ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - August 11': The Blu-ray transfer is 'new' and a simultaneously released DVD is also offered HERE. The original Criterion DVD was released 10-years ago as part of the The Orphic Trilogy Boxset but while the 1080P appears to improve minimally via the static screen captures - it is far more evident in-motion. Once again we have a video-like image improving to a more textured film-respecting presentation. The, over-60 year old, film never achieves crisp status in HD but we feel this is more the authentic look of the original. It is thick and the grain is reasonably consistent and even.

Ratcheting up another notch is the audio - remaining faithful as a linear PCM track in original mono. Like the video it may make no demonstrative claims on overwhelming superiority - but the improvement is easy to ascertain by closing ones eyes and hearing both in consecutive scene viewing. Like all Criterion Blu-rays it is region 'A'-locked and offers optional English subtitles.

The most apparent difference between the first edition and the 2011 are the extensive supplements. This might be considered the primary reason for any double-dipping on the title.

So, as we have stated, being a new edition from Criterion - we get a stacked slate of brand new supplements including an audio commentary featuring French-film scholar, writer/producer, James S. Williams recorded for the Criterion Collection in May 2011. It is exceptionally informative with pauses for important relevant scenes. I think Cocteau fans will relish the opportunity to listen to this very professional expert on Orpheus. There are also somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 hours of video extras starting with Jean Cocteau: Autobiography of an Unknown from 1984 running over an hour. The documentary, presented here in HD, covers an immense amount of ground - it was directed by Edgardo Cozarinsky. Next up is Jean Cocteau and His Tricks, a video 2008 interview with assistant director Claude Pinoteau conducted by director Marc Caro (Delicatessen, City of Lost Children). He discusses the special effects in Cocteau's films and runs about 15-minutes in HD. In '40 Minutes with Jean Cocteau' we get more insight into the director via his own words in this interview conducted by Francois Chalais and shot by Orpheus cinematographer Nicholas Hayer. Cocteau discuses his film work as well as his paintings in the church at Villefranche-sur-Mer and in the villa Santo-Sospir. The interview was part of the French television series At Home With... and first aired August 28th, 1957. In Search of Jazz is another interview with Cocteau on the use of jazz in the films from a French television series. It runs 17-minutes and is presented in HD. La villa Santo-Sospir is a 16 mm color film by Cocteau - made in 1951. It runs 36-minutes and features a tour of his decorative art at villa Santo-Sospir and his home in Villefranche-sur-Mer. There is a beautiful gallery of 48 images by French-film portrait photographer Roger Corbeau presented in 1080P. Also included in a theatrical trailer in HD and almost 2-minutes of some raw newsreel footage from 1950 of the Saint-Cyr military academy ruins, a location used in Orpheus. Lastly is a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by author Mark Polizzotti, an excerpted article by Cocteau on the film, and an essay on La villa Santo-Sospir by Williams.