Classic recommendations?

[Dunnyman]

Ever since I've gone Blu-Ray, I've stuck more or less to recent and contemporary films. However, my love of classics is well known, and the only classic I have is Casablanca.
What other great films of yesteryear would y'all think I should look at? I'm not looking for something that was just a basic transfer, I want remastered, cleaned up, hi-tech versions of the great films!
Thanks in advance!

[Dan Mancini]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly looks spectacular, as do early Bond flicks like Dr. No and From Russia with Love.

[Gabriel Girard]

Is 8 1/2 your style?

[Mitchell Hattaway]

The Searchers is pretty sweet. Then again, most of the classic Warner releases are.

[Dan Mancini]

The Searchers is pretty sweet.

Rio Bravo is pretty sweet. The Searchers is frickin' incredible.

[hoytereden]

The Adventures of Robin Hood
North By Northwest
The Wizard of Oz
Gone With the Wind
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
An American In Paris (Where is Singin' In the Rain? )
Another vote for:
The Searchers plus it's dirt cheap too!

[Steve T Power]

Blade Runner!

[Dan Mancini]

Blade Runner!

I don't care for your implication that Blade Runner is a "great film of yesteryear." No, sir, I don't care for it one bit.

[Steve T Power]

Blade Runner!

I don't care for your implication that Blade Runner is a "great film of yesteryear." No, sir, I don't care for it one bit.

It's a great film of any year dammit! and over 25 years old... hell, almost 30 years old *gasp* come on now!

[hoytereden]

Blade Runner!

I don't care for your implication that Blade Runner is a "great film of yesteryear." No, sir, I don't care for it one bit.

It's a great film of any year dammit! and over 25 years old... hell, almost 30 years old *gasp* come on now!

While we're on the subject I forgot to mention-2001.

[Future Man]

If Steve can get away with circa 1982 eye candy allow me to add

The Wild Bunch
The Professionals

[Mitchell Hattaway]

Now that Future Man has opened the gate, I'll add Blazing Saddles. (Yeah, yeah--shut up, Steve.)

[cdouglas]

The Seventh Seal - a superb film with an excellent hi-def transfer & a terrific new supplemental package.

[Future Man]

If you can wait until May, I see that Spartacus has recently been announced. Which naturally I bought in SD (Criterion) about a month ago. Must - resist - buying - SDs.

[Steve T Power]

If you can wait until May, I see that Spartacus has recently been announced. Which naturally I bought in SD (Criterion) about a month ago. Must - resist - buying - SDs.

Or you could, y'know, go out and buy the most expensive SD edition of Lawrence of Arabia there is to be had.

[Mitchell Hattaway]

If you can wait until May, I see that Spartacus has recently been announced. Which naturally I bought in SD (Criterion) about a month ago. Must - resist - buying - SDs.

Yeah, but everyone's waiting to see if Universal is going to recycle the transfer from the HD DVD, which was mediocre at best.

[Dunnyman]

The Seventh Seal - a superb film with an excellent hi-def transfer & a terrific new supplemental package.

Local chain Silver Platters had a bunch of good deals so I picked up Seventh Seal, Yojimbo/......and North By Northwest.
Popped them all in to check quality, and yep, Seventh Seal looks great, Yojimbo looks great, nice job, and Holy Hitchcock, what an amazing restoration of such a great film!! I can't imagine being on the set would look any better than this does. One can only hope that all other films get this kind of attention.

Blade Runner!

I don't care for your implication that Blade Runner is a "great film of yesteryear." No, sir, I don't care for it one bit.

Hey, if we can live with Steve being a heathen for his views on Blazing Saddles, I'd hope we can accept that the fact that not only do I not think of a BladeRunner as a classic film of yesteryear, I don't consider it a classic at all.
(Locks the doors, barricades the windows and stocks up on ammo for the expected Newfie invasion)

[Steve T Power]

The Seventh Seal - a superb film with an excellent hi-def transfer & a terrific new supplemental package.

Local chain Silver Platters had a bunch of good deals so I picked up Seventh Seal, Yojimbo/......and North By Northwest.
Popped them all in to check quality, and yep, Seventh Seal looks great, Yojimbo looks great, nice job, and Holy Hitchcock, what an amazing restoration of such a great film!! I can't imagine being on the set would look any better than this does. One can only hope that all other films get this kind of attention.

Blade Runner!

I don't care for your implication that Blade Runner is a "great film of yesteryear." No, sir, I don't care for it one bit.

Hey, if we can live with Steve being a heathen for his views on Blazing Saddles, I'd hope we can accept that the fact that not only do I not think of a BladeRunner as a classic film of yesteryear, I don't consider it a classic at all.
(Locks the doors, barricades the windows and stocks up on ammo for the expected Newfie invasion)

Everybody gets one freebie

Now say something about Lawrence of Arabia... then your fate is sealed...

[Dunnyman]

Everybody gets one freebie

Now say something about Lawrence of Arabia... then your fate is sealed...

I will, it's an amazing, stunning freaking masterpiece of a film and when the $%&*# is it coming out on Blu-Ray?
You gotta a problem with that, ya damned Newfie?, Well, do ya?

[Steve T Power]

Everybody gets one freebie

Now say something about Lawrence of Arabia... then your fate is sealed...

I will, it's an amazing, stunning freaking masterpiece of a film and when the $%&*# is it coming out on Blu-Ray?
You gotta a problem with that, ya damned Newfie?, Well, do ya?

No problem, it's cool.

It's coming out on blu-Ray the week after Future man buys (or buys it again) it on DVd.

[HGervais]

I picked up some of the 007 Blu-rays that BB have on sale and just did a quick scan on them and dude, they look amazing! The process shots are going to look like crap no matter what you do but everything else, well, Dr. No had my jaw on the floor. Must have On Her Majesty's Secret Service NOW!

[Dunnyman]

I picked up some of the 007 Blu-rays that BB have on sale and just did a quick scan on them and dude, they look amazing! The process shots are going to look like crap no matter what you do but everything else, well, Dr. No had my jaw on the floor. Must have On Her Majesty's Secret Service NOW!

I wonder if they're going to have some sets of multiple movies, if not the ultimate complete set? Shirley Eaton in HD? Ooooh yeaaaah...

[HGervais]

There are three box sets thus far. Like I said in the other thread, I'm just not so sure I want to buy Octopussy or A View To a Kill a third time.

[Dunnyman]

There are three box sets thus far. Like I said in the other thread, I'm just not so sure I want to buy Octopussy or A View To a Kill a third time.

On the other hand, Vol's 1 & 2 for 70 bucks seems rather reasonable, a little over ten bucks a title. I mean, you don't have to watch all of them. My previous sets, however, are for sale before their value plummets. I splurged and enjoyed them all, but if the upgrades are all that and a bag of chips, I gotta do it. Of late, I'm surprised how cheap Amazon is on Blu-Ray compared to others. Usually DeepDiscount keeps up with them on DVD, and can beat them on a number of titles, but I've noticed things like a 40 dollar difference on commemorative sets like Gone With The Wind and the Wizard Of Oz. Is there a retailer that only carries Blu-Ray?

[J.M. Vargas]

It's out of print and somewhat expensive. But, until Studio Canal re-releases it in the States, Criterion's BD of The Third Man is to die for; great flick with bigger-than-life actors/characters plus shadows and lighting that simply beg for a big-screen and 1080p codecs. Truffaut's The 400 Blows BD is also good, although not as sharp and eye-catching as other B&W Criterion goodies (Last Year at Marieband, Repulsion, Seventh Seal, Wages of Fear, etc.). You just gotta love that a large number of Criterion's BD's (out now or soon-to-be-released: Yojimbo, Stagecoach, M, etc.) flaunt their B&W cinematography with authority and no shame whatsoever.

[Dan Mancini]

There are three box sets thus far. Like I said in the other thread, I'm just not so sure I want to buy Octopussy or A View To a Kill a third time.

Or, worse yet, end up owning two copies of each, which is exactly what would happen if I bought the BD box sets since their 3-title configurations seem specifically designed to prevent me from being able to get rid of any of the DVD boxes without having serious holes in the series. Right now, I have Dr. No and From Russia with Love on Blu, as well as both Craig movies (and Never Say Never Again, which I picked up dirt cheap a while back). I've considered upgrading Goldfinger and Thunderball, and then maybe picking up the other Connery movies as they're released, but I've already bought each of the them 4 times (beginning with widescreen VHS). Every time I've been in a brick 'n' mortar with Goldfinger and Thunderball in hand, I haven't been able to convince myself it's worth pulling the trigger.

[Dunnyman]

It's out of print and somewhat expensive. But, until Studio Canal re-releases it in the States, Criterion's BD of The Third Man is to die for; great flick with bigger-than-life actors/characters plus shadows and lighting that simply beg for a big-screen and 1080p codecs.

If it's half as impressive as the job they did on Seventh Seal, it'll be worth it.
Dumb question though, is Blu-Ray region coded? Once again, as with the early days of DVD, there's stuff out in other places that I'd love to have, and if so, has anyone seen a hack to unlock their player? I'm not sure if I'd want to risk it. This thing wasn't exactly free, with my old Phillips DVD player that I snagged for 39.99, if I bricked it, no huge loss,but this....?
'Nother dumb question, when will Laura hit Blu-Ray?

[Steve T Power]

It's out of print and somewhat expensive. But, until Studio Canal re-releases it in the States, Criterion's BD of The Third Man is to die for; great flick with bigger-than-life actors/characters plus shadows and lighting that simply beg for a big-screen and 1080p codecs.

If it's half as impressive as the job they did on Seventh Seal, it'll be worth it.
Dumb question though, is Blu-Ray region coded? Once again, as with the early days of DVD, there's stuff out in other places that I'd love to have, and if so, has anyone seen a hack to unlock their player? I'm not sure if I'd want to risk it. This thing wasn't exactly free, with my old Phillips DVD player that I snagged for 39.99, if I bricked it, no huge loss,but this....?
'Nother dumb question, when will Laura hit Blu-Ray?

some stuff is, most stuff isn't. Sony included it to appease studios who demanded it, but it isn't a mandatory thing. I haven't run into much that actually IS region locked, though i hear one or two companies are all about 'Region A'. (Was it Disney maybe? And i think Criterion as well?)

[Dan Mancini]

It's out of print and somewhat expensive. But, until Studio Canal re-releases it in the States, Criterion's BD of The Third Man is to die for; great flick with bigger-than-life actors/characters plus shadows and lighting that simply beg for a big-screen and 1080p codecs.

If it's half as impressive as the job they did on Seventh Seal, it'll be worth it.
Dumb question though, is Blu-Ray region coded? Once again, as with the early days of DVD, there's stuff out in other places that I'd love to have, and if so, has anyone seen a hack to unlock their player? I'm not sure if I'd want to risk it. This thing wasn't exactly free, with my old Phillips DVD player that I snagged for 39.99, if I bricked it, no huge loss,but this....?
'Nother dumb question, when will Laura hit Blu-Ray?

some stuff is, most stuff isn't. Sony included it to appease studios who demanded it, but it isn't a mandatory thing. I haven't run into much that actually IS region locked, though i hear one or two companies are all about 'Region A'. (Was it Disney maybe? And i think Criterion as well?)

All of Criterion's stuff is region coded -- mostly because they only own the licenses for North American distribution.