If there is already a post on this topic, please let me know.
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I thought it would be cool to start a thread of Blu Ray movie recommendations a person should own in their collection.
I've found that some Blu Ray titles are not that huge of a leap from some SD DVD's in quality when using an upconverting player or Blu Ray player, so those would not qualify, in my opinion.
Please list Blu Ray titles that are worth purchasing or replacing your existing SD version based on picture quality improvements and/or sound benefits.
I'd like to start off by recommending the below two titles.
2001 A Space Odyssey - the BD version is like night and day better than the original SD version in picture quality and sound. Well worth it for 2001 fans.
Transformers - Even though the upconverted version of my SD Transformers DVD is killer, the Blu Ray version is significantly better in picture and sound.
Great idea Randy, I'll be following this thread closely!
My next Blu-ray purchase will be -
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds-Live at Radio City
I own it on DVD, but can't wait to hear it in the new HD audio formats. Has anyone seen both that could comment on whether or not the Blu-ray version is better?
I'm so happy with the DVD version of Dave and Tim that I'm actually not even tempted to buy the BR version. Just incredible!
As in a very recent thread, I'll add both recent Batmans, Master and Commander, and Ironman. Assuming the BR matches equally the HD versions, I'd also recommend "300" for it's artistic presentation and powerful soundtrack.
ALso, I'd highly recommend both "Narnia" movies for some very stunning visuals in high res. Well done movies as well.
I'll think of others later, I'm sure.
I'm so happy with the DVD version of Dave and Tim. Just incredible!
Ditto, Murph. That's precisely why I want to get someone's comparison.
Black Hawk Down Blu-ray for sure and when Fight Club is released on Blu-ray (you can pre-order now) I will buy it just because it is such an awesome movie.
Here's a useful
web site I use now that I am trying to selectively build a Blu-Ray library. I like that you can sort by audio and video quality rating. Based on everyone's comments here I am planning on getting the Dave Matthews blu-ray version next.
As far as worthwhile on blu-ray vs DVD - I just watched
The Rock (Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery) last night and quite enjoyed the uncompressed PCM soundtrack. The visuals were good too. It's the 1st time I listened to this on my Axiom's so maybe an unfair comparison as the last time I saw this on DVD was on a lesser audio system. Still, it sounded great!
I've been avoiding SD movies for a while now, so I can't do a lot of comparisons, but you can't go wrong with any of Disney's or Pixar's BR titles. I haven't seen one yet that didn't outshine the SD version in PQ and SQ.
Cam,
I owned the DVD of the dave matthews and tim reynolds live at radio city hall. I bought the bluray version when I got my PS3. I never did a side by side comparison, but I am positive that the sound is THAT much better. Def. worth the upgrade.
The john mayer "Where the light is" bluray is also KILLER as far as sound quality of a concert bluray.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
It will not be as "clean" as you may want but it is beautiful and will be a lot better than the last version you saw. At least rent it for the scene when the big space ship rolls in and the organ music. It is a delight on its own as well as the nostalgia those scenes will evoke.
Thanks David,
I can't get enough of the DVD, always watching it. The Blu-ray version is now going to be my next purchase.
Yeah, I gave my dvd version away to someone on the forums (forget who now!) so I can't go back and listen to them side by side... but like I said it is definitely worth re-buying on blu.
On another note, I thought Iron man had pretty killer sound on bluray.
titles superb on blu-ray
iron-man
all 3 pirates
transformers
original matrix--superb!
panda
lst ice age
amadeus
mummy returns
2nd narnia
I thought it would be cool to start a thread of Blu Ray movie recommendations a person should own in their collection.
The ones I've enjoyed the most so far have been:
Apocalypto
Band of Brothers
The Bourne Trilogy
Casablanca
The Dark Knight
Death Proof
Iron Man
Kill Bill (both volumes)
Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Panda
No Country For Old Men
Redbelt
Sunshine
Anything Pixar
I should note the following for picture and/or sound quality, even if I might not otherwise rank them as must-haves:
Babel
Baraka
Doubt
Gattaca
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Pan's Labyrinth
Slumdog Millionaire (I still haven't found bass as powerful as two of the scenes in this)
Superman Returns (I actually like this one more the more I watch it)
Transformers
As far as replacing SD DVDs, I'm not sure which ones are the best value for that. I find that if I like the movie a lot, I want the Blu-ray version, even if the improvement isn't insanely great. It always makes enough of a difference for me.
Curious Charles. I watched Slumdog Millionaire last week, but just an SD version over satellite. What were the two scenes with the powerful bass? They obviously were not very noticeable in stripped down stereo of the Expressvu's SD version.
Toward the beginning. The plane flying overhead and then Amitabh's helicopter landing. Maybe I just need to listen to more since getting my EP800s, but I did try out a lot of different demo material, and I haven't felt anything or have the house shaking as much as during those scenes.
Interesting. Goes to show what a difference a good soundtrack version can make.
Although the movie was not the best (Not bad if your only expectation was to have a little fun), try and get a copy of Spiderman III to run the scene where Flint Marko gets stuck in the whirling pit device where he gets ripped into pieces at a molecular level and comes back as "The Sandman."
I don't think it's the deepest bass ever but it's a long, ever increasing bass noise that is pretty impressive on my EP500. Kinda scary actually.
Although the movie was not the best (Not bad if your only expectation was to have a little fun), try and get a copy of Spiderman III to run the scene where Flint Marko gets stuck in the whirling pit device where he gets ripped into pieces at a molecular level and comes back as "The Sandman."
Yeah,
That is the bluray scene they played at the local audio stored when I heard the JL audio Gotham subwoofer. MY fiance and I were sitting about 3 feet from the sub. Talk about WOW.
I just watched The Spirit last night, and it was a great BD experience. It's a generally dark film, so the HD really makes up for anything that is lost in the dark gradients. The cinematography and sound were straight up excellent, although the story was nuts. I liked it a great deal. Definitely better in HD than SD.
Best Samuel L. Jackson film I have seen in a while.
I have heard that Serenity is a good sci-fi movie. It was one of the initial movies that came out on HD-DVD and I think it had a Dolby Digital Plus sound track; the sound track was deemed mediocre with poor center channel utilization and so so surround. Blu-ray release is apparently improved in video over HD-DVD and audio is much improved in center and surrounds plus the track is now DTS Master Audio. I have not watched this movie myself but bought it recently and wanted to mention it as it is on sale at Target through this Saturday for $16.99 (same as on Amazon.(I have no affiliation with either outfit).
I watched Blackhawk Down on DVD on our family room system (small TV and Bose speakers - what can I say) some years ago as a rental before building our HT room. I just bought it on Blu ray at Target for $15.99 (again on sale through this Saturday and same as on Amazon). It should sound quite good in a properly set up surround system.
I wanted to post early before watching either movie in blu ray this weekend in order to inform you guys about the current sale on them. I also wanted to bump Randy's useful thread.
Looking forward to reading more posts in this thread.
Some of my pics have already been mentioned so I won't mention those again, here are some more:
Blade Runner
Fifth Element (remastered)
Spiderman Trilogy
X-Men trilogy
Men in Black
Pride and Prejudice
Harry Potter series
Wall E
Some of these I mention for Video and some for the Audio improvements...some for both.
There may be others, but I can't remember my whole BD collection.
I haven't rented a SD movie in about 8 months or so.
Do you guys find yourselves buying Blu-ray's, rather than renting them? The reason I'm asking is because I'm a member of Zip.ca (Canadian Netflix) and any Blu-ray that I have searched for has very low availability.
I don't want to start renting from Blockbuster because they charge an arm and a leg, but it looks like Zip isn't going to cut it anymore for Blu-ray rentals.
My collection is approaching 100 Blu-rays. I only buy those I'll want to see more than once, and/or share with others. But I've rented just about everything which has been released in the format.
It's hard to get the newest releases on Netflix, but I just leave them at the top of my queue, and eventually they become available.
I’ve been buying BR and HD/DVD from the beginning. I think I have around 500 now. I haven’t watched a regular DVD in a long time. The other day I was onto disk 3, season one of the Tudors, and broke the damn thing getting it out of the case. Too embarrassed to ask Amazon to replace it, I rented it on DVD (net flicks). YUK!! No comparison whatsoever. The Tudors BR’s have some of the most vivid colors I’ve ever seen. The DVD just flat out sucked. It’s been my experience that just about every BR is much better than DVD with very few exceptions. If there’s a few favorite DVD’s you own, don’t waste time thinking about it, just buy the BR. You won’t regret it. I started to put together a list of what DVD’s I’ve replaced and not regretted it, and gave up. They’re all that good in one way or other. If it isn’t the video quality, it’s the sound.
With regard to breaking a disc. Most distribution labels will replace a disc for a small fee. Look for their contact number on the case, or visit the website and have a look around. Most of the time you ship in the damaged disc and they mail you a replacement for about $5.
I rent unless i KNOW I want the BD. I don't replace my SD DVDs unless there is a noticable improvement in Video and/or audio.
For instance, I KNOW i'm going to want to replace my SD LOTR discs when they come out on BD. Having said that....I may just rent the BDs until the extended edition BDs are released ... Freaking double dipping studios.