Request: Film in HD which have pristine 2.35:1 or higher transfers. (1 Viewer)

Can anyone recommend some 2.35:1 and higher films with superb transfers? I feel like going on an epic widescreen film on HDDVD buying spree. Of course it's a major plus if said disc retains the film grain.
Here's what I own:
HDDVD
The Adventures of Robin Hood
BATMAN BEGINS
BLACK RAIN
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum (Blind buy but of course I highly enjoyed the two previous films.)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Frighteners
GoodFellas
KING KONG (2005, 360 add-on freebie.)
Mission: Impossible III (I need a cover for this cause I bought it at Hollyweird Videro and it didn't have the retail one.)
TRANSFORMERS
The Untouchables
V for Vendetta (Blind buy. Watched half of it so far.)

HDDVD on Order
The Chronicles of Riddick
Field of Dreams
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible 2 (Maybe if they have it in stock.)
SPY GAME
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
THE THING

Blu-ray
BLACK HAWK DOWN

So it appears my preference is HDDVD. It's because I don't have a Blu-ray player yet and I'm using my best friends PS3 to watch them. I also import too so I'm glad I've stumbled upon XploitedCinema.com. I've been steadily making a wishlist there of HDDVD's I'm going to purchase. Of course Harry Potter greatly disinterests me so uh...

I've also been selling and replacing the majority of the DVD's I owned since the HDDVD counterparts carried over a high percentage of the extras. So recommend some titles and there might be a chance I've never seen the film before. Perhaps in another post I shall make a wishlist.

300 (film grain paradise)
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Stardust
No Reservations (gorgeous shots of food)

On HD-DVD:

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

GRAND PRIX

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

And if you like musicals at all:

DREAMGIRLS

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

I'll second Dreamgirls.

Grand Prix. Though it is 2.2:1 because it is a 65mm film. Stunning large format photography.

The Directors cut of Troy is modern epic film making of high quality.

Hot Fuzz has really amazing picture quality and is a very funny movie to boot.

Sahara is a good adventure movie with really nice cinematography.

Superman: The Movie and Superman 2 The Donner cut.

The Thing is John Carpenter at his best with the wide screen.

Forbidden Planet is classic CinemaScope (2.40:1) from 1956 and a cool sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

2001: A Space Odyssey. Again a 65mm film so it is 2.2:1

Blade Runner. Visually one of the most influential films of the last 30 years.

Serenity

The Cowboys Filmed in Colorado and New Mexico. And the film John Wayne should have won the oscar for.

Ok, it looks like it reversed quoted.
On the titles:
TROY - I'm also wanting to buy the Theatrical Cut on HDDVD since I noticed it carried all the extras from the DVD. I'm also interested in the Director's Cut.

BLADE RUNNER - I'm gonna buy it right away since I got the DVD briefcase for XMas. I figure I might as well get the HDDVD.

300 - I'd LOVE to watch this with the high grain. I thought it looked quite good on DVD but on HD? HOLY MONKEYS!

SUPERMAN: The Movie and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut - These two along with Superman Returns are on my buying list as soon as I replace the DVD's I sold with their HDDVD counterparts. I'm keeping my DVD of Returns since it contains the Circuit City exclusive bonus, The Science of Superman.

2001: A Space "Oddity" - This film and of course Stanley Kubrick's rest, which are A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition) and The Shining are also going to be in a purchase together.

Shaun of the Dead and HOT FUZZ - I'd really love to see these movies. I do quite enjoy British humour.

Stardust, Phantom of the Opera, Dreamgirls - Unsure on the first one to want to see. The last two just wouldn't seem to interest me.

THE THING - My best friend/housemate's Dad ordered this for me and is actually giving it to me as a present as soon as it arrives. Um, as a belated birthday present. I did wanna pay him like I normally do when he does orders but he insisted on present "Thing".

GRAND PRIX - Hell, I had this DVR'd and I think it deleted it off of there. I wouldn't mind blind buying this title.

SERENITY - On HDDVD?! I really loved Firefly and when I watched Serenity, I really wished I had more of the series to watch. I enjoyed it that much. So this is a must-buy for me.

Mutiny on the Bounty - I'd give this a rental on DVD first since I'm more familiar with the 1980's version "The Bounty". So is this 2.76:1 or whut?

SAHARA - I quite enjoy adventure films and my English teacher way back in High School was a fan of Clive Cussler. So I'll give this another rental.

FORBIDDEN PLANET - I love this movie!!! I'm planning on buying the tin set thingy with all the random things in it. I'm a huge fan of this sci-fi classic.

The Cowboys - For some reason John Wayne's acting seems a bit hackneyed to me. I'll watch his films but something about him for some reason makes me unsure as to whether or not to buy it. No idea.

Keep the suggestions coming! Oh, the film series in my signature is of course off limits for me. Older films count too!

Gonna post a link (it's in progress) of the HDDVD's in my filter on DVDSpot.
HDDVD Listing on DVDSpot for me

Serenity I believe was one of Universal's first HD DVD releases, and holds up nicely.

Give The Cowboys a rent. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by John Wayne. He also gives a brilliant performance in The Searchers which has wonderful VistaVision photography.

Doug

Edit. Also Zodiac: Directors Cut. It was actually shot digitally with the Thompson Viper, but I think it looks great and really emulates the photographic style of films from the late 60s and early 70s.

IMHO it doesnt get any better than Zodiac. My favorite PQ disc.

Serenity is on my list of immediate purchases after I purchase the HDDVD's of which I sold their DVD counterparts of.
I'll put The Cowboys on my rental queue on Netflix.
I really wanted to go see Zodiac in theatres but it just slipped my mind. I'll give the theatrical a rent first before embarking on the Director's Cut. I'm quite the fan of David Fincher though. I still need to watch Panic Room and any other films of his I might've missed. How's the transfer for The Game?

"Black Book AKA Zwartboek" (Blu-ray) has a great transfer, perhaps one of the best that I´ve seen (not counting these computer-animations). I only have the UK-version (Tartan), but I assume that it´s using the same master as the US-release by Sony. Great, entertaining film also (only in Dutch, I might add).

Die Hard, Revenge, Space Cowboys, Unforgiven and Omega Man

all true Cinemascope, no Super 35

BD only for the first 2

-Gary

I have been wanting to get the UK Black Book forever now due to the US release having the subtitles in the letterbox bars :frowning: this is something that BD is going to have to fix and it is easily done with all this tech they have available with the BD format

-Gary

Ray, did you rob a bank?!

If NetFlix wont rent the Cowboys to you on HD DVD, it on Blu too. I rented it a few months back. It is a good movie, and it looked fantastic on Blu-ray! So you have to see it on one of the HD formats, not regular DVD.

Not really. I've just been buying these randomly over the last couple months including 2 for $20 at "Hollyweird Videro". I've also been taking advantage of the low prices for these. Um, some of the ones from the ordered list are ones I wanted to pay for the order but the person I was ordering them through insisted on giving them to me when they arrive as a belated birthday present.
I can't really rent too much BD cause my best friend has ownership of the PS3 and I'm not going to rent as many older films. He doesn't seem to like the older movies for some reason. So until I get my own player, I'm going to see if I can rent it somewhere for cheap on HD.

(It is my birthday today and stuff.)

Gary Murrell,
Glad you posted in my thread. What every forum on the intersnets needs are more people like us who appreciate the natural film grain inherent in movies. That and knowing whether a film was shot with certain filters, saturation levels and all that various stuff. You are like a beacon for those who appreciate film as it's supposed to look as opposed to people who want it for them to look.

Thanks for the suggestions people! Alot of them I've heard about but never seen before. Also, I do import so any Scope films which are on HDDVD (prolly gonna buy them from XploitedCinema depending on price searching) from other countries would be great too. Not sure if I'd blind buy a movie with a high price point.

the island (europe release from warner) is highly recommended!!!

it's also available on blu-ray. only letdown: no lossless audio :frowning:

The Prestige (Blu) - shot Panavision no less
Pirates of the Carribean 2 (Blu)

I'll prolly rent The Prestige first. There's a European HDDVD of it ig I feel inclined to buy it.
PotC Trilogy is what I'll buy too.

I'm not getting very many Blu titles since I have to go over to a friends to watch them on his PS3. I have the XBOX 360 HDDVD add-on drive so I'll just get the HDDVD's as the majority. I don't mind importing I just gotta find the best prices for the titles I want.

The Island - I'm gonna buy the UK version of the HDDVD since it's the lowest priced one on Xploited. I'm glad I found out it kept the heavy film grain. And I thought the DVD looked good.

I wish I hadn't purchased the HDDVD of Field of Dreams. The picture quality is easily the worse HD disc in my collection. It makes me want to buy the DVD SE.

But isn't it a 1.85:1 movie? I sold the two-disc anniversary edition. Guess I shoulda might've kept it.

I'm going to buy the DIE HARD Trilogy on Blu but of course I shouldn't buy too many at this time. Why? Cause I have to go over to a friends house to watch them on his PS3. So that's why I'm purchasing alot of HDDVD's right now. Long story short, not gonna buy too many Blu discs until the Profile 2.0 players come out and they're lower in price.

So, HDDVD's from other countries count cause I import, depending on price range. Brotherhood of the Wolf is on my tier of titles to purchase after I finish buying the titles on HDDVD of which I sold on DVD. Of course for Brotherhood of the Wolf I'm keeping my Canadian Exclusive 3-Disc Collector's Edition. Of course for alot of titles I'd still keep the DVD since the High Defition disc format version might not carry over everything.

Here's what I have for highest priority purchasing when it comes to the HDDVD side of things. Because I'm just upgrading the DVD's I owned/sold to HDDVD. (Titles with an asterisk * after them denote they're on order.)

12 Monkeys
APOLLO 13
Backdraft
The Bone Collector
BULLITT
CASINO
The Chronicles of Riddick: PITCK BLACK
The Chronicles of "Riddickulous"*
DragonHeart
Enter the Dragon (Gonna sell my Two-Disc Special Edition DVD to buy the HDDVD. As soon as I do a comparison thing through DVDCompare.net between the one I own and the one I want to buy.)
FACE/OFF
Field of Dreams*
Fletch
The Fugitive (I'm keeping my Special Edition DVD since I've read that it isn't the same "cut" as it. Meaning I've read the HDDVD is a 1080i master which doesn't have the same digital fix as the SE DVD does.)
The Last Samurai (I haven't sold my DVD copy of it to upgrade to the HDDVD.)
The Last Starfighter
Mallrats
Mission: Impossible*
Mission: Impossible 2
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
THE MUMMY (I still haven't sold the Ultimate Edition DVD. I only watch the second disc of it for the extras and not the idiotic Pan & Scan version on there.)
THE MUMMY RETURNS
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow*
SLEEPY HOLLOW
SPY GAME
SUPERMAN: The Movie (I sold the two-sided disc waaaay back. I'm gonna buy the Ultimate Superman Collection for all the extras.)
TERMINATOR 2: Judgment Day (I sold the Ultimate Edition yet I kept the Extreme one. I guess I'll rebuy the Ultimate DVD and also buy the Ultimate HDDVD Germerman one.)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
THE THING*
TROY (I still need to sell the Theatrical 2-Disc Widescreen DVD. I'll ask for store credit. I'm gonna buy both the Theatrical and Director's Cuts on HDDVD.)
U-571

If you want to see two films that have wonderful natural film grain try:

Bullitt and The Sting. Now these are both 1.85 films, but I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Doug