Are there 10 titles that would make you cave in (re: HD) (1 Viewer)

[Shawn.F]

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Lawrence of Arabia
Schindler's List
The Godfather Trilogy
Jaws
The Toy Story films
The Incredibles
Ben-Hur
Wings of Desire
and a little Star Wars action would be nice too.

 

[Kain_C]

I think Mark H. said exactly what I feel. Exactly.

 

[Simon Massey]

Star Wars saga
Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
Pixar films

That's probably the only ones that will make me jump into HD early. Otherwise I will wait

 

[Dale MA]

If I ever get round to making the jump from SD-DVD to Blu-Ray then I will probably only upgrade around 30 of my current SD-DVDs -- after that I will only buy films that I have not yet bought.

The titles I can see myself upgrading to Blu-Ray are:

1941 - the current DVD has a crappy non-anamorphic transfer, so an upgrade would be welcome.

The Back To The Future Trilogy

The Dollar Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad & The Ugly) - I would rebuy only if they included the original mono track AS WELL as they remixed 5.1 track.

Jaws - although the 30th Anniversary Edition is awesome, so this new version would have to be pretty mind blowing to warrant the upgrade.

North by Northwest

Psycho

The Star Wars Saga

With most of the above titles I would want all the current extras carried over with any new material they may add or else it's a no sale.

 

[Jake Yenor]

Indiana Jones Trilogy
Blade Runner
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (EE of course)
Star Trek Series
Star Wars Saga
Monty Python Series
Any Kevin Smith movie

 

[Jefe Noche]

Se7en
2001: A Space Odyssey
Boogie Nights
Pulp Fiction
Platoon
Apocalypse Now
Natural Born Killers
American Beauty
The Godfather 1 and 2
Goodfellas
Blade Runner
Alien
Saving Private Ryan
Requiem for a Dream
Unforgiven
Tombstone
Magnolia

....I could go on and on and on and on

 

[Thomas T]

I'm in no hurry whatsoever! I expect for the first several years we'll get the -yawn- same old same old titles we already have on standard DVD. However if any of the following get on HD (and assuming they are not available on standard DVD), I will cave in.

1. Looking For Love (1964), an MGM musical with Connie Francis and Jim Hutton.

2. Congo Crossing (1956), a jungle adventure from Universal with Virginia Mayo and Peter Lorre.

3. Made In Paris (1966), an MGM romantic comedy with music with Ann-Margret and Louis Jourdan.

4. Tension At Table Rock (1956), an RKO western with Richard Egan and Dorothy Malone and a score by Dimitri Tiomnkin.

5. The Crowded Sky (1960) from Warners. A High And The Mighty airborne melodrama with Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Anne Francis and Troy Donahue.

6. The Girl Rush (1955) from Paramount. A musical with Rosalind Russell.

7. The Good Die Young (1954) A British film released in the USA by United Artists with Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame and Joan Collins.

8. The Big Cricus from Allied Artists. A circus adventure in the vein of Greatest Show On Earth with Victor Mature, Rhonda Fleming, Red Buttons, Vincent Price and Gilbert Roland.

9. Hell's Half Acre (1954) from Republic. A mystery set in Hawaii with Wendell Corey, Evelen Keyes and Elsa Lanchester.

10. Girl In The Kremlin (1957) from Universal. A thriller set in the Soviet Union with Lex Barker (Tarzan) and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Now, when THEY show up on HD, I'm soooo there!

 

[DanFe]

One thing I won't do, though, is buy LOTR, TT, and ROTK on HD-DVD. Bluray or nothing.

 

[DanR]

I'm pretty sure you'll see those within a year or so after the Blu-Ray format launches. Keep in mind that Spider-Man 3 is set to be released to theaters in summer 2007. I think there are a couple chances of seeing the Spidey movies released:

- The Q406 holiday shopping season (Sony knows this is a big exlcusive title for the format)

- 2Q07 to tie in with the theatrical release of Spider-Man 3

- 4Q07 in conjunction with the Blu-Ray release of Spider-man 3

Was just thinking too, would be cool if they released these with exclusive content and previews of Spidey 3 via the new interactivity.

Regards,
Dan

 

[Colin Jacobson]

That's how I feel. I'm a mid-adopter - I never adopt right away, but I hop on before something hits the masses. (Got into DVD mid-1998, got into CD early 1985 - ahead of the curve, but not in the earliest waves.)

Too much instability with HD to grab ahold right off the bat. Plus, I'd want to see how it looks on my TV - I don't know how much of a difference it'll make...

 

[T r o y]

One Title does it for me ....

T O M B S T O N E

"I'm your huckleberry"!

 

[Daniel-M]

These may make me cave in for Blu-ray(HD-DVD is out of the question) this year:
James Bond 1-21
Spider-Man 1 and 2
X-Men 1-3
Batman Begins
Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2
Lord of the Rings
Mission Impossible 1-3

 

[Arjan S]

Star Wars series
2001 A Space Odyssey
Titanic
Indy Jones series
Terminator series
The Matrix series
Good, Bad and Ugly
Casino
Rocky
Six Days Seven Nights ( Don't ask, even I don't know why I like it so much)

 

[MarkHastings]

While the "Possibility" can be absolutely AMAZING, the "Reality" can also mean that a lot of HD-DVD's won't look too much better than the top SD-DVD's.

But, of course, I won't know till I see it as well. If, at it's worse, HD is MUCH better than SD, I'll jump on board soon, but if at its worse, HD is not really that much better than SD, I won't be an early adopter because there's just too much of a chance that most releases won't be utilizing the full potetntial of the format.


EDIT: I guess the original question should be, Are there 10 titles that would make you cave in (re:HD) if the quality were similar to some of those Discovery Channel/PBS specials they run on the HD stations.

I mean, if I were guaranteed that quality with every release, I'd jump on no it with no doubt.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Quality is definitely the issue with many existing releases not really utlizing the potential that exists with current DVD technology. My list, assuming emaculate presentations would look something like this...

2001: A Space Odyssey
Dune
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Blade Runner
The Matrix
Once Upon A Time In The West
A River Runs Through It
Apocalypse Now
The Last of the Mohicans (theatrical cut, pretty please )
A Clockwork Orange

There are plenty of other choices and there are some notable omissions from this list, but these are some of the titles that readily come to mind.

- Walter.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

This should be a very easy answer... Yes!

Not only are most of those "shows" shot with HD cameras - which are still lower resolution than 35mm film cameras, but broadcast HD, at least from cable and satellite are often times heavily compressed. They are also either in 720p or 1080i, and not in 1080p.

Pre-recorded HD films, specifically on Blu-ray using VC-1, but even using MPEG-2 is easily capable of a much 'cleaner' image than broadcast HD and supports full 1080p images. Considering that broadcasters are far more liberal in their use of EE then studios are with their DVDs, you can almost bet that the HD disc versions of films will look even superior to the same films shown in HD over cable and satellite.

I've seen first hand the difference between standard def and 720p of the exact same film and source, and the difference is astonishing. Far more so than the difference between VHS and DVD, especially when viewing at a D:W ratio of 2:1 or less. For those that refused to buy a non anamorphic DVD due to the lower resolution, 720p will make you never want to watch standard DVD ever again... assuming you really felt that adverse to non anamorphic DVDs, as so many have said so in the past. And this is just 720p...

1080p is unbelievably gorgeous, but to be able to fully appreciate it requires a native 1920x1080 display... which are not only uncommon, but cost significantly more than their 1280x720 counterparts.

The good news is that you only need a 1280x720 display to see how much better HD films look then their standard DVD counterparts.

Believe me, I have no desire to replace my entire +2,000 DVD collection with HD versions, but I also realize that once I start watching more HD films, I will likely just stop watching standard DVDs, just as I did with older, poorly transferred DVDs, and other then lending them out, they'll just be gathering dust on the shelves. :frowning:

I still feel, as I have said all along, that any and all HD disc formats will remain niche products for many years to come, because the mass market really doesn't care that much about quality. Price, convenience, and features are what impresses the mass market, and in that order. The cost of getting into these formats alone will keep many from adopting them until these costs come way down.

Then there is the issue of having compatible equipment, and concerns about DRM methods, although most folks in the mass market do not even know what DRM means, and probably don't care.

Yes, these are niche products, and there are certainly legitimate reasons for most folks to show no immediate interest in either format, but for those that really care about seeing their favorite films at home in the best presentation currently available, this is a dream come true.

If you are the kind of person who would refuse to buy a DVD if it wasn’t anamorphic, or didn’t have a DTS track (no comment please), or because the transfer was below average, then you are going to go nuts over HD films. That’s how much better they look and sound… no contest.

 

[Chris Will]

I'm planning on supporting Blu-Ray when prices drop(unless HD-DVD wins quickly of course).
Star Wars (All 6)
LOTR Trilogy (Extended version only)
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Star Trek Movies and Enterprise Series
Back To The Future Trilogy
King Kong(2005)
If all these were announced for Blu-Ray now I'd probably sell my wife to get a player.

 

[Alan Kaplan]

Yes Nils. Lets hope the studio's don't cave in to mass market and the Walmart influence and start releasing cropped versions of 2.35 films and mock widescreen versions of 4:3 films formatted to fit their 16:9 TV's. Considering that there really is no anamorphic enhancement to the hi-def standard, a 4:3 film will display properly with bars on the side instead of stretching to fill the screen. This is the way a lot of people watch 4:3 material on a 16;9 display. Not me of course.

But to answer this post's question, I would love to jump into DB as soon as possible once there are many modern and old classic films put out properly on the hi-def format. It will be too hard to resist. I also favor BD as the preferred choice.

 

[Adam_S]

I can name three, and as far as I'm concerned they're the only ones that matter RE upgrading now versus five years from now.

Star Wars theatrical edition (1977 or 1980 rerelease (with ANH subtitle) I'm not picky on this point)

Empire Strikes Back theatrical edition (1980)

Return of the Jedi theatrical edition (1983 - yub-dub )

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

NO.

Because they'll all eventually come out in a high-def format within the next 2 years anyway and there is no doubt that the first generation discs will merit reissues once a reigning format becomes accepted and transends into mainstream movie buying.

So no.

Just as I will not purchase a standard-def title which I suspect is due for reissue within a year or so. Because there is a wealth of catalogue titles and new release that money could go to instead of spending on a title that I might potentially double dip on in a year's time.

The Wild Bunch is one of my favorite films of all time. It just might take that title. But for nearly 5 years I've held off on owning the DVD (or even watching the movie for that matter) as I knew it would eventually come out in an improved version. And now that time has come and I'm all the more excited to purchase it! Whereas others might argue that for $15-20 they were able to enjoy the film for the past 4-5 years, I put that $15-20 to other definite films which I was equally excited about, and that will make my viewing of this new S.E. even more of an event!

The same will hold tru for me when it comes to Blue-ray / HDVD.

I have no intention of spending money on the hardware to view these discs, or titles themselves, which may be rendered obsolete 9 months down the line. Not to mention that it won't be a couple of years into the format anyway before we are really able to take advantage of the higher res capabilities and improved picture.

I just hope this ridiculous format war doesn't effect the future commercial viability of high definition home video altogether. I'm still very concerned about the direction of the format and with titles already announced for this coming spring, I'm surprised at just how little we know.