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Quintus

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Generally very good. They don't look amazing, as only KHAN has a full restoration, but they look a damn sight better than the DVD counterparts. And they're all the theatrical versions. Extras are okay, there's a terrible commentary on KHAN with Meyer and Manny Coto where Coto spends practically the entire time worshipping Meyer, it's very embarassing, but the commentary on SPOCK with Larry Nemecek and Ronald D. Moore is well worth a listen. The Okuda et al commentaries are good if you enjoy watching paint dry. The Captain's Summit is fun though. Personally, I bought it just for TMP theatrical, KHAN, SPOCK and TUC.

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I'm sure ILM has been busy redoing the visual effects for the Star Trek films to make them in true high def. I'm sure in a couple of years we'll end up seeing the Directors cuts and such of for the films.

Those are one set of movies I am definitely buying after the new year. I've got the 2 disc sets of the Collectors Edition's on DVD ...but wouldn't mind upgrading to Blu for them.

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There is no need for ILM to redo any effects for blu-ray/HD.

I was under the impression that TMP would be the only film that might need to be revisted. And that would be for the "new" efects that were added for the Director's cut.

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There is no need for ILM to redo any effects for blu-ray/HD.

I was under the impression that TMP would be the only film that might need to be revisted. And that would be for the "new" efects that were added for the Director's cut.

The Motion Picture definitely needs revisiting for the effects but I thought the same was true for Nemesis. I could be wrong though.

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Less than a week to my first one... :angry:

And as I mentioned in another thread, I'm going to borrow a friend's copies of TOS on Blu to watch after I see the movie again. Really looking forward to it.

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does anyone know if Superman the Movie on BR is the corrected version or the one with the messed up sound effect changes?

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does anyone know if Superman the Movie on BR is the corrected version or the one with the messed up sound effect changes?

I'd have to check my copy but I believe it's the 2001 extended edition with the changes.

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Damn Warner Bros. and their horrible DVD (and I'm sure Blu-ray) packaging. First, it was the dreaded snapper case. Then when they started using REAL DVD cases, I had three separate experiences where they put the ridiculous security stickers over the artwork insert (Batman, Batman Returns and Twister 2-disc SE's) and I ended up tearing the tops and bottoms of the art away. Now they're using these ultra el cheapo "eco" cases. I knew something was off as soon as I picked the thing up and could easily deform/crush the case with my hand. I attempted to tear the wrapper from the DVD and it was all stuck to the spine. I still can't get it off and it looks awful on the shelf. Admittedly, this is probably an unrelated issue and I've experienced it before (also with WB Twister 2-disc SE). Worse, the case doesn't even hold the DVD! As soon as I popped the thing open, the disc fell out. I can't get it to stay in. I'd almost be tempted to return the disc on account of the awful packaging if I hadn't payed less than 10 bucks for it. I've swapped with a normal case and thrown the eco POS away. Sorry, had to vent.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hmmm, I just posted this in the "Recently Purchased Items" thread, but I suppose it really belongs here

Thanks to Target and Amazon's Black Friday deals, I recently got:

Dark City, The Departed, and V For Vendetta for $3.99 each

The Dark Knight and Batman Begins for $7.99 each

Up, Monsters Inc, and Cars for $10.32 each

Fight Club for $14.99

and Star Trek 2009 for $19.99

Now I just need a Blu Ray player!!!!!!!!!!!

Who can recommend me a good one in the under $150 range? There appear to be many good ones in that price range at the moment...

Oh, and by the way, the reason I was able to get a lot of this stuff so cheap is because of THIS coupon

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=25122795&postcount=44

Please to enjoy!

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I'm happy to report I bought the LG BD350 Blu-ray player last week and I'm very happy with it so far, gotta start building that BR collection now ... :nod: I started with T2, Superman the Movie and For Your Eyes Only and I'm amazed at all three, great picture and sound! ;)

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Fox did a great job with all of the Bond releases so far, is the T2 version you got the 2009 one? hopefully so as it's a much better transfer than the original release and loads of bonus features and branching versions etc.

does anyone know if Superman the Movie on BR is the corrected version or the one with the messed up sound effect changes?

I'd have to check my copy but I believe it's the 2001 extended edition with the changes.

You're right it is - complete with the 'impossible to listen to' isolated score!

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Fox did a great job with all of the Bond releases so far, is the T2 version you got the 2009 one? hopefully so as it's a much better transfer than the original release and loads of bonus features and branching versions etc.

You're perfectly right about the Bond BRs, FYEO looks (and sounds) fantastic! :D:) Concerning T2, unfortunately it's not the 2009 version, it doesn't even have the subtitles, let alone any special features. :D Maybe I'll try selling it and buying the 2009 version when I visit London in April 2010.

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Looks like Hook may get a blu-ray release next year along with BTTF, Jurassic Park, LOTR and best of all the Alien Quadrilogy set with brand new bonus features!

Watch this space, www.digitalbits.com has all the info so keep checking back for official announcements.

- Tim :cool:

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I know, this double dipping business is damn expensive!!!

Do you remember that cool VHS face-hugger box set?

What's worse is Blu-ray have already started releasing better editions, there's a new Goodfellas coming out next year!!! That only premiered on BD a couple of years ago! ;)

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The LotR EEs are another one I may double dip on, depending on price. I'm going to for Patton, and probably will for the original cast Star Trek movies when/if a better release comes out.

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The LotR EEs are another one I may double dip on, depending on price. I'm going to for Patton, and probably will for the original cast Star Trek movies when/if a better release comes out.

Patton is great John, 'yule' love it! ;)

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What's worse is Blu-ray have already started releasing better editions, there's a new Goodfellas coming out next year!!! That only premiered on BD a couple of years ago! ;)

Most of these fix problems with the original Blu release though. I know with the 2nd issues of The Fifth Element and Full Metal Jacket on Blu, the quality is considerably better.

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All this double dipping is convincing me to hold off on "upgrading" to BR for at least another five years.

I'll be buying regular DVDs until they phase them out.

By that time they will have a format that's better than Blu-ray.

Ditto.

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The LotR EEs are another one I may double dip on, depending on price.

They're a given for me. DVD resolution may do Fellowship justice (somewhat), but TTT and ROTK really need a HD presentation. The nice thing about Blu is, even with "older" movies which often don't seem that different from DVD, the image is cleaner, and objects are blurry because they're out of focus, not because the pixels are too large.

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I refuse to upgrade to Blu-ray until the Star Wars Trilogy, E.T., Jaws, Back to the Future Trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Jurassic Park and Titanic are all on the format and with additional features beyond picture/sound upgrade. The Batman Anthology is annoying. That thing cost 80 bucks on DVD and the Blu-ray is basically the same thing with better video/audio specs. I'm not going for that, although it's tempting to have the movies in HD. Many movies are being released on Blu-ray without the special features the DVDs had! Titanic would be a nice one to have since you wouldn't have to switch discs halfway through the movie. And maybe they could include all the extra crap Region 1 was denied and then some.

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At first Blu-rays really had bare bone special features. I still have the DVD counterparts to many of my Blus just because of that. Although now it's starting to reverse. Blus are getting special features not on the DVDs, and it's a pretty good marketing strategy if you ask me.

And on Amazon a lot of Blu-rays are cheaper than their DVD counterparts.

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I'll be buying regular DVDs until they phase them out.

By that time they will have a format that's better than Blu-ray.

what would you expect the new format to have?

You're not going to get better resolution because the studios need all the reasons they can get to put people in theaters.

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I'll be buying regular DVDs until they phase them out.

By that time they will have a format that's better than Blu-ray.

Fully agreed!

what would you expect the new format to have?

Um...there's this amazing invention, called the internet. There's a concept catching on called "Content Delivery." Or better known as online streaming. It's been growing at a much faster pace than Blu-Ray and DVD since 2007. With Apple, Microsoft, LG, Amazon, Samsung, NetFlix, Blockbuster all put their weight behind content delivery, there's no way Blu-Ray will get anywhere.

Think about it: physical media sales dropped by ~15% during 2009. Streaming content sales went up by ~20% .

Blu-Ray was dead before it launched. The future is in content delivery. End of story. I will never upgrade to a dead medium. Lexine Wong, Howard Stringer, Ryoji Chubachi, and the rest of the Sony brass are a bunch of idiots clinging to a dead format because they invested so much into it.

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Its hardly a dead format. People went to online content because the world's in a fucking recession and people don't have as much money to go out and buy every movie they want to. ;)

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Its hardly a dead format. People went to online content because the world's in a fucking recession and people don't have as much money to go out and buy every movie they want to. ;)

Wycket has a point. Blu-Ray came out before the recession hit...once the recession hit, everything was effected. Blu-Ray is far from dead.

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Is that what Sony's excuse is? The recession? ;)

Historically the entertainment industry booms during recession. Theater going is up, online streaming is up. Physical media is down. Yet home video has always been a recession resistant industry.

So even once the recession clears, do you honestly believe after having experienced the convenience of online streaming anyone is going to rush out to buy Blu-Ray? No. It'll be the 5% of people who are die-hard quality heads, and even they will switch over once broadband pipelines expand and more sophisticated infrastructure for content delivery develops.

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Physical media isn't going anywhere. Blu is the future, and it's sticking around well into the '10s, or rather as long as the PS3 is around. You will be waiting for a long time before the next format in home video and entertainment.

It's the same thing as the CD vs. digital download scenario. MP3s are inferior to CD quality, just like streaming videos are inferior to Blu-ray. NetFlix and Blockbuster and other companies like that still send you physical media, so content delivery really has no connection to this debate. And I think people care much more about their movie quality than their music quality, because it's much much easier to tell the difference with your eyes than with your ears.

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How anyone can interpret massive year-by-year losses in CD sales versus year-to-year 60% increases in digital sales as signs that physical CD's will stick around boggles my mind.

People in the early 1900s used to say the phonograph and radio couldn't dent the revenue system of sheet music and live performances. And that was shit quality compared to live quality. Anyone want to tell me what happened over the last 70 years?

Even Sony and their DisasterStation 3 have smelt the roses and contracted Netflix Streaming for the system. Hmmmm...wonder why.

Do customers like imperceptible differences in quality, or convenience and comfort?

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Yes it's in a decline. Piracy holds a lot of that blame, but there are huge movie events that can revitalize physical media. Things like Planet Earth and The Dark Knight immensely boosted Blu-ray. People were switching just because of those. I imagine Avatar will have the same effect. Not to mention dropping prices.

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How anyone can interpret massive year-by-year losses in CD sales versus year-to-year 60% increases in digital sales as signs that physical CD's will stick around boggles my mind.

People in the early 1900s used to say the phonograph and radio couldn't dent the revenue system of sheet music and live performances. And that was shit quality compared to live quality. Anyone want to tell me what happened over the last 70 years?

Even Sony and their DisasterStation 3 have smelt the roses and contracted Netflix Streaming for the system. Hmmmm...wonder why.

Do customers like imperceptible differences in quality, or convenience and comfort?

Customers like to have all options available. XBox has had Netflix for a while and Sony had to add it as well to compete (much like Nintendo will have to do eventually). People want it because its convenient, yes, but the quality will always be an issue as long as internet speeds remain at this level. As Koray says, Netflix still gives physical discs, and I only use the instant watch option to get the most for my buck. If there was no online viewing, I wouldn't care less.

And to put another crimp in this little debate, if people want streaming content so badly over the physical media, can Blume answer why Hulu and other sites are now thinking about charging viewers as viewership has not met expectations?

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can Blume answer why Hulu and other sites are now thinking about charging viewers as viewership has not met expectations?

Yes I can answer. Your facts are incorrect. Hulu is thinking about charging viewers not because viewership has not met expectations but because the ad-model hasn't yielded favorable profit margins. Hulu viewership on the other hand has been phenomenal. It's the #2 most popular video streaming site behind YouTube. Their ad-model simply hasn't been providing profit.

The biggest proponent of the pay model is one of Hulu's biggest stakeholders Rupert Murdoch, who has been on a mission to make all of his online-content on some sort of pay-model anyway. But now with the purchase of NBC Universal (the other major stakeholder) by Comcast, even the pay model is going to be "rethunk." So it's basically FOX fully behind a pay model, NBC now see-sawing, and Disney completely against it.

I highly doubt Comcast will side with going on a money based model, simply because they're already starting their own system called Fancast. That and Comcast knows such online delivery content will help their booming internet services. People will pay Comcast $60/mo to be able to access the internet for things like Hulu. Fox might pull out, but Murdoch will just be shooting himself in the foot.

As Koray says, Netflix still gives physical discs, and I only use the instant watch option to get the most for my buck. If there was no online viewing, I wouldn't care less.

This isn't about you Wycket. You can't apply what your niche opinion is to 300 million people in the USA and 600 million people in Europe, and eventually billions of people across the globe.

but the quality will always be an issue

Quality has never been an issue with consumers. (If so, why is everthing made in China?) No, competitive pricing and convenience overrule quality for virtually everyone who makes money.

as long as internet speeds remain at this level.

Which it won't, just three days ago the US government announced an increase in expenditure in our broadband infrastructure. On the other end of the pond, a lot of countries are already way ahead.

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Online streaming is a nice way to watch a movie on-demand.

You buy the blu-ray if you want deleted scenes, documentaries, commentaries, featurettes, etc etc.

Not to mention it will be years and years before everybody will have fast enough internet in their homes to stream uncompressed 1080p video and TrueHD audio, which is another thing blu ray offers

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