Blu Rays That Made You Go Wow! (1 Viewer)

[GMpasqua]

Well Michael, I look at the software/upgrade prospect - is the image/sound quality that good?

I do not let my feelings for the film itself come into play - that's a movie review, not a software review (besides, when you purchased a film you've owned on home video 5 times and watched it maybe 20, the wow factor has kind of passed)


My opinion is only for blu-ray transfers that made me say wow, and not the actual film titles. The greatest film in the world would make me say wow, but if the transfer sucked, the blu-ray wouldn't rate a wow in my book


but what do you really care what I think?

Since we look for different things, we will most assuredly disagree almost every time. So there really is no point in discussing it any further

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua

I forgot about [COLOR= #ffa500]"Braveheart"[/COLOR] This film was definately a Wow film, so much so that I bought the corrected "Gladiator" blu-ray (as a blind buy) based on Paramount's [COLOR= #ffa500]"Braveheart" [/COLOR]picture image


In fact, [COLOR= #ffa500]"Braveheart" [/COLOR]had so many moments when I actually said "wow" aloud - I would rate it one of the top Blu-ray's released to date


Though I did not find "Close Encounters" to be a wow. It looked good (probably as good as it did in the theater) but I found the image soft at times and the blacks were not always very inky - but much of that was due to the way the film was originally shot and all the special effect overlays.
Though, the entire package was well put together


Also "The Untouchables" had me saying wow quite a few times, I thought that film really popped on blu-ray

The Untouchables has a little too much DNR for my taste. I prefer my movie stars not to look like their make up was done by Madame Tussauds.


Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua

Well Michael, I look at the software/upgrade prospect - is the image/sound quality that good?

I think here you would have to define "good".


For me The Godfather makes me go Wow, because the film actually looks the way it is supposed to for the first time ever on home video. The Godfather is a very unforgiving film visually and very hard to reproduce electronically. The fact that they were able to do it to me is amazing.


Doug

 

[Cinescott]

Patton's a disc that seems to cause a lot of controversy. It's a favorite of mine and I really wish it looked better. Maybe it's calibration, maybe bad equipment, but I doubt it. On my 42" LCD, I can easily spot the DNR and the flat-looking image. Nothing like film. It's hard to explain, almost as if the life had been sucked out of the frame. IMO, one of the worst transfers of a good film out there.


Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's another example of this. Flat, lifeless image quality. No finesse at all, almost as if they transfered the thing on auto pilot.

 

[GMpasqua]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce



I think here you would have to define "good".


For me The Godfather makes me go Wow, because the film actually looks the way it is supposed to for the first time ever on home video. The Godfather is a very unforgiving film visually and very hard to reproduce electronically. The fact that they were able to do it to me is amazing.


Doug

I thought this thread was basically referring to the very top demonstration quality Blu-rays. Otherwise I would have to list 95% of the blu-rays I currently own - they all look that good)


But then this thread basically becomes "a what is your favorite film thread"


I thought "The Untouchables" look great on my plasma set - and I will bet it will look completely different on my LCD

Many films I've watched on both sets and the difference is night and day - some look better on one set and some do look better on the other


so you are going to have to keep that in mind


Films that looked great on my LCD set weren't as good on my Plasma (they still looked very good, don't get me wrong).


But the sets are so different. The LCD is much sharper and the Plasma shows more grain (but I get a truer theater image from the Plasma, the LCD sometimes looks like I can reach in, grab the objects and take them right out of the set.


Next time you're in Best Buy compare the LCD and Plasma sets - you'll see what I mean

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The Godfather is a very unforgiving film visually and very hard to reproduce electronically. The fact that they were able to do it to me is amazing.

Highly agreed!



Visit our

DVD,

BLU-RAY and

3D REVIEW ARCHIVES

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua





I thought this thread was basically referring to the very top demonstration quality Blu-rays. Otherwise I would have to list 95% of the blu-rays I currently own - they all look that good)


But then this thread basically becomes "a what is your favorite film thread"


I thought "The Untouchables" look great on my plasma set - and I will bet it will look completely different on my LCD

Many films I've watched on both sets and the difference is night and day - some look better on one set and some do look better on the other


so you are going to have to keep that in mind


Films that looked great on my LCD set weren't as good on my Plasma (they still looked very good, don't get me wrong).


But the sets are so different. The LCD is much sharper and the Plasma shows more grain (but I get a truer theater image from the Plasma, the LCD sometimes looks like I can reach in, grab the objects and take them right out of the set.


Next time you're in Best Buy compare the LCD and Plasma sets - you'll see what I mean

I would definitely put The Godfather in the "top demonstration quality Blu-ray" category. In fact I regularly use it to show people what a film should look like on blu-ray. Bullitt is another one that I feel has an outstanding image.


When properly calibrated, your LCD and Plasma screens really shouldn't look all that different from each other. I would suggest hiring a tech to come out and do a professional calibration on your sets if you are seeing THAT much different between them.


Best Buy is a HORRIBLE place to compare TVs. They use the "vivid" settings on the sets to pump up the color and contrast so that one TV will stand out from the others. They often do this for the particular brand they are pushing that month. Add to that they are all on a video distribution system, and some sets get a better signal than others.


Doug

 

[WillG]

It's been disappointing to me that Steven Spielberg has distanced himself from CE, saying that it "dates him" and that he wouldn't make it today, since I consider it a masterpiece.

I think you might be taking his comments a bit out of context. I wouldn't say Spieberg has ever "distanced" himself from the film. He recut it twice, participated in substantial special features on the various releses (including new ones for the BD, which was the first Spielberg film to be released in the format). He had commented that he was at a different person when he made it and that with the sensibilities he has today, he could not have made it the same way, namely the ending where Roy leaves on the mothership leaving a family behind (although it could easily be said, his family abandoned him first)

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua



(and you always seem to attack me, plus I not do read the reviews at HTF).

Have we disagreed previously? I certainly haven't attacked you here, merely disagreed -- and that's going to happen when one posts in a discussion forum. As for not reading HTF reviews, that's your choice, but if you're going to comment on my setup or standards, at least take the trouble to learn about them first.

 

[Cinescott]

Originally Posted by WillG


I think you might be taking his comments a bit out of context. I wouldn't say Spieberg has ever "distanced" himself from the film. He recut it twice, participated in substantial special features on the various releses (including new ones for the BD, which was the first Spielberg film to be released in the format). He had commented that he was at a different person when he made it and that with the sensibilities he has today, he could not have made it the same way, namely the ending where Roy leaves on the mothership leaving a family behind (although it could easily be said, his family abandoned him first)

CE was the first BD disc ala Steven Spielberg simply because he doesn't have any control over the video distribution of it. Columbia/Sony alone has that. Why? He certainly has the financial resources to buy the rights to his own movie back, wouldn't you think? I'd consider that a bit of a distancing, even though I am well aware he has participated in special features over the years.

Also SS has flatly stated he no longer believes in UFOs (nor do I, although he did in the 70s), so that fact plus the statements about the Neary family and how he "couldn't make it the same way" would lead anyone to believe that CE today would be very different.


A pilgrimage to Devil's Tower that turns out to be, um, nothing? That'd be interesting.

Roy deciding to go to counseling rather than go on the mothership?


I completely understand the importance of family, but this is science fiction people. Get a grip. No one expects anyone to leave their family to hop on a UFO (neither now or in 1977). Just like no one actually believes that the world will be overrun by a bunch of "damn dirty apes" in the future. Well, most people. It would have been better has Sir Steven simply said it was a noble effort and he's proud of it. Why say your perception's totally changed and you'd "make it differently"? He doesn't now nor did he ever need to make a "statement" about family in CE. Jeez, let it be the piece of escapist genius that it is and let it go. I'm sure his own children are not afraid he'll abandon them because of Close Encounters.

 

[Matt Hough]

I also thought the Blu-ray of Moulin Rouge! was pretty spectacular.

 

[benbess]

Originally Posted by MattH.

I also thought the Blu-ray of Moulin Rouge! was pretty spectacular.

Have you ever seen the Huston Moulin Rouge from the early 50s. I hear that was pretty good, but I've never seen it...

 

[WillG]

CE was the first BD disc ala Steven Spielberg simply because he doesn't have any control over the video distribution of it. Columbia/Sony alone has that. Why? He certainly has the financial resources to buy the rights to his own movie back, wouldn't you think? I'd consider that a bit of a distancing, even though I am well aware he has participated in special features over the years.

Spielberg doesn't own all of his films lock stock and barrell except for CE3K. CE3K was released with Spielberg's blessing and participation ("Don't cross Spielberg" would certainly be one of Hollywood's golden rules) by the same token, why wasn't Jaws released last summer on BD in time for its 35th anniversary?

It would have been better has Sir Steven simply said it was a noble effort and he's proud of it. Why say your perception's totally changed and you'd "make it differently"? He doesn't now nor did he ever need to make a "statement" about family in CE. Jeez, let it be the piece of escapist genius that it is and let it go. I'm sure his own children are not afraid he'll abandon them because of Close Encounters.

Again, it seems like you're overanalyzing Spielbergs comments. I've never got any impression that he isn't proud and/or happy with the film. He never said he wished he could go back and change the ending. All he's saying is that the Spielberg that made CE3K was a different person than the Speilberg of today and it that Speiberg made CE3K he would have done some things differently. That Spielberg was not the one who made CE3K, but I don't see any regrets out of him (as opposed to adding the inside of the spaceship, or cutting the scene of Roy's gathering of materials to build his living room mock-up of Devil's Tower for the 1980 Special Edition). Aren't there things in your past that you might have done differently based on the person you are today? If so, does that however, mean you regret your life as it is now?

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by benbess



Have you ever seen the Huston Moulin Rouge from the early 50s. I hear that was pretty good, but I've never seen it...

I have, and it's an unusual movie biography that I'd love to see in a Blu-ray release.

 

[Cinescott]

Originally Posted by WillG

He never said he wished he could go back and change the ending.

Perhaps not directly, but he's come very close. Quote:


"I wrote that (the ending) blithely. Today, I would never have the guy leaving his family and going on the mother ship."

 

[Cinescott]

I'll add the King's Speech to this list. It seems likely this came from a direct digital source, given the image appears "spot on" to what I remember during its run. It doesn't "pop," but I doubt that was the intention of the filmmakers. It's a beautifully understated image that contains a powerful message. That's what makes me go Wow.

 

[captainjoe]

Bridge on the River Kwai

Broadcast News

Taxi Driver

Ten Commandments

Stand by me

(to name a few)

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce


I'll say this though. As far the actual memorable experience of simply going "wow" when it actually happened (as opposed to judging a transfer to be great, etc.), I'd say the Kill Bill BDs certainly made me go "wow" when I first saw them, but those were still the earlier days of BD (not long after I took the plunge into Blu) before we got flooded w/ all the eye-popping/candy stuff (along w/ all the other good-to-great transfers of other films) on this format...


_Man_

 

[GMpasqua]

Originally Posted by ManW_TheUncool

I'll have to view "The Godfather" again - both on my Plasma and LCD sets based on everyone's praise. I just remember it having a soft and sometimes grainy image as it did in the theater (I was not disappointed, it's what I expected) The disc reviewers pretty much said Parts 1 & 2 did not look nearly as good as Part 3


Guys, most everything looks great on the Plasma and LCD sets and once again I thought "The Godfather" really did look good - just as it did in the theater.


The only films (and I have about 120 blu-rays) that didn't pop were "Bull Durham' - which looked good but not spectacular and "The Greatest Story Ever Told" which was a horrendous transfer


But "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Braveheart" were so incredible on the Plasma set I use them as my Demonstration discs, so okay these two discs were "Super Wow"

 

[GMpasqua]

I thought "The Untouchables" looked really good. Was the disc re-issued like "Gladiator" (I only purchased it last October)?

I remember hearing it wasn't as good, but didn't notice on my set - and I had just watched the remastered "Gladiator" a few nights before. Anyone else watch it on a Plasma set? Did it have noticable Edge Enchancement?


I'll have to post my set up etc but off the top of my head it's a 52 Pioneer Plasma Elite with a High Def Digital cable connected to a SONY blu-ray player (I believe Sony palyers veer more to blue than red coloring and my DVD/laserdisc players where all Sonys)


I'll take another look at "The Untouchables" is there any scene which really stands out as having bad image quality?