Blu-ray Movie Review Thread

SourChipmunk · 13 May 2008 at 02:03

(Hopefully this can become the OcUK Official thread)

I am looking for personal opinions of Blu-ray movies, not magazine reviews. I bought a 16:9 screen so I wouldn't have to deal with letterboxing anymore. I bought a Blu-ray player to get better picture quality. For nearly twice the price of DVDs, is the movie worth getting on Blu-ray, and why?

This thread started to touch on some, but not all were personal opinion.

For those interested in movie reviews, check http://www.blu-ray.com

So, I will begin:

Spiderman 3 (2007)
Video: 2.40:1, 1080p
Audio: DolbyTrueHD 5.1, English PCM 5.1

Picture quality is fantastic throughout the movie, but the letterboxing takes away from the overall feel. Modern quality sound; bass can be a little overwhelming at times so it required a tweak of the subwoofer. The Special Features are not worthy of the extra disk space (bloopers, a Snow Patrol music video, and photo galleries).
BR or not? DVD would be adequate for me.

Ratatouille (2007)
Video: 2.39:1, 1080p
Audio: English 5.1 uncompressed

Again, the letterboxing is a disappointment, but the quality is tremendous as Pixar films should be. Audio is above par as little noises are going on all around you as you watch. Special Features include three little animated shorts, one of which is not on the DVD version, and a "Cine-Explore" for going behind the scenes (which I've not tried yet).
BR or not? Yes indeed.

Total Recall (1990)
Video: 16:9, 1080p
Audio: DTS HD ES, 5.1 Dolby, Digital Surround EX

I only bought this because it was the same price as the DVD (which I didn't own), so a total bargain. Picture quality is the same as the DVD version (but no letterboxing!) but there seemed to be a difference for the better in the audio -- the surround seemed to be more pronounced. The only Special Feature is a "Visions of Mars" featurette that I haven't watched yet.
BR or not? If the price is right.

Blade Runner (2007 remastered version)
Video: 2.40:1, 1080p
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1

The set I purchased contains 5 discs, the Final Cut being the main feature. Though the CGI portions of the movie were greatly enhanced (especially noticable in the fly-bys of the Tyrell building), the normal scenes of the movie still had the grainy feel of the original. The sound is improved greatly, and the Blade Runner music that we all know and love stands out and gives chills. 4 more discs contain over 9 hours of Special Features, including the Making Of, US Theatrical Cut (US only), International Theatrical Cut, and the "workprint" which I haven't checked out yet, plus all the director's commentaries and deleted scenes that you'd expect from a DVD version.
BR or not? Absolutely. The CGI enhancements really added to the soundtrack in all the right places.

Neil777 · 13 May 2008 at 18:29

I'm confused, you say that there's not letterboxing on Blade Runner but it's filmed at 2.40:1., have you got your tv set correctly?

Also are you aware that grain is a part of film stock and the extra resolution on blu-ray will make it more evident?

Tom84 · 13 May 2008 at 20:28

Kinda off topic but I've asked it in so many other threads why not throw the question out here as well....

What is the deal with Cloverfield on BlueRay? It's out in a couple of weeks on DVD yet still no word on when it's going to be released on BR let alone whether it will be the same day as the DVD release :confused:

Euro_Hunter · 13 May 2008 at 20:41

June 3rd according to What Hi-FI

Tom84 said:
What is the deal with Cloverfield on BlueRay? It's out in a couple of weeks on DVD yet still no word on when it's going to be released on BR let alone whether it will be the same day as the DVD release

SourChipmunk · 13 May 2008 at 21:08

Neil777 said:
I'm confused, you say that there's not letterboxing on Blade Runner but it's filmed at 2.40:1., have you got your tv set correctly?

Yup. Sorry, just noticed that. I wonder then why the letterboxing didn't bother me when watching it. Maybe because the movie is so dark anyway. I'll have to check it again. (original post corrected).

Also are you aware that grain is a part of film stock and the extra resolution on blu-ray will make it more evident?

They cleaned much of it up and I have to say it looks great, just not perfect as all the hyped up reviews led me to believe.

-Ad- · 14 May 2008 at 10:13

ratatouoououoille: WOW !!!!!!!!

Starship troopers: OOOOOO !!!!!

28 weeks later: A bit meh

Blu-ray still floats my boat.

sunderland · 15 May 2008 at 14:50

I ROBOT got to be one if not the best picture quality ive seen,

balls · 17 May 2008 at 09:45

Have to agree with the Blade runner BR comment, fantastic IQ.

300 also looked spectacular on my projector

Oops Dead Again · 17 May 2008 at 11:49

Not really a film but Planet Earth is just simply stunning in PQ terms

Bhoya · 17 May 2008 at 12:37

300 - BR greatness
Life of Brian - surprisingly it is a noticable change, doesn't change the film a lot but more vivid colours and detail definitely spruces up this classic
Terminator - meh, not too impressed
Terminator 2 - improvement over the DVD version, not a huge one but noticable
Enter the Dragon - much sharper image with more vivid colours but not a great difference
The Rock - brilliance, definitely recommend the BR version. Sharp details throughout the film and lovely explosions
Con Air - Similar to The Rock, greatness
Air Force One - not a huge difference in detail between DVD and BR
Pirates of the Caribbean 1/2/3 - wow, can't recommend enough for demo material although the actual films are a bit poop

Sweetloaf · 17 May 2008 at 14:37

I personally thought 300 on BluRay was a huge letdown, maybe it was because of the added film fuzz, which in my opinion just looks like a cheap and unnecesary Windows Movie Maker style added effect.
Spiderman 3 was Ok but nothing to shout about, Planet Earth is stunning for the most part, the switching to older SD is glaringly obvious but the true HD bits are great!

Metalface Mark · 17 May 2008 at 14:47

I find it strange that you think letterboxing takes away from the overall feel, i find that a letterboxed movie gives a far more cinematic feel as you are getting the full widescreen picture and not losing parts at the side.

AbsenceJam · 17 May 2008 at 16:20

You really lack ANY credibility about the quality of discs if you complain about OAR.

Nymins · 17 May 2008 at 17:14

2001: A Space Odyssey = Looks amazing and sounds amazing. If you have seen the original on DVD, then definitely get it again on Blu-Ray because it is so better. Loads of stuff i didn't notice before.

SourChipmunk · 18 May 2008 at 22:37

AbsenceJam said:
You really lack ANY credibility about the quality of discs if you complain about OAR.

Metalface Mark said:
I find it strange that you think letterboxing takes away from the overall feel, i find that a letterboxed movie gives a far more cinematic feel as you are getting the full widescreen picture and not losing parts at the side.

I never claimed to be a credible reviewer. I'm only looking for opinions to see what BR movies are worth purchasing. I don't terribly mind letterboxing, I would just prefer my 16:9 viewscreen was fully utilised.

kidloco · 18 May 2008 at 23:58

just watched the AVP film on bluray, bit of a let down to be honest, I think I need a bigger tv, my 42" panny is great when things are in 16/9, by when watching a letterboxed film it only equates to the height around a 32" screen, all be it a wide one.

I find it makes the leap from sd to hd far less noticable when half the screen is black bars

Dougsnake · 19 May 2008 at 00:06

kidloco said:
just watched the AVP film on bluray, bit of a let down to be honest, I think I need a bigger tv, my 42" panny is great when things are in 16/9, by when watching a letterboxed film it only equates to the height around a 32" screen, all be it a wide one.

I find it makes the leap from sd to hd far less noticable when half the screen is black bars

True the black bars can be a tad annoying but the actual video quality of avp is immaculate and the fight scenes looked awesome to me.

2p

nikebee · 19 May 2008 at 00:08

Tom84 said:
Kinda off topic but I've asked it in so many other threads why not throw the question out here as well....

What is the deal with Cloverfield on BlueRay? It's out in a couple of weeks on DVD yet still no word on when it's going to be released on BR let alone whether it will be the same day as the DVD release

Blu-Ray.com claims 3rd June as well

dbmzk1 · 19 May 2008 at 03:14

I also hate the black bars. I don't get what is better about making the picture smaller. I'd rather use my entire TV than see a little more at the sides. A TV is not a movie theatre and it looks silly to have half the screen taken up by nothing! They could film it so you see the same sideways but just more up and down, but I guess that's too much to ask!

If a film is mostly people talking, ie no action, I sometimes use zoom so the movie fills the screen, as there is no reason what so ever to see that little bit more and HD allows you to do this with little loss in PQ.

Sweetloaf · 19 May 2008 at 08:27

kidloco said:
I think I need a bigger tv, my 42" panny is great when things are in 16/9, by when watching a letterboxed film it only equates to the height around a 32" screen, all be it a wide one.

Of course if you were watching it on a 32 inch screen it would still have black bars, they aren't great I admit and I was dissapointed when I got my first widescreen TV thinking that it would do away with them, however, if a film is worth watching I find that I don't notice them at all.