Blu-ray News and Deals

[Quintus 5,399]

I've heard that elsewhere, too. It was enough to put me off getting it.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Just bought Independence Day on BD. My speakers will never forgive me.

[Trent B 337]

Just bought Independence Day on BD. My speakers will never forgive me.

Fox did a phenomenal job at giving Independence Day the HD transfer.

I wonder if we'll have to pony up for the "Director's Cut" if it's released.

I really do hope that The Abyss and True Lies get a Blu-Ray treatment with proper aspect ratios.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I don't really care for the Director's Cut. I was surprised to find the trailers got an HD upgrade on the disc too.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

It's an awesome package, and a lovely disc.

I remember Joey saying the image quality was disappointing for Blu-ray. Normal DVD doesn't look that good either. It's probably shot on bad stock.

I stand by my belief. It's not a great transfer. Looking online I see half the blu ray community thinks I'm wrong, the other half thinks I'm right. All in all not the prettiest picture to me but it's still an excellent bargain. All three movies for 10 bucks on blu with tons of extras.

[paleo 63]

I stand by my belief. It's not a great transfer. Looking online I see half the blu ray community thinks I'm wrong, the other half thinks I'm right. All in all not the prettiest picture to me but it's still an excellent bargain. All three movies for 10 bucks on blu with tons of extras.

It probably comes down to if you are okay with lots of grain and very obvious visual effects or not. I think it's not great to look at, but probably very faithful to the source. In other words, probably didn't look much better in the theaters back in the day, either. Certainly the best way to watch the movie if you like it, and well worth its $10.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

The aspect ratio on The Abyss is 100% accurate, it's just not done in 16:9.

I stand by my belief. It's not a great transfer. Looking online I see half the blu ray community thinks I'm wrong, the other half thinks I'm right. All in all not the prettiest picture to me but it's still an excellent bargain. All three movies for 10 bucks on blu with tons of extras.

It probably comes down to if you are okay with lots of grain and very obvious visual effects or not. I think it's not great to look at, but probably very faithful to the source. In other words, probably didn't look much better in the theaters back in the day, either. Certainly the best way to watch the movie if you like it, and well worth its $10.

Definitely. Quint, you need this in your collection. You know it to be true.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

That ID4 BD made me feel like an awe-struck 11-year-old kid in 1996 again. I love Blu-Ray!

[Marian Schedenig 8,212]

It's an awesome package, and a lovely disc.

I remember Joey saying the image quality was disappointing for Blu-ray. Normal DVD doesn't look that good either. It's probably shot on bad stock.

It looks much better than the DVD, and it doesn't look bad at all in general. Unlike on the DVD, where contrast in the fx shots was a serious problem (the documentary blamed the compositing process, implying that the DVD contrast was the best the original finished film could provide), you can clearly see the stars in all the night shots on the Blu.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Marian, I've put the dvd and blu back to back and there is almost no difference in the quality. The dvd looks basically the same. You can clearly see the stars in the dvd version as well.

[A24 4,349]

During which scene should I see stars?

[Marian Schedenig 8,212]

The early night scenes with Roy on the road. Not seeing the stars was perhaps a poor wording on my part, since that also depends a lot on your display equipment, but when I watched it, the Blu had clearly improved contrast over the DVD, making the blacks in the effects shots much darker than the greyish skies on the DVD version. And obviously the Blu's resolution is much higher, which on its own will improve any night sky shot.

[A24 4,349]

How can we trust you, Marian? You have a projector. With projectors, there's too many things one needs to take into account. The quality varies from model to model, from brand to brand, the room, the projection size, et cetera.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Listen to the man.

It's clearly better than the DVD. If you don't realise that, you have a faulty BD player or TV.

[A24 4,349]

there is almost no difference in the quality. The dvd looks basically the same. You can clearly see the stars in the dvd version as well.

Clearly better?

I just checked the scene (scene 6) of the DVD where little Barry runs on the road. OMG, it's full of stars!

[Quintus 5,399]

I have the DVD and the picture is already very good, however Marian's claim that the contrast on the sfx shots is much better in the Blu version is tempting.

[A24 4,349]

I have the DVD and the picture is already very good

Which DVD do you have? Mine has faded colors and there's quite a bit of grain.

[Quintus 5,399]

I have the 2001 collectors edition. I quite like grain, remember

It's been a while but I do remember the unsightly contrast during the sfx shots.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I think CE3K BD looks fine.

[Marian Schedenig 8,212]

Well, I should mention that I never did a direct comparison between the DVD and the Blu, but I definitely was positively surprised by the Blu, which seemed to look clearly better than I had expected the movie could. Obviously, the image quality is not perfect compared to more recent films, or probably even older film material with no or few compositing effects, but you probably can't expect that from CE3K.

Here are some screenshots of the two versions for comparison:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/closeencounters.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews33/close_encounters_of_the_third_kind_blu-ray.htm

[A24 4,349]

R1 looks better, sharper than R2. And HF, the Blu-ray looks definitely better than the DVD.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It looks better than DVD to me. More like film, as opposed to video. As is the case with most BDs.

[A24 4,349]

Of course, but the sharpness of the old R2 DVD is too soft. The Blu-ray seems to solve this.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Blu is always better than DVD, except in cases where the studio fucks up and goes crazy with edge enhancement and DNR.

[Andy 4,148]

I remember being in the store, just staring at the laserdisc box set of CE3K, sometime in the 90s. I didn't own a laserdisc player. And there was no way I was plunking down $100+ dollars for the thing. But the idea of bonus features just fascinated me at the time, as VHS had no such extras.

Years later, I can't believe I just ordered the Blu-Ray for $7.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Now we play the waiting game. Although you Europeans don't have to.

(A.I. on Blu)

[A24 4,349]

Blu is always better than DVD,

I was hoping they fixed the rest as well. It still doesn't look good enough to warrant another purchase of the same film.

[Trent B 337]

Charlie,

I don't think the aspect ratio for The Abyss DVD is correct. I thought I've read else where that it wasn't.

[Quintus 5,399]

Now we play the waiting game. Although you Europeans don't have to.

(A.I. on Blu)

I guess that would be a good excuse to watch that movie a second time.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Charlie,

I don't think the aspect ratio for The Abyss DVD is correct. I thought I've read else where that it wasn't.

.

Like Charlie said, the aspect ratio on The Abyss DVD is correct. It's just non-anamorphic (which, as we should all know by now, is hopelessly outdated).

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I noticed that A.I. is out in Japan. Dreamworks strikes again with their terrible cover art.

Do yourself a favor and get An American Werewolf in London for 9 bucks if you don't already have it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

And now it's official. February 15, 2011.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I will run and not get this.

The movie collection I want this Christmas isn't available in blu, and I'm not sure that blu would or could add much.

[Trent B 337]

Was at Wally World, it showed the Blu-Ray set of the first six Star Trek films for $24.99. I was like, 'Damn what a steal!'. It turns out that the $24.99 price tag was meant for the Blu-Ray 3-Disc set for Star Trek (2009). So I got that instead. About time I picked that one up.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

even though I'm not a fan of that film, it does look great on blu, but the flares are even more annoying in blu

[Trent B 337]

even though I'm not a fan of that film, it does look great on blu, but the flares are even more annoying in blu

I will agree about the flares being more annoying. I thought the film looked good on regular DVD but you're right it looks great on Blu-Ray.

I hope the next Star Trek film J.J. Abrams does, he cuts down on the lens flare.

[John Crichton 4]

That was my first ever Blu purchase, and it does indeed look stunning.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I would have bought the old Star Trek movies for that price. I don't want the new one at all.

[John Crichton 4]

I'm waiting for a better release of TMP-VI before getting them. I've read the current Blu releases are poor transfer rush jobs.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I've read that. I've also read they look fine.

[Trent B 337]

I viewed them on Netflix and thought they looked just fine in High Def. I do want to get the other 10 Star Trek films on Blu-Ray but it's gotta wait until next year.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I'm not replacing all my dvds with blu, but most of my new purchases are in blu, except for old black and white movies.

Ben Hur is being release in BLU soon. It will be a must.

[paleo 63]

I'm waiting for a better release of TMP-VI before getting them. I've read the current Blu releases are poor transfer rush jobs.

I have two of these (II and VI). It's definitely a nice upgrade, but could certainly be improved upon.

[Maglorfin 196]

Anddd ... The latest addition to my BR collection is ...

[Wycket 36]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[Trent B 337]

Anddd ... The latest addition to my BR collection is ...

Nice I plan to get that as well next year. I actually like the movie but want it on Blu-Ray.

[Maglorfin 196]

I haven't seen it before, so that was an additional reason for me buying it, the main being a very high grades for HD video and audio quality on High-Def Digest:

Every minute detail is distinct and resolute in any number of scenes with great outlining in a variety of objects. Nowhere else is the image's sharpness more evident than during the many scenes of CGI disaster as every person scuffling and grappling for safety and protection is plainly perceptible amidst all the well-defined rumble and mayhem. Adding to the striking picture quality are the rich and dynamic black levels, furnishing the flick with pleasing dimensionality. Shadow delineation is equally excellent as background info is observable in the darkest portions of the frame. Contrast is spot-on, with crisp gradations in the grayscale and wonderful visibility and clarity of random items in the distance. Colors are vividly saturated and accurately rendered at the same time that facial complexions appear warm, natural, and revealing.

(Complete review can be found here.) I know this is purely popcorn entertainment stuff, but, having not watched it yet and having read the review, I still couldn't help myself and had to buy it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's shit.

[Datameister 2,044]

It's fun for what it is, and the VFX rock.

[Trent B 337]

It's fun for what it is, and the VFX rock.

Agreed.