[wakeride74]

I didn't find a thread like this and thought that those of us that double as HT geeks would enjoy having it here. this is not gear related as we will be discussin the merritt of PQ/AQ of current, upcoming, or past titles.

Only rules are a that debates should be done in a polite manor ad let's keep the format discussions elsewhere. This thread will focus on the movie itself, the audio track, and of course the picture..

[size=large]
********* Start bluray discussion! [/size]

My most recent review was for Taken and am waiting on th wife to watch Gran Torino so I can put some feedback on that one. I also watched Event Horizon last night for the first time and was pretty impressed with the movie as a whole. Not sure how I even missed this one. Audio was pretty solid, nice LFE in several scenes but there seemed to have a slightly muted dialogue track IMO. PQ was sharp and had good detail and depth of image, unfortunately there was also some nasty EE and a few halos. I really enjoyed the movie and found it's shortcomings well worth the quality of the film and the overall transfer.

I also had something more formal written up on TAKEN if any wants me t dig for it.

Enjoy, discuss, debate, and recommend

Below are some screen caps of some of my favorites. The pics below are direct screen grabs but have been resized to be 800x600 friendly.

The Fall

A Bugs Life

Running Scared (German import)

Let The Right One In

The Island (UK import)

Sweeney Todd

Serenity

Tropic Thunder

The Descent (AUS import)

 

[necropimp]

on event horizon as much as i like the movie i can't bring myself to buy the bluray because the image is stretched

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by necropimp /img/forum/go_quote.gif on event horizon as much as i like the movie i can't bring myself to buy the bluray because the image is stretched

Yup, I forgot to mention the framing issue with this one. Why we are still getting titles that aren't OAR is simply unacceptable.

 

[bonkon]

Watched 300 on my PS3 recently, imagewise maybe the most spectacular I have seen on bluray. Other than that I am not the biggest fan of the movie.

Can you guys tell me what bluray player you are using? I know the PS3 is a bargain compared to other similar priced players. Another advantage is that the software/codec is constantly updated and if you have the PS3 connected then the quality will benefit from the latest firmware.

But how does it compare to players twice the price or more? Thanks

 

[Suntory_Times]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonkon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Watched 300 on my PS3 recently, imagewise maybe the most spectacular I have seen on bluray. Other than that I am not the biggest fan of the movie. Can you guys tell me what bluray player you are using? I know the PS3 is a bargain compared to other similar priced players. Another advantage is that the software/codec is constantly updated and if you have the PS3 connected then the quality will benefit from the latest firmware. But how does it compare to players twice the price or more? Thanks

I use the ps3 and it has the quickest load time for a blu ray player that I have seen, though it can be topped in PQ. However the difference is minimal unless of course you have a very good home theatre.

Just wondering if in discussing the PQ quality we should/could post pics of it as I love sieng what others see. Kinda wierd, but I think many like this as well.


Anyway, most new (non catalogue) release tend to have stunning PQ, though not always. The best blu ray in terms of PQ and AQ I have come across would have to be Quantum of Solace.

 

[dj_mocok]

Ironman, Dark Knight, to name a few, have excellent PQ.

 

[ronnielee54]

I am using the Pioneer BDP-51D in the living room and the Denon 1800BD in the den. The Pioneer is a pretty sweet player if you are into tweaking the settings, but I think I still prefer the Denon.

 

[wakeride74]

I'm using a Panasonic BD55, fast load times and excellent PQ. The PS3 is a rock solid player although there have been a lot of complaints about the most recent firmware that will no longer allow the player to skip past PAL content on imported titles. I was one of several members that imported The Descent from Australia and all the others with PS3's now can't play it until Sony corrects the issue with the next update.

I'm all for posting pics but I would suggest grabbing them from other sites unless you can grab them directly from the disc. There is already enough wasted discussion based on a variety of calibrated computer monitors we don't need to add digital camera shots to that as well.

As far as PQ Bugs Life is easily the most impressive title I have ever seen, simply amazing. For non-animated titles my reference picks would be 30 Days of Night, Sweeney Todd, Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder, The Fall, Casino Royale, POTC 3, Hellboy II, and I'Robot to name a few. (Most of those are demo material for AQ as well imo)

 

[milkweg]

I want Barry Lyndon on BluRay but they are leaving to last probably. Every Kubrick collection I have ever seen never has Barry Lyndon in it and I just don't get the reasoning to leave it out. If I buy a Kubrick collection I expect every notable movie Kubrick did and BL was one of them but is never in his boxed sets. What? It wasn't filmed in widescreen so guess it will get stretched too. Clockwork Orange wasn't filmed in widescreen either. Barry Lyndon has great cinematography and music though so would still like to own it on blueray even if it isn't native widescreen.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I want Barry Lyndon on BluRay but they are leaving to last probably. Every Kubrick collection I have ever seen never has Barry Lyndon in it and I just don't get the reasoning to leave it out. If I buy a Kubrick collection I expect every notable movie Kubrick did and BL was one of them but is never in his boxed sets. What? It wasn't filmed in widescreen so guess it will get stretched too. Clockwork Orange wasn't filmed in widescreen either. Barry Lyndon has great cinematography and music though so would still like to own it on blueray even if it isn't native widescreen.

Weren't his all kind of out of the norm? Like 1.59:1, 1.66:1, etc.? then projected at 1.85:1 or something?

 

[milkweg]

Something like that, yea. My Clockwork Orange is wider than 4:3 but not by much. I don't know if this is true or not but I saw someone say the only reason they went for the really widescreen in the first place was so they could build wide cinemas to fit more people in. It was a money thing and not necessarily an artistic choice.

 

[necropimp]

some of kubrick's films were shot open matte (filmed at 4:3 but framed for a wider ratio)

spartacus, 2001, and most of his stuff from the 50s are the ones that were not shot that way

 

[milkweg]

OK, so your saying he filmed at 4:3 then cut some off the top and bottom to make it look wider? Why though?

 

[ramintop]

here's a good place for blu-ray reviews: AVS Blu-ray Disc Reviews - AVS Forum

 

[madmax7]

The new version of Blade Runner is SPECTACULAR. Only on a handful of scenes is there some blurring, but overall it is amazing that such an old film looked so good.