The Criterion Collection was founded in 1984 by a group including Robert Stein and his wife Aleen to release films on the relatively new laserdisc format and intended for the home video market. In 1985, the Steins were joined by William Becker and Jonathan Turell of Janus Films to launch a new media enterprise called the Voyager Company in order to publish educational multimedia CD-ROMs. Another goal for the newly formed company was to release films on laserdisc under the Criterion Collection imprint. Criterion had licensed their first two releases (#1-2 on this list) from Janus Films the previous year. Thus Criterion became a division of the Voyager Company, in partnership with Janus Films who held a minority stake in the company.

In the first year as part of the Voyager Company, Criterion reissued their first two releases with spine numbers, and licensed three more Janus films (#3-5). These were released on all three current home video formats: VHS, Beta, and laserdisc. We can assume this experiment wasn't successful, and the company became solely devoted to the burgeoning market of cinephiles seeking the highest quality in home video. [Explained here.]

While things were slow for the first year of the new partnership, in 1986 Criterion released four titles (#6 -9) licensed from Hollywood studios, and three titles (#10-11 and #14) licensed from Janus with THE RED BALLOON and WHITE MANE in a single release. At the end of that year, a new packaging design with new cataloging was introduced. They also dropped spine numbering. The new design lasted for a few releases (#10-16), after which spine numbering returned with the release of THE GRADUATE in 1987. (SHOCK CORRIDOR had a lower spine number (#15), but it would not be released until 1989.) The year 1987 seems to be a turning point for the Criterion Collection. After having only six releases in 1986, they bounced back with 18 new films the next year, 10 of them from the Janus Films catalog. With the release of BLADE RUNNER in 1987 Criterion clearly demonstrated that they weren't only in the market of distributing classic Hollywood or art house films.

Although they had returned to spine numbers (as well as catalog numbers and assigning ISBNs, a practice until then reserved for books), Criterion still had trouble keeping their records straight throughout the laserdisc era. Many spine numbers were not assigned, and some spine numbers and catalog numbers were duplicated. Because of these (clerical?) errors, spine numbers can't be used to indicate the chronological order in which the films were released. (Unlike today's Criterion Collection where there is a consistency in spine numbering and release dates.) They also had a tendency to occasionally announce films that were never released. Whether it was due to contracts, lack of film elements, or other unknown factors, almost two dozen films were announced, some even given spine numbers, that never saw the light of day in the Criterion Collection. Another issue arose that would be disconcerting to today’s Criterion collector: instead of keeping a film's spine number for reissued and upgraded releases, Criterion assigned new spine numbers to 19 previously released films. That information is given in the film notes for those films. 

But enough quibbling. Criterion was creating a library of great films, most licensed from Janus Films, and released in the highest quality format available for the home video market. 

The number of annual releases would continue to grow and reach a peak of 45 in 1990. For the next five years, the average would fall to 30 releases each year. But in 1996 and 1997, that number rose to more than 40 releases each year. 

With the birth of the DVD in early 1997, Criterion realized that the laserdisc death knell was soon to be tolled. They released their first two DVDs on March 31, 1998 (AMARCORD and THE 400 BLOWS). In a show of confidence in the new format, they restarted the spine numbering sequence. Ironically, these first two releases were numbered #4 and #5! That year Criterion would release 22 new films on laserdisc and reissue 28 laserdisc titles on the new DVD format. On March 16, 1999, ARMAGEDDON became the last film that Criterion would release on laserdisc.

NOTES
This is a list of films which were released by the Criterion Collection on laserdisc from 1984 to 1999. It is ordered by spine number, and not chronologically because of the inconsistencies with which the numbers were assigned. This list does not include the five Criterion Television Classics releases nor the three films released under the Rolling Thunder imprint. Neither does it include films which were supplements on a release.

Release data has been added to the note field of each film.
"CAV" refers to Constant Angular Velocity, a laserdisc format which provided higher image quality, but was limited to 30 minutes per disc side.
"CLV" refers to Constant Linear Velocity, a laserdisc format which allowed up to 60 minutes per disc side, but resulted in a lower image quality, and inability to use the freeze-frame function on any non-digital player.
"CAV+CLV" and "CLV+CAV" means the release had mixed formats, with the first designation being the format of the film.
"Special Edition" means the release had an audio commentary (unless noted) and usually other supplements.
"Standard Edition" means the release had no supplements, but possibly a trailer. Occasionally a standard edition would retain the audio commentary of the special edition. Unless stated in the notes all releases were standard editions.

All but 83 of the 307 titles which Criterion released on laserdisc have subsequently been released on DVD, BD, and/or UHD. For a list of the films which have yet to be upgraded by Criterion on 5" disc, go here.