Need some BluRay Recommendations... (1 Viewer)

[Lee Scoggins]

I'd like to have a small library in my home theater to complement around a dozen titles I already have.

I have the following titles:
Transporter 1 & 3
Dr. No
Australia
2001
Blade Runner
Mad Men Season 1
The Queen
Music & Lyrics
Invincible
3:10 to Yuma
Michael Clayton
Black Hawk Down
The Prestige
Kingdom of Heaven
The Bank Job
Casino Royale
Spiderman 3
Pirates of Caribbean, Curse of Black Pearl

Looking for great movies and great video transfers...any suggestions?

Many thanks!

 

[TravisR]

Any Pixar disc is going to give you a wonderful movie with great AV quality.

 

[Matt Hough]

I would also recommend:

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

CHICAGO

LIVE FREE AND DIE HARD

BATMAN BEGINS

SLEEPING BEAUTY and PINOCCHIO

 

[Thomas Agermose]

I recommend these titles for their A/V qualities
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Transformers

 

[Brian Borst]

I'd recommend the following films:

- Baraka
- The Godfather Trilogy
- L.A. Confidential
- Raging Bull
- There Will Be Blood

Aside from being fantastic films these actually look like film.

 

[Shad R]

The Incredible Hulk will blow you away!
Top Gun, King Kong, Tropic Thunder, Speed Racer and Transformers are my go to discs for picture AND sound combined.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If you are interested in classic westerns, The Searchers and How The West Was Won both look fantastic.

 

[Matt Hough]

Absolutely! I had both of these in mind when I was compiling my list and my fingers just didn't type them out!

THE SEARCHERS was my very first Blu-ray disc, and I was simply blown away with its startling image quality.

 

[ajabrams]

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, the Errol Flynn version. The colors will knock your eyes out!!

 

[John Nelson]

I just got The Searchers on Blu-Ray and am amazed at the picture quality-- just so clear and vibrant. It doesn't seem possible this was filmed in 1955. Should be in any Blu-Ray collection, IMHO.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Lee; if you like Casino Royale, you'd have to like Quantum of Solace! Please buy it! I love it!!

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Great suggestions. Thank you!

I will definitely get Quantum of Silence.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Looks like the Bonds are selling for $14.99 at Target. I did not see Quantum there however.

 

[TheBat]

I would recommend the 5th element (remastered) with trueHD.
the 2 fantastic fours look great and so are the 4 die hard movies. same goes with underworld 1 and 2 and also resident evil.
a second vote for king kong, blade runner and incredible hulk.. same goes with original hulk 2003.
Jacob

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I will probably pick up Fifth Element and the Die Hard movies.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yes, Goldfinger looks fantastic. To me, it looks better than Dr. No because I find it more natural looking w/out the somewhat processed look of Dr. No.

Not really a fan of Quantum of Solace (the movie itself) even though I liked Casino Royale quite a bit. QoS was ok, but seems to go a tad off in the wrong direction for a Bond flick, IMHO.

Most of the other recommendations should make you happy (unless you happen to not like the movies themselves of course ).

Although Amadeus is a tad controversial (look up RAH's review thread), you might still want to consider getting it just because it's way better than the mediocre old DVD (unless you much prefer the theatrical version over the director's cut) -- I'm assuming your love for music in hirez might play into your interest in this film, but if not...

BTW, have you tried the concert BD The Police: Certifiable from their worldwide reunion concert tour a couple years back? Knocks your socks off, if you like The Police.

Back to films, I'd throw in the Kill Bill flicks as ones not mentioned yet -- and they can be had fairly inexpensively nowadays.

The Matrix is finally out as a standalone release, so you may want to get that, if you didn't like the sequels. Maybe Wanted would be up your alley too.

For good drama fare, maybe Shawshank Redemption (though I still haven't gotten around to watching my BD yet). I guess not everyone loves Changeling, but that's an excellent looking disc of a quality film. Eastern Promises is another good one, and throw in Casino, Goodfellas and The Departed too I guess (and again, all can be had fairly inexpensive these days).

The Lives of Others is excellent (and rarely mentioned and probably rarely seen too). Letters of Iwo Jima is excellent as well -- and you don't often get a war movie told from the perspective of the other side (even though it's still an American-led film).

I believe Zodiac is supposed to be a great looking disc as well, if you like the film, and Amazon is now selling it for ~$17 or so.

Poltergeist might also be worth your while -- I never bought the old DVD, but I remember hearing that was pretty poor quality, so the BD should be waaay better. Same w/ Dark City, if you love that film (especially for inclusion of both the theatrical version and the director's cut), even though it has had a tad much DNR applied (much like Amadeus though not as bad as Patton and some others from what I understand). How 'bout Gattaca?

Sweeney Todd perhaps -- for something musical again? I thought Hairspray's quite good and fun (though it seems to have a bit of the DNR look to it) -- others will prefer Enchanted.

Monty Python's Life of Brian for something a bit irreverant? The PQ is still not ideal, but it's waaay better than the old DVD.

So many to choose from really...

_Man_

 

[Bryan Beckman]

A few others that haven't been mentioned yet:

- Band of Brothers (terrific visuals, outstanding audio, and perhaps the best/most informative use of PiP for bonus materials I've ever seen)
- The Bourne Trilogy (excellent movies extremely well presented, but sadly overpriced at the moment, IMO)
- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (if you've seen and liked the first film)
- John Mayer: Live in Los Angeles (outstanding TrueHD 96/24 mix)
- Kung Fu Panda (cute movie with eye-popping visuals and house-rattling bass)
- Lost, Seasons 3 & 4 (1 & 2 are coming in June; gorgeous Hawaiian scenery)
- Master and Commander (mostly for the audio; the excellent bonus features from the 2-disc DVD set several years back are curiously/frustratingly missing)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (great for gunfire and explosions)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (the PQ/AQ are a revelation; it never before looked and sounded so alive!)

 

[lukejosephchung]

This may be up your alley, Lee! "Hitman: David Foster & His Friends" is available as a 2-disc Blu-ray exclusive at Amazon.com. This includes the entire Mandalay Bay all-star concert in Las Vegas in 24-bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound and an uncompressed 24-bit PCM stereo soundtrack as well. The picture is 1080i, but looks good without any video artifacting, since the concert's spread out over a 2-act/2-disc presentation. Both discs are 50 gigabyte pressings, by the way!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Anyway who has been enjoying this thread and is curious about The Searchers should know that all questions can be answered right now for just $13.49 at amazon.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

A Blu-Ray library just ain't a Blu-Ray library unless it includes Planet Earth.

You won't go wrong with any Pixar or Dreamworks Animation release. The Disney classics like Pinocchio and Sleeping Beauty are also well worth having.