Reference-quality blu-rays (1 Viewer)

[Sgt Pepper]

Love Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Jaws, also Se7en looks fantastic..........anyone seen the Arrow release of Zombie Flesh Eaters, from the few minutes i have observed it looks stunning. But i could go on and on.

 

[Mark Oates]

Curse of Frankenstein
Just Kidding.

 

[Writer-dad]

Alien
Shutter Island
The Game
The Thin Red Line
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher version)
Up

And I second Taxi Driver and A River Runs Through It - both incredibly film-like transfers.

 

[Doctorossi]

Alien
The Thin Red Line
Up

I'll second those...

Taxi Driver

... and third that.

 

[RobHam]

Lots of movies on blu-ray could be described as "reference" by one person and "crap" by another - I think we all sit up and take notice because of different things. These are a few that caught my eye as being just a bit special:
Apocalypse Now (correct aspect ratio at last)
Baraka
Braveheart
The Fall
Inception
Kingdom of Heaven
Once Upon a Time in the West
Titanic
2001: A Space Odyssey
War Horse

 

[Johnny Angell]

Quatermass & The Pit - it's the first title I've seen that made me say "holy crap...!" from the first image through to the end of it. Still impresses me that much now.

thats not been released in the US has it?

 

[MichaelEl]

NORTH BY NORTHWEST is very dark and has a blue-green tint. I know others will disagree, but I just don't see it as a reference quality transfer.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST should be included, if only because it shows how good a Techniscope film can look on Blu-Ray.
I would also probably include THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, but then again, most B&W films look terrific on Blu-Ray.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by MichaelEl /t/325776/reference-quality-blu-rays/30#post_4010463
I would also probably include THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, but then again, most B&W films look terrific on Blu-Ray.

I absolutely agree with both of these. They're just wonderful. And Twilight Time's B&W release Swamp Water is equally stunning.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Speaking of Black and White movies (and yeah it really is neat seeing the classics that I missed theatrically on a large screen via BD) two great films that I was remiss in not mentioning earlier are:
The Night of the Hunter
Sweet Smell of Success
- Walter.

 

[dpippel]

thats not been released in the US has it?

No it hasn't. Hopefully it will be soon. The UK Blu is simply stunning.

 

[Kevin EK]

A few of my choices for Reference Blu-rays:

Jaws (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
E.T. (1982)
Avatar 3D (seen in 3D)
Coraline 3D (seen in full 3D, not the anaglyph version)
Dreamgirls (2006)
Desiree (1954) (Twilight Time)
The Robe (1953)
Space: 1999 Series One
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Godfather Trilogy (all three films in Blu-ray collection)
Blade Runner
Alien
The Third Man (1949) (Criterion Edition)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Outland (1981) (This one may be due to my relief at actually getting a disc this year with solid PQ as opposed to the DVD we lived with for 15 years!)
Wings (1927)
North by Northwest (1959)
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)

I would add the following from this year's Universal spread into these under the rubrick of being right in the neighborhood of reference quality and still wonderful to see:

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Saboteur (1942)
Psycho (1960) (Yes, I know this actually came out on Blu-ray in 2010...)
The Birds (1963)

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but Days of Heaven (Criterion) is revelatory. Also, Bridge on the River Kwai is as perfect as it can possibly look. Any Pixar Blu-ray is reference in terms of sound and picture, though YMMV with Cars 2 in terms of content.

 

[Kevin EK]

I should have mentioned Bridge on the River Kwai as well.

Could probably also throw in:

Dr. Zhivago
A Star is Born
The African Queen

and while I know there are discussions from various quarters, I am personally very pleased with

Casablanca
The Wizard of Oz
Gone With the Wind

 

[Alan Tully]

I've just looked at the Blu of The Outlaw Josey Wales. I thought it looked stunning, it has to be in this little club.

 

[revgen]

Wings (1927) - If you think old silent movies filmed in academy ratio won't benefit from a high-def viewing, watch this and be amazed.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - No better representation of 70mm film out there. Bar none.
Titanic 3D (1997 - 2012) - I'm not a big fan of 3D. That includes Avatar 3D too. However this movie was actually pleasing to watch. It invites you into the movie instead of trying to slap you in the face and stab you in the eyes. Wonderfully told story too. If you know somebody who hates 3D, present this movie to them.
The Big Heat (1953) - Excellent representation of film-noir on Blu-Ray.
Indiana Jones Blu-Rays - Great action. Impressive visuals. Excellent sound. The best example of modern action/adventure on Blu-Ray.
Pixar movies - Pick one. They are all impressive.