many more sales do you see for such a fringe title? I don't see many, if any.

Well Justin 90% of titles from Criterion are fringe titles. Atleast thats what is happening lately. I agree most of the titles are strictly targeted to the hardcore fans. By keeping the price down to $20, I might be enticed to buy it. With $35 price tag chances are remote. There are good titles too like Brazil, Spartacus in their catalog. Brazil costs $49.99 and I understand all the bells and whistles of this release. But as a consumer, I can probably buy a better TV series for the same price. Remember Criterion released Hitchcock boxset last year. It was priced at $120. Had the price been like $75-80, there would have been lot of people buying it.

In comparison, look at Warner, they are releasing Hitchcock set for $70, 9 movies. Thats a good deal. I am sure there are lot of people like you and I, who will pick this set. If Criterion was releasing this set, the price would have been $140+.

But I do agree that Criterion has found a niche in creating DVDs of the lesser known artistic films. Whether it is profitable for them only time will tell or they know it better..:)

What Justin really meant was that Criterion, as a stand-alone company, doesn't have any protection from bad sales. Most other studios are owned by huge conglomerates, so poor DVD sales won't hurt the company as a whole. Therefore, Criterion prices its discs at a certain level that

a) secures profits from a minimal amount of sales;
b) ensures profits through a certain level of elitism (people like to buy Criterions for the prestige factor).

Justin,

It is difficult to find a new Criterion disc for $25. All the good release like Fear and loathing, Last temptation of christ, third man etc are over $30. Spartacus goes upto $45 at some places. I am sure you can find bargains after doing good hunting for the DVDs you want. The best bargain that I have been able to find is to wait for the discount at deepdiscountdvd.com thru' dvdtalk. Plus the price of the criterion disc never drops in the first week of release. Most of the retailers online sell it for pretty much same price.

--Ranjan

We just learned something VERY important about Onijay: he's Canadian. The Criterion prices in Canada are MUCH higher, by comparison, to the US prices. I'm not sure why, but it's not the first time I've heard that.

see I'm not insane! Thats what I've been trying to tell the whole world!

If you want to know more about Criterion Collection and why they cost what they do check out the link below:

- EXTERNAL LINK -

But really people, you think that they are over priced and I even saw that someone said you can't get any one of them less than $30. First of all, they release films that have a better restoration than anyone I have seen on the market. Secondly, the deal in films that are historic masterpieces and each worth watching not only for the entertainment, but to experience the history of film. Finally, if you are paying > $30 then you are paying too much!

I usually pay $19 to $26 for each title with exception to box sets. If you are a DVD collector and do not already know how to get the best priced DVDs then you are doing yourself an injustice.

For the most part I consider my Criterion films my collection and the others are just films I watch. You can see my collection at the following link if you are interested:

- EXTERNAL LINK -

If you are a collector you will want to look into - EXTERNAL LINK - for keeping track of you movies as well as finding the best price for films. This is at least a start, but if you want the best pricing you will have to look.
:o

I wouldn't exactly consider Armageddon an "historic masterpiece" (even though I bought the criterion version on e-bay). Nor did it have substantial audio or video (it wasn't even anamorphic!). Criterion also release quite a few films that I would consider "acquired tastes", but at any rate thank you for the price list.