Blu-Ray recommdations

jayteecork

I knwo I should post this in the movies section but I'd probably get a better response here.
Got my slim yesterday and finally have access to a blu ray player.

I ordered 2 Blurays off play for 20euro altogether, but what other films looks absolutely stunning on Blu Ray and should not be missed?
Cheers.

Got these: Heard Earth looks absolutely magnificent on blu ray, and well, T2 speaks for itself. An all time classic.

http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/3517128/Earth/Product.html
http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/5572959/Terminator-2-Judgement-Day/Product.html

ShaneU

Wanted has the best sound I've heard on a blu-ray. As far as best looking, I would say No Country for Old Men. Dark Knight looks great too, especially the IMAX scenes.

I use this site for blu-ray reviews http://www.highdefdigest.com/

TestTransmission

This planet earth

http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/3388938/Planet-Earth-Box-Set/Product.html

amacachi

Big +1 on the Planet Earth boxset. I have it on DVD but have seen a little on a big telly on Blu-ray and it's fantastic.

jayteecork

ShaneU wrote: »

As far as best looking, I would say No Country for Old Men.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/

might go for No country for Old Men. loved that film. Found it here: http://www.sendit.com/sendit/9983833.product?affil=BUYAT
Great price, less than 12euro delivered.
Actually switched T2 for Cliffhanger as the reviews say the bluray transfer of t2 is shíte.

Idleater

If you are looking for comprehensie "Tiering" lists, I recommend this
for general BR quality, and this for audio quality

These lists purely rate content quality rather than story quality of the film, so there are some surprises, like Planet Earth actually ranking quite low, where though it is amazing to watch cinematography wise, the BR quality is not that much above DVD which would most likely be significantly cheaper.

projectmayhem

The Matrix
300
Cloverfield

...all look stunning in blu-ray. My 40" provides a better cinema experience then the cinema!

Penn

Watchmen looks amazing
Band of Brothers boxset if you haven't already seen it. Sound is amazing. Picture probably isn't that much better than dvd though
The Dark Knight

cdb

+1 for The Dark Knight. The IMAX scenes are spectacular, it really is a must have. Black Hawk Down is superb, even though it is only 720p, not full 1080P.

Transformers really benefits from the blu-ray hi-def treatment. In fact there are very few movies that disappoint in terms of picture quality and sound in the blu format. And Band of Brothers. Even if you have the DVD version... Enjoy!

Basq

There's three I've seen that are truly superb:

1. Sunshine has a crisp picture, and amazing soundtrack to boot.
2. Cloverfield looks and sounds absolutely amazing.
3. The Dark Knight - fantastic but it's just a shame the whole film doesn't look as good as those IMAX scenes. Not saying it doesn't look great, but those IMAX scenes look beyond fantastic.

Have a few Blu-ray's unopened that I haven't even watched (Transformers, Pan's Labyrinth, Run Fatboy Run) that I must crack open over the weekend.

Josey Wales

nereid wrote: »

If you are looking for comprehensie "Tiering" lists, I recommend this
for general BR quality, and this for audio quality

Thats a great link. I'm sure to be using that went buying future Blu-rays.

speedboatchase

jayteecork wrote: »

might go for No country for Old Men. loved that film. Found it here: http://www.sendit.com/sendit/9983833.product?affil=BUYAT
Great price, less than 12euro delivered.
Actually switched T2 for Cliffhanger as the reviews say the bluray transfer of t2 is shíte.

Go for the Skynet Edition, much better transfer and includes the special and theatrical version. Personally I find the theatricla version superior and it literally can't be found any other way in our region

http://www.play.com/DVD/Blu-ray/4-/9814145/Terminator-2-Skynet-Edition/Product.html

dmaxontour

+1 for Planet Earth and The Dark Night.

I'd also add Wall-E. Looks amazing, and I've found that 3d Animation films generally gain well from being on BluRay.

Basq

dmaxontour wrote: »

I'd also add Wall-E. Looks amazing, and I've found that 3d Animation films generally gain well from being on BluRay.

Oh God yes... forgot about that!

Looks great in Blu-ray. Also 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' re-release looks and sounds great too.

Idleater

dmaxontour wrote: »

I'd also add Wall-E. Looks amazing, and I've found that 3d Animation films generally gain well from being on BluRay.

I also recommend having a couple of animations. My collection includes Cars, Wall-E, Bolt and now (not mine) Sleeping Beauty which is the first hand drawn enhanced BR from Disney.

I've also watched Open Season and Ratatoulie -the latter being spectacular for both sound and picture.

The old remastered James Bonds are particularly good too. that is the third thread in the series I linked to above - for restored "old" films.

Mossy Monk

Rambo

Superb picture and sound

bluestripe93

spiderman 3
die hard 4
ratatouie

Otacon

basquille wrote: »

...it's just a shame the whole film doesn't look as good as those IMAX scenes. Not saying it doesn't look great, but those IMAX scenes look beyond fantastic...

Off-Topic: I have heard rumours that if Chris Nolan does come back to do a third Batman film, he is going to push for the entire thing to be shot with IMAX cameras. Again, just a rumour but very plausible.

On-Topic: Cannot recommend Band of Brothers enough. Even on DVD, it is still suberb. The Dark Knight, Transformers and Wall-E are all excellent on Blu-Ray as well, but when my brother called over and started doubting Blu-Ray, I plopped in Planet Earth and he was converted. Made for Blu-Ray and Attenborough is brilliant too.

mathie

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews_video.html

Excellent resource for seeing which BluRays are good in certain areas (video, audio etc)

I'll add Transformers, Galapagos, Sin City, LA Confidential, Blade Runner to the ones that have been mentioned.

am i bovvered

The fifth element
apocalypto
Wall-E
Ironman
The 2 Batmans
The 2 Bond Films
Looking forward to the new Star Trek

jayteecork

am i bovvered wrote: »

The 2 Batmans
The 2 Bond Films

I take it you mean the most recent ones, lol.

Or maybe you were refering to:

irishman123

basquille wrote: »

3. The Dark Knight - fantastic but it's just a shame the whole film doesn't look as good as those IMAX scenes. Not saying it doesn't look great, but those IMAX scenes look beyond fantastic.

Agreed - I have The Dark Knight. Visually stunning and a masterpiece. When you see the IMAX scenes...it's how you expect all HD movies to look!

They actually broke an IMAX camera (only a few of them in the world) during the making of the film. It's mentioned in the bonus material.

TinCool

nereid wrote: »

The old remastered James Bonds are particularly good too. that is the third thread in the series I linked to above - for restored "old" films.

Totally agree. I bought a few of them, Russia with Love, Live and Let Die and Goldfinger. I've only watched Russia with Love so far but wow the picture is quite amazing for such an old movie. There's a scene with the old russian hag in it where you can quite clearly see a couple of strands of hair sticking up. Pretty impressive.

Others that I have that have already been mentioned that I'd recommend for Blu Rayness.

1. Blade Runner
2. Sunshine
3. The Bourne Trilogy (particularly the last 2)
4. Top Gun
5. Matrixes

I should really take some time out and watch some of the other Blu's I've gotten that I haven't gotten round to watching yet. They look and sound great on my PS3, Pioneer 42" Plasma, surround sound set up.

amacachi

TinCool wrote: »

Totally agree. I bought a few of them, Russia with Love, Live and Let Die and Goldfinger. I've only watched Russia with Love so far but wow the picture is quite amazing for such an old movie. There's a scene with the old russian hag in it where you can quite clearly see a couple of strands of hair sticking up. Pretty impressive.

Pretty much any film made in the last 50 years can be transferred to HD, most could be 4 times the resolution if the studios were bothered, just about how much time and effort they put into the transfer.
Will definitely check out some of the Bond films if they're getting treated properly.

Mossy Monk

am i bovvered wrote: »

The 2 Batmans

Batman Begins was nothing to write home about in terms of picture quality imo.

Luap

Does anyone know any good cheap cinema systems?

Ciaran500

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Batman Begins was nothing to write home about in terms of picture quality imo.

The reviews I've read seem to place it well above TDK in terms of picture quality for the scenes shot on 35mm.

Maloney_o9 wrote: »

Does anyone know any good cheap cinema systems?

Start a thread on the home entertainment forum and you'll get recommendations.

Mossy Monk

Ciaran500 wrote: »

The reviews I've read seem to place it well above TDK in terms of picture quality for the scenes shot on 35mm.

Having watched it at home I disagree. When you compare it to say Rambo it is nowhere near as good for picture quality.

Glico Man

My personal favorites are

The Dark Knight
Transformers
Iron Man
Wall- E
Sin City
Blade Runner
The Prestige
Planet Earth
300
Gladiator
T-2
Casino Royale

Idleater

Maloney_o9 wrote: »

Does anyone know any good cheap cinema systems?

With the greatest of respect, the content from a blu ray (audio or video) is wasted on a cheap system.

Cheap systems are not good.

To qualify my post, I'm assuming (yes) that what you mean by cheap is actually cheap, rather than cheap relative to a €3000 system which to some would be a cheap home cinema system.

Kashkai

nereid wrote: »

With the greatest of respect, the content from a blu ray (audio or video) is wasted on a cheap system.

Cheap systems are not good.

To qualify my post, I'm assuming (yes) that what you mean by cheap is actually cheap, rather than cheap relative to a €3000 system which to some would be a cheap home cinema system.

+1

Agree completely. To get the most out of blu ray movies, you need to have 2 vital elements, i.e.

1. LARGE screen lcd/plasma at least 42 inches or above in size. On smaller screens, unless you sit right in front of the tv, you won't pick up the amazing detail that blu ray offers.

2. A dedicated home cinema a/v package, like an Onkyo/Denon receiver AND high end speakers to get the hi def sound.

Without these 2 items, watching a blu ray on a small screen and listening to the sound track through the tv's speakers is no better than watching a DVD, which to be honest, is a lot cheaper to buy than a blu ray anyways. So if you want to pay the premium for blu rays, invest in the large screen tv and the high end sound system.

I'm currently watching my blu rays on a Samsung 46 inch (1080p) lcd and have an Onkyo 875 with 5.1 surround sound (which will be 7.1 when I can afford it - blu rays support 7.1 btw).

As for movies to watch on blu ray, I'd agree with a lot of the earlier recommendations - Wanted, Dark Knight, Transformers etc - and would also suggest Knowing (it might not be a great film but the visuals and the soundtrack are excellent). The plane crash scene in partcular had hairs standing up on my neck from thsound and the other special effets look great in HD.

The Sparrow

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Without these 2 items, watching a blu ray on a small screen and listening to the sound track through the tv's speakers is no better than watching a DVD, which to be honest, is a lot cheaper to buy than a blu ray anyways.

That is complete nonsense TBH. I just got a PS3 and I've watched a couple of blurays on my 32" tv and they looked stunning. So much better than a conventional dvd and they sounded much better too through the not very expensive non surround sound speakers. It is much superior to dvd on my tv.

Now I accept that there would probably be even better results if I had a bigger tv and better sound system. But to say that bluray looks the same as dvd on a tv below 42" is dead wrong.

yoshytoshy

I've a 37" plasma and I'm quite happy with the picture quality.
Not everything is high definition yet and analog looks great on my set.

Gonzo

just got a philips 37" series 8000 tv and the picture quality from ps3+bluray is amazing. However i dont have any speakers just the tv ones so will have to invest in some decent sound setup.

Idleater

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

1. LARGE screen lcd/plasma at least 42 inches or above in size. On smaller screens, unless you sit right in front of the tv, you won't pick up the amazing detail that blu ray offers.

I've put more effort into the audio aspect, so only run a 32" 1080p screen.:o

Haven't noticed it effect my viewing pleasure too much (although I would get a bigger screen if I could).

Rev. Kitchen

I tend to go for blue rays with big effects transformers all though a stupid film does look bloody good. Earth, Dark knight all listed above.

Speed racer This film is amazing on blueray its what it was made for if, its such a piece of art, it will be as big a jump in film making as the matrix was all those years ago.

noodler

Battlestar Galactica is out of Blu-Ray soon. It is going to cost me a fortune but I want it so fracking bad.

noodler

nereid wrote: »

With the greatest of respect, the content from a blu ray (audio or video) is wasted on a cheap system.

Cheap systems are not good.

To qualify my post, I'm assuming (yes) that what you mean by cheap is actually cheap, rather than cheap relative to a €3000 system which to some would be a cheap home cinema system.

There are plenty of good ones under 500e though.

How much did you spend on your then?

I should qualify that of course a 500e system won't, more than likely, be as good as one someone blew 3000e on but still, relatively good.

Sleipnir

Can't wait for 'Heat' to come out on Blu-Ray. Purely for the sound of that big gunfight!
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1

!

grimm2005

+1 for Wall-E and Dark Knight and a massive +1 for planet earth. I have it on HDDVD and out of all my hddvds and blurays, its the best looking thing i've seen in HD. even if you don't usually watch those sort of documentaries (as i don't), its still well worth it, it just looks incredible

Idleater

noodler wrote: »

There are plenty of good ones under 500e though.

How much did you spend on your then?

I should qualify that of course a 500e system won't, more than likely, be as good as one someone blew 3000e on but still, relatively good.

You don't want to know, but I'll qualify that by saying relatively good, is in itself relative.:pac:

jayteecork

The Sparrow wrote: »

That is complete nonsense TBH. I just got a PS3 and I've watched a couple of blurays on my 32" tv and they looked stunning. So much better than a conventional dvd and they sounded much better too through the not very expensive non surround sound speakers. It is much superior to dvd on my tv.

Now I accept that there would probably be even better results if I had a bigger tv and better sound system. But to say that bluray looks the same as dvd on a tv below 42" is dead wrong.

Sounds like a load of bollocks all right.

Roar

animation fans should check out Disney's Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio, they both look absolutely sensational (cant wait for snow white next month)

amacachi

Just checked Wikipedia there and apparently Fantasia is due out next year on BD. I would definitely look into picking that up.

noodler

+1 to the noticing the BR difference on TVs below 42 inch.

I have a 20 inch HD ready screen and the first Blu Ray I watched on it was very noticeable.

am i bovvered

Another film I loved on Bluray was Talladega Nights... the racing scenes look great.
oh I love my system Attachment not found.

Nick_oliveri

^^FUUUU! Thats an awesome setup. Does the pool table swivel or move easily out of the way of the telleh for some couch action?

I didn't think the dark knight was anything special in terms of quality. I found it a bit grainy in the dark scenes. Sunshine and Wall-e on the other hand were just fookin awesome in terms of quality, and I only have Sunshine in 720p!

Defiance is stunning as well. Oh and The Thing, everyone needs to watch that in HD! Brilliant conversion, along with Shawshank Redemption.

Once I get myself an optical cable for the Ps3 I'll be sorted!

jaykhunter

I have a 50" Samsung HDTV so I really love getting HD films

I really recommend (as well as others) getting the Dark Knight on Blu-Ray. It's absolutely stunning. The IMAX scenes are 16:9 and look better than the HD scenes! (which have a little grain)

Batman Begins DOESN'T look much better in HD.

Terminator 2 on BR is amazing too. It really smokes the DVD version, which I also have.

The Wrestler looks great in HD.

Ghostbusters looks alright but i would've thought they'd do a better job cleaning it up/remastering it.

Kung Fu Panda and Sunshine look great. Total Recall's pretty sweet too!

WarZoneBrother

am i bovvered wrote: »

Another film I loved on Bluray was Talladega Nights... the racing scenes look great.
oh I love my system Attachment not found.

:eek::eek::eek::eek: That is all I have to say about that...

am i bovvered

WarZoneBrother wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek: That is all I have to say about that...

Thanks, I set it up 2 years ago, The pojector, screen, ps3, wii, + basic computer connected & cables all came in under 2k, the price of a decent flat screen at the time. It could be done cheaper now, everything has come down alot in price.
This is a pic of The fith element, its hard to get the quality of the pic ( my camera isn't great. )
Attachment not found.

Ed_

am i bovvered wrote: »

Another film I loved on Bluray was Talladega Nights... the racing scenes look great.
oh I love my system Attachment not found.

Very nice. Some day I will have something similar. A long way away sadly but it will happen