Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is certainly the most remarkable collection of films to come out in one DVD package. And I would really like to thank Criterion for overpricing their DVDs so much that I had very little overlap with my existing library, having passed on most of their editions of these films. Here are a few observations that might be of use to potential buyers: 1) the widescreen movies are anamorphic 2) Haxen is 104 min, substantially longer than the 77 min version that has shown on premium cable. 3) I compared the Janus versions of two films, Wages of Fear and Seven Samurai, with the Criterion versions I had. I expected them to be identical (figuring that Criterion probably did the work for Janus) but they were considerably different. In both cases, the Janus copies were amazingly superior: much better (and louder)sound, crisper images with fewer defects, much better definition in shadowy areas, and a much more stable image. I never realized how poor the Criterion prints were until I saw the comparison. It's amazing the psychological effect of all that. In both cases, I was strongly tempted to continue watching the whole film with Janus, and found the Criterion copy 'tiring'. The translations also differed, with Janus having fewer errors (e.g. Samurai's "the rice we're eating now" v.s. "the rice we're eating, how"). I cannot wait to watch the rest of these films. 3. I could detect no difference between Anchor Bay's and Janus's Kind Hearts and Coronets. 4. The print of Lady Vanishes is the clearest I've seen. The el cheapo Brentwood print, in their Hitchcock collection, is unwatchable. 5. The one really bad aspect of the collection is that the DVDs are wedged tightly into paper slots. Every single disc was covered with tiny flecks of paper, and every disc was scratched, sometimes quite badly (but not enough to affect playback, I think). Whether this occurred putting the disc in, or taking it out, I can't say. However, repeating this process would rapidly damage the surface. I put all the discs into individual cases, and I STRONGLY recommend doing so. Some of the discs felt like they were glued to the page, the packaging was so tight. If you are a real fanatic about surface defects, and don't plan on reselling the set, you might even want to use a razor to cut the paper and LIFT the disc out. Whatever you do, don't rotate the disc as you try to unstick it or you may get a spiralling defect. Despite that caveat, this is an incredible bargain - less than $12 per film instead of $30 for Criterion's. That makes those commentaries pretty bloody expensive. One can only hope Janus will put out another 50 movies (hopefully in individual cases, though).