John W. wrote:
> Dan Rempel wrote:
>
>>I think you must have some early ones; the ones I have (e.g. Yojimbo)
>>are quite clean, good contrast, and I don't remember any serious
>>streaking/film damage. In fact, to check, I just dug out "The Hidden
>>Fortress," and there were a couple of streaks in the first few
>
> minutes,
>
>>then pretty much as above. The subtitles are white on black below the
>>actual film, and quite legible. I guess YMMV.
>>
>
> Now I'm going to have to go buy them, dammit. The only reason I haven't
> is because the version of Seven Samurai I have was disappointing. But I
> suppose in order to regain that excuse I'm going to have to go out and
> buy a couple (I really like Red Beard; it's a good story, IMHO).

Haven't seen Red Beard, but I'll look for it. As for the Criterion
stuff, before you spend a bunch of money you might want to check them
out in rental; I may be full of it. In fact, I'll try to find a copy of
"The Seven Samurai," and see if it's as crappy as you describe.

Dan