"I moved to New York in 1982, and I didn’t know any of those kind of people but that kind of world was going on. It’s a brilliant film; the poetry of the language and everything else — it’s just a great film about art."

"Paul Schrader’s uniquely structured film about the interplay between life and art in the works of Japanese writer Yokio Mishima. This masterpiece has for some reason never been canonized."

"I was an undergraduate art student when this film came out, and it was the reason I decided to apply to graduate film school. I find it hard to imagine the independent film movement without Stranger Than Paradise. It is entirely personal and impossible to copy —the kind of movie I hope for all the time."

"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pitched something and said, “It’s like if Terry Gilliam directed ____.” I fell in love with this film and those of Jean-Pierre Jeunet while I was in film school at Northwestern. I would love more than anything to make a film with a Gilliam level of design and art."

"Simply one of the best films ever made. An art-house film disguised as a Hollywood blockbuster. Although Criterion’s version isn’t a Blu-ray, the extras on this DVD are unparalleled."

"I can’t get enough of this film, and it is so cleanly presented here that the famously malcontented Godard himself must be proud of the results. The great film about film, this disc is perfect, from the amazing cover art to the short documentaries that show the difficulties of shooting a film with an icon like Bardot in tow. And if you aren’t swept away by the Georges Delerue score, you really need to check your pulse."