dvdmike said:

Why would Universal licence them just to be shown up?

They already have been shown-up...and seem to be just fine with it. Look at Shout's "Halloween II" versus the original Universal Blu-ray. It might come from the same initial master, but Shout's is a cleaner presentation. Plus, Uni allowed Shout to include the TV Cut, which they themselves had no intention of releasing.

Shout's upcoming "Darkman" will doubtless exceed Uni's existing BD as well. And, I'd say Universal would not be licensing to Criterion if they did not expect their own editions (like that of "Brazil") to be totally surpassed.

If Universal was concerned with being "shown-up", they'd limit Shout to movie-only releases, such as Disney pulled with Anchor Bay. Remember that "Watcher in the Woods" debacle (which was spawned by "The Happiest Millionaire" DVD)? Or, they'd keep everything in-house.