2106 replies to this topic

[yorac]

The Bridge to Teribithia
Region A

PQ: 4.25/5 - Another fine Disney transfer

AQ: 4.25/5 - Very clean and crisp, I used the uncompressed sound track and it delivers nicely

The movie - I've had this movie for about 8 months and it was nice to finally sit and watch it, it is a tad slow to get going but once it does it is a very well told story, spoiler

Spoiler

with an unexpected twist about 3/4 of the way through

, I would agree with comments made by Andreww some time ago regarding this movie, it is definitely not a young kiddies movies and has some social undertones that we have probably all had to deal with at school when we were younger, other than that another sleeper from Disney wonderfully acted especially by the young leads.

Edited by yorac, 13 July 2008 - 11:24 AM.

[SDL]

Watched 3:10 to Yuma last night (Oz Version). The picture was great in parts but had some grain effect that I guess was deliberate? The sound was reasonable but was only TrueHD 5.1 v the US version that is 7.1 PCM and it did suffer against some of the brilliant sound tracks I have heard on Blu-Ray of late. Having never seen the original that I can recall, the story was new to me, and I can't say I found it that exciting. Bale and Crowe were good as usual but the supporting cast was pretty poor IMO. Overall I would suggest renting it before buying, and if you are going to buy don't make the mistake I did of picking it up locally and suffering the less than top quality (though still reasonable) sound.

PQ: 4
AQ: 3

Edited by SDL, 13 July 2008 - 11:17 AM.

[SDL]

Watched Rogue Assassin today (known as War I think on the US version), with Jet Li and Jason Statham. I never held out much hope for this movie given the reviews but my wife had picked it up and sometimes you just have to let them pick one
Anyway the story is fairly simple with a twist at the end which is a bit silly really, but overall it was a dumb action movie which at the right times can be fun. The sound is fantastic PCM 7.1 and the picture is mostly very good. I would suggest if you want a stupid, don't need to think about, popcorn flick which really gives your speakers a work out at least give it a rent. I don't think most peope would ever watch it twice.

Edited by SDL, 13 July 2008 - 07:57 PM.

[cooksta]

Spiderman 3

Reviewed on Panasonic Th42pv500a plasma and BD30 bluray player;

I actually watched this some weeks ago but picture and soundwise it really impressed me so here goes;

Picture; 8 out of 10, great detail and sharp images combined with very good CGI makes this a feast for the eyes. Its 1 of those bluray discs that do reinforce why I bought a bluray player in the 1st place.

Sound; 9 out of 10, The Dolby HD audio on this disc is stunning. A bass junkies delight.There are a number of scenes where the sub gets a great workout; eg where the escaped convict falls into the particle matter machine and gets turned into the sandman; where the construction crane goes mental and starts demolishing a skyscraper (dont make cranes like that anymore   ); when "venom" gets around on his flying skateboard..... the list goes on.

Story; quite good but at times seemed a bit lame but none the less an entertaining movie, the picture and especially the audio make it worth pressing play.

(The movie was rented not bought).

[yorac]

Updated, thanks guys

[neuty]

Underworld(Uncut USA ,region free,confirmed)

Selene (Beckinsale), a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael (Speedman), a werewolf who longs for the war to end.

For a movie that spends all of the time in the dark it does a good job of the picture quality.Yes there is evidence of grain but nothing to spoil the movie .There is also some excellent images throughout .Overall i would give it 7.5 / 10.

On the audio side , i only have DD & DTS at the moment and i was very surprised at the 640kbps DD soundtrack.I did check thinking it was full bitrate at one stage.Some very good movement around all speakers during the action scenes , and some tight bass with the music.Overall 8 / 10

The region A bluray has PCM 5.1 audio(confirmed), yet the region B has a DTS 5.1 only (not confirmed)

A worthy addition for the Vampire action movie fan.

neuty

Edited by neuty, 16 July 2008 - 03:51 PM.

[yorac]

Updated

[minbinpin]

Wached Chris Botti Live region A.

PQ 4/5 - Clean & colourful with warm pleasant lighting. Video is very good for a concert title.
AQ 5/5 - Didn't think I would come across this perfect sound so quickly, just my 3rd title into blu-ray! Simply put, trumpet never sounded this good. The vocals, backing band & the orchestra are also fantastic. I could go on but I know any words I use to describe won't do this title justice.

Talented musicians doing what they do best for 90 minutes in 96kHz-24 bit-uncompressed nirvana.
There is also 60 minutes of special features which is interesting & quite amusing at times.
This title is a must have in any music lover's collection, & even if you're not, this disk will make one fine demo material.
In summary, absolutely loved it.  

PS: Bought my copy from DeepDiscount for US$11 when they had 20% sale. Even without discount, you can find it for US$14-$15 from DVDPacific or Amazon.

PPS: Loved the anti-piracy warning at the end of the main feature, after the credit roll. What a brilliant idea!

[yorac]

The Prestige


Region A

PQ: 4.5/5 - This is certainly a very very good transfer and there are many reference scenes in the movie

AQ: 4.5/5 - Though dialogue driven for the majority there is some very good scenes where LFE is present, I used the uncompressed sound track and it is the main reason I chose BR rather than HD DVD for this title

The Movie - This one is definitely well worth a watch, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine are excellent and the movie has enough turns to keep you guessing

[AK Anthony]

Just a suggestion, but now that the list is getting a bit long, would it be worth categorizing alphabetically?

Don't mean to ask for too much and if it is a problem, i could go through, assemble and send it to you if preferred?

[yorac]

 the_wonderchild, on Jul 20 2008, 07:13 PM, said:

Just a suggestion, but now that the list is getting a bit long, would it be worth categorizing alphabetically?

Don't mean to ask for too much and if it is a problem, i could go through, assemble and send it to you if preferred?

Not too much too ask and it is my intention mate, looked at it the other day and thought the same

[ekkieTHUMP]

Since no one has done Tekkonkinreet(Reg A is locked,the B's are free) yet i'll put my hand up.Anime titles are pretty thin on the ground so far in the BD format but this is hands down the best of them for mine.It's hard to know what to make of it on first viewing because it's such a visual assault on the senses.The attention to detail in every frame of this film is staggering,so much so i regard this as the Anime equivalent of 2001 or Blade Runner.Just like those films your appreciation for this work of art should grow the more times you watch it.The story is in the same ballpark as City of God with the main characters street kids that are lethal if you cross them but with si fi and fantasy elements thrown in.The characters are drawn in a distinctive child like style in keeping with the story being told from there perspective and looks quite different to other Anime.
PQ 4.5/5 sublime amount of detail that is daunting to try and take in the first time you see it.
SQ 5/5 for the Japanese PCM if you want to go hard core or there is the standard 5.1 eng dub for Anime virgins.
Extras Strong but video is only 4x3,Directors Commentary is a must.

This disc is a stunner.

[Chesty]

The Last Samurai

Region Free

PQ 4/5
Ok so this is an oldie but in my opinion still a goodie. Released to the format back in 2006, it was considered a great transfer back then and still stacks up pretty well.  Its a pretty consistent performer with stable colors and good detail. Its not reference but a great transfer none the less.

AQ 3/5

With only Dolby Digital on offer, the film really suffers as a result. I did not think the audio was that crash hot on this one. When you get used to HD audio, it really makes sub par audio tracks stand out and this was one of them.
The dialogue though did offer good clarity and the LFE did get a little workout. Overall though I was left wanting with this one.

The Last Samurai is really one of Tom Cruise's better efforts of late. A great cast with a great story to be told. For all its short falls this is still worthy of a purchase.

Edited by Chesty, 20 July 2008 - 09:02 PM.

[SDL]

Watched Sweeney Todd Saturday night (after getting back from the Dark Night at Gold class - Brilliant). Now I am not much of a musicals type of fan but this moved along pretty well and was watchable. The story is old and I heard it as a kid, coming from East London Sweeney Todd was basically our local boogeyman story. The movie was okay, as I say I am not a great lover of musicals I dont think they have enough depth, but this was dark in the right spots and enough gore to make people who love that sort of thing watch. Picture and Audio wise this was superb, the Dolby True HD is a very good soundtrack and the picture, while dark in parts, is very clear.

PQ: 4.5
AQ: 4.5

I would suggest a definate buy if you like the movie, but at least give it a rent if you are not sure and are not a musicals type of person (I mean Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter singing may not be every ones cup of tea)

[yorac]

Updated....... all movies are currently listed alphabetically under M for movies

[ajm]

Enemy of the State

Watched this on the weekend.  I'm sure everyone has heard of this by now but if you've not seen it it's definately worth a look IMO.  This is a Will Smith film and Will is in pretty good form here but it's the usual mix of cocky and circumspect we expect from the guy.  Gene Hackman and John Voight are the other notables and both are excellent as always.  What's also remarkable are the number of well known faces in small parts including Gabriel Byrne, Jason Lee, Seth Green, Tom Sizemore, Jamie Kennedy, Lisa Bonet, Jack Black, Barry Pepper and Scott Caan and Jake Busey (sons of James and Gary respectively) and I'm sure I missed some!

Tony Scott directs this and if you've seen Top Gun or Days of Thunder you'll know this bloke doesn't mind doing slick dumb films.  But he also made Man of Fire and Spy Game so he's capable of making reasonably smart and interesting films.  I'm ok with big dumb movies but I'm happy to say that Enemy of the State is more like the latter two than the former.  Still, it does requires a couple of brain cells be put in neutral to really get into.  Anyway, it's fast paced, it's frenetic and it's pretty easy on the eye.  All in all, an enjoyable way to waste a couple of hours.

PQ: 3 Picture quality was a bit of a disappointment.  It was generally in good nick but not a massive upgrade on the SD DVD version to be honest.  Unfortunately there were lots of film artifacts and flecks that I found really annoying.

SQ: 4  I listened to the PCM track which was overall very good.  This is the kind of movie that surround sound was made for so there was plenty to do.  I really enjoyed the workout that the surrounds got as bullets wizzed by and helicopters swooped (do they do anything other than swoop in movies?).  Plenty of bass for the subbie-philes as well.  

Overall, worth a look.

[yorac]

Updated, interesting to hear your opinion AJ, I thought PQ was fairly good given age of the material

[ajm]

You're right for the most part yorac, but I found the flecks really annoying and some of the detail was a bit soft at times.  It's by no means bad but coud have been a lot better I reckon.

[momaw]

 ekkieTHUMP, on Jul 20 2008, 08:38 PM, said:

Since no one has done Tekkonkinreet(Reg A is locked,the B's are free) yet i'll put my hand up.Anime titles are pretty thin on the ground so far in the BD format but this is hands down the best of them for mine.It's hard to know what to make of it on first viewing because it's such a visual assault on the senses.The attention to detail in every frame of this film is staggering,so much so i regard this as the Anime equivalent of 2001 or Blade Runner.Just like those films your appreciation for this work of art should grow the more times you watch it.The story is in the same ballpark as City of God with the main characters street kids that are lethal if you cross them but with si fi and fantasy elements thrown in.The characters are drawn in a distinctive child like style in keeping with the story being told from there perspective and looks quite different to other Anime.
PQ 4.5/5 sublime amount of detail that is daunting to try and take in the first time you see it.
SQ 5/5 for the Japanese PCM if you want to go hard core or there is the standard 5.1 eng dub for Anime virgins.
Extras Strong but video is only 4x3,Directors Commentary is a must.

This disc is a stunner.

There's actually a bunch of anime reviews, info and discussion (including Tekkonkinkreet) on high def here if you are interested in anime.

Edited by momaw, 23 July 2008 - 10:04 PM.

[709er]

DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE
I bought this region B Blu Ray recently on a 3 for 2 offer not having owned a copy since my laserdisc. I wasn't expecting much, but was consistently blown away by the quality for a film of it's age. It was like seeing it for the first time. Leave credibility behind.
Enjoyment 4/5
Picture 4/5
Sound 4/5

[momaw]

Wild China

What can I say.  This is a stunning release from BBC (the same team that did Planet Earth).  If you have seen Planet Earth you know what to expect.  Narrated by Bernard Hill (Lord of the Rings - King Theoden) it is 6 episodes long ranging from the deserts to junges and mountain ranges of Tibet.  It comes on 1 x BD 25 and 1 x BD 50 discs.  Presented in stunning 1080i (no that's not a typo) with standard Dolby Digital 5.1 audio this series covers spectacular landscapes, exotic and unseen before wildlife and the customs and daily life of everyday folk, this is a beautiful journey.  It holds no punches and shows the effects our changing world is having on such rare creatures as the Chinese Asian Elephants.  One of my favourite creature was the Bamboo Bat, so small (the size of a Bumble Bee) the entrance to it's nest is only the width of a pencil.  You even see a school housed in a cave!

Available individually or as a part of the BBC High Definition Natural History Collection it comes with a making of documentary and runs 300 mins.

If you love natural history documentaries, they don't come much better than this on High Definition at present.  This one will stand up to repeat viewings and despite only being 1080i would make great demo material to those looking for an alternative to showing their family and friends the latest blockbuster and more-so the type of program they are likely to watch.

PQ 4/5 (only loses points for 1080i vs 1080p and the occasional rare sd shot)
SQ 3/5 (no high definition audio but a gorgeous score and adequate audio for what it is).

I am really glad I got this and will watch it again very soon and probably once a year going forward.

[yorac]

Updated

[yorac]

Updated, now in alphabetical order and links to Kamma's and Mo's guides at bottom of page 1


















PS: Thanks to mods for the sticky status

Edited by yorac, 27 July 2008 - 05:02 PM.

[yorac]

Batman Begins


Region A

PQ: 4.75/5 - This is a brilliant transfer every bit as sharp as it's HD DVD counterpart

AQ: 4.75/5 - A great example of how a movie should sound

The Movie - The content of BB has been covered many times so I won't add further to it, all I will say is that I've been anticipating this on BR for some time and it was worth the wait, the PQ on BR at times has a definite wow factor and it does not disappoint on SQ either, for those that are thinking about it is money very well spent, never thought it could look better than it did on HD DVD but this easily matches and at times seemed sharper and more vibrant

Edited by yorac, 28 July 2008 - 09:21 PM.

[momaw]

 yorac, on Jul 28 2008, 09:17 PM, said:

never thought it could look better than it did on HD DVD but this easily matches and at times seemed sharper and more vibrant

Interesting given I thought the picture was a direct port of the HD DVD.