Dawn of the Dead (1978) Blu-Ray HMV Exclusive

kryptyk500 · 17-11-2009 8:14pm #1

I was in HMV last week and I bought this for €23. It's a 3-disc set. I thought all 3 discs were blu-rays. However, only one disc is a blu-ray version of the film (the theatrical version).

The 2 other discs are ordinary dvd versions of the Director's cut and the European cut. There are loads of extras (commentaries, documentaries etc).

Well worth the cash for Dawn fans - I don't think it's being released anywhere else until sometime next year.

niallon · 17-11-2009 8:20pm

Yup I've added it to my Xmas list! Definitely a good package and saves me shelling out for other versions of Dawn individually!

Otis Driftwood · 18-11-2009 7:49am

Just get the 4 disc ultimate edition instead.It has the 3 versions plus a bonus disc with crap loads of special features.It is available in region 1 though.
Totally worth getting.

spooky donkey · 19-11-2009 4:54pm

just a thought can old movies look ony better on blu ray if they were not made for it?

niallon · 19-11-2009 5:05pm

spooky donkey wrote: »

just a thought can old movies look ony better on blu ray if they were not made for it?

I think yes and no is the best answer to that one. I've seen the old Bonds on Blu Ray and was well impressed but other films have left a lot to be desired. It may not exactly have been Blu Ray, but the recent screening of American Werewolf In London I saw in Liffey Valley was a digital spruce up done in conjunction with the Blu Ray touch up (maybe even same project, i'm not entirely sure how that works!) and I was blown away by how much better the clarity was!

spooky donkey · 19-11-2009 7:31pm

Yes just wondering as i have it on DVD and dont see the point of getting it on blu ray. TBH most times if seen Blue ray they look no better than DVD. THough I was blown away by transformers when it was shown in a shop recently, they said it was cause the blue ray player its self was so good that it looked as good as it did. The TV it was on was a 42" Sony Bravcia but the player was Sony`s top of the line stand alone player and not a PS3.

niallon · 19-11-2009 8:17pm

spooky donkey wrote: »

Yes just wondering as i have it on DVD and dont see the point of getting it on blu ray. TBH most times if seen Blue ray they look no better than DVD. THough I was blown away by transformers when it was shown in a shop recently, they said it was cause the blue ray player its self was so good that it looked as good as it did. The TV it was on was a 42" Sony Bravcia but the player was Sony`s top of the line stand alone player and not a PS3.

Depends on how much it bothers you really. I only recently got a PS3 and I only have it running in a 1080i TV so I don't have full Hi Def but I admit I notice an improvement in clarity with DVDs and Blu Ray etc but I still give DVD preference over Blu Ray when it comes to purchasing, except if it's a favourite of mine I fancy re buying or a nice little package, something Dawn Of The Dead is both!

Otis Driftwood · 20-11-2009 7:42am

Personally speaking I hope blu-ray goes the way of laser disc.Over priced tosh.

Kess73 · 10-12-2009 11:38pm

nedtheshed wrote: »

Personally speaking I hope blu-ray goes the way of laser disc.Over priced tosh.

Blame the greedy Irish retailers for the prices here.

I tend to buy my blu ray films online and often get two to three films on blu ray for the cost of one in the likes of HMV here in Ireland.

Necronomicon · 11-12-2009 1:42pm

Yeah I agree. Blu-ray isn't that expensive at all. The high-street retailers tend to be more expensive alright, but even then I don't think they're ridiculous. I got Inglourious Basterds in HMV for €19.99 the other day.

Kess73 · 11-12-2009 11:52pm

One film that I looked at in HMV a short while ago was North By Northwest. They wanted €26.99 for it on blu ray.

I went to Amazon.co.uk and there it was for £11.88. I added two more blu ray films to it, 3:10 To Yuma (£6.98) and La Haine (£6.98), and got the three for £25.84 which qualified for free postage to Ireland.

Now when I got my invoice from Amazon it showed that the prices I paid from them had included VAT at 21.5% so it really shows how much we are ripped off by our high street stores if the VAT rate is the same for Amazon as for them.

Ush1 · 28-02-2010 8:16pm

spooky donkey wrote: »

just a thought can old movies look ony better on blu ray if they were not made for it?

:eek:
Yes absolutely!!

Ush1 · 28-02-2010 8:19pm

niallon wrote: »

I think yes and no is the best answer to that one. I've seen the old Bonds on Blu Ray and was well impressed but other films have left a lot to be desired. It may not exactly have been Blu Ray, but the recent screening of American Werewolf In London I saw in Liffey Valley was a digital spruce up done in conjunction with the Blu Ray touch up (maybe even same project, i'm not entirely sure how that works!) and I was blown away by how much better the clarity was!

Well no, the answer is yes. Blu ray simply has more capacity for a higher compression rate. It can store more information than DVD so will almost always be better quality, no matter what the age of the film. Watch Blade Runner or Halloween on Blu Ray, you'll never look back.

niallon · 02-03-2010 1:44pm

Ush1 wrote: »

Well no, the answer is yes. Blu ray simply has more capacity for a higher compression rate. It can store more information than DVD so will almost always be better quality, no matter what the age of the film. Watch Blade Runner or Halloween on Blu Ray, you'll never look back.

I've seen Halloween alright and I've seen that film so many times it was impossible not to notice the difference in improved quality but on the other hand I've also seen older titles like Planet Of The Apes get mauled on their Blu Ray transfer then others such as The Fifth Element and Gladiator being recent films inexplicably destroyed when transfered onto Blu Ray.

There's a good list here of Blu Ray from best to worst:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1168342

Ush1 · 05-03-2010 10:59pm

niallon wrote: »

I've seen Halloween alright and I've seen that film so many times it was impossible not to notice the difference in improved quality but on the other hand I've also seen older titles like Planet Of The Apes get mauled on their Blu Ray transfer then others such as The Fifth Element and Gladiator being recent films inexplicably destroyed when transfered onto Blu Ray.

There's a good list here of Blu Ray from best to worst:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1168342

Yes but that's down to a bad encode and DNR, nothing to do with the blu ray format. Blu ray is capable of stunning imagery.

niallon · 08-03-2010 12:37pm

Ush1 wrote: »

Yes but that's down to a bad encode and DNR, nothing to do with the blu ray format. Blu ray is capable of stunning imagery.

Yes and so is relevant to the initial question which to paraphrase was "Do all films look better on Blu Ray, answer no.

Fysh · 08-03-2010 1:03pm

niallon wrote: »

Yes and so is relevant to the initial question which to paraphrase was "Do all films look better on Blu Ray, answer no.

Amen to this - Blu-Ray having the potential to look great isn't going to help anyone much if they end up watching a film whose Blu-Ray was made with a crap transfer, is it?

Ush1 · 08-03-2010 3:06pm

niallon wrote: »

Yes and so is relevant to the initial question which to paraphrase was "Do all films look better on Blu Ray, answer no.

Not to be pedantic but the initial thing I commented on was this:

spooky donkey wrote: »

just a thought can old movies look ony better on blu ray if they were not made for it?

And the answer is a resounding yes.:)

Ush1 · 08-03-2010 3:11pm

Fysh wrote: »

Amen to this - Blu-Ray having the potential to look great isn't going to help anyone much if they end up watching a film whose Blu-Ray was made with a crap transfer, is it?

This is the extreme minority of cases, nearly every release on blu ray bar a select few have been the best version available.

niallon · 08-03-2010 6:08pm

Ush1 wrote: »

Not to be pedantic but the initial thing I commented on was this:

And the answer is a resounding yes.:)

Fair enough, I should've read over the previous posts more carefully. What I felt compelled to argue more really was the fact that bad Blu Ray transfers are out there and for people not to get duped into thinking "It's on Blu Ray, it'll be better". Total Film now do a good review system for Blu Ray where they look specifically at the worthwhile nature of rebuying different films on BR.

Ush1 · 08-03-2010 7:46pm

niallon wrote: »

Fair enough, I should've read over the previous posts more carefully. What I felt compelled to argue more really was the fact that bad Blu Ray transfers are out there and for people not to get duped into thinking "It's on Blu Ray, it'll be better". Total Film now do a good review system for Blu Ray where they look specifically at the worthwhile nature of rebuying different films on BR.

Oh no doubt. Don't just grab it as it's on Blu Ray, defo read reviews first. Evil Dead II and Gladiator both suffer very bad DNR issues and for most wouldn't warrant an upgrade or even a purchase until another version is released.

However there are so many titles that look fantastic. Halloween, The Thing, Freddy vs Jason, District 9, Trick R Treat etc....

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Blu-Ray HMV Exclusive

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