Blu-Ray movies

Manta-
You made me belly laugh!

Good link!

Srwooten, these demos are for friends and family, but most importantly, ME! HA HA HA

I found this website which reviews blu ray movies. You can also view the reviews by sorting either Video, Audio, Alphabetical, etc... It is located at the top.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews_audio.html

There are a very few blu ray movies that got a 5 stars for Audio and Video.

The Fifth Element LOOKS AMAZING on our Pioneer krp-500m plasma! These were the last Pioneer plasmas made and their BEST EVER! Some say its like getting a 10G at amazing price!

FYI-A certain well-known book retailer has a special on Criterion Blu-Rays right now. They're 50% off!...60% w/ discount card plus there's an additional 15% off 1 item coupon you can print out from the internet. Not sure why the mods rejected the thread I tried to start but I'm just passing on a smokin' deal. I'm not selling anything.

Synth - those two films couldn't be more different. Hancock has a brain in its head. But - I will confess -the world seems to agree with your take on "Hancock". (IIRC, it bombed both at the box and with critics.) BTW, I loved "Heaven's Gate" (long version), too - so maybe it's me - and I shouldn't have been surprised that no-one mentioned it. I still love this flick, though. And it does look & sound very good on BR.

Marty

To each his or her own I guess because I don' think I even cracked a grin during Hancock. I admit that it was better than My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

I'm a little surprised that no one has mentioned "Hancock".
Wonderful picture and sound (special effects heavy) plus it's a really clever, very funny, ocassionally touching and -IMHO- wildly underrated film.

Marty

I second the Jeff Beck. Return to Forever live @ montreux is a must have, your sub will curse you.

Cruz 123,

That is an interesting list. Subjectively, I think "Tier Zero" is aptly named... kinda makes me wonder who is providing input. It looks to me like the over-saturated colors and rapid motion of computer animated features carried the day with those folks.

I tried to recommend movies I thought people would actually want to own, and could be used to demonstrate both sound and video quality that clearly exceeded upscaled DVD on a good BluRay player, high resolution monitor, and highly capable sound system. I will grant you that a bunch of animated films may grab peoples attention on a good BluRay system in ways that even the best live action cinematographers can't match. YMMV.

Mantaray-
Just for curiosities sake what kind of demos are you shooting for? For friends or customers?

Too bad 2/3 of the movies on the first tier suck or don't hold up to repeated viewings unless you're some sort of freak who obsesses ONLY about picture quality. Transporter 3, Die Hard Part 4 or whatever, Bee Movie...once was enough. I'd much rather have a movie that strikes a balance between reference quality picture/sound & good honest film making. I'd rather watch Blade Runner once a year than Transporter 3 but that's just me.

Planet Earth is certainly a visual delight, but strictly from a picture quality perspective, its far from the best blu-ray quality that I have seen, IMHO. Same for Bladerunner. Here's a good reference list for the top blu-ray's, strictly from a picture quality persective.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858316

Certainly, there's some subjectivity here, but this seems to be a pretty good reference list. There is a separate thread at the same site for best audio quality.

Did not know you can make a movie like Blade Runner to look that good and sound good today. It's really an old movie. If I can remember, isn't Blade Runner is movie with a lot of talking and not so much action? I don't remember there's a lot of action scenes in Blade Runner

Agreed. It is not a heavy action movie like you get these days. But explosions and car chases are not the only thing shows off HD. A cinemtaogrpahic film shows it off too with careful attention to lighting, camera angles and panoramic views.
That is why BBC's Planet Earth is probably the best BD of all.

Did not know you can make a movie like Blade Runner to look that good and sound good today. It's really an old movie. If I can remember, isn't Blade Runner is movie with a lot of talking and not so much action? I don't remember there's a lot of action scenes in Blade Runner.

I bought the movie Quantum of Solace (James Bond) and it sounded pretty intense in DTS-HD Master Audio. So far, I like DTS-HD Master Audio sound format. I have not heard Dolby TrueHD yet and I heard it suppose to sound just as good. There is another sound format called PCM 5.1 and that suppse to sound good as well.

Is there much of a difference in:

- DTS-HD Master Audio

- Dolby TrueHD

- PCM 5.1

Which do you prefer is the BEST sound of the 3 listed above?

Maybe I will start a new thread about these 3 sound formats.

Oh yes Blade Runner is a cinematographic wonder. Absolutely stunning in BD. This is the best I have seen on BD so far. I found Master & Commander to be grainy in spots (low lighting). In contrast Blade Runner is excellent colour definition and detail in very dark lighting - a moody artistic film. This film is a masterpiece and established Ridley Scott artistically even though it was not a box office success. Far superior artistically to his incredibly successful Alien.

"For music, the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds live at Radio City Music Hall is outstanding in terms of picture and sound quality."

Agreed.

And see:

Iron Man - first flight scene
Casino Royal - the poker game scene
Blade Runner Ultimate Collectors edition
There Will be Blood - the oil explosion scene
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma - final scenes

Also see these favorite DVD demos upgraded to Bluray:

House of Flying Daggers - echo dance scene
Pearl Harbor - attack scene

I agree entirely with all the previous recommendations. However, if you just want demo material on blu-ray, as opposed to a movie, try Diana Krall live in Rio. Simply stunning picture and sound that will test the dynamic resolution powers of your projector to the max.

Music: David Gilmore "Remember That Night",Rush "Snakes and Arrows"

Subwoofer workout: Master and Commander,Flight of the Phoenix,Iron Man,War of the Worlds

Surround workout: Kungfu Panda,Cars,Blackhawk Down,Saving Private Ryan

The whole package: Dark Knight,Iron Man,Transformers

Bill

Baraka...end of story.

Baraka is excellent both in terms of picture and sound quality. It also lends itself to showing off certain chapters which works well for demo material. Wall-E, is quite good for an animated feature as well. For music, the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds live at Radio City Music Hall is outstanding in terms of picture and sound quality.

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' The Phantom Of The Opera ', the colors are soooo rich, vivid and real.

' The Dark Knight ' and ' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ', the sound in those movies is astounding if your system is up to it.
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For animation, try ' Meet The Robinsons ', ' The Incredibles '.

Get any new Disney Blu Ray release and check out the previews of upcoming movies on the disc. Disney's Blu Ray previews touting its Blu Ray movies really look and sound great.
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Blood Diamond, any Pixar, I, Robot

Batman Begins, Kung-Fu Panda and Australia all very good with audio and video delights.

The Fifth Element.

I really like Batman: Dark Knight. Great video and audio quality. Recently, Knowing, by Nicolas Cage, has very impressive sound and nice picture. The train and plane crash sound is just jaw dropping. Another great video is the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but not much sound effect.

The easy one to pick for both audio and video is Kill Bill volume 1.(blue ray)

Get Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scott's - absolutely awesome.

Ooops you wanted a movie. "Cars" is pretty darn good, IMHO. But Planet Earth BBC series is probably the most impressive for video.