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Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

post #1 of 71
9/25/08 at 2:56pm
Thread Starter 
I’ve got my BD player on order, so I’m hoping to avoid picking up a BD that is somewhat less stellar than expected. So that lead me to my question.

In your library of Blu-ray disc’s, which one do you wish you’d passed on? Why?
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post #2 of 71
9/25/08 at 5:09pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Patton... I had it ordered and shipped before seeing all the negative press about the DNR that was applied. Its not a bad release but in hindsight, on the principal of not wanting to encourage the use of DNR, I would have passed.

That said I own 60+ other titles on Blu-ray and I wouldn't give them up at all.
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post #3 of 71
9/25/08 at 5:33pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Only one - which won't hurt you in practice.

But I have to admit I didn't order Patton, The Longest Day and Gangs of New York, because I was being warned in time on this forum.
(Excessive application of DNR)

Also I never ordered the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on blu-ray (and I'm not sure if a replacement program has ever been in place).
(Cropping errors)


The BD I regret is the first release of The Fifth Element (bad image compression), but Sony released a new version, which is significantly better. I have that one too.


Cees
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post #4 of 71
9/25/08 at 5:57pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Not yet, but I've only got about 10 or so titles so far. Out of my 120 or so HD DVD and 350 or so DVDs, though, I can't say I have a title I "wished I didn't buy". There are thousands of titles out there (if we count all three optical disc formats) that I don't want, but I tend not to "blind buy" as a rule, so I've been lucky so far.
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post #5 of 71
9/25/08 at 5:59pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cees Alons
Also I never ordered the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on blu-ray (and I'm not sure if a replacement program has ever been in place).
(Cropping errors)

I've read that in the just released Trilogy Boxset, the framing problem has been fixed.
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post #6 of 71
9/25/08 at 6:16pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cees Alons
Also I never ordered the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on blu-ray (and I'm not sure if a replacement program has ever been in place).
(Cropping errors)

Yes, they have an exchange program for that disc. But i dont know about overseas, Cees. That being said, i never had any interest in the other 2 movies in the series.

I regret none of the BD's i have. I also dont double dip much. If i find a killer price, or if its a movie i LOVE (Planet of the Apes 1968, and the Bond films for instance)I would buy it on any format i have to!
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post #7 of 71
9/25/08 at 6:43pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Yeah. The Love Guru. But not because anything is wrong with the image quality. Dear god, what a bad movie...
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post #8 of 71
9/25/08 at 7:44pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Ha, ha!
Wanted too start a thread like this for over two wks.
Was worried it would get removed.
Or people would think it was anti-Blu.

My title would have been: Any BD's you've already traded in?
That way, it would serve as a warning too others; w/people posting why they returned this or that.

The reason I was going too start the thread was:
"Ozzfest"
Black Sabbath was GREAT. Sounded better than the albums. Just Ozzy played the fool; saying over & over again 'luv you all'. What does love have too do with "War Pigs"? When did a "BS" concert become a sing along? "I" could not enjoy the concert.
Since then there's been:
"Forbidden City"
I didn't like the trailers (Chan's wig is ridiculous, even if that's the point, I can't look at it... fake, fake, fake!). So I never thought I'd even see this. Good reviews & a $13.99US used price got me too bite & I've been choking ever since. Too "me", bad CGI, bad wire work, bad dialog, unconvincing acting, all adds up to a return.

I'm wavering on:
"Crimson Tide" (I really want: "HfRO")
&
"Deja Vu" (I really want "MoF")

So... hope the thread goes well!
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post #9 of 71
9/25/08 at 10:45pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Probably T2, but I felt like being a completist and having all three Terminator films on BD.
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post #10 of 71
9/25/08 at 11:42pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

28 Days Later A good movie, nothing great but the PQ is horrible. Director intended from what I heard but it's so bad it's unwatchable. I traded it.
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post #11 of 71
9/26/08 at 12:34am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron-P
28 Days Later A good movie, nothing great but the PQ is horrible. Director intended from what I heard but it's so bad it's unwatchable. I traded it.

I finally saw that one on a rental, and yeah, it looks like SD quality video (not film) rather than HD, except for the ending. I think I might actually pick up the DVD at some point, if/when I spot it in the bargain bin or something. Well, I suppose I'd get the BD, if that's in the bargain bin too. FWIW, I enjoyed I am Legend for the most part, but IMHO, this is the better film despite the low budget production.

As for my own actual purchases, so far, XXX is probably amongst the worst I can think of in terms of PQ -- and it's also pretty barebones. However, since I never owned the DVD (and never saw it before at all), I can't say I regret spending the ~$10 I paid for it. And I didn't bother to buy Patton nor Gangs of NY largely because of the widely reported PQ issues.

There are some others I bought that I could live w/out, but those are not due to poor PQ -- they were just blind buys that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.

_Man_
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post #12 of 71
9/26/08 at 4:24am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

I bought the Resident Evil trilogy last December because I had just gotten my new TV and PS3 and was desparate for something new on BD.

Wasn't a big fan of the movies. I had no issues with the presentation, but I have no desire to ever watch them again. I finally sold em to a buddy of mine.
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post #13 of 71
9/26/08 at 4:49am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

T2 = PQ was almost indistinguishable from the upconverted SD Extreme Edition.

20 Million Miles to Earth = Forced to pay for it again in the Harryhausen set since I want ICFBTS and EVTFS. Nice way to treat us early adopters Sony!

In the future:

Probably any bare-bones discs I bought that'll eventually get the deluxe double-dipped treatment. I can only blame myself for those though.

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post #14 of 71
9/26/08 at 4:57am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris S
Patton... I had it ordered and shipped before seeing all the negative press about the DNR that was applied. Its not a bad release but in hindsight, on the principal of not wanting to encourage the use of DNR, I would have passed.

I wish I would have read this yesterday. I just bought into BD, and decided to take advantage of an Amazon "buy two, get one BD free" sale. I ordered three favorite films -- Patton, Terminator, and Die Hard -- without looking at any reviews. I just noticed the sale, and it was ending yesterday.

Doh!
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post #15 of 71
9/26/08 at 5:36am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

(Re: Pirates of the Caribbean.)
Quote:
I've read that in the just released Trilogy Boxset, the framing problem has been fixed.
That would be great!


Scott: I'm sure you will enjoy the movie. The price being right and the picture quality certainly not bad (just that one thing....).


Cees
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post #16 of 71
9/26/08 at 6:03am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

So far that I have watched and can remember off the top of my head would be Bonnie & Clyde.

Good PQ and fine audio (it is mono after all) but the movie is terribly over rated and I'd have rather rented it than bought it for what probably ended up being $26-27 CDN after conversion and shipping.

If that movie with that dialog and acting was made today it'd be panned by everyone but somehow it is seen as good film making because it was made over 4 decades ago.
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post #17 of 71
9/26/08 at 7:54am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Total Recall - not much difference from the SD version
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post #18 of 71
9/26/08 at 8:03am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Evil Dead II - Wax City (i.e. Excessive DNR).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy_M
Total Recall - not much difference from the SD version


Yeah, the Lionsgate is not very good at all. I highly recommend the UK BD.
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post #19 of 71
9/26/08 at 10:32am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong - re: 28 Days Later
I finally saw that one on a rental, and yeah, it looks like SD quality video (not film) rather than HD, except for the ending. I think I might actually pick up the DVD at some point, if/when I spot it in the bargain bin or something.

That's because it was shot in SD on a Canon XL-1 video camera (admittedly with an array of lenses). It'll never look good. It'll always look like it's source (Mini-DV, and at 25 fps I believe).
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post #20 of 71
9/26/08 at 11:23am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Beerfest, not because of the quality, but because it was so stupid it made me want to throw myself off my balcony. Sometimes blind buys just go awry.
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post #21 of 71
9/26/08 at 1:25pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

I bought the first release of 5th element but never had a chance to evaluate the pq, it would not play on any of the 3 BD players I tried it on--the second release is gorgeous.

I do regret buying the import of Starship Troopers as it lacks the commentary and other special features of the domestic release.
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post #22 of 71
9/26/08 at 3:20pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathon M
That's because it was shot in SD on a Canon XL-1 video camera (admittedly with an array of lenses). It'll never look good. It'll always look like it's source (Mini-DV, and at 25 fps I believe).

RE: 28 Days Later, yeah, I'm aware of that. Just didn't think it was necessary to explain all that to the OP under the circumstance since the BD is what it is regardless -- and maybe most fans of the flick would realize this anyhow.

RE: Total Recall (Lionsgate version), yeah, that along w/ some others could definitely be better and may not be worth your while if you already have the DVD. For myself, I bought it at bargain price anyway since I never bought the DVD. Still, I think it has better PQ than XXX though. XXX is definitely no better than SD quality as far as I can tell. I never saw the original Fifth Element release, but it's probably similar to that, if not worse.

_Man_
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post #23 of 71
9/26/08 at 3:35pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathon M
That's because it was shot in SD on a Canon XL-1 video camera (admittedly with an array of lenses). It'll never look good. It'll always look like it's source (Mini-DV, and at 25 fps I believe).
RE: 28 Days Later, yeah, I'm aware of that. Just didn't think it was necessary to explain all that to the OP under the circumstance since the BD is what it is regardless -- and maybe most fans of the flick would realize this anyhow.
The OP had all of this explained to him when he asked, in another thread, why there hadn't been howls of protest over the BD of 28 Days Later.

I happen to think the BD looks quite good. Then again, I like the film as it is, having experienced it in a theater, where it packed a wallop comparable to the early Romero work, when zombie films were still frightening.

M.
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post #24 of 71
9/26/08 at 3:50pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Reuben
I happen to think the [28 Days Later] BD looks quite good. Then again, I like the film as it is, having experienced it in a theater, where it packed a wallop comparable to the early Romero work, when zombie films were still frightening.

M.

I'm actually a bit undecided on the look of the BD -- I was mostly just agreeing that it's merely SD quality video and that the DVD might well be good enough for this one. I certainly don't think it's "unwatchable" per se.

And yeah, the particular look does seem to suit the film even though it doesn't make particularly good use of the BD resolution. I haven't seen the DVD itself, but I wonder if that version retains 99% of the same look and quality that's on the BD (outside of the ending that was apparently shot on film). Besides the matter of luminance resolution, I suppose it might still benefit from better color resolution as well as better compression quality on BD...

_Man_
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post #25 of 71
9/30/08 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Hey, thanks all for the heads up on these titles. As I was looking forward to picking up a few of them. Now not so much.
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post #26 of 71
9/30/08 at 6:28pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

T2
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post #27 of 71
9/30/08 at 7:50pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Loregnum
Bonnie & Clyde

* * *

If that movie with that dialog and acting was made today it'd be panned by everyone but somehow it is seen as good film making because it was made over 4 decades ago.
Please stop speaking for "everyone". When you made the same comments in Robert Harris' "A few words about" thread, a lot of people disagreed with you (including me). But you never bothered to check back.

I saw the film when it was first out. I've seen it about once every ten years since then. Every time it feels like a new film, and a great one. I'm sorry it's not to your taste, but it's your taste.

M.
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post #28 of 71
9/30/08 at 8:07pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

1) Broken Arrow - Poor picture quality, and a very dated looking film anyway.
2) Joe Kane's DVE HD Basics - Very little difference from the SD version.

John
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post #29 of 71
10/29/08 at 11:58am

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Anyone bought the Kit Kittredge BD? Don't be shy to admit it in a forum full of "guys".

Just saw this review on High-Def Digest, and it sounds like I should probably just save the $ and get the DVD instead:

Blu-ray Review: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl | High-Def Digest

Hmmm... Another New Line title. They just haven't been doing too well w/ HiDef offerings so far -- hope this is one of the very last in that poor "pipeline" before Warner's revamp.

_Man_
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post #30 of 71
10/29/08 at 12:31pm

Re: Is there a BD you wish you had not purchased?

Robocop. Looks only marginally (by a slim margin) better than the SD.
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