FRC’s good friend and fellow AV Geek Ted S. shares his essential Blu-Rays to have in your home cinema…
As a home theater and film enthusiast, I was quite ecstatic when Blu-ray finally arrived in market back in 2006. Blu-ray offers the best in film quality when it comes to picture and sound, also it offers special features such as behind the scenes documentaries, interactive games and much more. I’m one of the early adaptors of the format and while it has some hiccups in its early inception, I believe Blu-ray is the only format to fully enjoy films in the best quality available to us the consumers today.
Now I understand that some people are new to the format so I thought I should list my top ten favorite Blu-ray discs available in market right now. Some of the films below aren’t considered great or even good but because they’re part of the package, I had to include them on the list. So without further ado, here are the films:
1 – Blade Runner (Five Disc Collector’s Edition)
I might be a little bit bias by naming this disc at number one since it’s one of my favorite films of all time. But once you open up the disc and pop it in to your BD player, you’ll understand why. It comes with five, I say again five versions of the film. You’ll get the definitive cut which was approved by Ridley Scott; the theatrical and international cut, the director’s cut which wasn’t approved by Scott and the work print version, which was shown to test audiences before it opens wide in theaters. The restoration done for the definitive cut was nothing short of perfection, the 1080p picture look stunning and the 5.1 lossless surround sound was just amazing. The other version of the film also came with 1080p transfer but it doesn’t come with lossless surround sound, just regular 5.1 Dolby Digital. So if you prefer the other version of the film, then this 5 disc package will satisfy you.
Along with great picture and sound, the disc also contains hours of deleted/alternate scenes and what I consider one of the best behind the scenes documentaries ever made. The best part of the documentary was the interview with stars and filmmakers, they told their version of what really happened during the shoot of the movie and why it failed at the box office. I can’t say enough how much I love this disc and it’s highly recommended.
2 – The Lord of The Rings Trilogy Extended Edition
Nothing much to say here except if you’re a fan of these films then you have to get these discs right away. The picture and sound are incredible and all the special behind the scenes features are included. You can buy the discs on Amazon for very low price of $49.99.
3 – Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Yes, the package also include the inferior prequels but if you’re a fan of the films and also a home theater enthusiast, then there’s no question that you should buy these discs ASAP. The 1080p picture and 6.1 lossless surround sound will knock your socks off and sure to impress your friends when they come over and watch the films on your big screen. Just like The Lord of The Rings blu-ray, you’ll also get all of the behind the scenes documentaries and all of the deleted scenes in the package. Again, if you want to show off your home theater system to your friends or neighbors, pop in one of the Star Wars films and they’ll be blown away by it.
4 – Alien Anthology
Now if you would like to buy these films separately, you can do that now but for those who prefer to have a complete set, look no further. The first two films went through some extensive restorations and they both look stunning in 1080p. Alien 3 & 4 look pretty good too but Fox decided not to restore the inferior sequels and just used the old master transfer from the DVD version a few years ago. Considering these are now pretty old films now, the 5.1 lossless surround sound is pretty impressive, especially the first two films. All of the discs contains the extended edition of each film, the most impressive is probably Alien 3, watch the extended cut and you’ll see how much better it was to the theatrical version. Now just a reminder, it’s not the official director’s cut since David Fincher disowned the film, it’s the cut that Fincher delivered to the studio but he was forced to trim it down to less than 2 hours back in 1992.
Along with the extended cut of the films, you’ll also get the in dept behind the scenes look at how each film were made. The best of the bunch is the behind the scenes look at what when wrong with Alien 3, it was a fascinating documentary and you get to see how depressing Fincher looked while making the film.
4 – 2001: A Space Odyssey
Arguably this is probably Stanley Kubrick’s best film and Warner Bros. did such a great job of restoring the film and transfer it to blu-ray. This was one of the two films Kubrick shot in widescreen format and he went all out by shooting it in ultra high quality 65mm. The 2.20:1 transfer look stunning in 1080p, I just wish I was alive when the film opened in theater back in 1968 so I can see it on the big 70mm screen. Just like the video, the 5.1 lossless surround sound was just incredible. Also included in the disc are behind the scenes documentary, commentary and much more. You can find the disc on Amazon for a cheap low price.
5 – The Dark Knight
One of the best sequels ever made and it’s also one of best blu-ray discs of 2008, the picture and sound on this disc is just incredible. about 30 minutes of the film were shot with IMAX cameras and Warner Bros. decided to include those sequences on this disc as well and let’s just say when you watch them on the your big screen, you’ll be blown away by the clarity of those scenes. The disc also comes with the making of documentary, it was good but I wish for a more in dept look at how the film was made. Maybe we’ll get a super duper edition next year before The Dark Knight Rises opens in theaters.
6 – Tron: Legacy
Yes I know the film is not really that good but the blu-ray is one of the best discs of 2011, I may say it’s the best of the year when it comes to picture and sound quality. The 1080p transfer is nearly flawless, the film was shown on IMAX screen during its theatrical run so the aspect ratio changes, the screen will switch from 2.35:1 to 1.78:1 during big action scenes. Just to be clear, unlike The Dark Knight, Tron: Legacy wasn’t shot with IMAX cameras but the filmmakers wanted to take advantage of the tall IMAX screen, so they’ve decided to switch aspect ratio.
As good as the picture look, the 7.1 lossless soundtrack is even better, you’ll feel Daft Punk’s thundering soundtrack in all of your speakers, trust me if you want to show off your cool surround sound system, pop in this disc.
7 – Back to the Future trilogy
When the DVD of these films were released back in early 2000s, I thought the picture and sound quality were below average and I was hesitant to upgrade to blu-ray a few years later. Well my worries were put to rest when I finally watch them on BD, I was shocked at how good the 1080p video look and the lossless surround sound is definitely an upgrade from their DVD counterpart. Along with great picture and sound, package include behind the scenes documentary and deleted scenes. Did you know that Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly and he even shot a few scenes before he got replaced by Michael J. Fox? Well you can watch some of the scenes he shot when you buy these discs.
8 – Apocalypse Now Three Disc Full Disclosure Edition
Again if you’re a fan of this movie, then all I can say is go and buy it if you haven’t already. The first disc is the original theatrical cut, the second is the Redux version and the third disc is the behind the scenes documentary, Hearts of Darkness, probably one of the best behind the scenes docs you’ll ever see.
This film was the first film to have utilized the 5.1 surround soundtrack back in the days and the surround sound on the BD is just phenomenal. And of course the 1080p transfer looks pretty damn good too.
9 – Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece finally arrived on BD back in the fall of 2011 and it’s one of my favorite blu-ray discs that I own. I’ve watched it at least 5 times now since I bought it. The picture and sound are just incredible, apparently QT supervised the HD transfer so that explains why the disc looks so damn good. All the goodies are included in the disc, the best one is the interview with cast members. They talked about how Quentin approached them with an idea for this film and how he was going to shoot it. John Travolta mentioned that Daniel Day-Lewis really wanted the Vincent Vega role but apparently QT only want him for that part.
Well those are my top ten best blu-ray discs available today, do you agree or disagree? Also, feel free to list your own favorite blu-ray discs in the comments section.
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34 comments
January 3, 2012 at 9:56 am (UTC 0)
Just what I need. I can add another voice to those singing the praises of the Alien blu-ray but I’ve been wanting to find some other great discs to test out the system. I’ve been watching too many older films recently on blu-ray lately that haven’t shown off the best attributes of the technology (eg. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, where the grain and weathered print looked worse on blu-ray).
Good list Scott. Cheers!
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January 3, 2012 at 11:07 am (UTC 0)
HEHE I am glad you like the list Dan, unfortunately I cannot take credit for it, it is the legend that is Ted S!!
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January 3, 2012 at 11:19 pm (UTC 0)
Hey Dan,
Many older low budgeted films probably won’t look good in HD because they used cheap film stock but some of them do look good if they get a full restoration. For example, Pulp Fiction was a very low budgeted film but the BD looks stunning because the studio spent a lot of time and money restoring it. I haven’t bought Ben-Hur BD yet but I read it’s one of the best BDs ever and the film came out in the 50s. Apparently Warner Bros. spent over two years restoring the film to make sure it looks spectacular on BD.
I think if the studio is willing to spend the time and money on restoring older films than most of them will look great.
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January 4, 2012 at 11:07 am (UTC 0)
…a thousand apologies Ted – great post!
…You’re right…some older films look great…Alien for example. I’ve yet to see a film older than Alien on blu-ray I don’t think…it’ll be interesting to get my hands on some classic Studio era Hollywood films.
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January 3, 2012 at 10:58 am (UTC 0)
Some great choices here for demoing the old home theatre, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those picks. Though I think my favorite for this purpose is Baraka or the Planet Earth series.
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January 3, 2012 at 11:21 pm (UTC 0)
Yeah I love Baraka and Planet Earth discs too but I don’t watch them as often as the ones on the list so I have to leave them out.
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January 3, 2012 at 11:53 am (UTC 0)
I put my order in for the Apocalypse Now and Tron Legacy BD’s just the other day, for the very reasons you mentioned here!!
Some great demo discs indeed.
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January 3, 2012 at 11:27 pm (UTC 0)
Hey Rodney,
You won’t be disappointed with those discs, check out the reviews here:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Apocalypse-Now-Blu-ray/14093/
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/TRON-Legacy-Blu-ray/18434/
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January 3, 2012 at 11:30 pm (UTC 0)
Hey Rodney,
You won’t be disappointed with those discs, check out the reviews here:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/TRON-Legacy-Blu-ray/18434/
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Apocalypse-Now-Blu-ray/14093/
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January 3, 2012 at 2:16 pm (UTC 0)
I still don’t know what blue ray is, I think I live in middle ages, even electricity is a big miracle for poor little moi
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January 3, 2012 at 11:29 pm (UTC 0)
Ha ha, well hopefully you at least like the name Blu-ray, it sounds cool to me.
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January 3, 2012 at 3:14 pm (UTC 0)
It’s really interesting to see that most of your choices are films that were created before we had high definition cameras. I didn’t think the upscaling of the sound and visuals was all that of a marked increase.
Tron Legacy does look fantastic, agreed. Watching on my beautiful plasma, the blacks in it have never looked so good.
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January 3, 2012 at 11:09 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Jaina,
Not sure if you knew this but all of the films shot in either 35mm or 65mm are considered HD. In fact, 35mm films’ resolution is 4k which is higher than Blu-ray’s 2K 1080p resolution. But most films shot in 35mm are usually output at 2k when they’re shown in movie theaters, so most BDs are truer to the source.
A lot of films shot with HD cameras are limited to just 2k resolution, for example Star Wars Ep. 2 and 3; Collateral, Miami Vice and Benjamin Button used older HD cameras. But with the introduction of HD Red cameras, Hollywood filmmakers can now shoot HD at 4K resolution instead of the standard 2K.
I hope I didn’t confuse you there, just wanted to make it clear that older films were actually shot in HD that’s why a lot them look great when transferred to Blu-ray properly.
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January 4, 2012 at 9:10 am (UTC 0)
No confusion here, just thankful for the clarification. I had no idea. I’ve always been on the fence about buying older films on blu-ray because I’m never really all that sure that it’ll be worth it. This has changed my mind somewhat and feeling like raiding HMV’s blu-ray sale section during my lunch break today!
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January 3, 2012 at 4:22 pm (UTC 0)
Good list. That said, I have greatly reduced my consumption of disk purchases. I did get the Harry Potter film series on BD last month though. And I already The Black Knight – in fact I think that was my first BD purchase when I got my first player.
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January 3, 2012 at 10:57 pm (UTC 0)
I think I bought way too much BDs the last year or so, especially the prices are so low now. Yeah I love the Harry Potter discs too, the reason why I didn’t include them on my list is because I can’t really stand the first two films.
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January 3, 2012 at 5:21 pm (UTC 0)
I have the LOTR and The Dark Knight (my first BD purchase ever). I think hubby might get the BD set of Star Wars at some point.
Great post, Ted, I still need to get those Superman movies from you
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January 3, 2012 at 10:55 pm (UTC 0)
Yeah I’ll remember to bring those discs over the next I see you.
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January 3, 2012 at 7:47 pm (UTC 0)
I’m so tempted to make the transition to Blu-ray, but I just don’t have the funds.
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January 3, 2012 at 10:54 pm (UTC 0)
Hey Fitz, hopefully once you finally get a BD player, you’ll be able to enjoy some of the discs I mentioned.
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January 3, 2012 at 10:02 pm (UTC 0)
i read “probably one of the best” about 13 times in this article.
Get some balls and make a statement. It’s either the best or it isnt. Say it’s very good, don’t go half-assed.
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January 3, 2012 at 10:53 pm (UTC 0)
Wow sounds like someone is cranky today.
How about all of them are great, is that better Matt?
Life’s too short dude, don’t get angry at a blogger like me.
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January 4, 2012 at 1:47 am (UTC 0)
The word ‘probably’ was used 3 times in this article, Matt. Unless you got stuck in a reading loop and read it 4 times in quick succession.
Therefore, your comment is probably bollocks.
I for one thought it was probably one of the handiest Blu-ray recommendation articles I’ve read on this site.
I couldn’t find a cheap 2001 : A Space Odyssey disc, but I did just notice that the Kubrick Blu-ray box set is super-cheap.
Cheers, Ted!
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January 4, 2012 at 5:09 am (UTC 0)
Hi Ant,
I don’t know if you live in the States or not but on Amazon US, you can get 2001 BD for $9.99. I paid $24.99 for it when it first came out a few years ago, kind of wish I waited for the Kubrick box-set. Maybe if you search on Amazon some more you might find a good price.
Thanks for stopping by!
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January 4, 2012 at 2:30 am (UTC 0)
If you get a chance try to watch the Blu-ray of Ben-hur. It is such an achievement in restoration that it belongs on everyones shelf.
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January 4, 2012 at 5:13 am (UTC 0)
Hey Max,
I don’t have Ben-Hur on BD yet but if I did it would’ve made this list. It’s still a bit too pricey right now, so I’m waiting for the price to come down and then I’ll buy it.
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January 4, 2012 at 4:35 am (UTC 0)
Great post Ted. One of my 2012 resolution is to finally get an HDTV and blu-ray player. Nothing too fancy but I will probably ask you and Scott for some advice down the road ah
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January 4, 2012 at 5:15 am (UTC 0)
Thanks Castor and yes feel free to ask me or Scott about all the HD stuff, we love to share our knowledge with everyone. You can get a fancy BD and HDTV for cheap now, if you need any suggestions as to which one to by just DM me on Twitter.
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January 4, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC 0)
although Tron got me a headache, I would still see it on Blu Ray. What a tempting choice of films! I would always think Matrix should make any Blu Ray list, but these choices are really great and I want them all (Apocalypse Now 0_0)
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January 4, 2012 at 3:37 pm (UTC 0)
I would’ve included The Matrix trilogy on the list but I really hated the sequels.
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January 4, 2012 at 1:50 pm (UTC 0)
I’m quite pleased to say we’ve got most of these! Although many are still in their wrappers.. it didn’t occur to me that Pulp Fiction would be a good blu-ray to own though, think I’ll have to add it to the collection!
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January 4, 2012 at 3:41 pm (UTC 0)
I was surprised how great the Pulp Fiction BD look and sound, if you’re a fan of the film you should definitely get it.
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January 4, 2012 at 4:58 pm (UTC 0)
Very happy to see a list like this! I have been wondering what some of the better Blu-ray discs were. I can only imagine how amazing 2001 would look/sound on Blu-ray with a powerful TV to push it.
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February 3, 2012 at 11:12 am (UTC 0)
I would add the Indiana Jones Collection to that list as well.
Cant disagree with any though (apart from Tron
)!
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