captveg wrote:I see the following happening:
Box Set released
In following months, Eclipse set of the earlier 4 titles.
At some point a Criterion/Essential Art House release of Madadayo.
Additional Blu-ray releases of the bigger titles (Seven Samurai, High & Low, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, etc.) throughout 2010.
This little scenario or something similar to it makes the most sense to me given the sketchy facts we are dealing with. The original Image press release is a confusing affair saying things like the set is not presented in 16x9 and yet has an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. A cursory look at my collection shows that
Rashomon,
Straw Dog and
Throne Of Blood are all 1.33:1. Criterion, of course, won't have a word to say about this until the ides of September.
It is certainly very possible that the final project will be a variant on the
Essential Art House: Fifty Years Of Janus Films. I do agree that will be a coffee table affair that will look very nice, but unwatched in some of the wealthier penthouse suites of the upper crust. But I do believe it is a handy way for libraries and schools to get a pretty good deal for around eleven bucks per film.
Also, remember the Janus Film Set got broken up into sections and then individual releases rather quickly. I can't see why that wouldn't happen here. Criterion's new m.o. seems to try to cover a whole lot of bases and price points that it never even reached for a year or two ago.
I also think that it is inconcievable they would release all in Blu-Ray, but I don't think it is too far away before we see the old war horses get their extra hi-def day in the sun (like
The Seven Samurai, etc.)
I will be curious to see what Criterion has to say when mid September rolls around, but by waiting patiently I have managed to get most of what I wanted from the Essential Film Set without having to buy the original hulk. Patience may be a virtue in this case.