Thanks to a tip from a reader (whose name I’m not all that certain about, but I’d guess either “Christopher” or “Julie”!), I’ve found out that Amazon.com now lists a new exclusive Criterion Collection Director Series: Akira Kurosawa box set, which includes the films Throne Of Blood, Yojimbo, Seven Samurai and Sanjuro.
It is probably obvious that this must be a repackaging of already-released Criterion discs, but the real question is: which editions? With a price tag of $109.99 (list price $169.80), it sounds like a good deal if what we are talking about are the new editions of Yojimbo, Seven Samurai and Sanjuro. Not that you would save all that much compared to buying those discs separately, but if I remember correctly (but don’t take my word on this) box sets only count as a single item when it comes to shipping, and therefore overseas customers could save quite a bit when ordering the box set instead of the individual releases.
For U.S. based customers, I don’t think there is much of a price difference, so let’s wait and see if they have thrown something extra into the mix. I doubt it, however.
Criterion Collection Director Series: Akira Kurosawa will be released on December 17, 2007.
Hmmm very perplexing… could they just have an overstock of the old editions of Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro and are trying to get rid of them? Would they do something so petty?