316 Ran

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
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swo17
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Re: 316 Ran

#126 Post by swo17 » Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:06 pm

aox wrote:that's great news... but if it is anything like the new blu-ray transfer in Japan then no thanks.
I'm sure it will be based on the same HD transfer as the SD Criterion release.

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sir karl
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:16 pm

Re: 316 Ran

#127 Post by sir karl » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:39 am

Criterion has ditched a feature previously included on the DVD:
  • A 35-minute video piece reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity (NOTE: not included in the Blu-ray edition)
:-k

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ccfixx
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Re: 316 Ran

#128 Post by ccfixx » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:19 am

Yeah, I noticed that last night. I hope there's a better reason for this other than "not enough space." :?

CC

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Donald Brown
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Re: 316 Ran

#129 Post by Donald Brown » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:45 pm

So, you think they're omitting it just for the hell of it? Surely space is indeed the reason.

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ccfixx
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Re: 316 Ran

#130 Post by ccfixx » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:23 am

Donald Brown wrote:So, you think they're omitting it just for the hell of it? Surely space is indeed the reason.
Well, it was posted over in The Auteurs' forum that the licensing was lost for the video piece that's being omitted from the "Ran" blu-ray, which is a much more viable reason for such an act.

Indeed, it would not be the issue of lack of space on a blu-ray disc that can hold 50GB worth of media that would be the cause of the feature being omitted. If that were the case, Criterion could easily keep the "Ran" packaging to two discs just as they did with the standard DVD release. The first disc with the feature would be blu-ray, and the second disc could easily just be the same standard DVD Disc #2 since most special features from DVDs are simply ported over onto a blu-ray disc in 480p anyway.

CC

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Donald Brown
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Re: 316 Ran

#131 Post by Donald Brown » Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:52 pm

Losing the rights is also a clearly more sensible reason for omission than doing it just to piss people off.

Space, even on a Blu-ray disc, is limited. With a film as long as Ran, and with an already large batch of extras, such as the 74 minute Marker doc and the 30 minute It's Wonderful to Create segment, it's not hard to imagine having to omit something if they want to keep it a single-disc release. A two-disc release probably isn't a consideration for them right now if they want to keep the price the same as the DVD set. Throwing too many things on there could absolutely compromise the quality of the film.

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greggster59
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Re: 316 Ran

#132 Post by greggster59 » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:49 am

Those that have the SD release and using the Criterion Blu-ray upgrade program will be able to keep all the original supplements since you only have to return Disc 1 to get the Blu-ray.

Izo
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Re: 316 Ran

#133 Post by Izo » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:15 pm

I can buy into space issues keeping one supplement off of the disc, but why not include the Toru Takemitsu interview in the booklet?

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Matt
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Re: 316 Ran

#134 Post by Matt » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:15 pm

Izo wrote:I can buy into space issues keeping one supplement off of the disc, but why not include the Toru Takemitsu interview in the booklet?
Believe it or not, more space issues.

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ccfixx
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Re: 316 Ran

#135 Post by ccfixx » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:24 pm

Has anyone else noticed that the "Ran" blu-ray is not up in the Coming Soon section on Criterion's site at the moment?

CC

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swo17
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Re: 316 Ran

#136 Post by swo17 » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:23 pm

Major bummer:
Jon Mulvaney wrote:Hello,

I hope this email finds you well. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of RAN has been cancelled indefinitely due to rights issues.

Sincerely,
Jon Mulvaney
And I'd already sold my SD version in anticipation! ](*,)

Rupert Pupkin
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 am

Re: 316 Ran

#137 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:30 am

did they dave the reason one Ran is definitely removed from the blu-ray "coming soon" announcement ? How a Criterion was so close to be released to be removed (for lost of (c)/licence?)

Will they put an alternative title for the Blu-Ray in place of Ran ?

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manicsounds
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Re: 316 Ran

#138 Post by manicsounds » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:32 am

apparently the standard DVD is out of print. Snag it now if you haven't!

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Re: 316 Ran

#139 Post by kekid » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:40 am

Clearly a big disappointment.
Does anyone know who is the rights-holder, and what went wrong?

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Tommaso
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Re: 316 Ran

#140 Post by Tommaso » Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:54 pm

manicsounds wrote:apparently the standard DVD is out of print.
This is really bad news, not just considering that CC seems to have been intent to release every Kurosawa film they could lay their hands on in top-notch editions (the Eclipse set notwithstanding). Grab it while you can, the Stephen Prince commentary alone would be worth an eventual double-dip. I'm pretty sure this soon will easily fetch the same prices on ebay that "Rebecca" and the other Hitchcocks did before the new MGM releases came out.

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dx23
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Re: 316 Ran

#141 Post by dx23 » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:42 pm

Whoever decided to use the rights of ownership card at this point of the release must be a real asshole. The guys at Criterion must be real pissed about this, since I remember reading somewhere that Ran was one of the films they first used to test the HD technology. Criterion must have thousands of copies of the BD and DVD in their wherehouse now waiting for this mess to be resolved.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: 316 Ran

#142 Post by HerrSchreck » Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:01 pm

dx23 wrote:Whoever decided to use the rights of ownership card at this point of the release must be a real asshole. The guys at Criterion must be real pissed about this, since I remember reading somewhere that Ran was one of the films they first used to test the HD technology. Criterion must have thousands of copies of the BD and DVD in their wherehouse now waiting for this mess to be resolved.

Probably true, and probably true. This coudn't have been very much foreseen, considering the BD.

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Antoine Doinel
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Re: 316 Ran

#143 Post by Antoine Doinel » Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:24 am

I doubt the BDs were pressed already. I would imagine they were notified of ownership issues when they announced the disc and put everything on hold hoping they could resolve the matter before pulling the disc info from the site. Although I'm sure somewhere in the Criterion offices there is a finished master of Ran in HD sitting on a hard drive. This is a big financial loss for them, both in production time/resources and revenue I'm sure they were counting on.

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manicsounds
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Re: 316 Ran

#144 Post by manicsounds » Sun Mar 29, 2009 5:59 am

I'm just going to guess Toho stepped in on the BD issue, not wanting a Region A release before a Japanese release. The DVD going out of print, oh well. That's how rightsholders want to be....

stwrt
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Re: 316 Ran

#145 Post by stwrt » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:37 am

Criterion's Blu-Ray releases don't appear to offer a significant improvement on the DVD version, unless you are watching on a massive 50" + screen, so I'll be keeping my Ran DVDs.

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fdm
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Re: 316 Ran

#146 Post by fdm » Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:44 am

stwrt wrote:Criterion's Blu-Ray releases don't appear to offer a significant improvement on the DVD version, unless you are watching on a massive 50" + screen, so I'll be keeping my Ran DVDs.
I'm sure the Ran DVD looks just fine on your tiny screen, but I just watched it last night on my massive set and it looked pretty weak. Not sure how much better the blu-ray would have been (given what the film source it was based on has to offer), but there was certainly a lot of room for improvement based on what I saw.

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exte
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Re: 316 Ran

#147 Post by exte » Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:52 pm

Maybe it's the film elements they worked with? It seems no one has made the best transfer of this film, yet it was made in 1985!

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Jonny Pasadena
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:42 pm

Re: 316 Ran

#148 Post by Jonny Pasadena » Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:00 pm

Just got this forwarded to me:
Date: March 31, 2009 10:59:42 AM PDT
Subject: The Criterion Collection - RAN Update

Hello – Criterion's two-disc special edition of RAN is now out of print, and the previously announced Blu-ray edition has been withdrawn from the schedule due to a rights issue.

Best,

Brian Carmody
Orange Media Relations
Mighty tight-lipped about this all, especially from a media relations person.

jaredsap
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:24 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: 316 Ran

#149 Post by jaredsap » Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:53 pm

Rialto is releasing RAN in US theatres. It says on their website and I confirmed with the company's owner. What this means for the DVD/Blu-ray, I have no idea.

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zedz
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Re: 316 Ran

#150 Post by zedz » Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:11 pm

jaredsap wrote:Rialto is releasing RAN in US theatres. It says on their website and I confirmed with the company's owner. What this means for the DVD/Blu-ray, I have no idea.
In which case this could just be a temporary (and somewhat logical) deck-clearing to allow Rialto to make the most of their opportunity, since Rialto customarily require their theatrical window before a DVD comes out. It would be extremely impolitic of Criterion to gazump Rialto with the Ran BluRay.

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