Criterion Collection | Channel streaming soon!

[Grayson Dere]

I've been an avid follower over the years of the Criterion Collection films mainly due to my local library carrying a vast amount of them in their DVD collection.

When I found out that the Criterion Collection will be starting for the first time ever a solo streaming service on April 8 I was super excited and signed up right away. It will be a fun experience to see how their video and sound quality will be (I'll be using Roku as my device). And I have to confirm this but I believe they are also remastering many films to 4K spec for the streaming version.

Anyone else an early member?


https://www.criterionchannel.com

 

[tripplej]

I do enjoy the criterion collection. How much is the service subscription?

 

[Grayson Dere]

I do enjoy the criterion collection. How much is the service subscription?

If you subscribe before April 8th, the official launch date, it is $9.99/month | $89.99/year....after April 8th it's $10.99/month | $99.99 annually.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Grayson Dere]

So far my experience with the Criterion Channel is very positive! The UI is easy to navigate and the video/sound quality is great. Sometimes I found I had to reach for the volume knob with their DVDs as the audio mixes were sometimes too soft or too loud depending on the title; with streaming I just set it and forget it : )

There are 1549 films available as of today on the channel with much more to come. For anyone interested I started off with the Japanese film 'Kuroneko.' I've never heard of the film before but I was amazed at how well the story was told with minimalist set design and focus on cinematography and sound.

 

[tripplej]

Great. Thanks for the details. I enjoy watching the criterion collection, especially the older black and white films. Will take a look.

 

[Todd Anderson]

That’s awesome - didn’t they have a service that they canceled last year?

Do you know what kind of quality you’re receiving versus other streaming services?

I bought the The Game a few years ago, when that was released. They did that film incredible justice. Beautiful... even on Blu-Ray. Love Criterion!

 

[Grayson Dere]

That’s awesome - didn’t they have a service that they canceled last year?

Do you know what kind of quality you’re receiving versus other streaming services?

I bought the The Game a few years ago, when that was released. They did that film incredible justice. Beautiful... even on Blu-Ray. Love Criterion!

Hi Todd,

That's fascinating! I had no idea that Criterion had a service prior to this one..perhaps I'll do some Googl'ing : )

As far as the image quality in the streaming is concerned I would say it's very solid...the picture is clean and I haven't noticed any weird artifacts. One thing I'm going to do very soon is watch a little bit of Mulholland Drive on the Criterion Channel and compare it with the Netflix streaming version if it's still available.
I'm interested in seeing if there are differences. Stayed tuned for my non-scientific analysis : )

The Game is such a good movie on many different levels!

 

[tripplej]

Here is a link to see all the Oscar winners that Criterion has...

 

[Todd Anderson]

I think I was wrong... Criterion didn't have a service. It looks like it was "FilmStruck" run by Warner. It had Criterion titles.

FilmStruck is gone... Criterion stepped in!

 

[Todd Anderson]

What's the interface like? Clunky?

 

[Grayson Dere]

Here is a link to see all the Oscar winners that Criterion has...

Thank you SO much for this list! I'm eager to start going through it : )

 

[Grayson Dere]

What's the interface like? Clunky?

I actually like the interface a lot. It gets me to where I want easily and is intuitive..unlike the Amazon Prime video service. I'm not sure why but I get confused with the Amazon UI layout in combination with the button navigation scheme they've set up.

And, unfortunately they removed Mulholland Drive from Netflix....bummer! I'll see what else I can compare side-by-side..

 

[Grayson Dere]

I think I was wrong... Criterion didn't have a service. It looks like it was "FilmStruck" run by Warner. It had Criterion titles.

FilmStruck is gone... Criterion stepped in!

Oh! I do remember the name FilmStruck..I'm guessing they couldn't compete with the powerhouse that Netflix is...

One thing I REALLY want the Criterion Channel to start offering is something similar to the booklet notes that come inside each of the DVD packages. It's quite informative and really provides a background insight into each film that sets up the viewer for a trip into film history : ) It can be as simple as a digitized scrollable version of the notes in the navigation screen.