most visually impressive blu-ray discs / ps3 games

for those of you lucky enough to have bluray players, whats the most visually impressive bluray disc you've encountered so far?

I don't have one but I've read that Wall-E has the best transfer out of all of them so far.

I do not have a blu-ray player, but I have seen 300 at a friends house. It was AMAZING. The blood splatter and all that fun stuff haha I know how a lot of people on the boards here didn't like the movie at all, but man on blu-ray it was pretty incredible!

Apparently the films shot digitally have an advantage (such as Wall-E and 300).

Do you have to have an HD TV to get a Blu-Ray player?

Kinda...I mean blu-ray is a hi-def movie so if you didn't have a hi-def tv you wouldn't get the full effect.

yeah, no reason to upgrade to blu unless you have a decently-sized 1080p tv..

best i've seen so far is the Planet Earth documentary..

It's going to sound like I'm recommending every single blu-ray I own, but, for my money (and, realizin' I can only claim twenty or so titles at present), here are the ones I would recommend:

Band of Brothers (I've only watched Parts I - III so far, but, holy cow, this is one to own for any and all war-film buffs);

Casino Royale (GREAT sound);

The Dark Knight (the sound is amazing; the IMAX scenes are near-full-immersion in this format);

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (this is my "litmus test" blu-ray; the film's use of low-light, shadows, fog, etc. make it a frankly superb "test pattern" to pop in whenever you're selecting a new HDTV);

Planet Earth (the planet has never looked better... heart-stopping);

Ratatouille (what this format does for lighting and shadows is just breathtaking; it makes Thomas Kinkade look like a finger-painter);

Sunshine (now discontinued, which is tragic because this disc boasts perhaps the very best sound of any title I've experienced);

Superman Returns (with Sunshine, the best digital-effect-laden transfer I've seen);

Transformers (also excellent sound); and

Troy (Director's Cut, and for many of the same reasons as Master and Commander).


...The very best (available) being, in my not-so-humble opinion, Ratatouille, Superman Returns and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World -- be advised, though, that I feel Sunshine tops Superman. Spannaus is correct on both counts: Planet Earth is outstanding, and unless you have a 1080p display (I would suggest going with Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, perhaps Philips or Sharp -- in that order, assuming price is no object), you're frankly wasting your money at present. There's no rush to dive into the blu-ray format, when we're, afer all, at the beginning of what will be, at minimum, a ten-year (probably closer to 20) cycle of title production... I think blu-ray disc pricing is pretty stable (though you're going to see more, MANY more boxed sets, 'limited' editions, director's cuts and the like in future, this is where the manufacturers make real coin on substantially up-priced units) right now, but many titles, especially the early, older blu-ray releases and those not heavily dependent on special effects, will be heavily discounted by summer 2009. Plus, we're nowhere near the bottom of HDTV pricing... if you can wait, I'd hold off until at least the fall, or perhaps even post-Christmas '09, to make the investment in next-gen television technology, when prices ought to be 40% of what they are today, certainly no more than half, and possibly even lower.


...And here's where I have to say something that may sound stupid, or at least counter-intuitive: NOT ALL TITLES OUGHT TO BE 'UPGRADED' TO BLU-RAY. Sad but true... If you're talking about films with outdated fx, particularly those at the very beginning of the "modern", digital age or those with anything less than exceptional, top-dollar graphics, I'd hold off and make do with the older format, that isn't quite so unforgiving of errors, blemishes and inconsistencies. I recently viewed the Spider-Man "High Definition Trilogy" in blu-ray, and this is one franchise they ought to keep in the lower-resolution format... the effects are far too 'cartoony', and it's a real distraction. Likewise for the "Ultimate" Matrix boxed set (except for, actually, Revolutions), The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. And of course (most) comedies and romantic films will be a waste of the blu-ray format (I could add, "like they are of ALL formats", but that would come dangerously close to an actual digression, and mean to boot). [Grin] The same could be said also for many dramas and horror films, especially older titles.

Oddly enough, I own 300 in blu-ray, but haven't found time to actually sit down and watch it yet. And add Iron Man and I Am Legend to that list... Oh, and Ang Lee's Hulk is also outstanding, though everyone here but me hates that title. (Ditto Starship Troopers.)

Personally, I can't wait for the Finding Nemo, Serenity, Battlestar Galactica and The Thin Red Line blu-rays. And it'll be interesting to see how well the Star Wars titles make the leap.


Hope this is helpful.

So.. what you're saying is I shouldn't upgrade my copy of Bio-dome to Blu-ray?!

Swe - I think 300 is bound to collect dust for some reason, I too bought a copy of 300 for like 3$ at target black friday (after thankgiving) LAST year, and it has been sitting next to my tv still in its wrapping.

With men, I don't think it will. It's this generation's Top Gun.

So.. what you're saying is I shouldn't upgrade my copy of Bio-[D]ome to Blu-ray?!

Naughty, evil girl. [Grin] I actually checked Amazon.com just to make sure it wasn't available. No, Bio-Dome is fine... But I draw the line at Young Einstein.

Swe - I think 300 is bound to collect dust for some reason, I too bought a copy of 300 for like 3$ at target black friday (after thankgiving) LAST year, and it has been sitting next to my tv still in its wrapping.

Yah... Owning 300's a little like having a gun in the house. Nice to know that you have it, even if you only take it out of the box to clean it once a year. Little boys have security blankets... Men have munitions.

With men, I don't think it will. It's this generation's Top Gun...

...Or the male equivalent of Mamma Mia! [Blargh!]


'Top Gnu'

Swedgin! wrote:I
Sunshine (now discontinued, which is tragic because this disc boasts perhaps the very best sound of any title I've experienced);

Sure you're not mistaking great sound design for great sound on a Blu Ray? I'm surprised that a rather unsuccessful film was given much technical attention on the home video front

Six: It's entirely possible. All I know is, Sunshine is a damnably fine experience on blu-ray. (But, then, it's a damnably fine experience, period.)


The Bright Stuff

I'm closing in on nearly 1,400 dvds (hey, I'm a shut in and a movie fanatic -- it's my vice!) but I just feel all that moved to upgrade. I've spent a lot of time and money building my current collection and while part of the joy and pride of owning it has been going out a searching for gems... I'm not sure I want to start over again, or have half the collection as one thing and half the collection as something else (he says satring ruefully at the remainder of his dusty vhs collection). Maybe you guys will sell me on it through your discussions here.

my dvd collection isnt nearly that big, i have probably about a 100. I only plan on upgrading a select few, my favorites. So far I only have Prince Caspian and The Dark Knight, and im not disappointed. I also just got planet earth in the mail today.

Roode: Again, I'd caution against blowing large sums of what I must presume to be an increasingly endangered discretionary budget (equally true for us all, I'm sure... This is certainly the case for yours truly, having had four surgeries, four ER visits, a substantial bank error and a funeral to pay for, this year alone) on replacing your substantial, no doubt only recently-made-acceptable DVD collection with the next-generation format, just because it's available. As I said above, a very large fraction of currently available titles in no way requires immediate substitution, if at all. (Do I really need the blu-ray of Tin Cup? The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)? The Blair Witch Project? Will I EVER?) I expect a significant percentage of consumers feel similiarly, and will move cautiously to replace their current libraries, which is another reason why I stated earlier that I expect 'limited'-, 'special'-, 'ultimate'- and director's cut-editions to fairly explode by this time next year, not to mention the sort of 'exclusive'-edition packaging and die-hard-fan marketing we're now seeing at Target and Wal-Mart for titles such as Iron Man, Cloverfield and The Dark Knight.

There are some rather disquieting possibilities on the horizon, however, that may well force the hand of otherwise calm, patient, rational film lovers. Since the advent of the DVD era, Disney's long-held model of truncating the releases of its properties has been under assault: To my knowledge, Pixar has NEVER permitted the Mouse House to withdraw ANY of its titles from the market, but I rather suspect this may change, and that the practice of making films available for only limited periods of time, spaced several years apart, may become very much standard operating procedure into the near future, particularly for very (theatrically) successful releases. If fan-boys like yours truly don't flock, for example, to own Watchmen in any particular hurry, knowing that it will ALWAYS be available in the future and willing to wait for the economy to recover before they indulge in such a luxury purchase, well, why wouldn't WB put it out, for the moment, as a 'limited edition release', load it up with special features and groovy packaging and jack up the price to, say, $34.99, and let it be known that, after 180 days or so, the only version available from that point forward will be a bare-bones, no-frills 'economy' edition? Casual viewers, the disc-rental market, can still ensure they can own the title going forward, but it'll be what serious fans and collectors will consider a "throwaway" edition... And, meantime, they buck up their initial sales numbers, which are the only ones that matter anyway, increase demand in the short term, and they can always re-release an 'ultimate' edition down the road. Sort of like the modern model in reverse: Right now, the way it generally works is, release the lower-end packaging first, then follow up in a year or so with a no-holds-barred 'special' edition... The REAL fans will ultimately buy both. In MY scenario, however, the die-hards will panic and make sure they get one of the first copies available to guarantee its presence in their library, and those members of the general viewing public who want to see the title sooner rather than later will have no choice but to buy the all-accessories-included, overpriced 'deluxe' edition, until a less attractive alternative is released weeks or months later. In a flagging economy when initial-sales figures are sure to suffer, this is really the only substantial way to boost early numbers, and the only downside is that you inadvertently create a thriving after-market, which the studios have to contend with anyway. It's win-win all around.

And, if you go the whole hog and embrace the traditional Disney marketing model completely, the sky could be the limit... What if, say, we knew that Star Wars would only be available for 18 mos., and then might go another five years between releases? Everyone on the planet would want to own it, and RIGHT NOW.

Another consideration is: How long will "traditional" DVD players continue to be manufactured? It's worth noting that, even today, there are a number of "combination" players (DVD / VCR) and all-in-one televisions being produced, even though the last major-studio film to be released on VHS was A History of Violence in 2005 (the last "stand-alone" VHS unit to be sold in the North American market rolled off the assembly line this year). And, right alongside this consideration: How long will it take for mass-produced consumer recording devices to switch from the DVD to blu-ray format? As long as people continue to burn traditional DVDs, we may expect DVD players to remain in-stores... But once that switch is made, the clock will begin to tick. Look to the pornographic industry; it generally leads the way in terms of establishing the status quo, go-to video format.

I am planning on investing in at least two, very high quality 'traditional' DVD players in the next couple of years, to ensure that I can continue to get utility out of my existing library into the next couple of decades. So, for right now, I figure I can afford to be patient. There simply aren't very many titles I feel I NEED to have on blu-ray at present; but increasing scarcity of content and players over the next several years may well compel me to take more considered action in terms of upgrading my library. I have, myself, established a hierarchy of criteria for whether I NEED to invest in a blu-ray at this time, in order of importance:

[1] Is there a particular edition I feel I MUST OWN?
[2] Is it an edition that will continue to be available in future?
[3] Is this a title with exceptional sound and/or video qualitites not duplicated or approached in another format?
[4] Is it a title I expect to watch regularly?

...If a title meets at least two of the four above listed requirements, I strongly consider purchasing it, and the sooner, the better. If it fails to meet ANY of the four above listed conditions, I'm happy to enjoy it on DVD, until such time as I become very much wealthier or am forced to re-appraise the title due to a change in one of these considerations.

But, hey, that's just me. If money's no object, knock yourself out.


Quite possibly the worst DVD ever released. Coming soon to blu-ray!

(I have about 1,300 DVDs, myself, I think.)

Swedgin! wrote:I am planning on investing in at least two, very high quality 'traditional' DVD players in the next couple of years, to ensure that I can continue to get utility out of my existing library into the next couple of decades.

...if you're talking long-term, why not just play your dvds on blu-ray player(s)?

Swedgin! wrote:Six: It's entirely possible. All I know is, Sunshine is a damnably fine experience on blu-ray. (But, then, it's a damnably fine experience, period.)


The Bright Stuff

This time last year I was given the lend of ~Sunhine after seeing it already. I think the narrative falls apart towards the end (it basically turns into Alien with a bit of Bertrand Russell), but up to then the film fascinated me. The characterisation was brilliant (the psychologist who seemend to be going the same way as the other ship's captain, the arrogant guy who, for once, was RIGHT), the acting superb, the sound design the best in years. Overall I can't say it's great but the experience of watching it is powerful to say the least.

I agree, I thought it fell apart at the end. I'm glad i saw it but i doubt i'd watch it again.

i loooved Sunshine despite its flaws.. it definitely owes a big debt to Event Horizon (another movie that i enjoy despite its flaws)... both sound like great blu-ray choices..

Nico, you've confirmed my suspicions: Band of Brothers, Casino Royale, The Dark Knight, Master and Commander, Sunshine, and Ratatouille all topped our blu-ray wishlist even before i started this thread.. good to know we were on the right track.. we have access to borrow Planet Earth and Superman Returns (and 300) at any time--and we'll definitely be taking advantage of that (particularly with the first and last).. i simply wasn't a fan of the Transformers movie--no matter how great it may look.. never even seen Troy, so maybe I'll finally give it a chance on the new format..

the reason i brought all this up is that it appears me and Kate have a ps3 headed our way sometime in the next 8 days--so we wanted to have one or two flashy movies ready to show it off..

any ps3 owners got any game recommendations?

I don't own but I've played some of the games. I recommend Grand Theft Auto IV and Burnout: Paradise.

Responding...

...[W]hy not just play your dvds on blu-ray player(s)?

My blu-ray player precedes universal compatibility, and I prefer to keep at least one "dinosaur" DVD model around, anyway, for the same reason that I continue to own old-style, "plug-and-pound" handset phones in the event the power goes out and I cannot recharge my cell. I am a closet Luddite, you see...I have a shocking tendency to ludd.

This time last year I was given the lend of [Sunshine] after seeing it already. I think the narrative falls apart towards the end (it basically turns into Alien with a bit of Bertrand Russell), but up to then the film fascinated me. The characterisation was brilliant (the psychologist who seemend to be going the same way as the other ship's captain, the arrogant guy who, for once, was RIGHT), the acting superb, the sound design the best in years. Overall I can't say it's great but the experience of watching it is powerful to say the least.

I didn't "get" the final act / reel or so of Sunshine until the third or fourth viewing -- not to mention, until my father-in-law, who's considerably brighter and more perceptive than I, weighed in with his perspective -- but now I appreciate it for drawing the viewer into a chaotic, semi-hallucinatory state of mental disarray that exactly parallels Capa's computer projections of the quantum flux that will accompany [SPOILER!] Icarus II's final dive into the Sun. I used to boggle, "Hey! What's a low-budget, experimental student slasher film doing in this perfectly respectable science fiction narrative?", and on my initial screening of Sunshine was fairly convinced that the projectionist had pulled a Tyler Durden, until I started recognizing characters from earlier reels. I now appreciate what Danny Boyle was trying, Kubrick- and Fincher-like, to do...even if I still don't feel he completely pulled it off. It's a tremendously ambitious film, with some of the very best special effects and sound design ever committed to film, in my opinion, a fantastically minimalist and yet deeply affecting score, and some exceptionally well-realized characters. There are some images in this film that I will never recover from: [SPOILERS!] Mace hypnotized by the Earth Room, the Eye of Pinbacker, Kaneda's Sunrise, Trey's decision, Searle's sacrifice, Corazon's peace. Ironically what I feel the film suffers from most is a lack of completion; it would have benefited from a longer narrative, a beefier story and deeper characterizations. And, not to quibble, but [SPOILER!] I still find the whole Pinbacker-bogeyman explanation somewhat silly; up until the moment the Icarus commander was actually revealed as the film's antagonist, I was dead-center CERTAIN it was Corazon, who was obsessed with conserving O2 and was intent on sacrificing as many of the crew as possible to achieve their mission, who had sabotaged the airlock, whispered in Trey's ear and was driving the Icarus II flight computer Hal 9000-batshit. And, not to put too fine a point on it, but I STILL think that would have been a better movie, a far more compelling and distressing examination of human nature: the circumstances under which humans will not only lose, as Mace snidely predicted, but THROW AWAY their humanity in favor of the "mission", assuming a persona of not mere unemotion, but total NON-emotion with regards to their mates and, in the process, becoming a machine in their own right... dispasionate, brutally logical, ruthlessly efficient. How 'bout THIS "alternate ending": Following Trey's suicide, Corazon is revealed as the killer, for all the reasons she advertised earlier, and now only her, Cassie and Mace remain, a bare minimum of actual living, breathing beings but still, with the pilot and physicist unharmed, more than enough to complete the mission as planned. The oxygen garden is beginning to recover... life prevails, as Corazon discovered; it's just possible that one, perhaps two, of the crew might actually make it back to Earth following the delivery of the stellar bomb. But the idealistic Cassie stumbles onto Corazon's crime, and now Corazon is faced with a choice: If she allows Cassie to relate this information to Capa, he and Cassie will complete the mission, but Corazon will be summarily executed and there will be no hope of her own surviving to return to Earth; if she kills Cassie, she protects her secret but jeopardizes the mission, as she will then be forced to kill Capa or be killed, and a suicide mission becomes the best outcome at that point, Corazon lacking the requisite skills to either navigate Icarus OR trigger the fissile material. Worst scenario, the mission fails and Corazon survives long enough to plunge into the Sun, a horrifyingly bleak dramatic bookend to Slim Pickens' swan song in Dr. Strangelove... In trying to preserve the mission, she doomed both it and herself, and condemned all of humanity to one long, irrevocable, ultimately fatal night. Perhaps the same, or a similar, fate befell the original Icarus; maybe it was, to quote Heywood Floyd and paraphrase Monty Python, "something totally different". Who can say? The Sun doesn't kill people; people kill people. Personally, I think THAT film, the one I just described, properly executed, might have been one of the great, tragic cinematic parables of ALL time, potentially the greatest genre film ever made. But, maybe I'm wrong, and obnoxious to boot. No, scratch that. I KNOW I'm obnoxious. [Grin]


Don't worry, be happy. (Be f@$%ed!)

[I loved] Sunshine despite its flaws.. it definitely owes a big debt to Event Horizon (another movie that i enjoy despite its flaws)...

It never ceases to bother me when my own deeply held opinions are concurred with by the lunatic fringe. It's sort of like finding yourself at the forefront of a large crowd of presumed revolutionaries who all turn out to be recently released mental patients. [Grin] I was hugely intrigued by Event Horizon until I actually saw it... I thought it would be a bleakly Kafkaesque Solaris, but it turned into just a total
f@$%in' mess, despite a decent cast, intriguing premise (One Flew Over Neptune is how my review for The Dallas Observer was titled) and outstanding sets. I still wonder how much of that film's failure was owing to its editing, which looked to have been a job assigned to a high school A/V Club reject, a high-speed food processor, or perhaps a thousand high-functioning monkeys with ADHD, or maybe Jerry Bruckheimer. (In actuality it was Martin Hunter, who once upon a career contributed Oscar-nomination-caliber work in Full Metal Jacket and now seems relegated to mainly forgettable low-budget genre and Paul W.S. Anderson films [sorry... redundant].)

In spite of your self-confessed insanity (see above), NSpannaus, my friend, I'm glad to see we have fairly compatible tastes. Be warned, however... (Be f@$%ed!) Your all-consuming love for Starship Troopers cannot be far behind.


"My God, Spannaus... Have you lost your mind? ...Oh. Carry on."

Congratulations on the PS3 and the flashy movies. Didn't know you were into Jennifer Beals, but, hey, there's no accounting for taste... I'm proof positive of that axiom.

I had exactly the same thought as to who would be the killer, but when we finally found out who it really was, it ruined it for me.

P.S. your version sounds way awesome-r

Swedgin! wrote:In spite of your self-confessed insanity (see above), NSpannaus, my friend, I'm glad to see we have fairly compatible tastes. Be warned, however... (Be f@$%ed!) Your all-consuming love for Starship Troopers cannot be far behind.

i probably mentioned this already, but me and kate had a mini-Verhoeven binge this week.. We started with Total Recall, two viewings of Starship Troopers, and a public screening of RoboCop at alamo drafthouse.. i gotta admit, when I saw Starship Troopers in the theater eleven years ago, I was NOT impressed.. intrigued, yes... Disappointed because I was expecting something more along the lines of Dune--but, instead, I got a....well, a Paul Verhoeven movie.. anyway, I was turned off from the movie for a long time.. after watching it with a new perspective, I really enjoyed it for what it is.. (the proof is that i changed it from 2-stars to 4-stars on my netflix rankings).. While I still don't think its quite a 4 star movie (more like 3 1/2)---it still has some pretty serious shortcomings (would you like to know more?)---i have begun to sympathize (a bit) to your obsession..

and, in defense of Event Horizon: yes, it devolves from intriguing science fiction (along the lines of Sphere) to a silly slasher film in space.. BUT--it's fun! and it looks great.. and it has Sam freakin Neill.. a man who, to my knowledge, has NEVER committed his image to a less-than-stellar film project.. EVER.. [source needed]

...[M]e and [K]ate had a mini-Verhoeven binge this week.. We started with Total Recall, two viewings of Starship Troopers, and a public screening of RoboCop at alamo drafthouse...

I simply cannot believe you'd choose your significant other over your ol' pal Swedgin!... Bastard.

...[I gotta] admit, when I saw Starship Troopers in the theater eleven years ago, I was NOT impressed.. intrigued, yes... Disappointed because I was expecting something more along the lines of Dune--

DOES NOT F@$%ING COMPUTE.

...[But], instead, I got a....well, a Paul Verhoeven movie...

You say that almost as if it were a bad thing.

...[It] still has some pretty serious shortcomings (would you like to know more?)

Its imperfections are not only intentional, but necessary to compliment the whole and draw attention to what is otherwise a harmony of sophistication and artistic profundity. I thought that some of the metaphysical imagery was really particularly effective. And interesting rhythmic devices too, which seemed to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor of the humanity of the director's compassionate soul, which contrives through the medium of the verse structure to sublimate this, transcend that, and come to terms with the fundamental dichotomies of the other, and one is left with a profound and vivid insight into whatever it was the film was about! Yeah! [ [ [ SMACK ] ] ]

---[I have] begun to sympathize (a bit) to your obsession...

RESISTANCE IS USELESS!

...[In] defense of Event Horizon...

Five words I thought never to see in the same phrase, sort of like "I gladly impale myself daily", or, "Damn, Paris Hilton is smart", or "I voted for John McCain".

...[Y]es, it devolves from intriguing science fiction (along the lines of Sphere)...

Sphere is INTRIGUING science fiction? I thought it was Michael Crichton's least impressive work, and a terrible film. Event Horizon is better. Damn, FOUR words I never thought I'd see in the same place, let alone utter.

...[It] has Sam freakin Neill.. a man who, to my knowledge, has NEVER committed his image to a less-than-stellar film project.. EVER.

M'kay: Wimbledon, Jurassic Park III, Bicentennial Man, In the Mouth of Madness, Memoirs of an Invisible Man. For starters. I give him a pass on the literally dozens of craptastic TV-movies he's done, most of which have aired at one point or another on Sci-Fi.

Not to quibble, but, you see my point.


Memoirs of a Divisible Man