OOP Criterion titles.

[Matthew Forke]

I'm curious about Criterion titles that are out-of-print - particularly "Charade" and "Robocop." It seems that Criterion announced their impending unavailability a long time ago, but just last week I saw a display at Virgin Megastore with at least 3 or 4 copies of these films.

Did Criterion simply produce a boatload of them? Or is demand just not that great? I know that MGM's version of "Robocop" probably gave them some strong competition, plus all those poor-quality editions of "Charade."

Not that I'm complaining at all - it's nice they give collectors enough lead time to pick one up. But to me, it seems like Criterion's "Silence of the Lambs" flew off the shelves a lot faster than these other two titles. Just an observation. Any thoughts out there?

[JimboQ]

I frequent VirginMegastore all the time, even when I'm in San Fransisco, and yes I've seen (and purchased) Dead Ringers, AND Robocop, just two months ago, and just last week I STILL see the Criterions of Robocop and Dead Ringers. I don't know what the deal is, but hell, I got mine, and that's all I have to say about that.

[Matthew Forke]

Funny - the San Francisco Virgin Megastore is where I saw all of those "Robocop" copies last week. But now that I think about it, it was Borders Bookstore where I saw "Charade." It's still kind of odd though. And yup, I got mine, too.

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

Originally posted by Matthew Forke
a boatload of them? Or is demand just not that great? I know that MGM's version of "Robocop" probably gave them some strong competition, plus all those poor-quality editions of "Charade."

I believe that Charade only went out of print last summer so you'll still see the occasional copy available in stores. I haven't seen the Criterion Robocop in stores in a long time.

Why do you say Charade is poor quality? I think it's a fantastic disc. It's not anamorphic widescreen, but the video quality is still pretty good. Great color and detail throughout, in my opinion. And the extras are wonderful. The commentary is quite funny. Not to mention that Charade was a great, great film.

[C Roberts]

Originally posted by Matthew Forke
Not that I'm complaining at all - it's nice they give collectors enough lead time to pick one up. But to me, it seems like Criterion's "Silence of the Lambs" flew off the shelves a lot faster than these other two titles. Just an observation. Any thoughts out there?

I seem to recall Silence of the Lambs quick departure had more to do with lack of proper distribution rights and the holder of those rights being kind of upset someone released the DVD before them.

[Matthew Forke]

Oh gosh, I wasn't referring to the Criterion edition of "Charade" as poor-quality (it's absolutely beautiful!!). Check on Amazon.com, though - you'll find a lot of other inferior versions of the disk produced by different companies. None can touch Criterion's edition in terms of quality and supplements.

[mjb]

For whatever reason, the Criterion Silence of the Lambs was readily available at Costco long after it supposedly went out of print... at the time, I thought about picking up some "investment" copies, but there were so many in stock that I simply figured that reports of the disc going OOP were in error.

[Cap42086]

I think that the most infamous Criterion disc to go OOP is a film that we all know and love, and of course I am refering to a little 1975 Italian film known as Salo. My friend saw it for the first time the other day and said that he cried when he watched it.

Spoiler (Highlight or Triple Click to Read):

Particularly at the Circle of Shit scene.

By the way, how is the quality on the RoboCop Criterion? Is it good enough to the point where I should track it down and pick it up? I remember seeing this film on video when I was six years old, and I remember really liking it (because it was funny when the guy got shot in the balls; typical me). Seeing it not too long ago on TV, I remember why I liked it: smart satire, quick dialogue, and some pretty cool action in some parts. But how good is the Criterion, i.e. the transfer, but more importantly the audio?

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

Originally posted by Matthew Forke
Oh gosh, I wasn't referring to the Criterion edition of "Charade" as poor-quality (it's absolutely beautiful!!). Check on Amazon.com, though - you'll find a lot of other inferior versions of the disk produced by different companies. None can touch Criterion's edition in terms of quality and supplements.

My apologies. I misread your original post. I had one of those awful Charade DVDs and it just can't compare to the Criterion version. Still one of my top 5 DVDs ever.

[WhipSilk]

The most recent Criterion titles to go out of print are the three Jacques Tati films -- all went out of print at the same time, just over a year after they were released. Anyone know the story on that? These titles certainly haven't been languishing on Costco's shelves -- they instantly began commanding premiums on eBay instead.

As for Charade, it was my understanding that the reason it appears on so many cut-rate labels is that its copyright was inadvertently never renewed and it entered the public domain. If that's so, why did Criterion's edition go out of print? There were no rights issues, unless it was rights to some of the extras on the disk.

[asphodel5]

I've heard that MGM wants to release their own version of Charade to coincide with the video release of The Truth About Charlie.
As far as the Tati disks go, the rumor is that his estate wanted all of his films taken out of print to undergo full restoration. I'm quite satisfied with the Criterion transfers, but who knows, maybe they can make them look even better. No one knows if Criterion could get the rights back or if they'll be released by someone else. I think they demand a high price on ebay because there were either fewer produced or fewer in "real" stores. I never saw them anywhere but Borders, and even then, they only had one copy. Everybody probably snatched them up as soon as the news broke. I was lucky because I only owned Hulot's Holiday, but I was able to get the other 2 at the Borders near me.

Speaking of OOP disks, someone mentioned on the Criterion message boards that the 3 most recent Hitchcock disks (Rebecca, Notorious and Spellbound) will probably go out of print next year. Straw Dogs is another one where they may only have the rights for a brief time. Just thought I'd give everyone a heads up.

[WhipSilk]

Originally posted by asphodel5
Speaking of OOP disks, someone mentioned on the Criterion message boards that the 3 most recent Hitchcock disks (Rebecca, Notorious and Spellbound) will probably go out of print next year.

Ummm...Criterion message boards? Where would I find 'em?

A quick search garnered the following; seems to be an excellent board:
http://pub125.ezboard.com/bcriterioncollectionforum

If anyone knows of others, please post. Thanks.

[asphodel5]

Whipsilk: You found the one I was refering to. The OOP info I mentioned is in a thread titled: "MGM on CC". I should have linked to it.

[SkottDMD]

The only Criterion DVD I have yet to see again after they said it was going OOP would be Sid and Nancy. Which sucks. I was lucky enough to get it before hand though. So much better then MGM's barebones crap