The Criterion Collection
An American home-video and streaming brand devoted to restoring, presenting, and contextualizing important classic and contemporary films.
Last updated October 6, 2026
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Overview
The Criterion Collection is an American film-distribution and preservation brand specializing in carefully restored editions of significant international, independent, and American cinema. Founded in 1984, it became one of the most influential names in premium home video by treating a film release as more than a packaged copy of a movie. Criterion editions commonly combine a new or upgraded restoration with scholarly essays, archival material, interviews, documentaries, commentaries, alternate versions, and technical notes intended to explain a film’s historical and artistic importance. The company emerged during the early home-video era, initially issuing films on LaserDisc. Its early releases helped establish a model for serious film publishing at a time when many home-video editions offered limited contextual or technical information. Criterion’s work with films such as Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai demonstrated the value of bringing major works of cinema to domestic formats with authoritative transfers and substantial supplementary material. The brand later became closely associated with the DVD format, where its restorations and supplements helped define the collector and cinephile market. Criterion’s catalog spans many national cinemas, periods, and genres. It has released works by directors including Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Jean Renoir, Agnes Varda, Wong Kar-wai, Guillermo del Toro, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, and numerous other filmmakers. The catalog includes canonical art films, Hollywood films, genre pictures, documentaries, experimental works, and historically important titles that may not otherwise receive a carefully produced physical edition. Selection is shaped by the company’s editorial judgment, licensing arrangements, rights availability, and the feasibility of restoration or access to appropriate source materials. The brand’s physical business has moved through several technological generations: LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray, and, beginning in the 2020s, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. Criterion also operates in digital distribution. In 2016, Criterion and Janus Films launched the Criterion Channel, a subscription streaming service built around curated programming, repertory film, introductions, supplements, and thematic collections. The service extended Criterion’s editorial approach beyond individual discs while also giving the company a direct relationship with streaming subscribers. Criterion is associated with Janus Films, the repertory distributor whose library and film relationships form an important part of the wider business. The two organizations are separate brands with closely connected histories and operations. Criterion editions are primarily known in North America, although the brand has had international visibility through imports, licensing, retail distribution, and the global reputation of its catalog. The company remains privately held and active. Its significance lies less in mass-market scale than in its influence on film preservation, cinephile culture, home-video design, and the idea that physical media can function as a durable form of film scholarship.
History
The Criterion Collection was established in 1984 by Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, and Joe Medjuck during the formative period of home video. Its creation was connected to Janus Films, a repertory distributor known for introducing major international and art-house films to American audiences. Criterion’s initial purpose was to bring important films to home formats with a level of technical care and editorial attention that was unusual for the period. The company’s early releases appeared on LaserDisc. Among its foundational projects was Citizen Kane, issued with material designed to give viewers historical and critical context rather than merely reproducing the feature. Criterion also released Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, a title that became emblematic of its ambition: a major film, carefully presented, accompanied by substantial supplementary content, and marketed to viewers who valued both the work and its cinematic history. These releases helped popularize the concept of a “special edition” as a form of film publishing. As DVD became the dominant home-video format in the late 1990s, Criterion shifted much of its activity to DVD. The company’s DVDs were distinguished by restoration work, commentary tracks, essays, interviews, documentaries, archival supplements, chapter navigation, and detailed packaging. The format made it possible to distribute more material at lower cost than LaserDisc and broadened access to films that had previously been limited to repertory cinemas, specialty stores, or collectors. Criterion consequently became an important reference point for film students, critics, collectors, and directors. During the 2000s, Criterion expanded its catalog and adopted Blu-ray as high-definition home video matured. The company revisited earlier titles when better elements, restorations, or technical standards became available. Its editorial scope also widened beyond a narrow canon of European and Japanese art cinema. Releases increasingly covered American studio films, genre cinema, documentaries, experimental film, animation, contemporary independent cinema, and works by women and filmmakers from historically underrepresented regions. Selection continued to depend on rights, source materials, restoration requirements, and the company’s curatorial priorities. Criterion’s digital strategy developed alongside physical media. The company and Janus Films created streaming initiatives that eventually led to the Criterion Channel. The current service, launched in 2016, applies Criterion’s curatorial identity to subscription streaming through rotating collections, director and genre programs, introductions, interviews, essays, and selected supplements. It provides a digital counterpart to the physical catalog while allowing the company to present a larger and more frequently changing selection than would be practical on disc. In the 2020s, Criterion added 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases to its established DVD and Blu-ray lines. The move reflected continuing demand for premium physical media among collectors, even as much of the broader home-entertainment market shifted toward streaming. Criterion remains associated with Janus Films and continues to operate as a private, active brand. Its lasting contribution is a durable model in which restoration, rights management, design, criticism, archival research, and distribution are combined into a single presentation of a film.
- 2021
4K Ultra HD program begins
[4]Criterion adds 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray releases, bringing selected restorations to a higher-resolution physical format.
- 2018
The Criterion Channel becomes a standalone service
[2]The Criterion Channel is relaunched as a standalone streaming service after the end of its earlier partnership with FilmStruck.
- 2016
The Criterion Channel launches
[2]Criterion and Janus Films launch the Criterion Channel as a dedicated subscription service for curated classic and contemporary cinema.
- 2012
Criterion and Janus launch an earlier streaming initiative
[2]The companies introduce a digital subscription service that precedes the current Criterion Channel and tests a streaming extension of the Criterion model.
- 1997
Expansion into DVD
[1]Criterion begins issuing DVD editions, broadening the reach of its collector-focused catalog and special-edition format.
- 1985
Seven Samurai becomes an early landmark release
[3]Criterion’s presentation of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai illustrates its early emphasis on major restorations and substantial scholarly or archival supplements.
- 1984
The Criterion Collection is founded
[1]Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, and Joe Medjuck establish Criterion as a premium home-video label connected to the Janus Films repertory-film tradition.
- 1984
First LaserDisc releases
[1]Criterion begins issuing important films on LaserDisc, using the format to combine film presentation with commentary and contextual supplements.
Products and positioning
A premium, curator-led film preservation and home-entertainment brand positioned at the intersection of cinema scholarship, restoration, collecting, and high-quality physical and digital presentation.
Physical home video · 1997
DVD editions
Criterion’s DVD line helped define the premium special-edition market in the late 1990s and 2000s. Editions typically paired a feature film with restoration notes, commentaries, essays, interviews, archival documents, and carefully designed packaging. Although many titles have since been upgraded, the DVD catalog remains an important part of the company’s history.
Physical home video · 2008
Blu-ray editions
Blu-ray releases became Criterion’s principal high-definition physical format. They provide improved image and sound presentation while retaining the label’s emphasis on restorations, filmmaker participation, critical commentary, archival supplements, and collector-oriented design. Many releases are newly mastered or upgraded versions of titles previously issued on DVD.
Physical home video · 2021
4K Ultra HD releases
Criterion’s 4K Ultra HD line presents selected films using the newer high-resolution physical format, often with HDR-compatible image presentation and a companion Blu-ray. The range focuses on titles for which the company can support a significant restoration and a premium technical edition.
Subscription streaming · 2016
The Criterion Channel
The Criterion Channel is a subscription streaming service operated by Criterion and Janus Films. It offers rotating collections of classic, international, independent, documentary, and contemporary films, organized through thematic programs, filmmaker retrospectives, introductions, interviews, and selected supplements. Availability and catalog composition vary by territory and licensing.
Film publishing
Criterion books and publications
Alongside discs and streaming, Criterion has published film-related books and associated print material. These publications extend the label’s curatorial approach through essays, interviews, production history, visual archives, and detailed treatment of individual films or filmmakers.
Brand decisions
2021
Introduction of 4K Ultra HD releasesProduct launchBackground
Despite the growth of streaming, demand remained among collectors for premium physical editions with advanced image and sound capabilities.
Action taken
Criterion added selected 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray titles to its physical-media program.
Aftermath
The move preserved a high-end physical-media path for the brand and enabled selected restorations to be presented at a newer technical standard.
2016
Launch of the Criterion ChannelProduct launchBackground
Streaming was becoming central to home entertainment, while Criterion sought a digital format capable of presenting a broader and more frequently changing selection than physical releases.
Action taken
Criterion and Janus Films launched a subscription streaming service built around curated repertory cinema and editorial programming.
Aftermath
The service extended Criterion’s brand from physical collecting into direct-to-consumer digital distribution.
2008
Adoption of Blu-rayGeneration changeBackground
The emergence of high-definition home video created demand for improved picture and sound quality in premium film editions.
Action taken
Criterion introduced Blu-ray editions and progressively upgraded selected titles from standard-definition releases.
Aftermath
Blu-ray became the company’s principal high-definition physical format and supported more technically ambitious restorations.
1997
Move from LaserDisc to DVDGeneration changeBackground
DVD offered greater capacity, lower distribution costs, and a broader consumer base than LaserDisc, creating an opportunity to expand Criterion’s special-edition model.
Action taken
Criterion began issuing DVD editions while continuing to build a catalog centered on restored films and extensive supplements.
Aftermath
The transition helped make Criterion a leading brand in collector-oriented DVD publishing and significantly widened access to its releases.
Recent events
- 2021
Criterion announces its first 4K Ultra HD releases[4]
Product launch · Product generation
The company began transitioning selected titles into 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, adding a new premium physical-media format to its catalog.
- 2016
Criterion Channel launches as a subscription streaming service[2]
Product launch
Criterion and Janus Films launched the Criterion Channel, extending the brand’s curated repertory-film model to subscription streaming.
- 1997
The Criterion Collection enters the DVD market[1]
Product launch · Product generation
Criterion expanded from LaserDisc into DVD, helping establish the format as a significant medium for restored and extensively annotated film editions.
Sources6 sources
- 1The Criterion Collection: Aboutcriterion.com
- 2The Criterion Channel: Aboutcriterionchannel.com
- 3The Criterion Collection: Seven Samuraicriterion.com
- 4The Criterion Collection: 4K UHD releasescriterion.com
- 5Criterion Announces June 2020 Titles, 20-30% Off Salecollider.com
- 6Sammons Launches Criterion Wealth Platformwealthmanagement.com
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