The Year in DVD/Blu-ray

Sad Professor

With work and other commitments I didn’t get to see as many films theatrically this year as I would have liked. But with so many fantastic Blu-rays coming out every month, I found I didn’t miss the cinema that much. As a result, my BD collection has expanded rapidly. Mostly stuff from the various boutique labels like Criterion and Masters of Cinema.

Any collectors want to share their favourite releases of the year? What had the best picture quality, extras, cover art, etc?

Bullseye1

The reviews on blu-ray.com are pretty helpful especially with regards picture and audio quality. Like actual movie reviews they are subjective but I do find the technical reviews to be pretty fair.

Must look though my recent purchases, cannot recall what I purchased in 2013 but I'm sure there was some older ones.

rednik

For me Skyfall was the outstanding release on blu. Others worth mentioning are,
Oblivion, reference audio & picture quality.
Iron Man 3 the 2D version the same reference quality
Zero dark thirty, excellent movie with very good picture & audio.

Oldies

Shane an excellent release on blu, only released in the US but it is region free.

johnny_ultimate

It goes without saying that Masters of Cinema knocked it out of the park this year, but Masters of Cinema knocked it out of the park this year. Bought several excellent individual releases from them - their Sirk releases, Tabu, Simon Killer - but a particular highlight was almost definitely Bakumatsu taiyo-don: a brilliantly anarchic slice of social satire, and a nice companion to their Shohei Imamura releases (Imamura, incidentally, is definitely my most pleasant discovery of the year). In all cases, the picture quality was immaculate, and accompanying essays are now my favourite sort of extra feature. And on the DVD side, their Sadao Yamanaka set was a fascinating insight into the (distressingly small) surviving filmography of a truly great director whose career was cut short far too soon. I still have a few more of their releases to pick up, like Mabuse der Spieler.

But hats are well and truly off to the two best Blu-Ray purchases I made this year: MOC's Mizoguchi boxset and their World Cinema Foundation set. The former is a stunning testament to my favourite director, the films immaculately restored and accompanied by a deliciously detailed tome. The latter was a real joy to discover - three very different but equally fascinating works. It's really important that diverse films of that sort get as much attention as the familiar classics, and here's hoping future releases under the WCF umbrella are as rewarding. My pre-order will be guaranteed as soon as volume two is announced

In terms of other releases, I'd say a bulk were releases from previous years. From what I did buy, I was very much appreciative of BFI's very impressive release of Killing of a Chinese Bookie, a film that I think was unavailable in UK / Ireland for quite some time. A welcome bonus that both versions of the film are included, as well as detailed comparisons of the variant edits.

I just watched the Blu-Ray of Wolf Children today, which is a flawless transfer that truly lets the film's beautiful aesthetics leap off the screen.

Third Window's old school Tskuamoto and Kurosawa (Kiyoshi) releases were much welcome, especially as I can't imagine many other companies releasing films from these important but fringe auteurs.

I don't own it (yet), but I'm pretty sure Criterion's Zatoichi set is the greatest thing ever - and I say that as someone with minimal interest in the blind swordman's saga.

And finally, it was only on DVD, but I was very appreciative of the Fireworks Wednesday release. Farhadi has made some of my favourite releases of recent years, so this insight into his earlier filmography was very welcome. The film is as intelligent and masterly as we have come to expect. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for a screening of The Past - JDIFF, fingers crossed, will serve us well.

quarryman

rednik wrote: »

For me Skyfall was the outstanding release on blu. Others worth mentioning are,
Oblivion, reference audio & picture quality.
Iron Man 3 the 2D version the same reference quality
Zero dark thirty, excellent movie with very good picture & audio.

Oldies

Shane an excellent release on blu, only released in the US but it is region free.

What do you mean by "reference" quality?

john the one

quarryman wrote: »

What do you mean by "reference" quality?

Think he is subtly saying the movie itself was ****e

ButtersSuki

Highlights for me include:

Betty Blue (finally)
The Great Gatsby 3D + 2D
Akira
Spring Breakers
Samsara/Baraka
(the first hour of) The Place Beyond The Pines
Foxy Brown
The Hunt (Jagten)
Jaws

For how it looks alone (crap story though) - Speedracer

Bullseye1

quarryman wrote: »

What do you mean by "reference" quality?

Reference quality normally refers to the quality if the picture and sound quality. Normally both being of the highest quality and therefore a movie which can be used to best highlight a tv/projector and it's surround sound system.

Sad Professor

I was really pissed off with the retailer exclusives Paramount used to sell the Star Trek into Darkness Blu-ray. All I really wanted was the commentary track, which I understood would be with the iTunes download, but it was UK only. Of course, I only discovered this after I redeemed the code, so it was too late to download from the UK store instead.

Thanks for reminding me about Fireworks Wednesday, johnny_ultimate. I forgot all about it. I haven’t got the WCF set yet. I think I may wait until Vol 2 to see how it compares to the Criterion set.

I really loved MoC’s Blu-ray of The Tarnished Angels. Good introduction to Douglas Sirk’s work, which I have since caught up with. His B&W films are so different from his colour ones. His Technicolor melodrama are great too, but his B&W films are almost like realist dramas in comparison.

weiland79

Sorry i don't want to hijack your thread but didn't think my question warranted it's own thread.
The missus bought me a new smart tv with 3d, mostly for my playstation but seen as it has the 3d function i'd like to try it out. Any suggestions for good blue ray 3d.
thanks.

ButtersSuki

weiland79 wrote: »

Sorry i don't want to hijack your thread but didn't think my question warranted it's own thread.
The missus bought me a new smart tv with 3d, mostly for my playstation but seen as it has the 3d function i'd like to try it out. Any suggestions for good blue ray 3d.
thanks.

Tron Legacy 3D for the light cycle sequence alone. The Great Gatsby 3D if you want to impress the missus.

rednik

weiland79 wrote: »

Sorry i don't want to hijack your thread but didn't think my question warranted it's own thread.
The missus bought me a new smart tv with 3d, mostly for my playstation but seen as it has the 3d function i'd like to try it out. Any suggestions for good blue ray 3d.
thanks.

Avatar although not a classic is still by far the best 3D blu ray available, Hugo, Life of Pi also well worth a watch.

ScrubsfanChris

+1 for Life of Pi on the 3D side of things.
Gravity is out in March also.

johndoe99

Bought Convoy, Romancing The Stone, Invasion of The Body Snatchers, just waiting for Big Trouble In Little China to be delivered. Invasion of The Body Snatchers had an impressive selection of Special Features.

Off the top of my head the Criterion release of the Zatoichi box set has to be the release of 2013, if not the best since the format began. A beautifully put together set with some exquisite art work and 25 damn good films.

McLoughlin

All I bought this year was 3d Blu Ray Out of the 100 ish I bought I would say only a third are must have in 3D, Avatar is ok but far better 3d Blu's out there with Life of Pi, Hugo, Hansel & Gretal, Wizard of Oz, Jurassic Park, Pacific Rim, Great Gatsby, House of Wax, Creature From Black Lagoon, Dail M for Murder, Prometheus, Christmas Carol some of best.