Criterion Licenses?

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swingo
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Criterion Licenses?

#1 Post by swingo » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:31 pm

I was stumbling on Gary's site and found the Passion of Joan of Arc and Notorious to had been released in Korea and are the same as Criterion. My curiosity started to grow when a mexican company called Zima that had been releasing some Ingmar Bergman movies, more specifically:

Cries and Whispers, Scenes From a Marriage, Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and Fanny and Alexander so far.

The releases got my attention since the majority has the same covers as the CC's, and I own all of them except cries and whispers (have the CC don't want to double dip) and scenes from a marriage (ordered and on the way).

The image quality is great and that only got my curiosity growth, before I bought Fanny and Alexander I didn't know (and still don't for sure) if the film was the same as the criterion's -since I do not own the cc versions of wild strawberries and seventh seal- but when I bought the fanny and alexander dvd and put it to check if it was ok, the Janus Films logo popped in(!!!!!!!!!!) needless to say the quality of the film is EXCELLENT and I'm pretty 99% sure that AT-LEAST the Fanny and Alexander is the same as the CC.

The prices of the Zima's Bergman's are about 15 dollars each, barebones editions with only spanish subtitles.

I sent a mail to Jon Mulvaney asking if Criterion does license their images, extras, covers etc. because, Like I said on the mail to JM:" I'd like to buy a dvd that is TAKING ADVANTAGE of the CC artwork and/or films =O-N-L-Y if the Criterion Collection agreed and licensed their stuff, otherwise I'd feel like being ripped off".

I got no response from the CC staff...

Here are the covers: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

BWilson
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:06 pm

#2 Post by BWilson » Tue Apr 05, 2005 6:43 pm

Do you have a question?

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swingo
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#3 Post by swingo » Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:20 pm

BWilson wrote:Do you have a question?
lol, not in the first place (just wanted to share), but now I do. can anyone tell me what comes in after the cc logo and before the SF logo in Wild Strawberries? because this mexican version has a some sort of blue with a hawk portuguese or brasilian logo before the SF one.


Axel.

nredding2
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:46 pm

#4 Post by nredding2 » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:23 am

Dead Ringers was recently issued in Canada. The disk is an exact copy of the discontinued Criterion DVD so Criterion obviously does sell their work to other companies.

jcelwin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:09 pm

#5 Post by jcelwin » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:40 am

BWilson wrote:Do you have a question?
I do: Has Criterion ever lisenced their transfers out to anyone? And, are their any unorthorised transfers that are being sold by 'legitimate' companies? Anyone have any idea about this?

BWilson
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:06 pm

#6 Post by BWilson » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:53 am

jcelwin wrote:Has Criterion ever lisenced their transfers out to anyone?
As far as I know the answer is no. Even the Canadian Dead Ringers with all the same extras does not have Criterion's transfer.

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swingo
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#7 Post by swingo » Wed Apr 06, 2005 12:02 pm

BWilson wrote:
jcelwin wrote:Has Criterion ever lisenced their transfers out to anyone?
As far as I know the answer is no. Even the Canadian Dead Ringers with all the same extras does not have Criterion's transfer.
I think that yes, they do license some of their works but not all of it. either the transfer (as the mexican Fanny and Alexander) and no extras or the opposite (as the Dead Ringers, Mexican In the Mood For Love, etc.)

My dad has a brasilian version of Gimme Shelter which has all of the CC (which I own) including the CC logo introduction. But my guess is that the Brasilian one, is a bootleg since the transfer's quality is not the same as the CC.

Beaver

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Keaton
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:31 am
Location: Wuppertal, Germany

#8 Post by Keaton » Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:41 pm

Yes, they do license their transfers out. The German Label Koch Media has their Leopard master from criterion.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

#9 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:53 pm

I think Keaton's right. I'm still waiting on a reply for Criterion, but when I asked Jon about the Canadian DEAD RINGERS DVD, he said Criterion did indeed license the extras to them, but wasn't sure about the transfer and would look into it. It's been weeks and he hasn't sent another e-mail yet, but I figure he would've said something if Criterion has a policy against licensing transfers.

nredding2
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:46 pm

#10 Post by nredding2 » Wed Apr 06, 2005 3:20 pm

As far as I know the answer is no. Even the Canadian Dead Ringers with all the same extras does not have Criterion's transfer.
I have the Canadian Dead Ringers and when you play the move, the white on black Criterion logo plays immediately before the start of the movie, so I would say it is the Criterion transfer, in fact the disk is a bit-for-bit copy of the Criterion release.

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dx23
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#11 Post by dx23 » Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:09 pm

According to the Criterion website FAQ, they do license transfers and extras outside Region 1:
Are Criterion DVDs available outside of North America?

Criterion Collection DVDs are generally available throughout the U.S. and Canada. From time to time, certain editions are distributed internationally, usually by our studio licensors and their international partners, but at present we have no international distribution arm of our own

BWilson
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:06 pm

#12 Post by BWilson » Thu Apr 07, 2005 2:21 pm

nredding2 wrote:I have the Canadian Dead Ringers and when you play the move, the white on black Criterion logo plays immediately before the start of the movie, so I would say it is the Criterion transfer, in fact the disk is a bit-for-bit copy of the Criterion release.
I was told the canadian release was anamorphic. Is it?

nredding2
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:46 pm

#13 Post by nredding2 » Thu Apr 07, 2005 7:20 pm

I was told the canadian release was anamorphic. Is it?
No.

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swingo
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#14 Post by swingo » Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:50 am

I'll be sending Gary the Zima version of Seventh Seal, we'll wait till his judgment and what can he tell us.


Axel.

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hearthesilence
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#15 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:00 pm

There's a post archived in one of these forums that says the Dutch (or maybe European in general) CD licenses the Criterion extras and indicates this, but uses a different transfer that is anamorphic and 1.85:1 (not 1.66:1, the aspect ratio on the Criterion DVD, and the ratio Cronenberg preferred).

The Canadian DVD uses the same extras, but every post I've found on other sites say the transfer is 1.66:1, and NOT anamorphic. A few DVD review sites took the time to compare it to the Criterion, including one for horror films on DVD (which wrote up the most in making this comparison - forgot what the site is called), and they say it looks the same. Whether it IS the same, I'll have to wait for Jon to get back on that.

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swingo
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#16 Post by swingo » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:16 am

There's a new comparison at the Beav, the comparison is between the Rock CC version vs. The Rock r2 PAL.

And yes, they licensed the transfer.

Beaver

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The Invunche
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#17 Post by The Invunche » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:55 pm

hammock wrote:Does anyone know how this happened?

For those who don't understand Danish, they copied the complete concept of CC and even took a very similar name. I was wondering if they license titles from CC or they are just a plain rip-off...
I emailed them and asked if they had any connection to Criterion and they said "No, we're a completely Danish company".

They also own www.on-air-video.dk which is the shittiest DVD company in Denmark.
Last edited by The Invunche on Sat Apr 23, 2005 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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swingo
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#18 Post by swingo » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:12 pm

They surely copied the concept and type font of Sal�. looking at the coming soon (?). they will release some interesting titles such as African Queen, Atlantic City, La Luna, Cul-De-Sac, Repulsion and a bunch of already Criterion titles; which I can guess it will be licensed transfers.

olopez

Re: Criterion Licenses?

#19 Post by olopez » Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:26 pm

I actually have approx. 80 zima movies I bought in Mexico and I noticed the same thing, that's why I searched online to see if they had the rights. Unfortunately, I still don't have an answer, but I would also like to add more movies in which i've noticed the Janus and criterion logo. Here is my list:

Akira Kurosawa
Drunken Angel
Rashomon
Yohimbo
Hidden Fortress

Luis Bunuel
The exterminating angel
Viridiana
Simon of the desert
Tristana
The discreet charm...
obscure object of desire...
and many more!

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