Official Sony Pictures Blu-ray launch list updated
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jun 15th 2006 11:02AM
posted Jun 15th 2006 11:02AM
With five days to go until the release of the first Blu-ray movies from Sony, things are proving to remain fluid. The Samsung BD-P1000 will definitely make an appearance June 25 (unless of course you already have one), however the movies you can buy have changed, according to the latest press release. Our earlier source appears to have been correct, several movies have come off the list completely, while others are slightly delayed. The good news is that the launch titles are definitely set, as none of those have changed however the successive releases seem prone to slippage.Legends of the Fall, Kung Fu Hustle, Black Hawk Down, Sense and Sensibility, The Big Hit and Resident Evil: Apocalypse are all still MIA, we will keep you updated as launch approaches. The updated list follows.
The updated list from Sony:
June 20
- 50 First Dates
- The Fifth Element
- Hitch
- House of Flying Daggers
- XXX
- The Terminator
- Underworld Evolution
- Ultraviolet (day-and-date with DVD release)
- Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction
- Stealth
- Species
- SWAT
- Benchwarmers
- The Last Waltz
- A Knight's Tale
I already own all of the release movies in HD, except Underworld Evolution and Hitch. The Fifth Element had a great HD broadcast, as well as 50 First Dates. The Terminator, sadly, is a bit ill-kemp in terms of film quality, but totatlly macro free.
Of the follow-up movies, Species, SWAT, The Last Waltz, and A Knight's Tale, have all been broadcast in HD. I only cared enough to record a (decidedly awesome!) Last Waltz. I am the perennial early adopter, aka The Target Market, and Sony is trying to win me over with either (a) junk, or (b) already-broadcast HD content, which I recorded.
So let's be real here, these movies are a pathetic first (or second) salvo in a format war.
Based on Specs, I would like BD to win this. But c'mon Sony. Sheesh.
-Pie
Shooting for a "Too Be Fair..." Post.
The majority of Warner's current HD-DVD titles have also been broadcast in HD (what happens when you own HBO I guess). Unforgiven, Blazing Saddles and Firewall being the exceptions.
One of Universal's few previously-broadcast titles, Riddick showed on HBO. It's beautiful in places, but still has serious motion macro issues. Universal, however, throws an "Unrated Director's Cut" into the mix, so you're getting added value beyond image quality here.
That said, in terms of what's been broadcast and available for recording, HD-DVD looks like a better value in terms of access to unavailable material. And while it's a matter of taste, HD-DVD also strikes me as having a lot more quality and variety on its side than BD.
I did say "Sheesh" to Sony already, didn't I?
-Pie
PS I really am trying to be fair, but I gotta call it as I see it.
Hey Hair Pie,
I doubt the HD broadcasts you have recorded are original aspect ratio or free of macroblocking from compression. You're not really the "Target Market" if you think the cable company is delivering the same thing as a high bit rate high definition disc playback.
Not Hair! Why does everyone think that?? Sheesh! :)
Indeed Macro Blocking is the bane of many an HD broadcast. High bit rates, along with the related knock-out image quality, are the main thing I'm looking for in BD and/or HD-DVD.
Certainly a lot of what I own is not OAR... assuming I'm dealing with HBO of course. But the Fifth Element, Terminator and Last Waltz (my top-and-almost-only-3 on the list) are OAR and look awesome.
And I do certainly remain in the target market of early adopter. Analog-Only HDTV to prove it! :)
...
What I am saying, though, as an early adopter... there's nothing here to make me budge! I WANT to budge! Budge Budge Budge! But no. Sony is making it impossible. Their lineup is terrible... and any movie I'd want from BD now, I already have in HD, and these are some of my best (Macro-Free and OAR) transfers!
Blueberry!
-Pie
I doubt the HD broadcasts you have recorded are original aspect ratio.
Neal Saferstein
Those HD broadcast grabs will probably look quite different from the material played off a Blu-Ray disc. The specs for ATSC HDTV have a much smaller peak bitrate, and the compression process (multi-pass interactive) used in authoring discs is quite different from the approach taken for broadcast. Time will tell!
Look you guys, you're just repeating the same mantra -- OAR -- without reading my whole post. I said what was OAR, and what wasn't. I also said what had macro and what didn't.
Instead of hassling me with the OAR mantra, why not discuss the quality -- or lack thereof -- of Sony's initial lineup. IMO, it lacks quality, and where it has substance, it's fighting recorded copies already owned by / available to many early adopters.
-Pie