VOTE: Best Catalog Release 2011 (Blu-ray)  

I voted for The Ten Commandments. The VistaVision elements, and Paramount's fantastic restoration of them, make this a show off blu-ray for any system. And DeMille not only knows how to put on a show, but the epic story told of the struggle for freedom from tyranny is one for the ages. It looks a lot better than many more recent films.

The Ten Commandments.

Besides the incredible remastering, Paramount needs to be praised for upgrading all of the supplements in HD, which is something Ben-Hur and Citizen Kane really needed.

Almost impossible to choose.  It finally came down to The Ten Commandments due to the silent version having been included in HD.  Still, a very tough call.

"The Ten Commandments" looked great, but I'm going with "Ben Hur" for the following reasons:

 

1. Warner released a truly handsome box set with items that compliment the film and not the stand box of junk (Chocolate scented pencils).

 

2. The film's original wider aspect ratio was kept even though WB could have cheated a little and cropped the sides - most wouldn't have know the difference.

 

3. WB put the film on Two disc's (Which increases the bit rate) they could have slapped the film on one disc but they didn't. And Disc two starts with Act two - just like in the theater

 

4. Film grain is still visable - as it should be. "The Ten Commandments" had almost no film grain

 

 

The only fault with the "Ben Hur" release is WB's insistence on anniversary dates - this release was two years late - it looks great WB, so please, forget about anniversary dates - they are meaningless to most people and the discs will sell past the anniversary date making them even more meaning less. Please do not hold great films from being release because of an anniversary date tie in.

Close race, all are worthy. I picked Ben-hur.

I actually had to make more adjustments to my system to get the proper contrast and color balance. The Ten Commandments required few, and Meet Me in St. Louis ran with my default setup. However, capturing the original resolution and aspect ratio of the Camera 65/Ultra Panavision 70 image was a staggering feat.

Packaging Citizen Kane in a little sled was just too spoilery.

Went with Ben-Hur. A truly immaculate presentation of one of my favorite movies...
 

Its VistaVision, that was the whole point. Double neg size = finer to non existant grain structure.

 

In terms of price, transfer, and special features, TAXI DRIVER was the best catalog release this year.

Amen

Taxi Driver - a perfect release, up and down.

Meet Me In St Louis got my vote. It's another superb blu, but I think 10 Commandments might just run away with the vote because of its endless popularity. I never understood why--it's possibly the most overwrought movie in the history of the world (besides Camelot). I don't care to own the blu, but it does make for some mighty interesting popcorn viewing when aired on tv from time to time.

My vote from this list would probably go for Ben Hur. A terrific release.


However, even though it wasn't on the list, I'd put in a write-in vote for the Sherlock Holmes Collection. 14 terrific films looking magnificent. Completely unexpected, and a definitely the most value.


David

The Ten Commandments was stunning in every way possible:

 

1. The packaging was brilliant, from the parting of the box, to the reproduction of the stone tablets (even the feel of them.)

2. The visuals were breathtaking. Not one frame of the nearly four hour film was damaged and there were no glitches from the encoding.

3. The audio was just as impressive. Elements not heard on recent releases were restored to the blu-ray track.

4. The extras were fitting to the epic nature of the film: Exquisite transfer (in HD) of the silent version, documentaries detailing the production, and some of the best trailers ever created for a film were all included.

5. The physical extras were just as entertaining: a reproduction of the original souvenir program, costume sketches, and correspondence letters rounded out the package.

 

So, from the box itself, to the transfer, extras, and physical goodies, everything about this release was grand, just like the film itself. And it was one of those rare times when the final product lived up to the excitement of the initial announcement.

Absolutely a great film. IMO, the chariot race is one of the great achievements of film. And it looks great on Blu!