Blu-Ray has won the Hi-Def war!

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Post by estefan » July 14th, 2009, 8:31 am

When I get around to converting to Blu-Ray (who knows when that will happen? I'm still perfectly happy with the DVD format), I will give that South Park Blu-Ray a rental, if only to listen to the commentary, as I do like Parker and Stone's mini-commentaries on the show's season sets.

However, what will Blu-Ray do to the South Park image anyway? Make the animation look crappier? :P Though, hearing Terrance and Philip's flatulence and that big musical number whose name I'm probably not allowed to print here in HD Dolby Surround should be interesting. :P

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Post by Daniel » July 14th, 2009, 6:35 pm

estefan wrote:However, what will Blu-Ray do to the South Park image anyway?
If the reviews for season 12 are any indication, a noticeable improvement. For the movie, there's all the CG effects that would benefit from HD, the scene in hell for example.

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Post by MrsTashlin » July 30th, 2009, 10:07 pm

I would think about double dipping for Army Of Darkness.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » August 15th, 2009, 12:33 am

From The Digital Bits:

"Classic Media's forthcoming Godzilla (1954 - due 9/22) on Blu-ray..."

The original Godzilla, Gojira...

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Post by Ben » August 17th, 2009, 7:31 am

Which hopefully won't look as bad and interlaced as the original DVD... ;)

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » August 24th, 2009, 9:46 pm

Confirmed today at The Digital Bits --

The horror film that's so unbelievable to me that it made me laugh the first time I watched it...



"Also, our friend T.K. Arnold over at Home Media has confirmed information we posted in The Rumor Mill earlier this year, specifically that Warner is working on a new Exorcist Blu-ray. It was originally planned for this year, but it looks like the studio has worked with director William Friedkin and director of photography Owen Roizman to create new HD transfers of both the 1973 theatrical release and 2000 extended director's cut. New extras are also being produced, and the idea is to have it available for release by next Halloween."



Good to hear both cuts of the film are on the new Blu ray release!

I get really annoyed by separate cut releases or unavailability of theatrical cuts on home video.

Shame it won't be out until late next year...

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Post by Aaron_03 » September 13th, 2009, 9:25 pm

Haven't bought a blu-ray movie for awhile, or any movie for a matter of fact.

I think A Bug's Life and Monster's INC would be good puchases.

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Post by droosan » September 14th, 2009, 1:05 am

I recently bought The Last Starfighter on Blu-ray. It sports an excellent-quality transfer, and is just as enjoyable as I'd remembered from seeing it in its original theatrical run. :)

I found out only yesterday that one of my favorite 'casual viewing' movies -- Silverado -- saw a Blu-ray release last week .. so, I will likely be getting that soon.

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Post by Ben » September 14th, 2009, 8:59 am

I've been so bad at keeping my purchases updated here! :(

Recently I went for Corpse Bride and Horton as I think I mentioned I was going to, but have also been picking up the odd title when I see 'em going cheap: 2001, Sleepy Hollow (with a very disappointing transfer), Little Miss Sunshine and King Kong, while recent screeners have included Watchmen and Race To Witch Mountain. The latest release I have is Coraline, which I haven't managed to sit down and watch yet.

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Post by droosan » September 15th, 2009, 3:36 am

Ben wrote:Little Miss Sunshine
Image

:lol:

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Post by Ben » September 15th, 2009, 6:24 am

Yep, that's the one I got. ;)

GeorgeC

Holiday Classics on Blu ray

Post by GeorgeC » November 15th, 2009, 12:29 am

Bunch of old films released on Blu ray for the first time this year!

It's A Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated and live-action), and Miracle on 34th Street are on Blu ray now. All are worthy of the upgrades and may be worth your time to check out and make a decision for the upgrade.

It's A Wonderful Life is by all accounts a major Blu ray upgrade with detail not seen in the previous DVD versions... The Grinch I can't comment on but if I were to buy it I would definitely be getting the superior animated TV special.

As for Miracle on 34th Street, the Blu ray packaging would have you believe the colorized version is on the Blu ray but thank goodness there was a goof-up and only the black-and-white original is on the BD! There is substantial improvement in the image as illustrated in the review here http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRevie ... lu-ray.htm . It does appear there was brightness boosting in the previous DVD release. The Blu ray features quite a bit of detail and sharpness not evident in the DVD editions even though the overall film is darker on BD. The important special features are ported over to the BD edition even though a TV version of Miracle on 34 Street was deleted from the Blu ray edition.

Also of interest for BD consumers is the single-disc release of Casablanca on BD. Last year's release forced consumers to buy a special-edition box set (like Wizard of Oz and the upcoming Gone With The Wind) and there was no option to buy the film-only (or exclusive deals to sell BD-only releases like Target and Wal-Mart were offering).

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Post by Randall » November 15th, 2009, 1:41 am

The live action Grinch likely isn't worth the upgrade. They shot that film through a thick haze. When I first watched the DVD, I tried in vain to re-adjust my display settings, as it looked pretty crummy. By all accounts, the HD DVD wasn't much better.

I'm definitely getting It's a Wonderful Life on Blu-ray, as it's one of my faves. I may spring for Miracle on 34th St., which I've somehow never seen. I'm also looking at getting the Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol, which has two Blu-ray editions now. The VCI one has very good reviews, while I haven't found a review yet for the other (looks like Canadian) edition.

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Post by EricJ » November 15th, 2009, 2:32 am

Randall wrote:I'm also looking at getting the Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol, which has two Blu-ray editions now. The VCI one has very good reviews, while I haven't found a review yet for the other (looks like Canadian) edition.
From all reports, the Canadian Morningstar version is just a public-domain vulture that grabbed a loose VHS print--

The VCI is an up-port of their print-restored 2-disk Special Edition from last year, and looks pretty darn good...VCI now seems to have "adopted" parental custody of the movie, which's led them into restoring other lost British vault films

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Post by Ben » November 15th, 2009, 8:23 am

It's A Wonderful Life...I am tempted by, but last year's 60th Anniversary DVD will probably see me through, especially since there is another total lack of new extras.

Miracle...somehow I've just never been able to plug into this movie! So I certainly won't be buying the BD edition, since it just doesn't reach me like Jimmy Stewart can. And the Attenborough remake was even worse!

Casablanca...as a packaging nut, I would go for the box anyway, which <I>wasn't</I> like Oz or Wind, it was just a standard BD/DVD sized case, like WB's previous ultimate sets. But then again I already have the two-disc DVD and while I know the image may be better, it still looks crisp and upscaling on a movie like this will do me until I can start working ym way through a complete wish list of upgrades.

Grinches...probably a pass. I didn't think the Howard/Carrey movie had any magic, and again the restored DVD edition from last year of Jones' animated special was pretty sharp anyway. If we'd had a screener come in I would have been interested as I still have a lack of cel animation in my BD collection other than the few Disneys released, and am interested to see the differences between upscaling and native HD in these more flatter instances, as I understand there's not much between them. As such, it hardly seems worthy of "upgrading", especially when there is so much other new stuff to collect!


On Sim's A Christmas Carol, I'm good with the two-disc from last year, though Rand the VCI is definitely the one to go for. They did a pretty nice job on the restoration, though it is not absolutely perfection. But you can bet the Morningstar one is just another PD release. I don't know if the VCI would be worth a BD; the restoration was not without its own (minor) problems and might not hold up so well to HD.

Also, make sure what extras are carried over, since the two-disc DVD had quite a bit on there including a full-length earlier version of the same story. Then again, it's only $16.99 on Amazon right now. But be aware that DVD Beaver have compared the very old and rigtfully crummy VCI edition with the Blu-ray, NOT the cleaned up two-disc from last year, which is a bit of a cheat really. Lastly, VCI provided both 1.33 and 1.78 options on the two-disc (alongside the colorized version and 1938 version, plus the extras) so make sure the new BD has the correct 1.33 - this was 1951 and widescreen did not start to creep in until three years later - and isn't "widescreen" exclusive.


Bottom line...I'm sticking with good old DVDs on all these titles, for various reasons. :)

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