Must Have Blu-Rays?

So, I'm FINALLY, slowly, upgrading to blu-ray, HDTV, etc.

Here's my questions:

1.) What are "must have" blu-rays? Which films really benefitted and got new transfers? I've heard, for example, that The Terminator did NOT get a new transfer and is basically just an upscaled SD version of the film, but without most of the extras from the DVD set. So, which ones are good investments? Which, if you had them, would you NOT bother upgrading?

3.) Which VERSION of films do you recommend for: Watchmen (I'm trying to find someone selling the Ultimate Cut, but can't find it anywhere), Blade Runner, and Avatar (which I want to get in a 2D/3D edition, but can't seem to find on Amazon).

Off the top of my head, the films I think I will be upgrading include:

- LOTR Extended Edition
- Batman Begins
- Blade Runner
- The Matrix (just the first one...if I can find it standalone)
- Terminator 2 (would've included the first one, but...)
- Alien and Aliens. (The last box set I have is the one from the late 90s, before the Quadrology.)
- Maybe Big Trouble in Little China
- Maybe some of the old Bond films.
- Maybe The Thing.


Others that I intend to buy new (don't own a DVD of them) are:

- Inception
- The Dark Knight
- the Marvel comic films (Captain America, Iron Man 1 and 2, Thor, Avengers -- which I still haven't seen...)
- Watchmen (hopefully in the Ultimate Cut)
- the two Sherlock Holmes films
- other assorted goodies (e.g., Doctor Who seasons,Torchwood seasons, etc.)
- The Indiana Jones trilogy and "special bonus coaster." Which will be transferred to my current Indy trilogy boxes for DVD.

So, what do you guys recommend?

Definitely get The Thing, Blade Runner, and Aliens. In fact, Aliens was such an improvement over my DVD that I started noticing tiny little details that I never did before, even after several, several viewings. AMAZING quality. And believe it or not, I recently got Big Trouble in Little China on Blu-ray, and was pleasantly surprised. Great quality! Definitely an improvement over the DVD.

As for Watchmen, it looks great. But it has that problem with the sound, where the dialogue is really, really quiet and then THE ACTION IS REALLY LOUD. For the longest time I thought it must have been an issue with my sound system (despite this being the only Blu-ray I own suffering from this issue), but after messing with the settings for hours, I came to the conclusion that it was the Blu-ray, and not my stuff.

OUTLAND is amazing on blu-ray. Like seeing a new movie. CE3K is also a good one. Both are pretty cheap now.

All the films mentioned so far, I'll add JAWS to the list as it's out in 20 something days time and from all accounts looks amazing, plus all the pixar animation stuff. Don't know if you're a fan but the animated features really bring out the best of blurry.

Oh, and Star Wars.

North By Northwest.

300 looks incredible on blu-ray. Also, believe it or not, the Speed Racer movie....holy hell! (just don't take any mind altering drugs before viewing or you might go insane ) OH! Fifth Element!!!

let's see...2001 is good, The Rings trilogy, many many others, it all really depends on your taste in movies really. Going from DVD to blu ray is amazing in pretty much every way.

I would hold out on Alien. The Anthology pops up on Amazon. I just got it for 28 shipped new. The godfather is another I am picking up and you can get the set for 30..

ALIENS. First time it's been restored since it's original DVD release back in 1999.

House of Wax (1953) in 3D. While not yet released, this release has had the most work done to it in regards to it's restoration than any film I have ever seen. You can take all the work that was done on this movie and restore SIX WHOLE FILMS!

Star Trek: The Original Series. A classic series that looks fantastic even with the old style effects.

Apokalypse Now. Not only is it presented in it's theatrical aspect ratio for the first time, but you also get two versions of the film, the making of documentary "Hearts of Darkness" in HD, and tons of other material that expand on the movie in ways I didn't even know. Scott Glen kills Dennis Hopper with a shotgun! *BANG!*

2001: A Space Odyssey.

Monster Squad on Blu. amazing.

Warpaint said:

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2001: A Space Odyssey.

Pspsps. How about something with a little more... I don't know. Something to it?

Jeyl said:

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Pspsps. How about something with a little more... I don't know. Something to it?

Melodrama?

Warpaint said:

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Melodrama?

Drama, a bit of action, character growth, cool special effects, an iconic villain, and my favorite, FEMALE CHARACTERS! Also, a great score that was actually written for the film.

Jeyl said:

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Drama, a bit of action, character growth, cool special effects, an iconic villain, and my favorite, FEMALE CHARACTERS! Also, a great score that was actually written for the film.

Just having fun with ya. Wrath of Khan is fine film.

If you like JJ Trek, it's one of the best blu ray transfers. See each and every lens flare in all it's glory!

But in all seriousness, it's a great transfer of the film.

Back to the Future turned out nice too.

Go to blu-ray.com, they review blue rays not only for the movie but for how well the transfers are. I always check there before I buy a BR, cause some transfers are crap.

Cool Hand Luke looks fantastic!
Rango is amazing also.
Can't go wrong with Pixar offerings also.


Doug

Buddy of mine has Iron Man 2 on BR. He tells me it's one of the most feature packed discs he has right now. I personally would just get the Avengers boxed set. The one with Thor, Hulk, IM2, Captain America init

Captain Ron.

The Rocketeer

Classic!

I lmao everytime I see the scene when his eye gets knocked out and he scrambles to find it!

robstyle said:

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Captain Ron.

5th Element and Rocketeer!

my Favorites:

• Dark Night
• Password Swordfish
• ALIENS
• Predator
• Iroman II
• StarWars EP 5 (Best ever) !!!!

nickytea said:

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North By Northwest.

Nice. Is that an actual upgrade from the DVD? Is it noticeable?

bleyd said:

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Buddy of mine has Iron Man 2 on BR. He tells me it's one of the most feature packed discs he has right now. I personally would just get the Avengers boxed set. The one with Thor, Hulk, IM2, Captain America init

Yeah, I'm probably just gonna get the first box set rather than buy individually.

Jeyl said:

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Pspsps. How about something with a little more... I don't know. Something to it?

Ah, didn't know that was out on BR yet. I'll definitely pick that one up. Probably gonna skip the TOS discs, though. I like the old F/X.

For me, the "must have" list is has folows:

- The crow
- Pulp Fiction
- Back to the future
- James Bond Colection
- inception

This would be the ones i buy first