xhonzi said:

I just don't know of any Criterion DVDs that are 'reference' quality when it comes to A/V.

I have their entire Akira Kurosawa collection (almost 20 discs), as well as several of their Ingmar Bergman releases, and they are reference quality. Criterion is the industry leader in reference-quality when it comes to old films.

xhonzi said:

Criterion in these cases should be championed for doing "the best that can be done" but it would be a mistake to compare it A/V wise to a well done DVD of a modern blockbuster.

Who's comparing a 60-year old Kurosawa movie to Transformers? No one. Criterion is championed as the best restoration house in the business. They track down original prints and negatives, meticulously restore them, and release them in high bitrate with incredible special features including custom commentaries from the best film experts in the business. Criterion should be championed for all that. No offense, but if you're basing your opinion on their Gilliam and Anderson discs, you really don't know Criterion.

Get Seven Samurai on BluRay and then we'll talk. ;)