The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American
home-video
Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming media ...
distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinephiles and public and academic libraries. Criterion has helped to standardize certain aspects of home-video releases such as
film restoration
Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wi ...
, the letterboxing format for widescreen films and the inclusion of bonus features such as scholarly essays and commentary tracks. Criterion has produced and distributed more than 1,000
special editions
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
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, ...
,
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 ...
,
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 kin ...
,
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 ...
and
Ultra HD Blu-ray
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...
formats and box sets. These films and their special features are also available via an online
streaming service
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
that the company operates.
History
The company was founded in 1984 by Robert Stein, Aleen Stein and
Joe Medjuck
Joseph Medjuck (born February 17, 1943) is a Canadian film producer in Hollywood.
Life and career
Medjuck was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. He received his BA in Honours English from McGill University and his MA and PhD from the U ...
, who later were joined by Roger Smith. In 1985, the Steins, William Becker and Jonathan B. Turell founded 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 ...
to publish educational
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
s (1989–2000), and the Criterion Collection became a subordinate division of the Voyager Company, with Janus Films holding a minority stake in the company, and decided to expand its product on videocassettes and videodiscs. In March 1994, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH bought 20% of Voyager for US$6.7 million; the four founders each retained a 20% owner's share.
In 1997, the Voyager Company was dissolved (Aleen Stein founded the Organa LLC CD-ROM publishing company), and
Holtzbrinck
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a privately held German company based in Stuttgart which owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies.
In 2015, it me ...
Publishers sold the Voyager brand name, 42 CD-ROM titles, the Voyager web site and associated assets to Learn Technologies Interactive, LLC (LTI). Stein sold 42 Voyager titles to LTI from his Voyager/Criterion company share. The remaining three partners, Aleen Stein, Becker and Turell owned the Criterion Collection company, which has a business partnership with
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 had one with Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) until 2005, when
Image Entertainment
RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...
bought HVE. On November 4, 2013, it was announced that
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
would handle distribution.
Home Vision Entertainment
In 1986,
Charles Benton
Charles Benton (February 13, 1931 – April 29, 2015) was an American executive who served as the CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Benton Foundation and former CEO of Public Media Incorporated, a film and video publisher and distributor.
E ...
founded Home Vision Entertainment (HVE), the home-video division of Public Media Inc. (PMI), which he had previously founded in 1968. The HVE company sold, advertised, marketed and distributed Criterion Collection DVDs, and also sold its own HVE brand of DVDs (co-produced with Criterion), including The Merchant Ivory Collection and the Classic Collection, a joint venture between Home Vision Entertainment and Janus Films. The latter enterprise published HVE imprint films, for which Janus Films owned the video rights, but which were unavailable from the Criterion Collection; however, Criterion published the Classic Collection films. In 2005, Image Entertainment bought HVE making it the exclusive distributor of Criterion Collection products until 2013.
Online ventures and marketing
The Criterion Collection began to provide
video-on-demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
(VOD) in partnership with
Mubi
Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...
(formerly ''The Auteurs'') in 2008. In February 2011, Criterion began switching its VOD offerings exclusively to
Hulu Plus
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series l ...
. In November 2016,
FilmStruck
FilmStruck was a film streaming service from Turner Classic Movies which catered to cinephiles and focused on rare, classic, foreign, arthouse, and Independent film, independent cinema. It launched in November 2016 and succeeded Hulu as the exc ...
, a film streaming service from
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
, succeeded Hulu as the exclusive streaming service for the Criterion Collection. Some Criterion films were streamed by
Kanopy
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video platform for public and academic libraries that offers films, TV shows and documentaries. The service is free for users, but content owners and content creators are paid on a pay-per-view model by the in ...
Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for turni ...
announced that FilmStruck would shut down on November 29. Criterion stated in a blog post that it was "trying to find ways we can bring our library and original content back to the digital space as soon as possible."
On November 16, 2018, Criterion announced the launch of the Criterion Channel as a standalone service, wholly owned and operated by the Criterion Collection, in the United States and Canada. Some of the VOD service's offerings are also available through
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
,
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
's streaming platform .
Criterion also maintains a
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel to market its films. One notable feature is the "Three Reasons" playlist, in which the company provides three reasons that a film is worth watching or has entered the Criterion catalogue. In response, YouTube users offer their own "Three Reasons" to promote nominations. However, no "Three Reasons" video has been released by Criterion since June 30, 2015.
British film magazine ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' revealed in its April 2016 issue that Criterion would be expanding its releases to the United Kingdom. The first six titles were released on April 18, 2016.
Contributions and influence
The Criterion Collection video company pioneered the correct aspect-ratio letterboxing presentation of films, as well as commentary soundtracks, multi-disc sets, special editions and definitive versions. These ideas and the special features introduced by the Criterion Collection have been highly influential, and have become industry-wide standards for premium home video releases.
Letterboxing
With its eighth LaserDisc release, ''
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...
'' (1956), Criterion introduced the letterbox format, which added black bars to the top and bottom of the 4:3 standard television set in order to preserve the original aspect ratio of the film. Thereafter, Criterion made letterboxing the standard presentation for all its releases of films shot in widescreen aspect ratios.
Commentary soundtracks
The Criterion Collection's second catalog title, ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'' (1933), was the debut of the scene-specific
audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
contained in a separate analog channel of the LaserDisc, in which American film historian
Ronald Haver
Ronald Haver (January 14, 1939 – May 18, 1993Ronald Haver biography at
< ...
spoke about the production, cast, screenplay, production design and special effects. He also provides commentary on the LaserDisc editions of ''
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
'' (1942), ''
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' is a 1941 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Alexander Hall, in which a boxer, mistakenly taken to Heaven before his time, is given a second chance back on Earth. It stars Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains ...
'' (1941), ''
Singin' in the Rain
''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...
'' (1952) and '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). Typically, the chapter-indexed commentaries are exclusive to the Criterion releases and their initial DVD reissues; they became collectors' items when the original studios reissued titles previously licensed to Criterion, regardless of whether new commentary tracks were produced.
Special editions
The Criterion Collection began in 1984 with the releases of ''
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 ...
'' (1941) and ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'' (1933) on LaserDisc, the latter's source negatives courtesy of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
. The company later became known for pioneering the "special edition" DVD concept containing bonus materials such as
trailers
Trailer may refer to: a
Transportation
* Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle
** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers
** Full-trailer
** Semi-trailer
**Horse trailer ...
, commentaries, documentaries,
alternate ending
An alternate ending (or alternative ending) is an ending of a story that was considered, or even written or produced, but ultimately discarded in favour of another resolution. Generally, alternative endings are considered to have no bearing on t ...
s and
deleted scene
A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...
s. The success of these releases established the special-edition version in the DVD business. In 2006, taking advantage of advanced film-transfer and film-restoration technologies, Criterion published higher-quality versions, with bonus materials, of early catalog titles such as ''
Amarcord
''Amarcord'' () is a 1973 comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini, a semi-autobiographical tale about Titta, an adolescent boy growing up among an eccentric cast of characters in the village of Borgo San Giuliano (situated near the ancien ...
'' (1973), ''
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
'' (1985) and ''
Seven Samurai
is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'' (1954).
Film restoration
Originally, Criterion released art, genre and mainstream movies on LaserDisc such as ''
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
'' (1978), ''
Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
'' (1998) and '' The Rock'' (1996). Increasingly, the Criterion Collection has also focused on releasing
world cinema
World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...
, mainstream cinema classics and critically successful obscure films. Using the best available source materials, the company produced technologically improved and cleaner versions, such as those for ''
The Passion of Joan of Arc
''The Passion of Joan of Arc'' (french: link=no, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) is a 1928 French silent historical film based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renée Jeanne F ...
Children of Paradise
''Children of Paradise'' (original French title: ''Les Enfants du Paradis'') is a two-part French romantic drama film by Marcel Carné, produced under war conditions in 1943, 1944, and early 1945 in both Vichy France and Occupied France. Set in ...
'' (1945), ''
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), ''
Seven Samurai
is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'' (1954) and ''
Amarcord
''Amarcord'' () is a 1973 comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini, a semi-autobiographical tale about Titta, an adolescent boy growing up among an eccentric cast of characters in the village of Borgo San Giuliano (situated near the ancien ...
'' (1973). Almost every title contains film-cleaning and film-restoration essays in the booklets, while some even have featurettes comparing the restored and unrestored images.
Licenses
Some previously licensed Criterion Collection titles, such as ''
The Harder They Come
''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world".
...
'' (1972), are now commercially unavailable as new product, and are only available in resale (used) form. Titles such as ''
RoboCop
''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferre ...
Ran
Ran, RaN and ran may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa
* "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea
* '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game)
* ...
'' (1985) became unavailable when their publishing licenses expired or when Criterion published improved versions, such as those for ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...
The Wages of Fear
''The Wages of Fear'' (french: Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 French thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense el ...
'' (1953) and ''
Seven Samurai
is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'' (1954). As of September 2018, 188 of the 954 titles (19%) from the
list of Criterion Collection LaserDisc releases
The following is a list of LaserDiscs released by The Criterion Collection from 1984 to 1998. These LaserDiscs are now out of print. Films that have appeared on Criterion Collection DVD releases are noted with their corresponding DVD spine number ...
have been rereleased.
Another example is the film ''
Charade
Charade or charades may refer to:
Games
* Charades, originally "acting charades", a parlor game
Films/TV
* ''Charade'' (1953 film), an American film featuring James Mason
* ''Charade'' (1963 film), an American film starring Cary Grant and A ...
'' (1963), which had become a
public-domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
property for lacking the legally-required
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
notice. Criterion produced a restored edition under license from
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
for the initial edition and for the later
anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen (also called Full height anamorphic or FHA) is a process by which a comparatively wide widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium (photographic film or MPEG-2 standard-definition frame, for exam ...
rerelease edition of the film.
Periodically, Criterion releases material on DVD and Blu-ray disc licensed from the studios with whom the company had previously dealt (such as Universal's and
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...
's 1985 film ''
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
''); these new releases are generally undertaken on a case-by-case basis.
In 2022, Criterion released its first
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
title,
Andrew Stanton
Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's ''A Bug's Life'' (1998), directing ''Finding Nemo'' (2003) an ...
's ''
WALL-E
''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...
''. This was not the result of an ongoing deal between Disney and Criterion, but rather licensed as a one-off, with Stanton approaching Criterion and "wanting to be part of the club".
Formats
LaserDisc, VHS, Betamax and DVD
The Criterion Collection began publishing
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 ...
s on December 1, 1984, with its release of ''
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 ...
'', until March 16, 1999, with
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
's ''
Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
''. Three of the company's early titles (spines #003–005) were also issued on VHS and Betamax. These were Criterion's only releases on those formats.
Criterion entered the DVD market in 1998, beginning with ''Seven Samurai'', spine number 2 (''Grand Illusion'', spine number 1, was delayed for a year while restoration was underway on a then-newly-found camera negative.) As with its laserdiscs, Criterion's early DVD editions of widescreen films were presented in the letterbox format, but Criterion did not anamorphically enhance its discs for 16:9 monitors until mid-1999 with its release of ''
Insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
'' (1997), catalog number 47.
Criterion was slow to expand into high-definition releases, partly because of the HD format wars between
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 ...
and
HD DVD
HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to th ...
. Once Blu-ray had emerged as the industry-standard high-definition home-video format, Criterion began to release Blu-ray editions of select films from its collection, beginning with the Blu-ray release of
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...
's ''
Chungking Express
''Chungking Express'' is a 1994 Hong Kong romantic crime comedy-drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a ...
'' (#453; currently out of print) on December 16, 2008. In late 2013, Criterion announced that with the November release of the ''
Zatoichi
is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' serie ...
'' boxset (spine #679), all future releases would be in dual format (DVD and Blu-ray packaged together) rather than as individual releases. This decision also applied to most upgrade rereleases introduced after November 2013. After customer feedback revealed some reluctance to this approach, '' All That Jazz'' (#724) became the last chronological spine number released as a dual-format edition, and the decision was reversed to release separate discs for titles beginning in September 2014.
Despite the emergence of Blu-ray as the industry-standard high-definition format, Janus/Criterion continues to support the DVD format. Not only are all their new Blu-ray releases accompanied by a standard-definition DVD version, but revised and upgraded releases are also released on both formats (barring the brief foray into dual-format releases). Moreover, the company's standalone line of
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
releases are currently only made available in the standard DVD format.
Aside from the core catalog, the company has also released films through its Essential Art House, Eclipse and
Merchant Ivory
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...
Collection lines, as well as a few releases outside of any product line. Many of these releases have also been collected and sold in various box sets.
In April 2016 for the first time in its history, Criterion announced it would begin releasing its catalogue outside of the U.S. (earlier international Criterion titles such as the Japanese LaserDisc of ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'' were licensed to other companies). In partnership with
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
, releases began to be distributed with the launch of six titles in the U.K. during the month.
Blu-ray
Criterion began publishing titles on
Blu-ray Disc
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, 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 c ...
in December 2008. Unlike its DVD releases, which are a mixture of NTSC-standard
Region 0
DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD-Video, DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all acc ...
(region-free) and Region 1 DVDs, Criterion Collection Blu-ray discs are Region A-locked in North America or Region B-locked in the United Kingdom (though there are exceptions).
Ultra HD Blu-ray
On August 11, 2021, Criterion announced that it would begin publishing titles in
Ultra HD Blu-ray
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...
format in November 2021. All Criterion Ultra HD Blu-ray releases will include both an Ultra HD Blu-ray copy and a regular Blu-ray copy of a film (with all the special features on the regular Blu-ray), with select releases including
Dolby Vision
Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. It includes dynamic metadata that are used to adjust and optimize each frame of the ...
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horizontal, nor verti ...
. The first such releases were announced on August 16 for a November 21 release: ''
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 ...
'' (returning to the collection for the first time since 1992), ''
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
'' and ''
Menace II Society
''Menace II Society'' (pronounced ''Menace to Society'') is a 1993 American teen drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers in their directorial debut. The film is set in Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and follows the life of K ...
The Piano
''The Piano'' is a 1993 period drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin in her first major acting role, the film focuses on a mute Scottish woman who travels to a remote p ...
'' on Ultra HD Blu-ray disc. The film ''
Uncut Gems
''Uncut Gems'' is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. The film stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel and Eric Bogosi ...
'', which was previously planned for Blu-ray and DVD release in October 2021, was delayed until November in order to also give the film an Ultra HD Blu-ray release.
Eclipse
Eclipse is a line started in 2007 separate from the Criterion Collection. It is described by Criterion as "a selection of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed classics in simple, affordable editions."
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
MUBI
Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...