The Essential Blu-Rays

Care to enlighten us on this choice, champ?

Love the film, own it on Blu-Ray, but the audio/video aren't that much of a step up from the DVD or are you basing it on the Commentary/Special Features which are numerous but not particularly comprehensive.

2. 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938)

It's simply gorgeous with full, rich colors that are stunning to behold. It's probably my favorite blu ray that I own.

3. Speed Racer

It comes up every time this conversation happens for good goddamn reason. Sound takes a minor hit to provide pretty much the ultimate definition of eye candy. Bright, vibrant colors, an insane amount of detail, and the movie itself is fun, hilarous, and has a beating heart the likes of which a movie based on a shitty anime series from the 60s probably never deserved.

4. The Wizard of Oz

Amazing restoration/transfer and needless to say, a wonderful film to boot.


Also: insert any and all Criterion releases.

How's the audio on this? I found that either my DVD is horribly encoded or my sound system just sucks (which is more likely). Had the same issue with El Cid, was constantly playing volume jockey.

Well, there's only so much one can do with a mono mix, but Robin Hood's sound was okay for what it was.

I was fine with the audio on it, ObiJuan. It's probably as good as it could ever hope to be.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. It's a really great transfer, and it was great to see all three cuts on the film - I'd never seen the original theatrical cut ever, so that was a pleasant surprise. The sound mix was even better than I remembered too.

Seconded on ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. Although in the color department, THE RED SHOES, BLACK NARCISSUS and LOLA MONTES all blow it out of the water. Three of the best transfers (and great films) produced thus far.

THE GODFATHER TRILOGY (although on a large screen). Almost replicates the theatrical viewing experience. Supplements are good, but not that great (holding out hope for APOCALYPSE NOW).

Guilty pleasure of mine is MAGNUM FORCE - it looks/sounds great and is my favorite Dirty Harry film, but this is a total to each their own...

2001: A Space Odyssey, Casablanca, & The Searchers. The transfers are so good it looks like they were filmed yesterday. You can even see the flaws in 2001's painted backdrops.

Also, How The West Was Won. Not quite essential but the transfer is so jaw-droppingly perfect it makes your screen look like a moving 3D diorama. No joke.

Funny this should get started.

I second the love on Flynn's Robin Hood, Kubrick's 2001 and Ford's The Searchers. For the latter two, it just secures the notion that anything shot in 70mm will make for a definitive bluray experience.

With that said. Baraka.

Also, any home library could do no wrong with adding fantastic mr. fox, district 9, the fall, king kong, and Miami vice. Some of you may disagree with the overall film (can't imagine why), but from a visual standpoint, they all go above and beyond what our eyes have been accustomed to over the past 30 years of home exhibition.

P.S. Sleeping Beauty gets top honors in the vintage animation department. Eyvind Earle was an absolute master.

For newer animation: Pixar is pretty much gold standard there. Amazing films, pristine transfers, and always feature loaded.

For non-Pixar/Disney, though, some love must be shown to Beowulf. Awesome, underrated movie, but even if youre expecting perfect since it's CG, there are moments that are just goosepimple inducing gorgeous. The dragon battle at the end is pretty much 10-15 minutes of that shit.

The film itself isn't everyone's cup of tea, but Ghost In The Shell Innocence is pretty much an hour forty five minutes of pure demo disc material, for both picture and sound. The bass on the drums in the opening credits shakes houses.

Blade Runner, Master and Commander, Terminator: Salvation, anything Pixar, Star Trek, Where the Wild Things Are and Moon.

Interestingly, Terminator is my show-off disc. Not only is it pretty, but holy hell the sound is stellar.

But thumbs up to others mentioned such as; Speed Racer, District 9 and Wizard of Oz.

I am still slowly working on my collection, but these are my highlights in the technology. Batman Begins and Dark Knight (recently 8.99 on amazon) have yet to be watched and neither have the Pirates or Spiderman movies.

2001...definitely.

Yeah, I was stunned by how good that looked.

Add North by Northwest to my list. Some really great suggestions in here already.

I just assumed that 2001 went without saying.

As awesome as so many of the newer films look, it's the older films given loving and delicate care in their new transfers that really get my blood going. So many films that I could never have seen during their original release when they looked the best are now looking better than ever, and it's jaw-dropping to look at.

I'd like to add The Thing. Great video for an older release and of course you all know the story. Extra's not so much but I'm willing to overlook that, the sound however I can't confirm/deny as I only use my tv and don't have a nice sound setup.

Big Trouble in Little China: This film has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. The transfer is beautiful and the sound kicks ass to boot. If you're a fan you wont be disappointed.

Fight Club: Amazing texture and the sound once agin shines! This transfer has gotten me excited for Se7en.

I'll second the love for both The Thing and Big Trouble. The latter especially just looked stunning to me given it's age/budget/etc.

SLEEPING BEAUTY was 70mm as well, further strengthening your initial point.

Unfortunately, the picture quality of the recent Blu-ray of Kenneth Branagh's HAMLET, the last major 70mm film to date, has recieved less-than-glowing reviews. It was apparently the victim of overzealous noise reduction. In summary, anything shot in 70mm should make for a definitive bluray experience, unless the studio decides to fuck around and ruin it.

If you loved the fountain you probably have it on blu already. If not you should rectify it immediately. It's beautiful. Can't speak to any special features really, but it's just gorgeous.

Decent movies with the best blu has to offer:

The Dark Knight
Star Trek
Inglorious Bastards
Avatar
Blade Runner
Casino Royale
Sean Connery Bond Movies
The Fountain
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Speed Racer
Terminator Salvation
Anything Pixar

I've said it in the all-purpose blu-ray thread but The Searchers is essential viewing in this format. And the recent Coppola restoration of The Godfather trilogy is an awesome sight to behold. From what I've read about both discs, the films have never looked better than with this blu-ray transfer. Something about the practical limitations of film printing and projection from back in the day meant that theatrical audiences never got to see a truly reference quality print. Blu-ray offers that opportunity.

Akira's uncompressed sound mix is reference quality. The video on that disc is also brilliant. Still haven't seen the Blade Runner transfer but from everything I've heard it's fantastic.

It's interesting about Ratatouille... The blu-ray transfer is a bit of the soft side. I'm fairly certain the downloadable version Apple was selling on iTunes was a lot sharper without being too sharpened.

My, my, my, how did I forget this one?


Also, the BBC's Life is essential. Sir David's version, of course.

I was thinking of making a thread like this, since I just bought a PS3 over Labor Day weekend and was wondering which blu-rays are worth getting if I already own the DVD. I'll throw in the original Dawn of the Dead. It was the first blu-ray I bought, and the transfer on it is amazing. Looks like it was filmed yesterday.

Would Mad Men qualify? It's the best looking thing I've seen so far.

I 1st said decent, not great.

2nd I mentioned what blu has to offer, which means AV presentation and movie quality.

3rd, Terminator Salvation has an excellent AV presentation. It's my demo disc. It's not high art.

The special features are slight, but cover a surprising amount of ground. Plus, I'm pretty sure the unofficial commentary Aronofsky recorded is still floating around online.

I'd like to add The Mist. So much love is on that disc, not the least of which being the Black and White cut.

Dammit, when I bought that PS3 I swore I wouldn't buy too many titles I already have in my obscenely large DVD collection, but you guys are doing a good job of making me break that.

I recently watched my DVD of Fight Club (the one with the ton of extras) and was quite satisfied with the transfer and sound. Is the Blu-Ray really a big step-up? The comparisons I saw on the web didn't seem to think so.

I'm too late to this party, and not finding much to refute. And since the list structure seems to have broken down I'm gonna toss in a few releases that utterly shocked me based on the source material.

Blue Underground's Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Dead and Buried had room for improvement, but they're work on the City of the Living Dead, Django, Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, and New York Ripper discs is almost magical.

Severin's Hardware is stunning, and their Inglorious Bastards disc only falls shot because the film was shot without a lot of color.

Also, Akira looks fantastic. It made me hate the DVD transfer, which I once loved.

Re: FIght Club--Visually, its a step up, but the film is just naturally kinda grungy. Sound-wise, however, it fucking shames the DVD.

I'm really thrilled there was interest in this.

I'm tempted to turn it into a LIST for the front page. It wouldn't be until later in October or later.

One review I read mentioned that this audio track alone was a bigger file than the video file for Batman Begins. It is tremendous; beyond reference, if that's possible. The picture is incredibly vibrant and detailed as well. You can see the little imperfections from the cel photography. As for Blade Runner? I bought the "briefcase" edition on DVD, but am so glad I double-dipped (quadruple, really, all editions factored) the blu. It's in my Top 10, easy.
A bit more than a step up, I'd say, but that aural assessment is spot on. To those asking: I just watched the new Seven release and it is gorgeous. You'll revel in all the detail to be found in its desaturated darkness.

A couple of picks off the top of my head (especially thinking about the audio): Hot Fuzz and Drag Me To Hell.

Count me in.

You got my vote.

I'd be so down for that.

So Down!

Yes and yes. That loop on The Fountain Blu of the special effects/space psychedelia is great by itself. Film looks beautiful in HD of course.

And yeah, The Mist is wonderful especially the Black and White cut.

YES. People love lists, you know.

Ange lee's Hulk. I know it's one of those movies that people love to hate but if you like it blu-ray is the way to see it. Seriously stunning looking and sounding. Plus love it or hate it this one certainly seperates itself from the comic book movie pack.

What is now the semi-official preferred version of Close Encounters? I've always watched the Spec Ed, but I've heard it's the least of them.

Glad someone mentioned the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Blu - it's stuffed to the gills, looks fantastic, and best of all it's CHEAP.

The NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Special Edition has a lot of good stuff on there too. Sadly no Coens commentary but there's a ton of extra features, including a Charlie Rose show. Plus the picture looks amazing.

I wish KINGDOM OF HEAVEN Director's Cut had all the special features the DVD box set has. It would be essential if it did.

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS is essential for sure, and it's actually getting a little hard to find.

There's a third director's cut which is a mix of the original and the special edition that's probably the definitive cut of the movie. But there's not a "complete" kitchen-sink cut of the film, in that every cut has a unique scene that's not in the others. I don't know which one I prefer myself - the original cut has more of Neary's job, while the final director's cut has the longer intro to Neary's family and Neary's argument with his wife and the shower scene. Probably the final cut.

I'd say the picture quality and extras (for a Coens disc, anyway) make this one essential. Just picked it up a few weeks ago finally. And while a lot of the press tour stuff is total fluff and a bit boring (I'm looking at you, David Poland), so much of it is awesome (i.e. Charlie Rose, Spike Jonze Q&A), etc.

Also that Josh Brolin documentary is pretty great.

Picked up my copy of it last year at Wal-Mart for $15, and I still see it at that price there today, from time to time. I also prefer the "final director's cut," out of the three versions -- more of the original theatrical's good stuff that got trimmed for the 1980 release; way, way less of the "Roy-in-the-front-yard" shenanigans, plus the original ending.

Also, picked up the 4K restored version of Gladiator at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago...goddamn. Incredible, absolutely reference-level picture quality now. So glad I waited until the crappy version was out of stock. And the supplements have never been better, in any previous version.