I have been meaning to post this for a while now, but its getting closer to release date that I feel I must mention this.

For about 10 years now the out of print market has stood on the foundation of Criterion Collection's short lived Italian classic Salo, Spine #17. The film from Pier Paulo Pasolini which was based on the book 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis De Sade, is often considered one of the most disturbing films ever made. Finally, the Criterion Collection has re-secured the rights to Salo and is getting ready for the release on August 26th. The DVD print will NOT be the same as the BFI PAL's version, so it wont be superior to that, but it will be superior to their previous edition (although, according to DVDBeaver's report card, it is the best edition available, and it does look cleaner and brighter!). The version Criterion uses over BFI is ultimately about 25 seconds shorter in length. Why Criterion chose to use the shorter version remains unanswered.

So what will become of the older Criterion version? After those spending hundreds of dollars to have an authentic version, what will become of the original version? It might be said that that particular version will remain as rare as it always has, although I expect more copies to crop up as people swap for the newer 2-disc version. Yet, will they have 100+ price tag? I would expect not, but as people who wanted to have one for their collection to begin with, might pay a few extra dollars more for the older version than for the newer release. It will be more accessible for Criterion collectors to procure a copy for a more complete set.

Overall, though, the Criterion Collection has lost its sustaining power as THE out of print DVD to get a hold of. Since the advent of hi-def DVD and a general saturation of the double-dipping as well as Criterion even enterting the double-dip era with their re-packaging and boxed sets, they have lost some of their lustre. Yes, they are still the premiere DVD on the market right now and will continue to be so, however, the recent OOP titles have lost the enthusiasm and demand that previous titles have created. Besides the original Salo, consider Beauty and the Beast, This is Spinal Tap, Rebecca or the Jacques Tati Trilogy (Mon Oncle, M. Hulot's Holiday and Playtime before they was reissued). All of those, and others, were the most coveted of titles to get on eBay or Amazon, where seemingly everyone had to get those. But, after the Hitchcock group, titles that went out of print were the likes of The Bank Dick, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, or the most recent Le Corbeau and Variety Lights. While it might be too early to tell for some of them, their attention is not nearly the same focus of intensity as previous Criterions. Maybe people are not concerned as much, or maybe Criterion's library has gotten so big in of itself, that to collect the ones available has become a near-impossible task without the out of print titles (their library is approaching 500 titles). I am interested to hear your thoughts if you agree with this or not. Post in here in the forum your opinion of Criterion in the current OOP market.

I will add that this coming October Criterion is getting prepared to release their first round of Blu-ray titles, which, in my opinion might be a nuisance to Criterion collector's. Although it's aim is to provide higher quality picture and audio, it does not continue the line, but rather puts a fork in the road. So you will have various titles that you may already own on SD with a Blu-ray counterpart. I would assume that the numbering system will remain the same and that these are not recounting from 1-up. And so basically it is like having a parallel set in which, at this point you decide which to own, standard or blu. I don't own a blu-ray or HD-DVD, so my excitement is not equal to those that have one. I am curious how this will play itself out. Perhaps Criterion Blu-ray will be the breaking ground that Blu-ray needs to get more people on board, especially with prices that match the SD. 

Without speculation, Salo is debuting next week and I am curious to know who is interested in the film, and will buy a copy now that it is back. Please let us know in this thread in our forum. 

In relation to Criterions losing their demand, it is also worth noting that since the discontinuation of the Criterion Hitchcock's, they too have eventually found their way back into the public. It might be of no surprise, however, it took much longer than we might have expected. The re-release is coming through MGM in both boxed sets and individual releases. Looking over the specs of the DVDs, they appear to be very similar in features, so I am assuming as well that the transfer will be the same that Criterion has used.

In regards to the special features, as I said, many of the features are the same, however, there may be one or two missing that belong to the Criterion disc and so it will bring about the question of whether the Criterions features are valuable enough to keep any interest in it. Once in a long while an OOP DVD will be regarded as a superior version to its re-release, but those are far and few between, and I think in this case, the Hitchcock re-release will be equivalent. So here are the specs for the upcoming release (as reported by DVDActive.com), set to be available on October 14th:

 

 

 

 

Rebecca Synopsis
A young woman marries a fascinating older widower only to discover that she must live in the shadows of his first wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years before.

Special features:

• Commentary by film historian/author Richard Schickel
• Screen tests
• Making of Rebecca Featurette
• The Gothic World of Daphne Du Maurier Featurette
• Original 1938 Radio Play Starring Orson Welles
• 1941 Radio Play Presented by Cecil B. DeMille
• 1950 Radio Play with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
• Four-page booklet

The Lodger Synopsis
Not long after a mysterious young “medical scientist” named Slade (Laird Cregar) rents a flat in the heart of London’s Whitechapel district, a series of brutal murders begins. But despite the fact that the murder victims are all female stage performers, the landlord’s niece Kitty (Merle Oberon), an ingénue, is unphased by the crimes – or by the unusual, brooding man in her family’s midst. As Kitty coquettishly interacts with a Scotland Yard detective (George Sanders), she becomes Slade’s object of obsession in this pulse-pounding thriller that “packs an unsettling punch.” (At-A-Glance Film Reviews).

Special features:

• 1999 Score by Ashley Irwin presented in 5.1 Dolby Surround
• 1997 Score by Paul Zaza presented in Mono
• Commentary with film historian Patrick McGilligan
• The Sound of Silence: The Making of The Lodger Featurette
• Hitchcock 101 Featurette
• 1940 Radio Play Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparison

The Paradine Case Synopsis
Beautiful Anna Paradine (Alida Valli) is accused of poisoning her older wealthy husband. Her barrister, the happily married Anthony Keane (Gregory Peck) takes the case but also lets his heart rule his head when he falls hard for his client.

Special features:

• Commentary with film historians Stephen Rebello & Bill Krohn
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• 1949 Radio Play Starring Joseph Cotton
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Galleries
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection

Spellbound Synopsis
When John Ballantine (Gregory Peck), the new director of a mental asylum arrives on the job, the staff is concerned. He seems too young for the position and his answers to their questions are vague and detached. Dr. Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), while knowing he is an imposter with emotional issues, nevertheless falls in love with him. Turning to her mentor, Dr. Alex Brulov (Michael Checkhov) and the use of psychoanalysis she tries to get to the root of Ballantine’s emotional problems.

Special features:

• Commentary with film historians Thomas Schatz & Charles Ramirez Berg
• Guilt by Association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound Featurette
• A Cinderella Story: Rhonda Fleming Featurette
• Dreaming with Scissors: Hitchcock, Surrealism and Salvador Dali Featurette
• 1948 Radio Play Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: Film Historian Rudy Belhemer Interviews Composer Miklós Rózsa
• Still Gallery
• 4-Page Booklet

Notorious Synopsis
Daughter of an accused World War II traitor, Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is enlisted to entrap one of her father’s colleagues in Brazil, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Raines). Her American contact, secret agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) is openly contemptuous of Alicia and instructs her to wed Sebastian. It is only after she is wed that Devlin lets himself admit that he’s fallen in love with her.

Special features:

• Commentary with film historian Rick Jewell
• Commentary with film historian Drew Casper
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• The Ultimate Romance: The Making of Notorious Featurette
• Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Spymaster Featurette
• AFI Tribute to Hitchcock
• 1948 Radio Play Starring Joseph Cotton and Ingrid Bergman
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Gallery
• 4-Page Booklet

Young and Innocent Synopsis
In this witty, suspense thriller a police chief’s daughter helps a fugitive accused of murder prove his innocence.

Special features:

• Commentary with film historians Stephen Rebello & Bill Krohn
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Audio Interview: François Truffaut Interviews Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection
Page 4 of 5
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Gallery

Sabotage Synopsis
A woman learns that her movie theater manager husband is actually a foreign agent when a bomb he has made kills her brother. Based on Joseph Conrad’s novel, The Secret Agent.

Special features:

• Commentary with film historian Leonard Leff
• Audio Interview: Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Hitchcock
• Restoration Comparision
• Still Gallery

Lifeboat Synopsis
Nominated for three Academy Awards®, Alfred Hitchcock’s World War II drama is a remarkable story of human survival. After their ship is sunk in the Atlantic by Germans, eight people are stranded in a lifeboat. Their problems are further compounded when they pick up a ninth passenger – the Nazi captain from the U-boat that torpedoed them. With powerful suspense and emotion, this legendary classic reveals the strengths and frailties of individuals under extraordinary duress.

Special features:

• Commentary by University of Southern California School of Cinema & Television Hitchcock professor and film critic, Drew Casper
• “The Making of Lifeboat” featurette
• The original theatrical trailer
• Still gallery featuring photographs from the set

 

  So those are some of the major updates in the DVD world. Some major re-releases coming back into our lives with better or as good quality as we previously had. Although the new Salo has created a new point to grow from, I am excited about this release and to see what extras Criterion has to offer. I have seen the original Criterion once and it was, minimally, an interesting film, but with the longer cut being released, I am curious to see how it makes a difference, not to mention its higher quality print.