Criterion Collection Black Friday Sale: Hundreds Of Movies Are 50% Off At Amazon

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The Criterion Collection holiday sale is live at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Hundreds of movies are on sale for 50% off at both retailers while supplies last. The sale includes many stellar 4K Blu-rays for $25 and 1080p Blu-rays for $20. The vast majority of Criterion Collection movies in Amazon’s inventory are eligible for the limited-time discount, including recent releases like Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me on 4K Blu-ray, the Academy Award-winning animated feature Flow, Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, Ken Russell’s sci-fi horror classic Altered States, David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds, and The Wes Anderson Archive.

The holiday sale runs through Black Friday and Cyber Week. But while you technically have a month (until December 7) to shop the sale, it’s common for popular Criterion releases to sell out before the sale ends.

Save 50% on The Criterion Collection

We created Amazon store pages dedicated to popular directors, actors, and film franchises in the Criterion Collection, including David Lynch, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Guillermo del Toro, and more. You can also check out Criterion’s Adam Sandler movies, classic Godzilla movies, and a store page focused on animated movies such as WALL-E, Flow, and Fantastic Planet.

We also have a longer alphabetized list of individual deals below as well as sections for the directors listed above. A wide-ranging assortment of great Blu-rays and box sets are still in stock at Amazon, but keep in mind that some of the items on the list are sold out. If you’d rather browse a list with the cover art for each movie visible, we created an Amazon store page filled with our favorite Criterion Collection 50% off deals.

We put together a massive alphabetized list of Criterion Collection movies included in the half-off sale at Amazon. 4K Blu-rays are marked (4K) in the list. All of the other movies are 1080p Blu-rays with a few DVDs sprinkled in. Many of Criterion’s releases over the past few years are available in three formats: 4K, 1080p, and DVD. To avoid repetition, we only listed one format for most of the movies; multiple formats are included for select recent releases. If you click on a movie and it’s sold out, you may still be able to get it by switching disc formats on the store page.

As you can probably tell, there’s a staggering number incredible films in the sale. Criterion has made a name for itself by offering a carefully curated catalog of high-quality Blu-rays, 4K Blu-rays, and DVDs, all in the name of preserving superb cinema from around the world. Movies in the collection have original cover art, display-worthy packaging, and typically come with interesting bonus features you won’t find on other editions of the same film. Though Criterion often focuses on old films, including black-and-white pictures, contemporary movies are regularly added to the catalog, too.

WALL-E and Flow: The Criterion Collection

Pixar’s 2008 film WALL-E is the only Disney animated movie in the Criterion Collection. Released in 2022, the 4K UHD restoration was supervised by director Andrew Stanton. It’s the best version of WALL-E you can buy. The three-disc set includes roughly four hours of behind-the-scenes special features. The beloved film has never looked better thanks to support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It also has Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 7.1, and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound.

WALL-E fans will probably also be interested in Flow, this year’s surprise winner of Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Like WALL-E, which won the same award in 2009, Flow uses visual storytelling to deliver its story of survival in a ruined world. Flow is entirely wordless, whereas WALL-E has minimal dialogue. Unlike WALL-E, Flow’s Criterion Collection release is also available on Blu-ray and DVD. All three formats are 50% off.

Godzilla: The Criterion Collection

Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films | Godzilla vs. Biollante

The Showa-Era Films collects HD remasters of 15 Godzilla films released from 1954 to 1975. This is the best way to watch these classic movies from the iconic monster’s defining era. It’s also arguably the best-looking Criterion release; the 8-disc Blu-ray collection is accompanied by an exclusive hardcover book with commentary from film historians and full-color illustrations created by a group of talented artists.

For even more Kaiju fun, check out Amazon’s deals on Criterion’s 4K Blu-ray editions of the original 1954 Godzilla movie and Godzilla vs. Biollante, which debuted in 1989 and remains one of the most interesting entries in the long-running franchise. Criterion released the 4K remaster of the original last November and Godzilla vs. Biollante in March.

Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films and the two recent 4K remasters are excellent examples of how Criterion makes classic movies look and sound fantastic on contemporary display and audio devices.

$250 (was $500)

The ultimate box set for Wes Anderson fans, this handsome 20-disc collection released September 30 with a $500 MSRP. Yes, $250 is still a lot of money for a movie box set, but The Wes Anderson Archive comes with 10 movies on 4K Blu-ray and 1080p, so you’re paying $25 for each movie.

Criterion remastered 25 years worth of movies for this collection, and most of the films are only available on 4K Blu-ray in this set. All 10 movies are packaged in clothbound, illustrated books. In addition to the films, you can watch over 25 hours of bonus content and read nine new essays on Anderson’s work written by critics and filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese.

Here’s the full list of films in The Wes Anderson Archive:

Bottle Rocket (1996)
Rushmore (1998)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Isle of Dogs (2018)
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)

Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch also received standalone 4K Blu-ray editions on the same day. All of the other movies in the collection have 1080p Blu-ray editions in the Criterion Collection, but the box set offers far better value at the moment.

Akira Kurosawa: The Criterion Collection

Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Dreams — Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Dreams

The same could be said about Criterion’s selection of Akira Kurosawa films. The legendary Japanese director’s samurai movies are very popular during these sales. For good reason, too. Kurosawa’s sprawling epics are both consistently riveting and thought-provoking. Criterion’s most recent Kurosawa 4K remaster was High and Low in September. Earlier this year, Criterion released a two-movie collection featuring Yojimbo and Sanjuro on 4K Blu-ray. We’d also highly recommend checking out Seven Samurai and Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams on 4K Blu-ray. Seven Samurai is an all-time classic, and Dreams is a Japanese folklore-inspired feature comprised of eight of the director’s visions.

David Lynch: The Criterion Collection

Mulholland Dr. | Blue Velvet | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

David Lynch’s 1992 Twin Peaks prequel film Fire Walk with Me launched on 4K Blu-ray in October. The original 2017 Blu-ray edition was based on a 4K restoration supervised by Lynch, so now fans can finally watch the awesome movie in true 4K resolution. Lynch also supervised and approved the DTS TrueHD 7.1 Master Audio surround sound upgrade. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me joins Criterion’s 4K Blu-ray editions of Mulholland Dr., Lost Highway, and Blue Velvet. Several other David Lynch films, including Eraserhead, are in Criterion’s standard Blu-ray catalog.

Fans of the late director should also check out the documentary David Lynch: The Art Life if you want to learn about his creative process and how his life molded his work. Last year, Criterion released Alexandre O. Philippe’s critical analysis of David Lynch’s work and how it connects to The Wizard of Oz.

Guillermo del Toro: The Criterion Collection

Pan's Labyrinth | Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio | The Shape of Water — Pan’s Labyrinth | Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio | The Shape of Water

On October 28, Criterion released Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley on 4K Blu-ray. The 2021 neo-noir thriller starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett is on sale for $30 (was $60). This is a four-disc set with two versions of the film in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision. In addition to the original theatrical edition, it comes with a black-and-white extended director’s cut.

Criterion has frequently teamed up with del Toro to bring his twisted fairy tales to the catalog. The Shape of Water released on 4K Blu-ray last holiday season, and now you can get the romantic dark fantasy for only $25. Outside of The Lord of the Rings, The Shape of Water is the only Best Picture winner in the fantasy genre, and del Toro also won Best Director. Two other del Toro films have received 4K releases from Criterion: the bold stop-motion reimagining of Pinocchio and the director’s debut film Cronos. Hopefully Pan’s Labyrinth will receive the 4K treatment soon, but Criterion’s 2K digital remaster is quite impressive, and it has a bunch of cool bonus features.

The Coen Brothers: The Criterion Collection

There’s no shortage of films from heralded modern directors in the catalog. Last year, Criterion released a 4K remaster of No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Best Picture-winning adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. The remaster was approved by the film’s director of photography and includes new conversations with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, giving you an exclusive way to dive deeper into the hit film’s production. Fans of the Coen brothers can also get three other titles from their filmography on standard Blu-ray.

Adam Sandler: The Criterion Collection

Two Adam Sandler movies are part of The Criterion Collection and have superb 4K editions. Before Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison arrived on 4K Blu-ray a few months back, the only Adam Sandler movies on 4K were the excellent Criterion Collection editions of Uncut Gems and Punch-Drunk Love. If you asked Martin Scorsese, he would probably refer to these films as cinema. Both movies demonstrated Sandler’s impressive range as an actor, and Criterion’s 4K Blu-ray editions are excellent.

Martin Scorsese: The Criterion Collection

Speaking of cinema, several Scorsese films are in The Criterion Collection, including The Last Waltz and Raging Bull on 4K Blu-ray. Scorsese’s 2019 gangster epic The Irishman is available on 1080p Blu-ray.

More award-winning films for 50% off:

There are plenty of other highlights in the sale, including The Others, the 2001 Nicole Kidman-led horror movie that you should watch before reading anything more about it. And if you’re interested in that, you might also want to add The Silence of the Lambs to your collection. The adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novel remains the only horror movie to win Best Picture. Several other Best Picture awardees are in stock at Amazon, including this year’s winner Anora and Parasite.

The Criterion Collection Box Set

If you’ve got cash burning a hole in your pocket, Criterion celebrated its 40th anniversary last year with a 40-movie Blu-ray box set dubbed CC40. It has an eye-watering $800 MSRP, but you can get it for $400 right now. It’s still pricey, but if you look at it from a per-movie perspective, you’re paying 10 bucks for each one.

CC40 includes a nice assortment of classic and contemporary films, all digitally restored and available on Blu-ray. It’s also packed with audio commentaries, outtakes, trailers, and hundreds of hours of additional content. All 49 discs are stored inside folio cases and protected by a premium clothbound slipcase. CC40: The Criterion Collection also comes with a 216-page book with retrospective essays by critics and historians. You can check out the full list of movies in the collection at the bottom of this story.

CC40, The Wes Anderson Archive, and Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films are the priciest box sets on our list, but there are several smaller collections for around $60 each. One of the highlights is Bruce Lee’s Greatest Hits featuring five of the action star’s best films on Blu-ray.