Blu-ray, in General

[Ben Cheshire]

No Casablanca David?

I hope Wizard of Oz will be top of your list soon. An online friend got me a cheap copy from the US already and its splendid. Best Blu Ray Yet Produced by a country mile.

My favourite blus that aren't on your list:

The Adventures of Robin Hood (must be a mistake, you surely have this one)
Die Hard
Dr. Strangelove
Big Trouble in Little China
Fargo
The Fall

And my copy of the Swedish Fanny and Alexander just arrived, and its wonderful. So luminous, despite what appears to be slight use of DNR which has brought detail down a fraction. Still by a country mile far lovelier than any screencaps of DVD editions which all look drab and faded by comparison. What a wonderful film too, was a blind buy, and I loved it.

[perkizitore]

Quality versus quantity, past and future. What do you prefer?

We're not Luddites, you know. As I noted above, I've had a Blu-ray disc player for nearly a year now. The possibility of high quality, high-resolution transfers of great films on home video leaves me giddy. And I love my Third Man, Chungking Express, Black Narcissus, and Seventh Seal on Blu. But I mostly buy DVDs, because most of the films I want to see are on DVD and not on Blu-ray, at least at this moment. The economics of home video (as I understand it), the current state and perceived direction of the Blu-ray catalog, and the VHS-to-DVD transition history all suggest to me that a full-on switch to Blu would be a setback for classic and niche film fans, at least for a good while. I don't think the hard-core silent film fans have recovered from the demise of VHS yet, and their pain may be our prophecy. So to answer your questions, I'll take the "quality" of Die Austernprinzessin on DVD over the "quality" of Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise on Blu-ray any day.

And as for the past vs. the future, in the words of Billy Wilder as expressed by Oliver Larrabee (and bumped forward a few decades), "[twenty-first] century? Why, I could pick a century out of a hat, blindfolded, and come up with a better one." What else would you expect from a Luddite?

I was trying to play the devil's advocate, but you clearly didn't bite. O:)

[aox]

How about I just burn copies of niche DVDs until they are released on Blu? Problem solved. Money goes to Blu.

[Michael Kerpan]

How about I just burn copies of niche DVDs until they are released on Blu? Problem solved. Money goes to Blu.

How about you actually financially support companies that release niche DVDs?

[MichaelB]

Just for interest here's a list of the Blus I've bought so far (not compelte as I've forgotten things no doubt) - note the years, one from the 1920s, 1 from the 30s, 4 from the 40s, 4 from the 50s, 7 from the 60s, 3 from the 70s, 5 from the 80s, 6 from the 90s, 5 from the present decade:

I won't post a complete list, but out of curiosity I had a look at my collection, and once I'd eliminated the TV series (Band of Brothers, Mad Men, Planet Earth), the opera (Die Zauberflöte) and the shorts compilations (Kenneth Anger, Jeff Keen, Pixar), it breaks down as follows:

1920s: 1
1940s: 3
1950s: 3
1960s: 11
1970s: 11
1980s: 6
1990s: 6
2000s: 22

...and by nationality (including TV and shorts compilations):

UK: 25
US: 23
Italy: 5
Poland: 4
France/Hong Kong: 3
Israel: 2
Australia/Japan/Kazakhstan/Sweden: 1

(The disproportionate UK presence is almost entirely explained by a complete BFI Blu-ray collection!)

[anvilscepe]

Forgive me if this has either been mentioned before or if I've placed this in the wrong thread... but I find that this piece in today's L.A. Times to be of interest to most.

Movie fans might have to wait to rent new DVD releases

[Jeff]

Movie fans might have to wait to rent new DVD releases

It won't amount to anything. There's nothing to stop NetFlix, Blockbuster, Redbox, or anyone else from purchasing the DVDs through regular retail channels and renting them to customers. That right is protected under the first sale doctrine, and was codified pertaining to home video in NEBG v Weinstein.

[feckless boy]

Posted some caps from the Swedish BD-release of Potemkin in the proper thread. Some additional info:

- codec: H264/AVC, 25fps
- only one audio track, dolby/AC3 5.1 at 640kbps
- only subs for Scandinavian languages, NO English subs
- main feature takes up about 8GB
- runtime: 1:08:46
- same extra as Kino the 42 minute 'Tracing Battleship Potemkin'

The restored Transit SD release runs 1:08:41 PAL (25fps), Kino's Ultimate Edition runs 1:08:42 (with original intertitles), unconverted PAL-NTSC.

I wonder if the unusual frame rate will be a problem for owners of region A PS3's - don't know if the Swedish BD is region locked.

[domino harvey]

New reason to upgrade :^o

[Napier]

At least he's passionate about what he's doing.

[domino harvey]

At least he's passionate about when dames do it onscreen

[aox]

see.....

[Napier]

And there are still people who refuse to upgrade. Maybe they should change the Blu-ray slogan to, ....now with more nipple!

[manicsounds]

now with more nipple!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLpROhIg9eA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't think an unsubbed Potemkin is a reason to upgrade. My personal choice to upgrade to Bluray was that I was able to get a region-free player for about $100, and that prices of the discs have been falling to the point that they are equal or sometimes cheaper than the DVD versions. I still buy DVDs though. I just bought "MOON" on DVD.

[NilbogSavant]

So, I'm finally a region-free BD consumer. Outside of the BFI Pasolini discs and The Red Desert, what should I be eying?

[fdm]

What, no Salo?

[Oedipax]

So, I'm finally a region-free BD consumer. Outside of the BFI Pasolini discs and The Red Desert, what should I be eying?

Two off the top of my head: BFI's Kenneth Anger collection, Van Sant's Elephant. Really hope we get a 1.37:1 Paranoid Park BD some day as well.

[NilbogSavant]

]What, no Salo?

Oh, I'm definitely getting that one and the other Pasolini releases on my next overseas order.

So, I'm finally a region-free BD consumer. Outside of the BFI Pasolini discs and The Red Desert, what should I be eying?

Two off the top of my head: BFI's Kenneth Anger collection, Van Sant's Elephant. Really hope we get a 1.37:1 Paranoid Park BD some day as well.

I already have the Anger collection (it's great and region free) and the Elephant release looks great. Too bad the Paranoid Park disc is the wrong aspect ratio. That one needs the full 1.33:1 frame.

[dad1153]

Get a load of these comparison shots of Buster Keaton's "The General" between DVD and the just-released Blu-ray remastered edition. Stunning cannot even begin to describe this.

[Jonathan S]

I agree the Blu-ray captures look very impressive, but I don't think the comparison is with the recent Kino DVD that used the same transfer, as both would in sepia (as was even the earlier Kino release). I'd be interested to know which DVD was used for this comparison, as there have been numerous inferior quality releases of this title.

[aox]

I agree the Blu-ray captures look very impressive, but I don't think the comparison is with the recent Kino DVD that used the same transfer, as both would in sepia (as was even the earlier Kino release). I'd be interested to know which DVD was used for this comparison, as there have been numerous inferior quality releases of this title.

Regardless, baring some huge technical mistake (e.g. Do the Right Thing), the Blu will look better. So, I wouldn't worry about it.

[carax09]

Yeah, misleading doesn't even begin describe this comparison as there are at least 5 sdvd editions (the 4 used in the Beaver comparisons, plus the remastered Kino that you mentioned) that are far superior to the one used in this case. I truly wish someone would compare the 2 Kinos which utilize the same source, whereas shooting fish in a barrel to promote the wonders of high definition, ultimately only strengthens the resolve of those resistant to Blu-ray.

[Finch]

I'm sure we had a thread about how we file our DVDs (i.e. by year or director or genre etc) but I can't find it (it's not the Catalogue thread) and my question is Blu-related so am posting it here. I'm going to buy a BluRay player sometime next year and am going to buy some discs beforehand. I actually bought my first BR today with Artificial Eye's Zatoichi (other double-dips will include Playtime, Wages of Fear and the Zodiac Director's Cut).

I wondered how those of you who have kept some or all of their DVDs are filing their Blus? In among the DVDs or seperately? I place my discs chronologically by year so was considering to put the Blus just in among the DVDs even though I find the blue keepcases a real eyesore. Or should I have them on a seperate shelf? :-k

[domino harvey]

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... f=4&t=2083" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If I went Blu, I'd separate them from the normal DVDs

[Finch]

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... f=4&t=2083

If I went Blu, I'd separate them from the normal DVDs

Cheers mate, I've been wanting to reread that thread. I'm leaning towards keeping them separate myself and file the Blus in the same ways as the DVDs (by year).