I've finally converted over to Blu Ray!!!

[MikePizzoff]

I guess I was the last of the standard def guys here.

Anyway, I picked up a Sony. Right off the bat it blew my mind. Endless channels for content, including 5 different internet (and real) radio sources, and about 25-30 video channels. So much awesome free content! I'll post a list of everything tomorrow.

I bought Saving Private Ryan and Daybreakers. SPR because I read it is not only one of the best looking BD's, but possibly the best sounding. And it rules, of course. Never saw Daybreakers but I heard decent things and also read that it was up there among BD's to be demo material.

Only had time to watch about 10 mins of Saving Private Ryan, but that was more than enough to completely blow me away. The underwater shots made it seem as if my TV was suddenly a real-life aquarium!

What I want you guys to do is suggest some must-have's to add to the list. Of course, Zombieland and Grindhouse are going to be purchased soon.

[bassman]

The Dark Knight is still one of the best looking br's, imo. Same goes for Iron Man 1 & 2, most of the classic Disney films, Casino Royale, TLC's Life, and The Wizard of Oz. Of course as a fan you should pick up the Dawn BR. It's like seeing it again for the first time. And it's at/under 10 bucks these days.

Glad you're enjoying it! I've been upgraded for a while now and I still sometimes have to pick my jaw up off the floor...

[JDFP]

Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut. It's my prized possession in my blu rays right now. Amazingly crisp and the great soundtrack only adds to the greatness of it.

j.p.

[Publius]

I guess I was the last of the standard def guys here.

I'm happy with my upconverting DVD player for now. Probably won't switch to BR for a couple years, until I get a TV larger than my current 42".

[ProfessorChaos]

no, pizz, i'm still kicking it "old school" with the standard-def dvd.

planning on making the upgrade once i get a new tv, but right now i'm pretty satisfied with my sharp aquos 720p and hdmi cable from my laptop.

[Publius]

Another reason I'm reluctant to upgrade to BR is I'm not too confident in the future of the physical movie disc. Buying movies has rarely turned out to be cost-effective for me, as I rarely watch a single one enough times to make buying cheaper than renting. And with increasing network data speeds, downloading HD rentals through services like NetFlix may make discs obsolete for people like me in short order.

[Legion2213]

Congrats Mike.

A few sugestions for movies that look sweet on BD and show off the superiority of your kit over SD...

I Am Legend
Kingdom of Heaven
Watchmen
Apocalypto
Dark City
Pandorum
Sunshine
Bladerunner

Are all nice to own if you like the content.

[Danny]

welcome to 2008, now promptly buy cheap from blockbuster, if they still exist, the dark knight, zombieland, the matrix and zack and miri make a porno for a round helping of the best bluray has tooffer in terms of visual treats.

[MinionZombie]

I still buy DVDs, but at the moment it's mostly been BR's as I've been having to catch up - or new releases are best-on-Blu (due to my whore-like devouring of extra features).

Anyway - I'd recommend "The Book of Eli", which looks really good on Blu - it's a good looking movie anyway, but it's really rather good on Blu. If you're into Pixar movies, I got "Up" free with my player (along with Toy Story, Sweeney Todd, 300, Bruno, and *ahem* Mamma Mia) and it looks ruddy good on Blu.

I'll be getting the 3-disc collector's edition of Avatar on BR (out in 10 days, woo! :)) as well as Toy Story 3 on BR, and I decided to go for the BR version of Scott Pilgrim after initially going for the 2-disc DVD ... but I thought "well, being that this is a visually stunning flick, and the BR has about 45 to 60 minutes more in terms of extras, then I'll stump up the extra quids for it") ... I did get the 2-disc Survival of the Dead DVD though, so I'm not done with DVD by a long shot. It's just that so many flicks coming out are visual treats and/or have the best extras on Blu.

I've also got The Crazies (2010), Grindhouse (the best new extra features all relate to the trailers, in my view), The Warriors, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (spiffing picture on that one, in-depth extras too) on BR.

[LouCipherr]

I still buy DVDs, but at the moment it's mostly been BR's as I've been having to catch up - or new releases are best-on-Blu (due to my whore-like devouring of extra features).

MZ, you extra-features slut! :lol: :D ..and wait, did I read you had 300 in your collection?! :shifty:

Mike - congrats! and hey, don't feel bad, it took FOREVER for Dj to convince me to go BluRay. :o Now that I have and with the recent puchase of an upgraded TV, I'm glad I did. I still hate $ony, but that's a whole other story... :D

A few suggestions for excellent looking BR's:

Zombieland (this is DEMO quality! easily the best looking BR I own. On my new TV this shit looks 3D without the glasses)
Hot Fuzz
Shaun of the Dead (both HF and SotD look stellar)
Pretty much any Pixar flick

I'm sure there's more in my collection worth listing, but it's not even 9am and I haven't had my coffee yet. :lol:

[DjfunkmasterG]

SPR as noted,
Gladiator - with Yellow UPC code
Dawn 2004 looks great (I have HD DVD, but it ported over to Blu, same everything)
The Thing (HD DVD has slightly better PQ, but BR has DTS soundtrack)
Zombieland as noted
DAWN 1978 looks great on Blu
DAY, ehhh, it could have used a remaster
Kick Ass
Watchmen
Crazy Heart
Book of Eli
Lost Boys looks great
Back to The Future - This is a must and quite stellar for a 25 year old film
30 Days of Night looks great on Blu
Live Free or Die Hard (But it is only PG-13 version)
The Die Hard Trilogy - Must Own and quite awesome PQ

Use HighDefDigest.com for finding the best Blu has to offer, these guys are spot on with what i consider great PQ, and not as FANBOY crazy as Blu-Ray.com

[MinionZombie]

Lou - I've only got 300 because it came free (with five other blu's) with my Blu-Ray player. Haven't watched the movie on blu yet (although I have seen it once before a few years back), just viewed the extra features.

And yes, I am a total and utter whore for extra features. That Avatar 3 disc blu-ray is gonna Randy Marsh me big style.

[LouCipherr]

Lou - I've only got 300 because it came free (with five other blu's) with my Blu-Ray player. Haven't watched the movie on blu yet (although I have seen it once before a few years back), just viewed the extra features.

lol, I just had to razz ya 'cause you have a Zack Snyder flick in your BR collection. :shifty: :lol:

I don't have 300 on BR, but I do have it on HD-DVD and it does indeed look stellar, but that's only if you can make it through the flick. :D

[bassman]

I don't care for 300, but the Watchmen blu ray is incredible....

[darth los]

You should give the Matrix a watch on BR (the original, not the crappy sequels).

Very nice as well.

:cool:

[AcesandEights]

Grats, Mike, but we've all moved onto 3D holocrystals now!

I made the jump to BR last year, myself, was a lot easier after the format wars died.

[MikePizzoff]

Today I picked up:

-Anchorman
-No Country For Old Men
-Zombieland
-American Psycho
-Cujo

The Anchorman set includes a mock diary of Ron Burgundy, which is a pretty amusing read, as well as 12 trading cards. It also has the unreleased "second" movie, Wake Up Ron Burgundy, which I still have yet to see. So I'm pretty excited for that one.

I've read good things about all of the transfers. I guess I'll find out tonight!

[tkane18]

Will Blu-Ray players play and upconvert DVDs?

[bassman]

Will Blu-Ray players play and upconvert DVDs?

si senor. And the upconverted dvds actually look fantastic. No need to replace every one of your standard dvds.

[AcesandEights]

Will Blu-Ray players play and upconvert DVDs?

I can't say if all will, but mine does. *shrug* That's what made it an easy choice. I don't even buy all blu rays at this point. I pick and choose depending on the sort of movie and how I feel about it.

[LouCipherr]

I can't say if all will, but mine does. *shrug* That's what made it an easy choice. I don't even buy all blu rays at this point. I pick and choose depending on the sort of movie and how I feel about it.

That's sort of been my philosophy for BR's. I only buy them if:

A) the picture quality is outstanding and is considered a "must own"
B) I don't already have it on HD-DVD
C) I really care about having the flick in HD.

A & C sorta work hand-in-hand. Sometimes there's a movie I really want in HD, however, the picture quality on the BR sucks. In that case, I won't buy the BR then as I don't really see the point. I'll just stick with the standard DVD.

Also - I will never pay full price for a BR disc. Never. That should be rule #1.

[DjfunkmasterG]

That's sort of been my philosophy for BR's. I only buy them if:

A) the picture quality is outstanding and is considered a "must own"
B) I don't already have it on HD-DVD
C) I really care about having the flick in HD.

A & C sorta work hand-in-hand. Sometimes there's a movie I really want in HD, however, the picture quality on the BR sucks. In that case, I won't buy the BR then as I don't really see the point. I'll just stick with the standard DVD.

Also - I will never pay full price for a BR disc. Never. That should be rule #1.

The $9.99 price tag and free 3D glasses doesn't hurt either.

I only buy BR's myself, no sense in spending $5.00 less for the DVD when i can just get the Blu-Ray and better PQ, sound and extras. However, many titles, catalog titles especially I don't buy Day and Date... I wait until they hit the 2 for $20 bin. :D

---------- Post added at 05:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 PM ----------


Today I picked up:

-Anchorman
-No Country For Old Men
-Zombieland
-American Psycho
-Cujo

The Anchorman set includes a mock diary of Ron Burgundy, which is a pretty amusing read, as well as 12 trading cards. It also has the unreleased "second" movie, Wake Up Ron Burgundy, which I still have yet to see. So I'm pretty excited for that one.

I've read good things about all of the transfers. I guess I'll find out tonight!

Mike, I must teahc you about imports. Some import versions of films have better PQ and not all Blu-Rays are region locked, a crappy feature of Blu-Ray and why HD DVD ruled because any HD DVD from anywhere int he world could play in any player, but anyway, it is better to import American psycho from Australia, it has a better transfer and correct Aspect ratio whereas the American version, although did get a correct AR, still has a crappy transfer.

Also when buying Gladiator and some other flicks, if you see the Yellow UPC code on the back grab that version as that is a re-issue that corrects problems the WHITE UPC coded version has and was quite annoying.

[MikePizzoff]

Mike, I must teahc you about imports. Some import versions of films have better PQ and not all Blu-Rays are region locked, a crappy feature of Blu-Ray and why HD DVD ruled because any HD DVD from anywhere int he world could play in any player, but anyway, it is better to import American psycho from Australia, it has a better transfer and correct Aspect ratio whereas the American version, although did get a correct AR, still has a crappy transfer.

Also when buying Gladiator and some other flicks, if you see the Yellow UPC code on the back grab that version as that is a re-issue that corrects problems the WHITE UPC coded version has and was quite annoying.

Yeah, some of American Psycho looked really good, but then every scene involving the limo had this rolling contrast effect that was really distracting.

As far as yellow UPC codes go - my Saving Private Ryan DVD is a yellow UPC. I'll be sure to check every BD from here on out. Thanks!

[DjfunkmasterG]

Gladiator is the other with a yellow UPC, only Paramount does this... so be careful other titles don't always re-issue the UPC.

If you grab Full Metal Jacket don't get the one with the white art and helmet, get the other remastered one with the darker art.