Great collection man! Thank you also for the shout out! I am really thrilled. I wish my collection was as awesome as yours. Keep making more content please!!
I really love this video and your collection! I hope that there is a renaissance of Criterion LaserDiscs! They are a real treasure trove! You have a stellar collection, and I can't wait to see the rest of your collection videos!!
Good video Sam.... closing in on a complete Criterion LD collection.... 10 films to go to be 'title complete' and 13 more to be 'spine number complete'. After shopping these things at retail back in the late 80s and early 90s, never would have dreamed to own them all, but 30 years later and I'm almost there!
Holy frijoles! Congrats on nearing CC completion! :-O Do you have the elusive recalled Prince of Tides? Always hear about how tough that one is to find.
Culturedog I don’t have that recalled Prince of Tides... think I am excluding that one as a “official” spine ... I did recently pickup that elusive Brazil CLV release.
Very awesome share on what titles you own from Criterion's laserdisc so far as well plenty of my favorites I see, keep collecting more of them laserdiscs by Criterion. :)
I've got the Criterion CLV Edition 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was one of the titles in a LaserDisc lot that I got for free a couple years ago. I checked out a few scenes on it and it look surprisingly good. I find that 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of those movies that has always looked great on Videodisc formats. Blowup is great movie! I want to get the Criterion Blu-Ray of it. Eventually I'd like to acquire the Criterion CAV Editions of Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. They are such nice editions of those first three Jame Bond movies. I have heard the audio commentaries that are on them before. A few years ago on Facebook, Criterion provided a link where you could download them in MP3 format, and I synced them up with my Ultimate Edition DVD copies. Goldfinger is hands down my favourite of the six James Bond movies that featured Sean Connery.
Yeah, Goldfinger is great stuff - that and You Only Live Twice are my two favorite Connery outings! The only 2001 disc I'm looking for now is the AC-3 reissue - it's tough to find, but I'm sure I'll trip across a copy eventually!
You Only Live Twice is underrated. I've always found it to be a very good James Bond movies. A friend of mine who is also a big James Bond fan doesn't like You Only Live Twice. Apparently there is a 50th Anniversary Edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey coming to Ultra HD Blu-Ray and regular Blu-Ray. Good luck tracking down the AC-3 version on LaserDisc, I hope you acquire a copy.
Thanks culture dog I just got the Sean connerey bonds cav criterian collection widescreen and you were right the commentary was really off the cuff thanks again I got them for 15.00 apiece and nobody is getting there hands on them
Ahh... one of my favorite Tubers talking about one of my favorite things: Criterion. Great video, Sam! By the way... Confidential Report is indeed a very hot mess. If you're keen and can wait until a B&N sale, check out that DVD box set, which features a "comprehensive" cut of Mr. Arkadin that makes a good deal more sense of the narrative. Of course, as with a few of Welles' films, we'll never see a cut that he intended.
Thank you, thank you! I'm already saving up pennies for the next impending B&N sale - I'm ready to go broke on a Criterion binge! I am interested in seeing some of those alternate Confidential Report / Mr. Arkadin cuts. But yeah, it'll always be one of those "I wonder what it could have been" scenarios. It does have its moments though!
I just got my newest Criterion laserdisc addition this week - Louis Malle's Damage. Great film, great LD package. Been a long dry spell since I got a CC LD......now I'm afraid the addiction may be returning
I need to pick that up and give it another viewing! I haven't seen it since running out to see it in its original theatrical run, but everything was off - I went with a buddy on a Friday night and we were thinking it was going to be a political thriller or something! Haha! Definitely not a weekend party type of movie!
Culturedog no not quite lol. I keep hoping it's one that CC may reissue on DVD/blu, but I also have the CC LD of Last Tango in Paris so those two go well together lol I hope you get more of the silver boxes/sleeves. I'm starting to think I may all of them now since I have Kong, Swing Time, The 39 Steps, and The Magnificent Ambersons.
I've still got most of my tickets from the 90s - for some reason I took a pic of that a few months ago because of a Tank Girl thread on facebook. Figured I'd reuse it!
EBay's always been a little inflated, especially compared to some prices in the wild or among private collectors. But there's been a surge in prices lately as well, probably due to a sudden growth in format popularity. I think the LaserDisc Forever group on Facebook has over 10,000 members now, so interest and demand is increasing. That said, there have been some players (like the Japanese-market only HLD-X9 and HLD-X0) that have pretty much always been $1,000-$2,000 players. Unfortunately a lot of the other high quality players and boutique units are pretty well-known now, so every seller thinks they can strike it rich with any given Elite player. And the surge in prices seems to be affecting the lesser quality players too. There are still some okay deals out there, but there are also a lot of entry level players priced $100-$200 too high, and the sky's the limit on good-to-great players. Some are probably doing it to offset shipping, which should cost around $60 for U.S. delivery if there's any hope of the player arriving in one piece. The trick used to be to pick up as-is parts players and bring them back to life with belt changes etc. But even now, some people will ask $500 for a parts player, which is way too much of a gamble.
I actually ordered that cassette commentary for Criterion's Goldfinger. They canceled my order and explained MGM/UA wouldn't allow them to release the commentaries in that way, either. I don't know but I don't think anyone ever actually received one of those cassettes.
That's a trip! A few other 007 LD enthusiasts and I were wondering why nobody seemed to have an actual copy of the commentary on cassette. That helps clear up the mystery!
My wife even bought that for me - she's a keeper! Though I still need to get the late release LaserDisc version that's got a few exclusive special features. Love that flick!
Man, I had so much trouble finding that Ghostbusters that I went ahead and got the JP Special Collection version, which is pretty much 1:1 of the CC version.
I just listed my c a v copy of Akira, and one of my copies of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with Boogie Nights thrown in on eBay. I have a modest collection... I am currently selling off quite a few at this time. I might list my copy of the Sex Pistols great rock and roll Swindle LaserDisc next
Sorry for the late response. Depending on your budget - but for entry level $5 at the thrift shop stuff, it's tough to beat the Pioneer industrial players. They're one-sided and lack a lot of features, but they've got decent picture quality and seem to keep on playing forever. Probably the best model is the CLD-V2800. Another decent bare bones starter deck is the CLD-S201 - there's no digital image signal processing, so it may look a little noisier on some discs, but has a surprisingly strong picture. From there, it's tough to beat the basic Pioneer dual-sided players (and their clones) from the early-to-mid 90s. I've had a few versions of the CLD-D50x series, and they all treated me well. If you need more features and audio options, from there you'll want to move up toward the CLD-D704 and beyond. Later Panasonics are also very trustworthy. I've got a dual-sided LX-H670 that works like a champ, and the more expensive LX-H900 is a secret winner. Though the secret's pretty much out on that one, so the great deals you could get on it will probably start drying up soon.
very cool blade runner LD's u have man. Is their any content and or scenes on those that are not on the recently released blu ray releases of the film?
The Blu-Rays are pretty comprehensive, and have all the widescreen cuts that were available on LD. The extras on the Criterion double-disc are pretty slim, so I think most of the same visual content made it over, just not the same written supplemental material backing it up.
thanks for the info. me and a buddy of mine are planning to watch all 5 cuts of blade runner. im thinking of watching the final cut 1st and move backwards all the way to the work print.
Nice! That's a pretty good viewing tactic too. The Final Cut is one of those rare instances where small amounts of tinkering paid off. I need to pick up the 4K release - that's next on the list!
Last I saw, Criterion took down the listing on their own website, but the Wikipedia listing is still up and running (for now) here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Criterion_Collection_LaserDisc_releases The spine numbers were occasionally erratic, so there are some gaps there. If you want to take a look at them all, my friend Daisuke Beppu's RU-vid channel has quite a few videos going through the entire LD collection and noting some of the printing variations etc.
lol sorry for waiting so long to respond! I always loved that Chinese noodle hustler. Pretending like he doesn't know English until suddenly he's a qualified Cityspeak-to-English translator.
Yeah, it was mostly back in 2009 and 2010 - they didn't name the plant they used that caused the problems, but Criterion announced that they don't use them anymore. I'm guessing it was something similar to LD laser rot with air getting through to the reflective layer. Godzilla should be free and clear!
Yeah, Bernard Lee has a prominent role, but Robert Brown's also in there as a military policeman! Lots of other 007 connections too - probably why I enjoyed it so much! :-D
I was just randomly thinking about LD and LP spines tonight, and how for all of their awesome 12" cover art, their spines are pretty much unreadable even in the best of conditions! Haha But I don't really notice the seam, as strange as that sounds.
It's been a while, finally a new Sam Hatch. Will you be hunting down the English version of Le Grand Bleu ?: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x2PWc4cKBFk.html
Culturedog Actually I do: Sony AC3 processor Pioneer CD player Magazone 23 box set ( LD ) X-files season complete 1 ( LD ) Doomed Megapolis ( LD ) And a couple of more goodies
Ooh, Megazone 23 and Doomed Megalopolis!! Very nice! I almost started collecting the X-Files boxes because they're so cool, but I talked myself out of it - until I can conjure up more shelf space at least!
Yeah, some disc manufacturers had problems with the reflective layer becoming damaged or "rotted" from oxidization. Usually from air penetrating the glue that holds both disc sides together. It creates a snowy image on playback and can affect the audio tracks in some cases as well.
