Blu-ray, in General

[domino harvey]

Yeah, I'm playing around with a lot of settings, I think I'm ironing out some kinks. Loving the grain!

MFunk, earlier I cycled through Up in the Air, Doubt, A Christmas Tale, Pushing Daisies, Julie and Julia, Che, Junebug, Planet Terror, How the West Was Won, Paris Texas and I haven't gotten to GWTW, Bonnie and Clyde, Lola Montes (Haven't seen yet, so not sampling), Kill Bill Vol 2, or the Searchers yet*. I would have gotten through more via sampling by now but I just watched Kill Bill Vol 1 all the way through (Sue me, I've been dying to relive the theatrical experience of this one) and warmed to the format a bit. If anything, it proved that hand-drawn cel animation, where you can see the ink lines and everything, would be gorgeous in this format!

*Congratulations, you've now been Twitter-feeded on my inaugural Blu-ray purchases

[mfunk9786]

Having seen quite a few live action Blu-Rays at this point, to me, the Kill Bills are still the most stunning. Good choices, and a good range of older and newer films. Good luck with adapting, because I certainly understand your initial reservations.

[aox]

I think Che might be the most perfect of all of those listed.

[swo17]

The Kill Bills are among the best live-action Blu-rays I've seen. But the really impressive ones are all of the Pixar films.

In addition, Criterions that have really wowed me include:
Pierrot le fou
Kagemusha
Repulsion (especially if you'd previously only seen the old DVD version)
Che (it's like looking through a window)

[aox]

Both Kill Bills are down to about $15 each; however, I still pine for the "Whole Bloody Affair" with the original cut (which I have never seen). I haven't purchased the original releases on Blu.

[mfunk9786]

I haven't seen the Junebug BD yet but please, anyone who has it, report your thoughts. It's one of my favorite films of the '00s but I don't recall any dissatisfaction with the R1 Sony DVD.

[Oedipax]

Domino, you don't have any kind of motion smoothing turned on, right?

You might want to check that various contrast boosting / black-level crushing options are disabled as well. And turn sharpening way down.

[NilbogSavant]

I haven't seen the Junebug BD yet but please, anyone who has it, report your thoughts. It's one of my favorite films of the '00s but I don't recall any dissatisfaction with the R1 Sony DVD.

Just watched this two weekends ago and it looks great. I think there's a lot more extras than the R1 DVD as well. I'd highly recommend getting this one from a Eureka sale. I think it ended up being $14 or something shipped. Great film as well.

[Svevan]

If anyone's looking for a good deal, I got my Sherwood 5004 from thenerds.net with a discount code easily found via Google and from the order being placed to my receiving it was within 48 hours, all at the basic shipping charge. Niiiiice!

I'm on the verge of buying this same player. Are you referring to the $8 off coupon? If so, even with that coupon, the shipping charge brings the price right back up to Amazon level, or a dollar near it. Or am I not seeing the coupon you're referring to?

[mfunk9786]

Has anyone gotten the Australian release of Amelie? I am thinking about importing it, as my Insignia will play the PAL format trailers and bonus features, but I am wondering if it's worth it to do so. Any comments on the video/audio quality compared to the old Mirimax release? Have the crappy subtitles been re-translated?

[daniel p]

I have Amelie, I haven't watched it yet, but I had a quick look and the PQ was great - and the audio sounded great also. Can't help with the subs though sorry, just flicked through it a bit.

[mfunk9786]

Well the news about the quality is good - the DVD shows its age and has a green haze that ruins the whole party. If any film begs to be viewed in high definition, it's the one that comes to mind for me.

[Cash Flagg]

domino, you should give Baraka a spin as well, the Blu-ray looks spectacular.

[domino harvey]

Has anyone gotten the Australian release of Amelie? I am thinking about importing it, as my Insignia will play the PAL format trailers and bonus features, but I am wondering if it's worth it to do so. Any comments on the video/audio quality compared to the old Mirimax release? Have the crappy subtitles been re-translated?

It's a 1080i/50 release like the Australian DVD I was asking about a page or two back-- Hard Candy for me is the ideal HD candidate as Amelie was for you

[pro-bassoonist]

Good evening,

The info above is incorrect - the Australian release of Amelie, courtesy of Icon Pictures, is most definitely NOT 1080i50. It is 1080p, and boasts a strong French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.

Thanks.

Pro-B

[nsps]

Good evening,

The info above is incorrect - the Australian release of Amelie, courtesy of Icon Pictures, is most definitely NOT 1080i50. It is 1080p, and boasts a strong French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.

Thanks.

Pro-B

Is it region-coded? Any reason NOT to buy it?

[mfunk9786]

The special features are in PAL, so if your BD player has an issue with that, they won't play.

A way to test this: see if you can get a Region Free European DVD to play (a la a Masters of Cinema disc that is Region 0) in your Blu-Ray player. If it plays, you'll be fine with the trailers and special features on the Amelie BD. If not, you'll only be able to watch the film.

Good news is, most BD players, even most region locked ones, have no problem with PAL format.

[TMDaines]

The special features are in PAL, so if your BD player has an issue with that, they won't play.

A way to test this: see if you can get a Region Free European DVD to play (a la a Masters of Cinema disc that is Region 0) in your Blu-Ray player. If it plays, you'll be fine with the trailers and special features on the Amelie BD. If not, you'll only be able to watch the film.

Good news is, most BD players, even most region locked ones, have no problem with PAL format.

This won't help since MoC Blu-ray features are upscaled to 1080p I believe to avoid these PAL issues on flawed equipment.

[fdm]

This won't help since MoC Blu-ray features are upscaled to 1080p I believe to avoid these PAL issues on flawed equipment.

I don't consider my equipment flawed. It's just locked up tight. Does exactly what it's supposed to do.

[TMDaines]

This won't help since MoC Blu-ray features are upscaled to 1080p I believe to avoid these PAL issues on flawed equipment.

I don't consider my equipment flawed. It's just locked up tight. Does exactly what it's supposed to do.

Don't then. A Blu-ray player is flawed though if it isn't back compatible with the PAL format. The player has a flaw: it can't play PAL. It's kind of stupid to even debate that.

[Zot!]

This is one of the dumber arguments on here, but I can see what fdm is saying. His player was never advertised to play PAL and indeed, it flawlessly doesn't play PAL. I bet your BR machine can't make toast, is that a flaw?

[mfunk9786]

TMDaines is just really obnoxious when it comes to anyone who doesn't have a completely unlocked BD player. Ignore him.

To clarify: when I said a Region 0 MoC disc would be a good test, I meant a MoC DVD, not Blu-Ray.

[TMDaines]

Completely unlocked BD player? I didn't know these existed.

[mfunk9786]

*nerd laugh* You got me, man. Red handed. This conversation spurned on by your misreading of my original post is irresistible

[TMDaines]

I don't see why people are jumping on me for calling Blu-ray players that can't handle PAL flawed. PAL along with NTSC is still one of the main two encodes for non-HD video. There's a reason why the likes of BFI (and I believe MoC) are just blanket upscaling everything to avoid the issue of flawed equipment not allowing viewers to access certain features.

You act like I'm insulting a player for not handling XVID or DIVX or the like.