DVD / Blu-Ray must haves?

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comradesnarky:
I'll just talk Blu-Ray here. I think the following have exceptional transfers and/or are excellent movies in their own right.

Movies:
-Alien Quadrilogy - 3/4 are good movies, but all of them received beautiful HD upgrades.
-Back to the Future Trilogy - Classic movies that also received a great HD clean up.
-Blade Runner: The Final Cut - A classic, and an incredible transfer. The other four cuts didn't get the same clean up, but The Final Cut is pretty definitive.
-The Book of Eli - I have a love/hate thing with this movie, but it has a great atmosphere.
-Collateral - Excellent Michael Mann character study flick. I'm not a fan of HD cameras vs. film, but they pick up light at night in a really unique way, and that's displayed well here.
-Escape from New York - Cult classic Kurt Russell role. If you've ever wondered why people are huge Russell fans, this is why. I haven't seen the Blu-Ray, but anything would be an upgrade over the DVD.
-The Fly - I'm a huge David Cronenberg fan as well as Jeff Goldblum and neither of them disappoint here. Not for the squeamish.
-Friday - Excellent comedy movie that takes a rather dramatic twist in the third act. It also has great looking video, very life-like, and it maintains a very filmic look as well.
-Grindhouse - This movie is just a bunch of fun, and the Blu-Ray is the only way to see it as it was originally intended.
-Hard Boiled - Now, I haven't seen the Blu-Ray for this, but I understand it's not great looking. I've seen screens and it seems to use the same source as the DVD... which seems to be the original elements. In short, it's never going to look great, so, get it on DVD or Blu-Ray.
-Heat - Another great Michael Mann movie. Some people complained about the color being dull, but Mann supervised it, so it was likely his original intentions.
-Inception - Great looking disc. I hope Nolan never backs down on his adamant usage of film.
-Kick-Ass - Good movie, something funky is going on with the colors though.
-Kill Bill 1&2 - Huge upgrade over the DVDs. If you haven't seen these, shame on you.
-Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - If you hadn't noticed, I'm a film purist. I like the grain. That said, this movie was filmed on a low budget and the stock was Super 16, so this is about as grainy as they come. Personally, I love how this transfer looks. The grain structure is preserved really well, and as a fan, it's everything you could want. On the other hand, I've heard a lot of hate for it. It seems to be accurate to the source, though.
-The Matrix - Pretend the second and third don't exist. The Matrix's Blu-Ray is incredible. The DVD releases were really off on the color, and this one nails it. I never saw it in theaters, so it was exciting to see it look this good.
-Minority Report - Another grainy, bleached out movie whose look I can't help but love. The story is excellent as well.
-Mission: Impossible - I love this movie. It's a fun action flick, but it has a great espionage element to it that most spy movies lack.
-Moon - Truly excellent sci-fi movie that calls back to classic sci-fi like Blade Runner and Space Odyssey that explore the human psyche instead of gun down aliens.
-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - I'm still surprised at how fun this movie is every time I watch it. I wasn't a fan of the second and third, but I'd be surprised if they don't have a transfer as good as this. Disney puts great care into its Blu-Ray releases.
-The Prestige - Another great Nolan movie.
-The Punisher - This is a polarizing movie. Personally, I love it. If you go into it knowing that it takes place in Miami and not New York, it'll be a lot smoother going down.
-Reservoir Dogs - My favorite Tarantino flick. Another shame on you if you haven't seen it.
-Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Already mentioned a few times. Just had to give it some more backing.
-Se7en - Excellent mystery/horror film with an earlier Brad Pitt role. David Fincher's films have a unique look to them and this Blu-Ray does an incredible job of capturing it. This is a dark movie, and it really displays the power of the technology; the movie never looks too dark or become too difficult to decipher.
-Shutter Island - I'm not a Scorsese fan, but I love this movie. I need to watch it again, in fact...
-Star Trek '09 - Great way to breathe new life into an old series right along with an excellent Blu-Ray.
-The Thing - This uses the same transfer that the DVD did, so the same scratches and other film damage are present, but it's nice to see it in a high definition resolution. One of my favorite John Carpenter movies.
-Toy Story trilogy - Obvious. Also, Disney Blu-Ray, great quality.
-Tron: Legacy - Same as above. I haven't watched the original Tron yet, but it looked to be a giant leap over the DVD quality.
-Up - Another disney..
-Videodrome - Another David Cronenberg movie IE not for the squeamish. This is a Criterion Blu-Ray, so you'll shell out a bit extra, but they do incredible work.
-Watchmen - I'm still not quite decided on this movie. It's sort of insulting if you've read the comic... and it's probably completely indecipherable if you haven't. Great looking disc, though.

I left out some that I felt were completely obvious with the foresight that this list would be way too long as it is.

Just for fun, here's some TV shows:
-Dragon Ball Z Kai - A high def remastering of the original series with filler cut out to better resemble the manga. It still doesn't have a perfect picture, but this is as good as it's ever going to be, and the faster paced story does wonders during the Namek saga.
-Heroes - Not an incredible looking series on Blu-Ray. It wouldn't kill you to go DVD. Get the first and third seasons, and pretend the second and fourth don't exist. The second is about 10 episodes I think, so it's not a huge time sink, but don't expect anything.
-The Venture Bros. - You sort of need the first two seasons on DVD to understand the third and fourth, which are the ones on Blu-Ray. If you ever want to show off high def, show someone the first season DVD then switch to the Blu-Ray. The upgrade is absolutely incredible. Besides the wow effect of the show switching to HD, this is some of the funniest stuff I've ever seen. You won't be disappointed.

Arseen:
51st state.

Gotta love Samuel L. Jackson. ;)

comradesnarky:

--- Quote from: AppleQueso on May 01, 2011, 12:48:04 PM ---
--- Quote from: scarmullet on May 01, 2011, 12:42:39 PM ---I am interested in getting Alien 3 because I hear the version of Alien 3 in the set is the far superior recut version where the Xenomorph comes out of an ox instead of a dog.

--- End quote ---

Really now? I'll look into it when it comes out.

--- End quote ---

I had only seen about half of Alien 3 before the quadrilogy came out, and I have to say that Alien 3 is probably my second favorite behind the original. I couldn't recommend it enough. I don't remember enough of what I had seen to make a comparison, but movie-censorship.com has a pretty definitive list of changes.

I know that for the Blu-Ray they re-recorded the dialogue in parts because the source material was too damaged. I believe that it's referred to as the assembly cut in the DVD box set, and parts were subtitled due to the damage.

Arseen:
oh... Bad Taste, the cast and crew on that is amazing.

Arseen:
OK on serious note, all the old Quentin Tarantino movies are worth getting.

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