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In Reply to: I was afraid of that.... posted by Joe S on July 05, 2000 at 17:45:44:
They have to make a profit somewhere. It's kind of like how some respectable actors take big-paying popcorn movie parts so that they can budget their own productions. I imagine Criterion just put out the Armageddon release to make a big profit as Armageddon was a popular movie. If they have to do that to keep afloat then I have no qualms about it.
Tom §.
pardon my realism, but aren't *all* films ultimately about financial profit?the film industry is an industry where corporations make and market products in the hope of making a profit...or, put another way, if a "meaningful" film is made, it's made & bankrolled because someone expects to make money out of it?
....is that criterion doesn't produce movies. They restore and distribute films that have some form of artistic substance and/or historical significance. There are a few releases there that satisfy some cult cravings as well. Take a look at their release list and you will see many films on the list made before 1960 on DVD. What Joe was disappointed about was the inclusion of "Armageddon" which was pretty much a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am blockbuster popcorn movie. That type of movie is a bit out of place in the criterion collection (along with a few others).The majority of people who buy DVD's nowadays usually go for the movies that are bereft of any type of meaningful content. So the criterion collection wouldn't appeal to the majority of people who buy Austin Powers, Billy Madison, or any other relatively meaningless but wildly popular movie. I wouldn't doubt for a second that criterion isn't making a whole lot of money on "M", "Seven Samurai", or the "Orpheus" trilogy.
If criterion has to release a movie like "Armageddon" in order to acquire capital to restore and re-release 2 or 3 more classic movies then I'm all for it.
Tom §.
The lament here seems to be that, in this case, financial profit appears to be winning out over artistic quality ...in my humble opinion it's hard to concieve of any organization commercially involved with producing or distributing pre-recorded media, doing so for reasons other than finanical gain. Sure, other reasons are probably there, but the bottom line is the bottom line :)Note that a niche market (focusing on products where there is a lesser demand) can be *very* profitable because there's little competition.
...is the damage it may do to their brand. Say Criterion Collection to a serious film collector and that means something to them. If that brand gets hooked to films like Armageddon the result may be to dilute what they have worked so hard to achieve. I also suspect thier effort is a bit misguided as well in that I doubt many folks that liked this movie are giong to pay a premium price for a deluxe copy of a popcorn movie (a particularly bad one, in fact). Does Joe Six Pack really want a premium disc that costs twice as much? Serious collectors will pay that tariff - but for Armageddon? I suspect not...joe
...look at the first ten titles on their list, then figure out which one doesn't belong there (hint: it is not the Autumn Sonata). If I were to simply buy that whole list (not a bad proposition) I would end up with more than 80% success rate. With this type of odds I *would* buy it all, and give that dreaded Armageddon to my uncle Joe for Christmas.Bot for Pete's sake, being sandwitched between Rublyov and Sonata - if I was the Armageddon, I would not wish of a better "uplifting" company. Kind of like a seat between Karajan and Pam Anderson?
You've got a point about Armageddon. Joe Six Pack on a budget may not spring for it but maybe the rich and tasteless Joe Six Pack might. I wonder how well that movie and Robocop did for sales. I remember seeing the Criterion Robocop and Armageddon on the racks at Best Buy. I couldn't find "Seven Samurai" or "M" though.
Tom §.
---but maybe the rich and tasteless Joe Six Pack might---Of course! Krell owners! I forgot about them... ;-)
joe
nope, none here
Tom §.
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