The Criterion Collection
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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
- King Kong (1933) - LaserDisc (1987; out of print)
- House (1977) - DVD and Blu-ray (2010)
- Godzilla (1954) - DVD and Blu-ray (2012)
- The X from Outer Space (1967), Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968), The Living Skeleton (1968), and Genocide (1968) - DVD box set titled Eclipse Series 37: When Horror Came to Shochiku (2012)
- Jellyfish Eyes (2013) - DVD and Blu-ray (2015)
- All 15 Showa Godzilla films from Godzilla (1954) to Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) - Blu-ray set titled Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 (2019)
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:
- Godzilla (1954) [Japanese]
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) [English]
- Godzilla Raids Again (1955) [Japanese]
- Rodan (1956) [Japanese]
- The Mysterians (1957)
- Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
- Matango (1963)
- Atragon (1963)
- Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) [Japanese]
- Dogora (1964)
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) [Japanese]
- Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965) [Japanese, alternate ending]
- Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) [English]
- The War of the Gargantuas (1966) [English]
- The X from Outer Space (1967) [Japanese]
- Son of Godzilla (1967) [Japanese and English]
- Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) [Japanese]
- Destroy All Monsters (1968) [Japanese and English]
- All Monsters Attack (1969) [Japanese]
- Space Amoeba (1970)
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) [English]
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) [English]
- Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) [English]
- House (1977) [Japanese]
- The Return of Godzilla (1984) [Japanese]
- Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) [Japanese]
- Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) [Japanese]
- Godzilla vs. Mothra [1992] [Japanese]
- Princess from the Moon (1987) [Japanese]
- Jellyfish Eyes (2013) [Japanese]
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
Criterion King Kong LaserDisc cover
Criterion Godzilla DVD cover
Criterion Godzilla Blu-ray front cover
Criterion Godzilla Blu-ray back cover
Criterion Eclipse Series 37: When Horror Came to Shochiku DVD box set cover
Criterion Jellyfish Eyes DVD cover
Criterion Jellyfish Eyes Blu-ray cover
Criterion Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 Blu-ray set cover
Trivia
- Criterion's 1987 LaserDisc release of King Kong contains the first audio commentary for any film.[3]
- Criterion published an ad in the April 1998 issue of Image Previews for LaserDiscs of the original Godzilla, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, Godzilla's Revenge, and Terror of Mechagodzilla.[4] The discs were ultimately never released, and the Japanese cut of the original Godzilla would not see a home video release in the West until 2006.
- Criterion's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 Blu-ray box set contains the first-ever official home video release of the Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla in the United States.
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Godzilla vs. Megalon are the first two films in The Criterion Collection to have been featured on the movie-mocking TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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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