What are some blu-ray movies I should check out?

[Lazerblade22]

I'm getting kinda tired of talladega nights. Any suggestions? I like movies with alot of action, or dramas. I'm thinking of picking up superman returns and maybe click.

[massiveswellz]

i own superman returns and it looks awesome on blu-ray

a definite must

[JadedRaverLA]

Action/Drama? Get Black Hawk Down. Amazing transfer. Just be aware that the first few minutes look bad on purpose. The rest is great.

[REFLEX]

Click and Superman Returns are pretty low quality BD movies!

For the best looking titles id suggest Kingdom of Heaven (brilliant mix or drama and EXCELLENT WAR SCNENES!!!, this is one hell of a film!), Corpse Bride, Black Hawk down..... check out this list of titles listed by quality....

its created by people who own this stuff, not some guy writing it based on his 1 opinion...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=753726

[Keesie]

One title you should get: Kingdom of Heaven.
And Hitch is also a good one in my opinion. For the rest I don't really know what titles are available on Blu-ray in NA right now.

[-Damien-]

here's the picture quality reference list from AVS

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=753726



TIER 0- A deeply immersive experience. Flawless or near flawless transfers.

The Wild (posterization)(PCM)
Kingdom of Heaven (MA)
Black Hawk Down (BW)(PCM)
Ice Age: The Meltdown (MA)
Corpse Bride
The Ant Bully

TIER 1- No visible compression, sharp image with many examples of 3D.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (MA)
Tears of the Sun (PCM)
Underworld: Evolution (PCM)
X-Men: The Last Stand (MA)
Aeon Flux
Sahara
Goal: The Dream Begins
Mission: Impossible III (crushed blacks)
Eight Below (PCM)
Kung Fu Hustle (PCM)
World Trade Center
Training Day
ATL
Transporter 2 (MA)
Fantastic 4 (MA)
The Manchurian Candidate
Phantom of the Opera
Good Night and Good Luck
Toto: Live in Amsterdam
Swordfish
Into the Blue (PCM)
Invincible (PCM)
The Covenant (PCM)
The Descent (PCM) DOES NOT PLAY ON SONY BDP-S1/MUST UPDATE SAMMY!
Pearl Harbor (PCM)
Monster House (PCM)
Behind Enemy Lines (MA)

Tier 2- Very good
Not as many 3D effects, but a very sharp image that feels real

The Brothers Grimm (PCM)
Ultraviolet (PCM)
The Transporter (MA)
Flightplan (PCM)
Haunted Mansion (PCM)
Stargate
S.W.A.T. (PCM)
Enemy of the State (PCM)
Species (PCM)
The Great Raid(PCM)
Syriana
Space Cowboys
The Last Samurai
Stealth (PCM)
Lord of War
Stir of Echoes
Dinosaur (PCM)
Gone in 60 Seconds (PCM)
House of Wax
Blazing Saddles
Glory Road
Sky Captain (purposefully blurry)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Click (PCM)
The Terminator (PCM)
Million Dollar Baby
Unforgiven
Under Siege
Mission Impossible 2
Mission: Impossible
Speed (MA)
50 First Dates (PCM)
Four Brothers
16 Blocks
Johnny Legend: Live at the House of Blues
Rumor Has It
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (UK Import)(PCM)
Terminator 2
Superman: The Movie
RV (PCM)
Superman Returns

Tier 3- Good
Few 3D effects, some digital noise/artifacting

The Black Crowes
The Lake House
Rocky
The Devil Wears Prada
Hostel (UK Import)(PCM)
Firewall
The Italian Job
Lethal Weapon 2 (bobbed)
Silent Hill (PCM)
Lethal Weapon (bobbed)
Talladega Nights (PCM)
The Devil's Rejects
The New Orleans Benefit Concert
Tomb Raider
Sky High (PCM)
Crash
Dark Water (PCM)
Hitch (PCM)
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Saw
Total Recall
XXX (PCM)
Nacho Libre
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Sleepy Hollow (digital noise)
Reds

Tier 4- A bit underwhelmed
Visible artifacting, softness, few if any 3D effects

U2: Rattle and Hum
The Dirty Dozen
The Fugitive (bobbed)
Full Metal Jacket (bobbed)
The Fifth Element (PCM)
The House of Flying Daggers


PCM refers to uncompressed audio tracks. This is a lossless audio codec which provides crystal clear sound.

MA refers to DTS Master Audio. DTS-HD Master Audio is a form of lossless packing (aka zip) used to deliver surround audio that is bit-for-bit identical to the original studio master. Current players are only able to decode the core 1.5mbps DTS signal provided for backward compatibility. Future players, as well as some existing players with a future software update, will decode the full extension track with the higher-fidelity DTS-HD Master Audio.

BW refers to Blu-Wizard. This is an interactive overlay in which you can check off a list of features to view. They will then apear during playback of the film at the relevant times.

[REFLEX]

I look at that Blu-ray list and the HD DVD one about 3 times a week..... and I post on those too... they help me decide which ones I should get first and decide which ones I should get in which format (if the movie is on both)... they are very helpful.

[snooper71]

Ice age 2 the meltdown and Black hawk down are my favs so far. Can't beat those.

[Scarl]

I agree with the posters above, Kingdom of Heaven (director's cut) is stunning in Blu-ray.

Also, Unforgiven is quite good and has both some drama and action. :)

They are a bit on the brutal side (since they come from the $10k entertainment system side of things), but the Blu-ray Reviews at High Def Digest (http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html) are a good place to look for advice on movies.

[P51-SN95]

I got Kingdom of Heaven after everyone raved about it and I must say I wasn't that impressed. Sure it looked good, but I had also just got done watching The Wild and the quality of the Wild blows away any other movie.

it's not even a fair comparason.

I don't know why Stores don't play it when advertising Blu-ray players.

The first 15 min the wife and I sat there in total Awe of the picture... 8)

[Cyrann]

Swordfish, Crank, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heavon, or IceAge2 wont let you down.

All have amazing clarity and some of the 3D effects...

[kykygruber]

16 Blocks is a great movie. Any movie with Bruce Willis is a good one.

[ikeman]

I bought and really like Black Hawk Down and Tears of the Sun. Both looked incredible. I thought Tears looked a bit better but that may have been because some of the jungle screens may appear sharper to a blown apart inner city as in BHD.

I highly suggest both.

[ikeman]

I got Kingdom of Heaven after everyone raved about it and I must say I wasn't that impressed. Sure it looked good, but I had also just got done watching The Wild and the quality of the Wild blows away any other movie.

it's not even a fair comparason.

I don't know why Stores don't play it when advertising Blu-ray players.

The first 15 min the wife and I sat there in total Awe of the picture... 8)

I do not think CPU animation or cartoons should be compared to real movies, they should look better. I mean even the reg dvd of star wars episode3 looks better then most dvds because of all the cpu help

[P51-SN95]

I do not think CPU animation or cartoons should be compared to real movies, they should look better. I mean even the reg dvd of star wars episode3 looks better then most dvds because of all the cpu help

that's why I said it wasn't really a fair comparasion and if you notice alot of stores always show animated movies to show how "great" the picture on the TV looks

But with that said. The Wild is hands down the best looking movie I have EVER seen. and I said I was let down after watching Kingdom of Heaven because I had just gotten done watching the Wild which looked much better.

Yeah Animation vs Real but the bottom line is Nothing even comes close to touching that image the Wild Spits out at you.

[spacecataz]

crank is a new one that came out on bd, im getting it this weekend

[Terikan]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Not a real new title, but really funny.

[DarkManX]

Superman The Movie (original). Just simply a great movie. I was stoked it was on blu ray. Not gonna impress you PQ wise, but excellent for any movie collection.

[Azsori]

I just picked up Kung Fu Hustle. Great movie, and definately a show piece in terms of video and sound quality. Check it out if you haven't seen it, great foreign kun fu/comedy flick.

[[-Z-]]

I would say Ice-age melt down. So far the best transfer i seen among the blu-rays i have.

[jeffyjaixx]

BHD is a great transfer.

I'm planning on getting Kingdom of Heaven from what I've heard from the above posters (from friends, I heard it sucks though does it?)

[REFLEX]

BHD is a great transfer.

I'm planning on getting Kingdom of Heaven from what I've heard from the above posters (from friends, I heard it sucks though does it?)


There is a lot more to apreciate about Blu-ray or HD DVD than DETAIL or something, but thats weird because Kingdom of Heaven (while not the best looking title on either format, but close) has lots of shadow detail, but the best part about these new formats is depth of field, color saturation and accuracy, etc. Detail is important when it comes to depth of field and stuff, they come hand in hand... but I know some people are not impressed unless the movie is just jumpin' at you with detail in every single scene. Its all about a good combination of factors.

.. Kingdom of Heaven is an EXCELLENT looking piece of work on Blu-ray. Just great! Some scenes really blow me away .... so great.

[SteveMondragon]

I rented SWAT and Tomb Raider (1st one) from Netflix and compared them with my regular standard DVDs of the 2 movies, playing on a 480p DVD player with no upconversion, playing at the same time on different video channels. Tomb Raider, I wasn't impressed at all with the Blu-Ray version as there wasn't too much difference IMO except the background brightness & detail. Otherwise, nothing spectular. The SWAT movie was different. It was very vivid and great to watch in Blu-Ray compared to the standard version. I recommend that movie in Blu-Ray.

I bought Black Hawk Down and Underworld Evolution but I have yet to open them up and try them out..... I guess I'll pop them in now since I just thought of it. Next I plan on getting Stealth and Swordfish from Netflix to see how those movies compare. I'll probably buy Swordfish & Training Day since those are 'classics' for my tastes.

[SteveMondragon]

On a related note to the original poster's question, what are some good movies that YOU GUYS recommend getting or seeing that really shows off Blu-Ray's capabilities on a 1080p TV?