The Lord of the Rings in Blu-Ray

[Grey Fox]

You agree with me all the time. Usually just too ashemed of it to admit it.

It's okay, I'm a wonderfull guy.

[Rasputin]

I can't imagine why I would ever buy a Blu-Ray disc.  The HD is lost on me.

It might be your tv; not all hd is the same. If you're using 740p and 60 mhz hd, perhaps the difference isnt noticeable. I just got a 1040p 120 mhz set and in blue ray, it is as if the actors are sitting in the room  and I am watching live theatre. It is amazing.

[DisturbedPervert]

Doubt I will upgrade to blu ray until they stop producing dvds.  The main benefit of dvd over VHS for me is not having to rewind, size, and being able to instantly go anywhere in the movie.  The quality difference is not very important, so blu ray offers no advantages over dvd, where the advantages of dvd over VHS were very large.

[Ed Anger]

You agree with me all the time.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK

[Duque de Bragança]

Some modern movies can look not that good on blu-ray, depending on how they were shot (budget, film stock, photography, transfer.)
Donnie Darko for instance.

The early transfers were so rushed they looked worse on Blu-ray/HD-DVD than on a standard DVD.  Full Metal Jacket was a huge disappointment to me (hopefully they've re-done that one) but other films like Goodfellas & The Godfather are flat-out amazing.

The transfers are getting better.   

That I can agree with but the same thing happened when early DVDs sucked compared to Laserdisc (VHS vs DVD apples and oranges sorry). DVDs still suck sound-wise compared to Laserdiscs (uncompressed ftw) .
Not to mention that some preferable cuts are only available on Laserdisc (Georges Lucas anyone?)

Full Metal Jacket has been redone and can be bought for cheap (new version).

[Martim Silva]

[I beg to differ but I'd like to know what do you mean by before the Hi-Def era. 2001 on blu-ray does not look or sound like an upgraded DVD.

Like DerSpiess said, early Blu-Rays were quite rushed on the transfers (the 'Gladiator' debacle comes to mind, where they even deleted some arrows and parts of spears in the battles).

And at any rate, older movies (pre-1950), while looking quite good, really do not do justice to the format [especially if they were rendered in Black and White].

Some modern movies can look not that good on blu-ray, depending on how they were shot (budget, film stock, photography, transfer.)
Donnie Darko for instance.

Well, crappy movies will always be crappy. You really can't change that. To avoid those, the best bet is to check the user reviews (Amazon is especially good for that).

Speaking of Blu-ray, I need to replace my Samsung that has not been playing standard DVDs.  Looked around the sales all weekend but couldn't find a cheaply priced player that I'd be happy with.  Those buggers are getting cheaper, though.  Newegg had the lowest model LG player (BD270) for $75 shipped on Saturday.  That's definitely approaching the point where the price of the player is not a factor, so you might as well go Blu-ray.

I have a good one for you: the OPPO BDP-83. It is an amazing player, easily on par with the best of the best.

Check what comes in the box:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgoYpVs4rn4

This was the Blu-Ray player I truly wanted, but in late October OPPO decided to indefinitely postpone the sale of this unit in Europe, leaving just the Americans with access to this marvellous player.

I was really frustrated  Why, oh why, are Americans so lucky?

[Berkut]

Lucks got nothing to do with it.

[viper37]

Like DerSpiess said, early Blu-Rays were quite rushed on the transfers (the 'Gladiator' debacle comes to mind, where they even deleted some arrows and parts of spears in the battles).

Gladiator has just been made in Blu-Ray this fall.  What debacle are you referring to?

[derspiess]

I have a good one for you: the OPPO BDP-83. It is an amazing player, easily on par with the best of the best.

I'm going a lot cheaper than that 

If I were going to spend as much as $300 or more on a player, I'd just get a PS3.  I'll probably spend $150 or less-- there are some bargains to be had under that price point.

[Martim Silva]

Gladiator has just been made in Blu-Ray this fall.  What debacle are you referring to?

Check this out:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1173155&page=18

(scroll down for image comparison)

One expected better.

[Admiral Yi]

How long before everyone has home 3-D systems?

[Monoriu]

How long before everyone has home 3-D systems?

If everyone includes me, that'll be very, very long.

[Neil]

I can't imagine why I would ever buy a Blu-Ray disc.  The HD is lost on me.

It might be your tv; not all hd is the same. If you're using 740p and 60 mhz hd, perhaps the difference isnt noticeable. I just got a 1040p 120 mhz set and in blue ray, it is as if the actors are sitting in the room  and I am watching live theatre. It is amazing.

1080p, 120 hz Sony Bravia.  It just doesn't knock me out.

[Duque de Bragança]

And at any rate, older movies (pre-1950), while looking quite good, really do not do justice to the format [especially if they were rendered in Black and White].

That's false. See Casablanca or the Adventures of Robin Hood, Gone with the Wind or the Wizard of Oz.

Contrast, paramount in black and white movies, benefits from 1080 p resolution.
The Seventh Seal or Wages of Fear Le Salaire de la peur look and sound great blu-ray as well (1950s). You might even try Last Year in Marienbad to see if you understand a bit more than the previous time

Some modern movies can look not that good on blu-ray, depending on how they were shot (budget, film stock, photography, transfer.)
Donnie Darko for instance.

Well, crappy movies will always be crappy. You really can't change that. To avoid those, the best bet is to check the user reviews (Amazon is especially good for that).

Not even that is true. Crappy recent movies look real good most of the time, unfortunately.
CGI-crap gets even more exposed which is always good
Amazon is good sometimes but I prefer sites such as DVDBeaver.

PS: Oppo BDP 83 can be made zone free via an official firmware...

[Rasputin]

I can't imagine why I would ever buy a Blu-Ray disc.  The HD is lost on me.

It might be your tv; not all hd is the same. If you're using 740p and 60 mhz hd, perhaps the difference isnt noticeable. I just got a 1040p 120 mhz set and in blue ray, it is as if the actors are sitting in the room  and I am watching live theatre. It is amazing.

1080p, 120 hz Sony Bravia.  It just doesn't knock me out.

...and you've tried a blue ray disc on it?

If so I'm stumped.