Casino Royale got me a BD player, which, in terms of the use its seen, has not been the greatest investment, especially since I've been lazy about doing the firmware update to play recent Fox titles.
I wouldn't jump for any one particular title - no matter how much I loved the film. I need a decent group of films I love to make a move.
However, if Criterion announced a date for supporting either format (or both) - I would jump so high and so fast. There are easily 100 titles in the collection I would love to have in HD - especially since foreign films are so poorly represented on both HD formats right now.
Well, I already have two HD players for each format, and, as a result, I am "format neutral", but I'd go to the ends of the earth for the original, unaltered Star Wars trilogy in HD. In fact, I'd settle for Star Wars (1977) alone.
a Star Wars six movie set would make me go HD. If the Dirty Harry collection ends up on HD-DVD soon, I may consider it worth upgrading. I can't believe the total lack of big blockbuster movies on HD-DVD though. Gladiator, Titanic, Armageddon, Star Wars, Braveheart, Escape from LA, Bond movies, Jaws, Rocky, Road House, etc
Also proper releases of certain titles alaready available in HD would also get me to upgrade. Like releasing the damn extended/director's cuts instead of only theatrical of King Kong, Payback, Lethal Weapon, etc. Hell, I here the new Die Hard BD release is rated crap while SD-DVD gets unrated. WTF!?!? :frowning:
I'm already format neutral, but titles that would get me very excited....
If Sony were to release some of the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott westerns from the 50s. Lawrence of Arabia. The Connery Bond films.
If Fox released some of it's film noir collections from the early 50s. Defiantly can't wait for Fox to start putting out their classic CinemaScope films on HDM. The Planet of the Apes films.
Casino Royale did it for me also. To my eyes, the theater presentation was very lush, for want of a better word, and that was just missing on the SD. Plus, I wanted T2, and the Fifth Element, along with some announced titles like Ronin that have failed to materialize to this point.
I am not that any particular title would have forced me into buying both players. It was more the fact that I did not want to be a position of not being able to buy a high def title that caused me to go format neutral.
I imagine if "Run, Fat Boy, Run" ends up on HD-DVD I'll take the plunge, but that's not a single title. That's the other two Simon Pegg movies as well as No Country for Old Men and the Bourne Trilogy.
I really can't imagine spending even $200 just to watch one movie.