Posted on 02/17/2009 6:25:38 AM PST by gymbeau
I guess it’s good, if there’s a movie you want to buy and watch.
I don’t buy movies, and barely rent them. Not because I don’t like movies, I just don’t like the crap they try to pass for movies now.
Yep. I haven't been to a theater since 1990, and haven't rented a movie in years. I did buy a few movies some years ago, and relatives give me documentary stuff for Christmas and such. Otherwise, what I have is stuff I taped to DVD off TV (when I had the Westerns Channel some years ago).
I'm obviously pretty limited in what excites me...
Yeah, I see what you mean. I love movies and review Blu-rays, but despite getting about five per week there’s usually little I want to watch - and if I haven’t requested a title I don’t feel bound to review unsolicited stuff. There’s just so much crap out there!
But it sure looks and sounds great!
cheers
Amen
I watched Appaloosa last night on Blu-Ray and it was of spectacular quality, like just about all of the Blu-Ray titles I've seen.
Every now and then you'll see one that's sub-par, but Blu-Ray compared to regular DVD is like night and day.
Toshiba tried this with HD-DVDs. The combo HD-DVD/standard DVDs were priced higher than regular HD-DVDs, and never were a success. Basically, the folks who wanted regular DVDs weren’t going to pay twice as much for a combo DVD, and the folks who already had a HD-DVD player naturally bought the regular HD-DVD at the lower price, leaving the combo DVD/HD-DVD stranded in no man’s land.
Sony needs to push Blu-Ray prices lower, both for the players and the discs.
Agreed. They’re moving that way, but aren’t there yet.
I bought King Kong (the Peter Jackson one) and a Who concert for twenty bucks Canadian each, which I find fairly reasonable for Canadian pricing.
cheers
As a complete movie geek, I can’t see any future in blu-ray, in spite of this fan-boy article.
Do they look better? Yes. Does that matter if the medium fails and you won’t be able to play them on anything in a couple of years? You bet. Is there any sign the medium’s going to take off and replace standard DVD? No. In fact, I’d say the sluggish sales figures, mixed with the economy, suggests that blu-ray will go the way of SACD and DVD-Audio - both high-end audio formats that fizzled out due to lack of consumer interest.
The PS3 is connected using HDMI. The TV is 1080p and the HD cable channels we get all look spectacular. It could also be the movie itself. I still buy Blu-Ray titles when they are ridiculously cheap so I have some others I can try. But unless every movie is spectacular, Blu-Ray is a non-starter.
One additional thing that comes into play with Blu-Ray is the new audio formats. Both True-HD & DTS Master Audio (often seen as DTS-MA) provide lossless soundtracks that are bit-for-bit duplicates of the original master soundtracks. The older Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks are very good, but they use compression algorithms that squeeze out parts of the soundtrack in order to conserve space on the DVD. Blu-Ray has sufficient space for both the HD movie, and the original soundtrack.
I bit the bullet and bought a Blu-Ray disk player to go with my Hi-Def tv. And cannot see enough difference in picture quality between Blu-Ray DVDs and standard DVDs.
Now if you're talking sound, then yes there is a difference, but as far as picture quality, the added cost of the Blu-ray disks just isn't worth it.
Probably the two best Blu-Rays I've ever seen are Casino Royale and The Queen (the QE2 biopic with Helen Mirren).
If you haven't seen either of those I highly recommend them. The picture quality is probably 5 times better than DVD.
Really? It’s probably just me, but I can’t stand how standard def DVDs look on an HDTV. I’m very picky about picture quality though.
Lots of talk on another forum I visit about how blu-ray will be the last format you can physically own. The future, they debate, is in pay-per-view.
It does make some sense. I love watching movies but, for the most part, I've stopped buying them. I looked into my DVD case and saw dozens of movies I've only watched once and started renting instead of purchasing.
No thanks, I’d rather pay the electric bill.
It does make sense, you’re right!
However, I’m one of those types who likes to own the things – I see having a library of films no differently than having a library of my favorite books. The movie companies have been trying to move us into pay-per-view for years (divx, anyone?) with their greedy, teeny little minds having wet dreams about pay-per-listen for audio.
Amen brownsfan.
I belong to one of the movie mail-views clubs and I get one decent movie out of 10. It's almost like going to a Browns game. (Couldn't resist - just kidding with you)
It is gonna take years to switch to BR. They have to do something.
“It’s almost like going to a Browns game. (Couldn’t resist - just kidding with you)”
No offense taken on that one. At this point, my nickname is a misnomer. Randy Lerner, (nickname: Slow), is the worst owner in the league. The Browns will never win with him as owner.
The lesson was taught to us in 95, the team belongs to the owner, not the community. Therefore, I don’t consume a defective product. There are no issues with fan loyalty, I’m as loyal to them as they are to me. I instructed Mrs. Brownsfan that there were to be no brown and orange Christmas gifts. I will admit to being a little bitter, (obviously).
I enjoy watching the Steelers, Heinz Ward is fun to watch, there’s the Ohio connection to Big Ben, and the OSU connection with Holmes. I like football, but only if it’s competitive. And honestly, the Browns really, really suck.
Ok, my rant is over. :)
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