The Criterion Collection Will Begin Releasing 4K Editions This November
Fans of the Criterion Collection, long considered the industry leaders in high-end home video, have been wondering when the company will get into the world of 4K. After all, Criterion was at the forefront of companies producing laserdiscs, and they made early transitions to DVDs and Blu-rays. But 4K UHD discs have been around for a while now. So where are the 4K Criterions?
They’re finally coming. Criterion officially announced today that their first wave of 4K discs is coming this fall. Their initial slate consists of five titles: David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Jane Campion’s The Piano, the Hughes brothers’ Menace II Society, Richard Lester’s Beatles musical A Hard Days Night, and Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. According to the official press release, “each title will be available in a 4K UHD+Blu-ray combo pack including a 4K UHD disc of the feature film as well as the film and its special features on Blu-ray. Select films will be presented in Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.”
It’s a great first group of titles, but the Kane disc might be the most exciting, as the company hasn’t released Citizen Kane since the laserdisc days, and presumably this disc can include some of the long-lost extras from that set. It also suggests that Criterion could wind up releasing other Hollywood classics for the first time in decades. (Criterion’s laserdisc collection includes King Kong, Singin’ in the Rain, A Night at the Opera, It’s a Wonderful Life, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Halloween, Ghostbusters, Boyz n the Hood, and Pulp Fiction. Just imagine a few of those films on a Criterion 4K... yowsah.)
The first wave of Criterion Collection 4K discs will be available in November.
Gallery — The Coolest Box Art in the History of the Criterion Collection