So we've already had a discussion over
which ten films that aren't on Blu-ray, um, should be, but this one's about choosing the most beautiful of the titles already available.
Popular Mechanics has listed its top twenty Blu-ray Discs in terms of pure visual incredibleness, noting that these winners "reward repeat viewing with great stories, evocative soundtracks and dazzling visuals." Understandably, a few from the
Criterion Collection made the cut, with notable others including
Wall-E,
No Country for Old Men,
The Bourne Ultimatum and
A Passage to India. We didn't find too many avenues for disagreement on the films that were chosen, but we were taken aback by the fact that
Baraka was nowhere to be found. A simple oversight, or a purposeful omission?
posted Dec 12th 2008 3:13PM
I didn't think Bourne was going blu until the end of January.
The lack of The Dark Knight is laughable. I'm no fanboy but I mean come on....
The Dark Knight has been criticized heavily for a notorious amount of EE artifacts.
I haven't seen it either, but given its VC-1 nature, and Warners old HD-DVD "compress, compress, compress" attitude, I am prone to believe the detractors.
Of course, this Blu-ray is still on my Christmas list!
-Pie
Wow, 70% these movies are pretty shitty for 'showing off' blu-ray capabilities.
You obviously haven't seen any of them -- or read the list.
The author gives his reasons, and they're good ones. Sleeping Beauty is the single best BD I own. Absolutely outstanding. I own about 3/4 on the list, and they're all demo material, even if Baron Munchausen will confuse and baffle most casual movie goers!
-Pie
EatingPie
Wrong, and.... Wrong
I've seen these movies, great movies by content (writing). The goal in showing off blu-ray potential is finding those crisp movies or granted some old classics remastered (but keep the titles limited).
You really have to find dramatically visual movies to 'show off' blu-ray's potential.
What .... No Kung Fu Panda
Please.
Here is the list:
The Dark Knight
Wanted
Transformers
Wall*E
Iron Man
Hellboy 2
The Hulk
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
U-571
hey hey: wow, that is quite possibly the stupidest list blockbuster/superhero lameness i've ever seen! but yeah, they probably all look quite stunning on blu-ray. i think the popular mechanics list is meant to show off the look of FILMS...
czar
so Wall-E is a "FILM"? Nobody said anything about the quality of content (storyline/writing).
The list is missing 2 important ones:
Kung Fu Panda
Cloverfield
Ok, i know it sounds lame but if you go buy speed racer on blu ray i think you will agree that it is by far the best film ever made... visually of course.
I can imagine. I watched it on dvd, because I sadly have no money for HD :(, and all I could think is "I wish I was watching this on Blu-ray". The movie wasn't very good, but it was definitely a visual treat.
I Robot....not the greatest movie but the closest you'll come to visual perfection. Best 3D effect your'e gonna get.
U-571
One of the most insulting & dumb revisions of history
(and by God Hollywood has a lot to choose from)
Hmm.... no one's mentioned Planet Earth yet.
haha wow, the only ones i agree with are wall-e and bourne LOL
It seems like politics were involved in choosing those movies
First lets make it clear: are we talking about best movies ever made that happen to be on Blu-Ray or The best technical (audio and video) on Blu-Ray. Either way Popular Mechanics has some very bad choices.
However, I am a A/V guy so I want this thread to be a Best "Technical" Demos of Blu-Ray thread". With that in mind, "Hey Hey's" list is pretty spot on. However I would add the following to it:
300
Pan's Labyrinth
Beowulf
The Patriot
Master and Commander
Cars
Black Hawk Down
Pans Labyrinth and Shoot'em Up have DTS-MA 7.1 Audio. This is huge if you have a system that can take this. It makes the movies incredible to watch. The picture quality of these movies is remarkable as well.
I think Kill Bill was kinda rushed. Reservoir Dogs has a much better transfer and its hard to believe that they wouldn't of done the same for Kill Bill. I think that they are gonna release both discs in a special collectors addition that is better so I will wait for that.
I often think comment sections on Engadget are just an excuse to rag, even if it doesn't matter.
I have seen many "lists" that include a variety of films of dubious quality. And those lists would be made up by most of the people here.
The list is great. He DID pick films that show off Blu-ray's capabilities, and I consider many of them absolutely top-of-the-line in terms of sound and picture.
Sleeping Beauty.
Wall-E
2001
No Country
Blade Runner
These simply are best of the best.
-Pie
Did you ever watch Popular Mechanics for Kids here in Canada, no you didn't you say.
Well that's where I started my crush on Elisha Cuthbert. Now look at her!!!
Are you kidding me no Dark Knight? Dudes its the first action movie to use IMAX double res 70mm film. Has no one paid attention to the underground chase? Its almost TOO realistic its so good.
every article prior to this stupid list had on their list a must have Blu-Ray movie Casino Royale... where is that movie. Add after this week, Dark Knight is a must have... not one movie can say that they transferred their Imax secreen shots to Blu like Dark Knight.
Also if you have Wall.e then Cars and Ratatoulle need to be on that list.
P.S. who in the world buys Robin Hood... I would rather watch the Kevin "my accent changes every 5 minutes" Costner version.
Did anyone try Dark Knight? How is the blu-ray audio/video for this film?
Here's my list (we're talking about video quality folks, not movie quality):
Ratatouille
I, Robot (the best transfer of a movie shot on film to HD media yet)
Red Cliff (Hong Kong Import)
Casino Royale
Enchanted
The Descent (1st BR pressing used AVC encode with beautiful grain structure, all other pressings are MPEG-2 and DNR'd)
How the West was Won (Flat version, Smilebox version has slight EE)
Doomsday
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
300
Resident Evil: Extinction
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Dark Knight does deserve a place on my list but only for the IMAX scenes. The IMAX scenes I can say are absolutely jaw-dropping and among the best on Blu-ray but when it switches to 35mm, it's like watching a DVD upconvert. WB really screwed up on that one.
I'm curious to see what everyone recommends, but I think this thread should stay focusing on technical aspects of movies. Sure there's movies where the plot completely blows, but if it looks absolutely stunning, then odds are I just might need to pick it up for my collection. So anyone else care to chime in on what they feel is the most technically stunning?
-Brian