DVDizzy Forum

What do you think is the absolute bet Blu-Ray title?

I only have about ten, so I can't really justify any response right now.

I don't have that many either (probably thirty at maximum); but at the moment I'd say definitely, for sheer extras alone, "Wizard of Oz" and "The Sound of Music".

I'll give you the best ones out of the titles I own/have rented:

Criterion's 'Seven Samurai'
Masters of Cinema's 'Metropolis'
Masters of Cinema's 'Sunrise'
Warner Bros' 'Inception'
Warner Bros' 'Blade Runner'
MPI/Second Sight's 'Baraka'
Warner Bros' '2001: A Space Odyssey'
CoMix Wave's '5 Centimeters per Second'
Manga/Funimation's 'Origin: Spirits of the Past'
Universal's 'Psycho'
Disney/Pixar's 'Cars'

It's quite hard to judge current titles so I just chose those that made me stand back in awe. It's easier to judge catalog titles in my opinion, especially the old B/W ones. I eagerly anticipate this year's 'Citizen Kane'. I really want 'On the Waterfront' though!

King Kong (1933)(Warner Bros)
Metropolis (Kino)
Back to the Future Trilogy (Universal)
Grindhouse (Genius Products)

I only have about 10 Blu-Rays so far, but I have to go with The Sound of Music. The picture quality was a revelation and the special features are amazingly comprehensive,

PeterPanfan wrote:What do you think is the absolute bet Blu-Ray title?

Unfortunately, I can't pick a best that features all four criteria below, but I'll list individual titles for them:

Best in Film: It's a damn good film that anyone should have in their collection regardless which home media they prefer.

Best in Film Presentation: It is presented on the disc with audio and video so amazing that it is reference quality without betraying the original look and sound of film.

Best in Supplements: It is a good amount of supplements that provide a thoughtful and in-depth look at the movie.

Best in Supplement Presentation: It makes the best use of technology in presenting the supplements (e.g. picture-in-picture, seamless branching, BD-Live that's actually useful, etc.), or it does an excellent job in the traditional methods as well (e.g. longform documentary of talking heads and behind-the-scenes footage).

Best in Film: Casablanca. Of all the films-considered-the-greatest-ever that are on the market right now, none can top this, IMO.

Best in Film Presentation: The Red Shoes. Never has there been a more excellent use of Technicolor on a film, and never has there been a more excellent transfer of Technicolor on home media. Actually, anything by Criterion fits well here, for both Blu-Ray and DVD.

Best in Supplements: Blade Runner. I like Ridley Scott's work, but this film has a polarizing effect on me. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I'm apathetic. But it's got a helluva documentary that gets more interesting than the film itself. It's arguably one of the best documentaries about film out there, not just for its length, but for how in-depth it goes into everything. Honestly, they could have stopped right there, but they also include other essentials like the other 4 versions of the film and a whole Enhancement Archive disc with additional featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers, galleries, etc. It's a rare example where quality and quantity go hand in hand on supplements. There's been discs that were very fluffy in their bountiful supplements (e.g. Nine's nine featurettes all about how everyone loved each other and are amazed at Rob Marshall's genius), as well as discs with modest supplements that still offered a lot of information (Quo Vadis, which just has commentary, 45-minute documentary, and trailers).

Best in Supplement Presentation: Rather than single out a particular title, I'm going to single out a studio: 20th Century Fox. I need only mention titles like The Robe, The Sound of Music, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Alien Anthology, etc. When they release big titles, they release them RIGHT. And the amount of bonus features - both new and archival, as well as traditional and interactive - are amazing. Just...amazing. They can't be beat (yet).


albert

I think my best Blu-ray is my French Silent Hill. The main reason is I would never, ever, ever has suspected that this film could be given such an extensive treatment, much to my delight that it has.

Firstly, its the best looking Silent Hill I've seen (though I've not seen the UK release), but its leaps and bounds ahead of Sony's early BD25 MPEG-2 effort released in the US.

As for the supplements: Two Picture in Picture streams (which can be upscaled to full screen) showing B-Roll footage or entire movie pre-VFX), two commentaries, two extensive documentaries (including one running over 90 minutes in HD), various other shorter featurettes...

Also, its mainly a French financed and produced film and the whole disc lacks the false Hollywood "everything was great" type content often seen in behind the scenes materials. This release really is frank and forthright about the entire making of the film process. It should be noted half the supplemental content is in French, but everything comes with (optional) English subtitles.

My favorite bit is the featurette where Gans discusses the game Silent Hill 2 and concludes that it is unfilmable, going as far as to deconstruct one of the cut-scenes. I think he may be right - its so perfect as it is, anything else would ruin it - its an emotional story the viewer/player has to piece together and experience for themselves, not watch somebody else on screen.

Other memorable releases are:

Watchmen Either the Director's Cut (US) for the Maximim Movie Mode or the Ultimate Edition for the other stuff - great releases of a great film (which most people said was unfilmable!)

How the West Was Won Absolutely stunning picture quality and well worth experiencing the Smilebox presentation of the movie (although be careful, I think a single disc edition has also been released now missing the Smilebox version)

The Innocents Only available in the UK from BFI (the closest we get to Criterion) an absolutely wonderful presentation of such a classic movie. On paper the supplements look sort of disappointing, but the quality is so high there's nothing to complain about.

Also, although I've only skimmed it, the X-Files timeline on X-Files: I Want to Believe looks like another good use of BD technology. In fact, the whole disc looks great (film, PiP, interactive timeline with clips from the series, long form HD documentary, smaller featurettes...). I need to see more of the disc, but it looks like another Fox winner.

Best Blu-ray? I think that this is all in the eyes of the beholder, but I will give it a try. I never criticize things I can't control, like many of you do, so I will just say that I have over 400 Blu-ray titles and there are some that just look about the same as the standard DVD version, but there are others that jump off the television screen at you and say "watch me!!!".

I believe that the three-disc Avatar on Blu-ray works so well in many ways. You have three different ways to watch the film, and the extras are absolutely mind-boggling.

My second favorite Blu-ray titles is the Alien Anthology for all of its content and the new commentary on Alien by Sigourney Weaver. All four films look brilliant in their production values and conversion to Blu-ray Hi-Def. Disc 5 and 6 contain more than enough information about how each one of these films was made and hours upon hours of technical stuff never gets boring. Though I am a fan of the first two movies, I am slowly becoming a fan of Alien3 and Alien Resurrection.

Watchmen, as previously stated, is just amazing because no one believed that this film could be made and not only did they make it, they make you want to watch every scene. I really like the experience Zack Snyder has provided the viewer with the BDLive stuff.

There are so many more titles I could list pages upon pages of reasons why I like certain films better than others, but I can tell you a couple to stay away from on Blu-ray and there are two that I think most of us will agree should have been left alone - Total Recall and Face/Off. I am really glad that I kept my standard DVD of these two films because the Blu-ray just showed off all of their faults.

Criterion is doing a wonderful job, as usual, of their conversion to Blu-ray of some of the classic titles that no one else will touch.

I'd have to say Blade Runner. Fantastic movie, picture quality, and features all around.

I have to say I loved the extra's on AVATAR, transfer's great too...

also..

most recently...

Legend o/t Guardians, breath takingly beautiful

Nightmare before Christmas+Corpse Bride

despite the lack of decent subs....Mary & Max