Recommend 10 Blu-ray discs

[HGervais]

Okay. So I'm weeks away from my 50 inch Panasonic plasma & my Oppo blu-ray player and I have started picking up some discs. I have the Snow White blu-ray as well as The Matrix and Drag Me To Hell. Some pick-ups are obvious to me. Big Trouble In Little China, the Star Trek movies and TV series, 007 movies, Pixar stuff, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. So what are some discs that really show off the format or were big surprises for you on hi def? It can be 10 or 15...whatever. Help an addict with his new drug. Thanks.

[Dan Mancini]

If you have any love for Kubrick, grab The Shining and 2001. The cinematography of each looks utterly spectacular in high def.

Neil Marshall's Doomsday is best viewed at 1080p. Period.

[cdouglas]

I don't know how much of a Bergman fan you are, but in terms of classic releases, The Seventh Seal is one of the best. Lost looks and sounds pretty fantastic in hi-def; about as good as you're likely to get in terms of television releases. Coraline is another terrific animated outing that ought to be considered.

[HGervais]

I don't know how much of a Bergman fan you are, but in terms of classic releases, The Seventh Seal is one of the best. Lost looks and sounds pretty fantastic in hi-def; about as good as you're likely to get in terms of television releases. Coraline is another terrific animated outing that ought to be considered.

As a Criterion zombie those discs are a must. I had Coraline in my hands yesterday but put it back down. Ditto on Lost. Several people have told me Lost looks stunning in 1080p.

[Future Man]

Bladerunner comes immediately to mind.

[Steve T Power]

Blade Runner: The Final Cut - Best offering on the medium. 5 cuts of the film, 3.5 hour documentary. MUST. OWN.
Blood Diamond - The picture is absolutely ridiculous, and the movie ain't half bad either.
Sword of the Stranger - because the movie was amazing, and the animation looks stunningly clear.
Doomsday - What Danno said.
Casablanca - Holy crap, classics can look REALLY good.
The Thing - Because the disc is light years beyond the craptacular DVD efforts.
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Because the movie looks 3 years old instead of 43 - my god the clarity is stunning.
Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut - If you want the film without the "roadshow" style presentation(which i admit i kind of like), and because it was my first blu-ray, and because it is just great filmmaking.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - nevermind that it's the best goddamn nautical flick ever crafted, but the absolutely amazing DVD sound mix got even BETTER! I defy you to find a more immersive soundstage on a home video format.
2fer1: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight - because both look light years better than their older DVD brothers.

[HGervais]

They dropped all the features from the Kingdom of Heaven: DC...didn't they? The two new Batman movies are certainly on my radar. Does have have or has anyone seen the complete Battlestar Galatica boxset?

[Mark Van Hook]

Harold, is that a Panasonic Viera that you scooped up? I just got a G10, and am absolutely loving it. Got a BR player and 7.1 surround system thrown in free, so am feeling the addiction starting to creep back in myself.

I've been hearing nothing but phenomenal things about the Masters of Cinema Sunrise (Murnau) disc, so I went ahead and ordered myself a copy from Amazon UK. It's Region 0, so should play in U.S. players. Also grabbed The Searchers, and was thinking about taking the plunge on the Planet Earth set ($42 on Amazon U.S. right now).

[cdouglas]

They dropped all the features from the Kingdom of Heaven: DC...didn't they? The two new Batman movies are certainly on my radar. Does have have or has anyone seen the complete Battlestar Galatica boxset?

Yes, they did drop all of the features from Kingdom of Heaven (which is why I still haven't upgraded).

I'm in the middle of digging through that BSG set at the moment (about halfway through season 3 so far), and I've been impressed more often than not in terms of A/V quality. Though the miniseries and early episodes are a bit weak in comparison to the rest of the show, it's a solid transfer (and the audio is terrific). The grim n' gritty aesthetic that dominates the show keeps it from leaping off the screen like the lush Lost, but it does indeed look sharp and detailed. My only complaint with the box set is the cardboard boxes the discs are kept in. They're much flimsier and more easily-damaged than standard BR cases (scuffing and scratching of the discs is also a potential issue, though BR discs are considerably more scratch-resistant than DVDs).

[mkiker2089]

The Dark Knight special edition (the one that comes with the bike thingy) has been on ebay for dirt cheap. I remember the seller was something like digitaldogpound. There's a link on here somewhere actually.

A James Bond disc is a good start. I picked up Live and Let Die. It looks AMAZING. too good in fact since it ruins a surprise.

Spoiler the two black antagonists are the same person right, the blu ray is such quality that you can tell immediately that it's a mask when you see him in New Orleans

[reefa]

I'd also recommend Zodiac and Benjamin Button, given Fincher's proclivity for HD. Some others:

Dark City
Let the Right One In (the UK import, for the improved subs and commentary, even if you "only" get a DTS track)
Crank (for showing off the audio)
Wall-E looks so 3-D it's scary

And +1 to just about everything else said

[hoytereden]

Let me add that The Adventures of Robin Hood on Blu-ray is amazing.

[Eric Profancik]

Harold,

Congrats on your purchase. Just know those Star Trek Blus aren't all that fantastic.

Mark,

Agreed that Planet Earth is stunning, but I'm very annoyed that they didn't include the bonus features on the Blu release, which is why I won't buy it.


There are a lot of great movies for Blu, but what I found via reviews here are the IMAX films on Blu. They look great, sound great, and really make you feel there. My favorite is Super Speedway.

[Dan Mancini]

Agreed that Planet Earth is stunning, but I'm very annoyed that they didn't include the bonus features on the Blu release, which is why I won't buy it.

Meh. The bonus features aren't really worth watching more than once anyway.

[Movie Mike]

For television shows on Blu-ray Supernatural looks fantastic. I'd swear that their car is so sharp and clear that you can see your reflection in it.

Moviewise you have to check out the Blu-ray release of Wizard of Oz.

And of course grab anything by Pixar.

[HGervais]

Harold,
Congrats on your purchase. Just know those Star Trek Blus aren't all that fantastic.

I was doing some research on the Trek movies on Blu and yeah, it looks like Paramount kind of screwed us. I'm going to hold off on the first movie until the DC gets released and may well just get Wrath of Kahn since the others with the original cast don't seem to be nearly as well recieved in their hi-def incarnations.

[Future Man]

I haven't watched my own copy yet (?!!!) but I understand that The Professionals (1966) looks exceptionally good.

[Eric Profancik]

Agreed that Planet Earth is stunning, but I'm very annoyed that they didn't include the bonus features on the Blu release, which is why I won't buy it.

Meh. The bonus features aren't really worth watching more than once anyway.

True. But if they can be on the DVD release and HD-DVD release....

[HGervais]

Agreed that Planet Earth is stunning, but I'm very annoyed that they didn't include the bonus features on the Blu release, which is why I won't buy it.

Meh. The bonus features aren't really worth watching more than once anyway.

True. But if they can be on the DVD release and HD-DVD release....

I have to agree with Eric. If things go that way then it just a repeat of Sony's failed SuperBit experiment.

[Dan Mancini]

Agreed that Planet Earth is stunning, but I'm very annoyed that they didn't include the bonus features on the Blu release, which is why I won't buy it.

Meh. The bonus features aren't really worth watching more than once anyway.

True. But if they can be on the DVD release and HD-DVD release....

They're not on the HD DVD release. Only the DVD.

I have to agree with Eric. If things go that way then it just a repeat of Sony's failed SuperBit experiment.

Except more than twice the resolution of standard DVD instead of marginally superior provided you have a large enough display to see the difference.

[HGervais]

Except more than twice the resolution of standard DVD instead of marginally superior provided you have a large enough display to see the difference.

I'll take the hi-def Dan but I don't want to see the new format move backwards as it relates to what DVD got us used to.

[Eric Profancik]

Agreed that Planet Earth is stunning, but I'm very annoyed that they didn't include the bonus features on the Blu release, which is why I won't buy it.

Meh. The bonus features aren't really worth watching more than once anyway.

True. But if they can be on the DVD release and HD-DVD release....

They're not on the HD DVD release. Only the DVD.

Oops...but that makes it even worse!
Nonetheless, I do agree it's an awesome program. I've been tempted many a time, especially at $42.

[HGervais]

2001: A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray] $9.49

2010: The Year We Make Contact [Blu-ray] $13.99

Unforgiven [Blu-ray] $8.49

Being There [Blu-ray] $9.49

In my cart at amazon. Anyone have any of these discs and care to comment?

[mkiker2089]

To be fair though superbit was just snake oil from day one. The NTSC standard made it impossible to go any further and the discs weren't even full anyway due to the DVD standard. Some discs came later with higher than allowed audio from Sony Music but even then the discs weren't nearly used up. Warner had better DVD's with features.

Blu Ray is probably destined to be small but unless they do it right it's doomed to laserdisc status.

[HGervais]

Blu Ray is probably destined to be small but unless they do it right it's doomed to laserdisc status.

Not if you look at the number of players out there. At its peak I could have coounted the people I knew with laserdisc players on two hands. Granted a lot of what is out there now are gaming devices but even the casual PS3 owners I know still pick up discs in the format. True Blu-ray may not over take DVD but as more & more people upgrade their TVs to hi-def units the easier it will be for people to see the differences between standard def and high def.
My main gripe continues to be avilable content and how quickly studios are willing to start digging into their vaults and how those discs look. The other thing, as noted above, is the "wow" factor of the discs. I have yet to see a Blu-ray release I have to have based on what they do with the extra features. And yeah, extras still matter to me.

[cdouglas]

2001: A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray] $9.49

2010: The Year We Make Contact [Blu-ray] $13.99

Unforgiven [Blu-ray] $8.49

Being There [Blu-ray] $9.49

In my cart at amazon. Anyone have any of these discs and care to comment?

I have 2001 and Unforgiven. The former looks amazing and is a must-have, the latter is good but hardly standard-setting. Both are terrific films, of course.

[Eric Profancik]

2001: A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray] $9.49

2010: The Year We Make Contact [Blu-ray] $13.99

Unforgiven [Blu-ray] $8.49

Being There [Blu-ray] $9.49

In my cart at amazon. Anyone have any of these discs and care to comment?

I have the first two. 2010 looks and sounds great, with tons of great bonus material. 2010 doesn't look as good but it's a great step up from the DVD with a soundtrack that is better than expected. And there's just one bonus item on that disc.

[HGervais]

So does anyone have the Blu-ray for Gojira? Thoughts? Impressions?

[Dan Mancini]

So does anyone have the Blu-ray for Gojira? Thoughts? Impressions?

I've heard the A/V is terrible, but I haven't seen it myself (not terrible as in the source materials are aged, but terrible as in they did a half-assed job on the transfer).

[Future Man]

More:
The Godfather Trilogy
No Country for Old Men

[cdouglas]

More:
The Godfather Trilogy
No Country for Old Men

On the latter, be sure to get the 2-disc collector's edition, as it's one of the few BD titles that have already been double-dipped.

[Dimwitted]

You will need to be careful. One thing I really noticed with the BR Coraline disc is that the minor errors and production flaws really stand out. Yes, I'd still get it because it's a terrific movie that you'll forget the flaws but other movies might not be so lucky. I'm thinking Nick Park's stuff and maybe the new Mr. Fox movie. Anything using mattes and stop motion with practical model work I think would be vulnerable to too much rez on display.

[Dan Mancini]

Glaring omission: Watchmen.

[HGervais]

Glaring omission: Watchmen.

I have the 5 disc super-duper cut pre-ordered.