A Brief Profile of the Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection invented the special edition and the annotated movie on laserdisc in 1984, and is the leading source today of DVD special editions of classic international and American movies, and noteworthy contemporary films.

We take it for granted that DVDs have language options, commentaries by directors, interviews, making-of documentaries, photo galleries, and other extras.  But all those interactive features preceded the DVD format, dating back to when Criterion Collection debuted its first special-edition laserdiscs. 

Then and now, the Criterion Collection has been dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. Criterion began with a mission to pull the treasures of world cinema out of the film vaults and put them in the hands of collectors.

The foundation of the collection is the work of such masters of cinema as Renoir, Godard, Kurosawa, Cocteau, Fellini, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock, Fuller, Lean, Kubrick, Lang, Sturges, Dreyer, Eisenstein, Ozu, Sirk, Bunuel, Powell and Pressburger. Each film is presented uncut, in its original aspect ratio, as its maker intended it to be seen. For every disc, Criterion tracks down the best available film elements in the world, uses state-of-the-art telecine equipment and a select few colorists capable of meeting rigorous standards, and takes the time during the film-to-video digital transfer to create the most pristine possible image and sound.

Whenever possible, Criterion works with directors and cinematographers to assure that the look of the DVD releases does justice to their intentions. DVD supplements enable viewers to appreciate Criterion films in context, through audio commentaries by filmmakers and scholars, restored director's cuts, deleted scenes, documentaries, shooting scripts, early shorts, and storyboards.

To date, more than 35 filmmakers have made our Director Approved library of laserdiscs and DVDs the most significant archive of contemporary filmmaking available to the home viewer.

More about the history of the Criterion Collection and the birth of the special editon movie on DVD and laserdisc: A Tribute to the Criterion Collection.