First Criterion Blu-Ray Specs Announced!!

Okay, so what jerk-off film fan DIDN’T have a nerdgasm when they heard Criterion was going Blu-Ray? Raise your hand, because you have to turn in your elitist card NOW! But seriously, Criterion announcing Blu-Ray support was one of the best announcements so far for the format, and the initial line-up wasn’t too shabby either, mixing the older catalogue with brand new releases. The following announcement that these releases would be priced exactly the same as their DVD counterparts was nerdgasm number two (and a collective sigh was heard from millions of wallets). Hopefully, you aren’t all dried up yet, because the first 5 Criterion Blu-Ray’s are hitting the shelves in November, and they look sexy!

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So there they are, all due out in November (I now have a raging hard-on anticipating Chungking Express on Blu-Ray…and how cool-looking is the Criterion “C” logo inside of the films title?) You can check Criterion’s website for specific specs, but I can tell you they all include the same extras as their DVD counterparts, which is already a great move by Criterion, especially on the re-releases, as so many companies seem to miss the boat when it comes to putting the extras from their older DVD’s on their Blu-Ray’s. Also of note is that while not all of the films will have 5.1 audio, sticking with Criterion’s stance on keeping films intact as they were originally presented, all of the audio tracks on the Blu-Ray’s WILL be uncompressed. I personally have no idea how much better an uncompressed mono track will sound over a compressed one, but my educated guess would be clearer and more robust sound.

The only real notable difference I could see with the Blu-Ray releases is that The Last Emperor Blu-Ray will not include the extended Television version of the film like its DVD counterpart does. I’ve never seen the film, so I can’t comment on whether this is a monumental loss or not. This does however make the Blu-Ray $20 cheaper than the DVD. I’ve also noticed that the booklets for the 3 re-releases seem to only include one essay each, while the DVD’s for these same films had multiple essays included. The Man Who Fell to Earth Blu-Ray will also be without the reprint of Walter Tevis’s novel.

Lastly, these don’t appear to have a spine number yet. Will Criterion be completely tossing out their spine-number business on the Blu-Ray’s, will they have the same spine-numbers as their DVD cousins, or will we be starting again from number one and they’ve yet to announce it? The real question here is does anyone besides my dumb ass even care? At the end of the day, it’s Criterion on Blu-Ray, and I think we’ll all settle for what they give us, spine-number or not.