Does Salo make for a good investment?

[JDShiver]

My concern is this: I'm just about rounding out my Criterion collection and am missing a few. Salo is one of them. However, the price that this DVD commands is $225+. Yet, Criterion has done nothing with this title to ENSURE its value stays in the stratosphere. No unique commentaries, no unique essays, no unique extras,... Well, no extras period. My worry would be that as soon as someone comes out with this title with even a trailer or an anamorphic transfer, the value of this disc will drop considerably, never to go up again. Or is there some story behind the disc that's unique to Criterion?

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"I am here! ...Let the wild rumpus start!"

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[Hendrik]

...the Criterion disc is all that you say, plus it's a merely ok transfer of a pretty dim copy...

I have this DVD in my 'collection' because I wanted it in my collection, not because I collect all Criterion 'spine numbers' - or even all Criterion discs (I have quite a few Criterion titles on laserdisc and on DVD - but there are far more Criterion titles that I do not have, since they didn't/don't particularly interest me)...

FWIW, know that there will be a Region 2 PAL DVD of Saló soon - which, it is rumored, will include certain 'extras' (outtakes? commentary? trailer? anamorphic transfer? using a better print of the film?).

We'll just have to wait and see --- one thing is certain: if the R2 disc materializes, the current idiotically high 'value' of the OOP Criterion disc will automatically plummet to zilch...

...forewarned is forearmed...

! !

[eltravi]

LOL - people like JDShiver make me laugh. You all shell out $255 bucks for Salo just to complete your Criterion collection, and you expect a brilliant classic like "The Third Man". It's funny because most of you guys have never seen Salo, and boy are you in for one big shock. Have a nice day

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Cinema is everything to me. I live and breathe films -- I even eat them!" -- Lucio Fulci

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[JDShiver]

LOL - People like eltravi make me laugh. They read into posts things that are not there. I don't recall mentioning that I had never seen it. Funny, when I reread my post, I didn't see anything stating why I wanted Salo outside of completing MY collection. "Rounding out my Criterion collection" could also mean that of the discs I want, Salo is one I still need. I only have about 13 Criterion discs, hardly all 100, by any means.

And as for expecting a classic, I'll wait until you give a list of movies that you think are worthy, because I wouldn't want to use the wrong definition of "classic," now would I?

My question was, and still is, is there any reason that's specific to the Criterion edition that would retain its value. That's all.


[This message has been edited by JDShiver (edited 12-20-2000).]

[eltravi]

So have you seen the movie?

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Cinema is everything to me. I live and breathe films -- I even eat them!" -- Lucio Fulci

MGM - I WANT MY "RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD" DVD

[JDShiver]

eltravi,

I do not want it for the movie, I want it for the possible investment. And even if I have not seen it, this is what the back of the cover says:

Pier Paolo Pasolini's final film loosely adapts the Marquis de Sade's The 120 Days of Sodom... ...Salo is the story of a group of Fascists who kidnap and torture (rape and force to eat feces) adolescent boys and girls. Perhaps the most disturbing and disgusting film ever made... (my parenthesis)

I don't think I'm going to pop this disc in and expect Gone With the Wind.

I do find myself wanting the most collectable disc ever pressed, though. Which brings me to my problem: What did Criterion do to guarantee it value?

However, after some searching, I don't think they did anything. There is mention of a legal suit to stop the printing, but the info is sketchy and it doesn't seem that that would be enough. All it would take is someone else, maybe even in another region, to put the disc out and the value could nosedive.

But then again, look at 400 Blows. The Fox Lorber/Winstar release hasn't affected the value much.

It's still a large chance in my book, though.

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"I am here! ...Let the wild rumpus start!"

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[This message has been edited by JDShiver (edited 12-21-2000).]

[Hendrik]

"...The Fox Lorber/Winstar release [of THE 400 BLOWS] hasn't affected the value much."

...that merely proves what the great Chinese philosopher Ping Pong said, over two thousand years ago:
"Any object ist worth whatever price a damn fool is willing to pay for it"...

! !


[This message has been edited by Hendrik (edited 12-21-2000).]

[bigandya]

Criterion's THE KILLER still has a high collector value despite the recent reissue.

As for SALO, I reckon it will retain its collectible value, unlike the LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS disc which dropped way off with the reissue.

Hows about a list of the top 10 or 20 collectible DVDs and their estimated current market value?

My prediction for a future investment: LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE Limited Edition Tin (sealed of course). This was limited to only 5000, unlike all the other Anchor Bay tins (between 15 and 50,000). It is also the only tin dvdexpress are constantly out of stock on. Watch it rise!

[JDShiver]

Originally posted by Hendrik:

...that merely proves what the great Chinese philosopher Ping Pong said, over two thousand years ago:
"Any object ist worth whatever price a damn fool is willing to pay for it"...

Haha. You're right. Cuz lets face it, the movie is less than good.

The Killer took a little hit as well, but not that much. So I guess that's more proof that the value should remain high. (as Bigandya says)

It would be a great idea to start a list of DVDs that have good collectability or look to go up in value for some reason or another.

Anybody have anymore ideas on which DVDs they predict will rise in value?

[This message has been edited by JDShiver (edited 12-21-2000).]

[vinzi]

...at least it worked for me as an inverstment....I sold it for double the price I bought it...I actually wanted it because I've never seen the movie and I think it belongs to the "must sees" for every cinephile, not because it's particulary well done or memorable...it's just like "Plan B from outer space", a true cinephile has to see it regardless of its quality. Since I didn't like the movie, I sold it on ebay afterwards...at that time, it was for 75$...so...my 2c

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Vinzi.
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