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The Criterion Collection's mission statement
Since 1984, the Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important
classic and contemporary films, 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. Over the years, as we moved from laserdisc to DVD, Blu-ray
disc, and online streaming, we’ve seen a lot of things change, but one
thing has remained constant: our commitment to publishing the defining
moments of cinema for a wider and wider audience. 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, Buñuel,
Powell and Pressburger. Each film is presented uncut, in its original
aspect ratio, as its maker intended it to be seen. Every time we start
work on a film, we track down the best available film elements in the
world, use state-of-the-art telecine equipment and a select few
colorists capable of meeting our rigorous standards, then take time
during the film-to-video digital transfer to create the most pristine
possible image and sound. Whenever possible, we work with directors and
cinematographers to ensure that the look of our releases does justice
to their intentions. Our 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 150
filmmakers have made our library of Director Approved DVDs, Blu-ray
discs, and laserdiscs the most significant archive of contemporary
filmmaking available to the home viewer.
