The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

is a video distribution company which specializes in licensing and selling "important classic and contemporary films" in "editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements."

Janus Films Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein ...

and the

Voyager Company The Voyager Company was a pioneer in CD-ROM production in the 1980s and early 1990s. In partnership with Janus Films, the company published The Criterion Collection, a pioneering home video collection of classic and important contemporary films on ...

established The Criterion Collection in 1984 as a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

concentrating exclusively upon the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n home video market. Aside from three early rare titles on VHS and

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

cassette, between 1984 and 1998 Criterion published home video releases exclusively on the

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

format, pioneering now standard features such as letterboxing, audio commentary tracks, and other supplemental content. In 1998, Criterion shifted from LaserDiscs into the then fledgling

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

market, and has since issued over 1,000 DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

releases. In 2021, 4K Ultra HD releases were announced to launch starting with ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...

'' in November. All of Criterion's LaserDisc releases have since gone out of print.

DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD releases

^I ''Floating Weeds'' has been released on LaserDisc and the Essential Art House series, but ''A Story of Floating Weeds'' has not.
^II Akira Kurosawa's 1957 adaptation of ''The Lower Depths'' is included in the ''25 Films by Akira Kurosawa'' box set, but Jean Renoir's 1936 adaptation is not.
^III Included as extra on ''The Seventh Seal'' Blu-ray and 2-DVD release.
^IV The ''By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One and Two'' box set has only been released on Blu-ray.
^V The ''Pina'' Blu-ray release features both 2D and 3D versions.
^VI Included as extra on the ''Grey Gardens'' Blu-ray release.

Additional feature films

A related feature film (not a documentary related to the film's production or theme) is included as a bonus feature:
¹''

Crook's Tour ''Crook's Tour'' is a 1941 black and white British film directed by John Baxter featuring Charters and Caldicott. It is adapted from a BBC radio serial of the same name. Plot Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) wi ...

''
² '' It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books''
³ ''Neapolitan Diary''
⁴ '' Permanent Vacation''
⁵ '' Berlin Alexanderplatz (1931)''
⁶ ''

The Lion Has Wings ''The Lion Has Wings'' is a 1939 British, black-and-white, documentary-style, propaganda war film that was directed by Adrian Brunel, Brian Desmond Hurst, Alexander Korda and Michael Powell. The film was produced by London Film Productions and ...

''
⁷ '' Magnificent Obsession (1935)''
⁸ '' Bucking Broadway''
⁹ '' The Traveler''
¹⁰ ''

Cathy Come Home ''Cathy Come Home'' is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 ''Radio Times'' readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" and a ...

''
¹¹ '' Murder a la Mod''
¹² ''

Killer's Kiss ''Killer's Kiss'' is a 1955 American crime film noir directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Kubrick and Howard Sackler. It is the second feature film directed by Kubrick, following his 1953 debut feature '' Fear and Desire''. The film stars ...

''
¹³ '' Twelve Angry Men (1954)''
¹⁴ ''

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 '' kaiju'' film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, commonly referred to as an "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film ''Godzilla''. The film was a Japanese- American c ...

''
¹⁵ ''Creative Nonfiction''
¹⁶ '' The Report''
¹⁷ ''

The Last Performance ''The Last Performance'' is a 1929 American film directed by Paul Fejos and starring Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin. The film was made in two version: a silent version and Movietone version complete with music, talking sequences, and sound effe ...

''
¹⁸ ''

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

''
¹⁹ ''

Kapurush ''Kapurush'' ( bn, কাপুরুষ), English title ''The Coward'', is a 1965 Indian drama film directed by Satyajit Ray. Plot Amitabha Ray is a Calcutta-based scriptwriter who is driving around in the country to collect material for a ...

''
²⁰ '' The Underneath''
²¹ ''

Stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

''
²² ''

Homesdale ''Homesdale'' is a 1971 Australian film directed by Peter Weir. ''Homesdale'' is a black comedy about visitors at a guest-house acting out their violent private fantasies and games under the control of the house staff. Plot Several people gather ...

''
²³ ''

On purge bébé ''On purge bébé'' (''Baby's Laxative'') is Jean Renoir's first sound film, based upon the play by Georges Feydeau. It is a 1931 comedy about a supposedly unbreakable chamberpot and a constipated baby. It is known for mocking the French bourgeo ...

''
²⁴ '' The Front Page (1931)''
²⁵ '' I Was Born, But...''
²⁶ ''

Filming Othello ''Filming Othello'' is a 1978 documentary film directed by and starring Orson Welles about the making of his award-winning 1951 production '' Othello''. The film, which was produced for West German television, was the last completed feature film d ...

''
²⁶ ''

Downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

''
²⁷ '' Holiday (1930)''
²⁸ ''

Spite Marriage ''Spite Marriage'' is a 1929 American silent comedy film co-directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick and starring Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last silent film, although he had wanted it ...

''
²⁹ '' Game of Death II''
³⁰ ''

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the w ...

''
³¹ '' Shaft's Big Score!''
³² ''

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

April Fool's pranks

*On

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

2011, spine #573, which was not yet issued, was assigned to the 1984 movie ''

C.H.U.D. ''C.H.U.D.'' is a 1984 American science fiction horror film directed by Douglas Cheek, produced by Andrew Bonime, and starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry in his film debut. The plot concerns a New York City police officer a ...

'' *On April Fool's Day 2012, spine #620, which was not yet issued, was assigned to the 1990 movie ''

Kindergarten Cop ''Kindergarten Cop'' is a 1990 American action comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective working undercover as a kindergarten teacher to apprehe ...

''.

Essential Art House-only releases

^VII ''Floating Weeds'' was released by the Criterion Collection with ''A Story of Floating Weeds''. ^VIII ''The Great Chase'' and ''The Love Goddessess'' were released by the Criterion Collection under the title ''Three Documentaries'' along with '' Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist''.

Merchant Ivory Collection

The Merchant Ivory Collection was released between 2003 and 2005 in DVD format. The entire Collection is currently out of print. The list is presented in order of release by Criterion.

Other releases

Boxed sets

LaserDiscs

Criterion Collection released

s from 1984 to 1998. These are now

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

VHS and Betamax cassettes

In 1985 and 1989, Criterion Collection released three titles on VHS,

and LaserDisc: '' The 39 Steps'' (1935), ''

The Lady Vanishes ''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel ''The Wheel Spins'' by Ethel L ...

'' (1938) and ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten), ...

'' (1949), with spine numbers 003–005 respectively. However, they did not sell well, and no more were issued, but they are now collectors' items.

References

;General * * * * ;Specific

External links

* – official site
Criterion Collection
– release library (by spine#)
Criterion LaserDisc Collection
at Criterion Collection via

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

(archive; no longer appears on site) {{DEFAULTSORT:List of Criterion Collection DVD and Blu-ray Releases

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

The Criterion Collection