should this film be on criterion?

What people seem to forget is that Criterion released Laserdiscs before they branched into DVD. And with the exception of Dazed and Confused, all of those Criterion DVD's mentioned above were originally released on Laserdisc. In 1998 and 1999, while trying to decide which Laserdisc properties they wanted to switch over to DVD first, it may have seemed a logical choice to issue those popular films while they were still "hot". It would seem insane for them to issue Armageddon now, but I'm sure it sold strong in 1999 when they issued it on DVD.

The sad thing is not so much that they transferred those laserdisc properties to DVD, but that they did not (and might never) transfer other more desrving (and just as un-stuffy) Criterion Laserdisc titles such as Annie Hall, Some Like it Hot, Halloween, Blade Runner, The Wizard of Oz, Switchblade Sisters, North by Northwest, Ghostbusters, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Boogie Nights, Pulp Fiction, Shampoo, Polyester, Jason and the Argonauts, Seven, and Sweet Sweetback's Baadassssss Song, just to name a few!

Some of those might still find their way off a Criterion Laserdisc onto a Criterion DVD near you, as The Man Who Fell to Earth recently did. But I wouldn't hold my breath. And I don't exactly fault them for those early Laserdisc to DVD missteps. Though I'd be pretty confused if they suddenly decided to issue a DVD of their Bram Stoker's Dracula Laserdisc!

See, it could've been worse!

A lot of strange things happen in this world. Things you don't know about in Grand Rapids.

I'd buy it. I have the original DVD, the soundtrack on CD and LP, the VHS and the movie poster.

Hell, yeah, I'd buy the Criterion!