Top Blu-rays

brittle
brittle Posts: 37
edited October 2009 in Music & Movies
I recently bought a PS3 and want to get all the best looking blu-rays. I've noticed a lot of them don't look much better than the original dvd's, lousy transfers I guess. I can't justify the extra ten bucks per disc unless the picture/sound is MUCH better. Any lists of spectacular looking/sounding blu-rays are appreciated. Here is a short list of blu-rays I have found (so far) that are worth the extra money. The list is short only because I have yet to see more blu-rays.


Fifth Element (re-release)
Ice Age
Cars
3:10 to Yuma
I am Legend
Transformers
Kill Bill 2
Troy
Apocalypto
Wanted
Planet Earth
Ultimate Matrix
Brittle
Pioneer VSX 94TXH AVR
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Sony PS3
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  • acsubie
    acsubie Posts: 773
    edited January 2009
    im favorites in my collection as far as sound/video are:

    Hell Boy 2
    Dark Knight
    Kill Bill 1
    Ironman
    Hulk
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,599
    edited January 2009
    lets not forget Battlefield Earth with John Travolta... this is an All-Time great film and looks fantastic on bluray:D












    Just kidding... it sux in any format and if played in bluray your tv might just explode...
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited January 2009
    avs forum has a thread with 'mob' consensus on the top PQ blu-rays:
    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858316

    The main criteria seems to be the Billy Crystal "You look maaarvelous, darling" for eye candy :D

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  • Pepi28
    Pepi28 Posts: 248
    edited January 2009
    Live Free or Die Hard is an awesome sounding movie, picture is pretty sweet too. Also the newest Mummy movie has some great sound and picture as well. And also what acsubie said.
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited January 2009
    I posted this awhile back about using this as a reference disc....

    Dark City
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • sdcfan18
    sdcfan18 Posts: 95
    edited January 2009
    acsubie wrote: »
    im favorites in my collection as far as sound/video are:

    Hell Boy 2
    Dark Knight
    Kill Bill 1
    Ironman
    Hulk

    I have all of these with the exception of Kill Bill. All of them are AWESOME, especially Hulk. Although the movie itself isn't as good as the rest (although it is pretty good), the AV quality is the best of the bunch IMO. You might also want to check out Live Free or Die Hard. That was my reference BD for a long time.
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  • metal83
    metal83 Posts: 1,219
    edited January 2009
    Since almost every movie comes out on Blu-ray now, there are tons of movies that could be considered reference discs.

    Here's a decent website for reviews. http://www.highdefdigest.com/

    I use that site mainly for the HD video quality and HD audio quality reviews. I don't usually care much for what they have to say about the movie itself though, but i don't usually agree with many critics/reviewers anyways.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited January 2009
    Band of Brothers series in BD looks and sounds incredible. crank the volume when you watch it.. you'll swear you are right in the middle of the battle scenes, i kid you not. *(be sure your system can decode and play DTS HD Master audio)

    Amazon has this for sale now and then for as little as $39 sometimes. 10 part series..
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  • daboyz
    daboyz Posts: 5,207
    edited January 2009
    I've been wanting to get Ratatouille on Blu Ray. Highly regarded as a reference title.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited January 2009
    I see Chicken Little also playing @ Best Buy all the time. it looks great on the Samsung LCD every time I go in there.
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  • metal83
    metal83 Posts: 1,219
    edited January 2009
    Wall-E is another animated movie that looks amazing on Blu-ray. I bought this for my fiancee for christmas and it just looks and sounds so good.

    The new Rambo sounds awesome as well, just got that on Blu-ray not that long ago.
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,236
    edited January 2009
    Crank is a exciting Blu ray and fun to watch. My man is nuts in this movie. I loved it.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • metal83
    metal83 Posts: 1,219
    edited January 2009
    mantis wrote: »
    Crank is a exciting Blu ray and fun to watch. My man is nuts in this movie. I loved it.

    Yeah that's definetly an awesome movie to check out on Blu-ray.
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  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,520
    edited January 2009
    You'll be very hard-pressed to find a better looking and sounding Blu-ray disc then the recently released King Kong. Of the 120+ disc's I have this one sits on top of the stack. It's about as perfect as perfect can be.
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
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  • sdcfan18
    sdcfan18 Posts: 95
    edited February 2009
    I've thought about getting this, just haven't got around to it. Had it on HD DVD and it blew me away. Everything I read says the BD is even better!

    Also, I forgot to add Transformers to my list. Great BD, awesome AV!
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited February 2009
    You should be able to tell a bigger difference on BR than SD. Might need to make sure you have the settings on the PS3 to get the best picture.
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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited February 2009
    Kung Fu Panda is a great Blu Ray. Reference SQ IMO.
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  • cheddar
    cheddar Posts: 2,390
    edited February 2009
    thsmith wrote: »
    Might need to make sure you have the settings on the PS3 to get the best picture.

    Some settings to get you started:

    1. If your display is capable, make sure you have 24Hz output.
    2. Set Dynamic Range Control to Off
    3. You want Linear PCM over HDMI to get at the lossless sound options. But your AVR must accept this signal over HDMI. Otherwise you are limited to DD and DTS over optical.
    4. If your AVR doesn't do PCM over HDMI...get one that does ;). Your ears will thank you for it. And your chest too when you get hit with lossless bass.
    5. Output Video at 1080p (If your display can handle it.)
    6. If your display can handle super-white, then choose the Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr option. Or choose RGB. If you choose RGB, only choose Full range if you have a display that has an option for Full Range too or if you are using a display meant for computers. For most sets it should be set at Limited (counter intuitive). Some idiot engineer decided that the US would have a different starting value for TV black than the rest of the world. And this was carried over to HDTVs.

    6 is the tricky one. But you will know when you've got it set up improperly because the display will look obviously wrong. For the RGB setting, the picture will either look too dark or too washed out. So choose the settings in 6 that make the picture better and don't worry about the details. It will be hard to get wrong.

    For 3, the trick is to make sure your AVR is handling bass management properly for PCM. If your bass sounds thin even compared to DVD sound tracks bitstreamed over optical to your AVR, then your AVR isn't doing the required +10db boost to the subwoofer PCM input. Either search your AVR's options for setting a +10db boost, or click up the subwoofer +10db manually in the callibration options.
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  • doggie750
    doggie750 Posts: 1,160
    edited February 2009
    WHAT about HD DVD movies?????
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  • jflail2
    jflail2 Posts: 2,868
    edited February 2009
    Agreed Da Boyz; Ratatouille is PHENOMENAL on BR. It was the 1st one I showed the better 1/2, and even she was blown away.

    Dark Knight was also phenomenal. Lots of darker scenes to tweak those black settings on your LCD...
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
    edited February 2009
    Lorthos wrote: »
    I posted this awhile back about using this as a reference disc....

    Dark City
    The people over on AVS don't agree with you, it's rated a bronze over there.
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  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,520
    edited February 2009
    doggie750 wrote: »
    WHAT about HD DVD movies?????
    It's a dead format.
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
    Ron loves a film = don't even rent.
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  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,520
    edited February 2009
    ...... ;)
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
    Ron loves a film = don't even rent.
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  • brittle
    brittle Posts: 37
    edited March 2009
    yes I can tell the difference between BR and SD but I see no reason to spend double the money unless the movie is action or has special effects. I can watch a drama or comedy on SD no problem.
    Brittle
    Pioneer VSX 94TXH AVR
    Polk LSi-15 front
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    Sony PS3
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  • dagame27
    dagame27 Posts: 591
    edited March 2009
    brittle wrote: »
    yes I can tell the difference between BR and SD but I see no reason to spend double the money unless the movie is action or has special effects. I can watch a drama or comedy on SD no problem.

    Agreed. But, if you look hard enough, you can often find he Blurays cheaper than the DVD versions.
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  • hockeyboy
    hockeyboy Posts: 1,428
    edited March 2009
    Master and Commander for sound quality.
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  • Knucklehead
    Knucklehead Posts: 3,602
    edited March 2009
    U571 on Blu Ray is pretty good.
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  • Strong Bad
    Strong Bad Posts: 4,278
    edited March 2009
    Gotta vote for this one. Reference sound and video!

    Baraka
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,196
    edited March 2009
    brittle wrote: »
    yes I can tell the difference between BR and SD but I see no reason to spend double the money unless the movie is action or has special effects. I can watch a drama or comedy on SD no problem.

    Get Netflix then you never need to buy another disc in your life.;)
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  • metal83
    metal83 Posts: 1,219
    edited March 2009
    Are they still making SD DVD's? It's been so long since i've seen one...:p:D

    Yeah netflix is great, that's why i started using them, for Blu-ray movies.
    I'll only buy something if i absolutely love it and have to have it.
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