The Criterion Collection

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The Criterion Collection, Inc.
The Criterion Collection

Type Home video distributor
Status Active
Led by Jonathan B. Turell, Peter Becker
Founder(s) Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, Joe Medjuck
Founded 1984
Head-
quarters
New York City, New York, United States
Also known as Criterion
Parent company Janus Films
Website https://www.criterion.com

The Criterion Collection, often shortened to just Criterion, is an American home video distribution company specializing in prestige releases of significant films past and present. Founded in 1984, its innovations include letterboxing widescreen films, audio commentaries, and special features in general. Criterion's films were published by The Voyager Company from 1985 until its dissolution in 1997, after which Criterion's new primary parent company Janus Films assumed this role. Many of Criterion's releases are localized in the United Kingdom through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Despite the genre's often dim reputation in the West, Criterion has licensed many kaiju films, including every entry in the Showa Godzilla series. In 2022, Criterion licensed several additional Showa kaiju films directed by Ishiro Honda, all of which had last been licensed and released in North America by Media Blasters.

Selected home video releases

The Criterion Channel

Criterion also operates a streaming service in the U.S. and Canada called The Criterion Channel, which it launched in 2019. Previously, select Criterion titles were only available on Hulu, then FilmStruck.

The following kaiju films are available on The Criterion Channel. All Toho films except Godzilla use Toho's 2008 HD transfers, while titles dubbed into English twice use their international export dubs:

Revival screenings

In 2019, Criterion business partner Janus Films began facilitating revival screenings of the Godzilla films it owned the rights to, including Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Hedorah, both currently unavailable on The Criterion Channel.[1][2]

Gallery

Trivia

External links

References

This is a list of references for The Criterion Collection. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

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