Wondering what happened to that Criterion edition DVD of Steven Soderbergh’s two-part epic, “Che“? You’re not the only one. Originally it was announced for the fall and then as each month of autumn was announced and passed, it was basically unofficially said to be arriving that following month.
Well Criterion announced their line-up for December (which amounted to October and November titles being pushed into December) and the end of the year so what gives?
Well, according to Hollywood Elsewhere — who took the quotes from the collection’s newsletter (we musta missed that) — Criterion’s Peter Becker said, “We wanted to be ready for December, but Steven Soderbergh needed time to reconstruct some deleted scenes, and we were also able, in what we think is going to be a controversial coup, to persuade Che Guevara biographer Jon Lee Anderson to do commentaries on both films, but he also needed more time to prepare.”
So Becker said the disc will finally arrive January 2010. “As you can imagine there’s a wealth of great content getting developed. [But]… in short, it became clear that if we delayed the release a month we would be able to make a much better set. That’s a trade we will always make, even if it means we don’t get the benefit of sales in the holiday season, and we think that’s the kind of decision our collectors would want us to make.”
Hell, it’s true. Most of the other studios would rush this one in time for Christmas no matter what. Hey, that’s what money from your grandma at Xmas is for anyway, right? Can’t wait.
Yeah, this is shaping up to be a great release and Anderson's commentary should be good. I wonder if Soderbergh's gonna do one. I know a little awhile ago in an interview he said that he was done doing commentaries for his own films…
I'm glad that Criterion waited on this one. As much as I would like to have it sooner than later if that means the quality is better and there are more extras than it is more than worth the wait.
Is the price likely to be $31.95 like many of their recently released DVDs or maybe more expensive because the film is 4 hours but pretty much 2 films?
I'm in Canada so add another $9.95 plus some 18% border shipping fee on top of the shipping cost. That's like 4 recent few-years-old mainstream dvds. But 'Che' was great and this will beat buying part one and two "bare bones" separately.
SK, if you send me the money, I'll ship it to you for free. Gotta help out my Canadian brethren.
Also, I love Canada and all but prices on goods and services are outrageous there, really. Every time I'm in Ontario anything I want to buy is about 30% more expensive than it is in NY. It's nuts.
I loved both films.
Del Toro is amazing and really captures the spirit of El Che.
"Che Guevara is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom, we will always honor his memory." — NELSON MANDELA
I appreciate the offer. And the prices are ridiculous, and not a guarantee you can get everything shipped here from the US. The UPS guy surprising you with a border tax is always fun too.
The Che film(s) might be a good movie to start a little Criterion collection. $50 total Canadian$ for two films, special edition, definitely isn't bad though. Especially given new releases are $20 to $25 for a basic dvd with a scene guide if you're lucky.
This was probably the best movie I saw in 2009.
Great article on the film …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_(film)