Monday, January 01, 2007

New Brazil Special Edition DVD On The Cards

According to Terry Gilliam himself, a new, Region 2 special edition DVD of Brazil is on the cards. He told Film 4's website, "I think Twentieth Century Fox are doing one, with some extras on it. I got involved with something about that recently, because they wanted to put all the Criterion extras on it, but I said, 'Well, not unless I get proper accounting on the film.' And I think the Criterion one is still the only one which includes the 'Love Conquers All' version. I'm quite keen on supporting Criterion because they're so good - they're very serious about what they're doing. Unlike the studios, trying to make as much money as possible, they really are serious archivists."

Well, yes. They are serious archivists - apart from when they're putting out unrestored versions of films at too-high price points. It looks to me like Criterion Eclipse is a sad, sorry scam, I'm afraid. Anybody who can use the internet and has a credit card can import these titles, almost always in better editions, very often at a lower price point. We've supported Criterion's overpriced discs in the past because of the restoration work carried out on the titles, and for their well curated supplements - Eclipse puts them more at the level we'd associate with much lesser publishers.

It isn't clear if the new Brazil disc will have any new or exclusive extra features, but it certainly doesn't seem so. Hopefully, however, the transfer will be worth the price tag alone.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seriously, what an incredibly ignorant - and downright laughable - thing to say about Criterion. Going after the Eclipse line because... what? It doesn't live up to your transfer standards? They're dishing out to acquire the rights to these films which have _never_ been available on DVD before and presenting them in deluxe packages for serious film enthusiasts. The 3-Disc Brazil set is one of the best DVDs of all-time -- it's a shame you feel the need to attack them simply because you can find cheaper versions available in other region formats. Well, uh, duh -- and the transfers are terrible and the discs themselves rarely feature any bonus material. Whatever.

Brendon said...

How is criticising Eclipse for offering films that are a) already available cheaper and b) with the same and sometimes better transfers ignorant?

I don't get it. If you want these films, buy the already available discs. That's my suggestion. Why are you defending this Eclipse line?

Anonymous said...

The anonymous person above seems to think that the Eclipse line will have bonus material. Well, they won't. None at all. That's one of the problems with the Eclipse range. It seems that person is ignorant here, not the blogger.