I just bought PS 3 from Sony so it will be arriving sometime this week. I don't plan on replacing my dvd collection with Blu rays but I do want to keep a handful of them for showcase/bragging purposes. what Blu ray movies are must have reference movies in terms of entertainment value+ picture/Audio quality?

Lost: Season 3
Ratatouille
Cars
Kingdom Of Heaven
Planet Earth Set
Galapagos

Check the Tier thread at top of the page

But here are some of the Best looking ones: Casino Royale,Ratatoille,Open Season,The Pirates movies and Cars.

My top picks:

Pan's Labyrinth (Subtitled, but excellent storytelling - Directed by the guy who directed Hellboy)
Blade Runner (5 disc set - only the Final Cut is in HD, but it is well worth it for the complexity of the plot based on a Philip K. Dick short story)
2001 (Stanley Kubrick's excellent film work plus his classic screenplay collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke...)
Superbad (Super funny. Redefines the classic high-school comedy genre for the modern day)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Before there was E.T. there was this Steven Spielberg extraterrestrial classic...)
Letters from Iwo Jima (If you haven't seen it... Where have you been?)
Reign Over Me (Truly touching film...)

Additional Choices:

Blood Diamond (Excellent film work and acting)
The Departed (Scorsese film... with some major actors and a thrilling plot)
Babel (Excellent film work)
Crash (Well thought out study on expectations and prejudices)
Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton's early classic)
Underworld (Dark and gruesome Vampire vs. Werewolf action, if you like that...)
Underworld Evolution (If you get Evolution one, you have to get two as well...)
Paprika (Anime - Weird but colorful, then again, what anime isn't?)

I would check the Tier thread because we all have different taste in movies. My #1 movie could be your worst movie :)

By the way, congratulation in picking Blu-Ray - you won't be disappointed.

BTW, my picks aren't necessarily based on picture quality as much as artistic quality. Though I think most of them are top notch...

I'm not sure how much I would trust a tier system personally, as some movies (though not a majority) will be filmed in certain ways intentionally for effect that would likely place them in lower categories on those lists (such as "28 Days Later"). These kinds of ratings systems could easily cause studios to start altering movies to look better despite the director's original intent (as has been done already to John Carpenter's Halloween...).

My choices for 5 BDs that strike the best balance between Video Quality and Movie Quality:

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey (easily the best looking BD/HDDVD I've seen yet, production year considered)
2) Cars
3) Ratatouille
4) Apocalypto
5) The Rock

Honorable mentions go to: Crank, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, Letters From Iwo Jima, Planet Earth, and Rocky Balboa

no one listed Casino Royale????

1. Casino Royale
2. 300 (not exclusive)
3. Ratatouille
4. The Fifth Element Remaster

i'd put Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy in there too if those can be counted as 1 of 5. these titles, outside of 300, are imo the representatives of blu-ray. they are popular movies exclusively on blu-ray featuring top-notch transfers with lossless audio.

If you want to hear some of the best audio on BR, Live Free or Die Hard is fantastic. All other recomedations are good as well.

Cars
Ratatouille
Pirates of the Caribean
Pirates of the Caribean 2
Pirates of the Caribean 3
The Fifth Element

Bikini Destination..Triple Fantasy!! :rolleyes:

Pirates 3
Kingdom of Heaven
Ratatouille
Planet Earth
Casino Royale

If you want to hear some of the best audio on BR, Live Free or Die Hard is fantastic. All other recomedations are good as well.

shame fox had to half-ass it along with Mr & Mrs Smith by giving us only the theatrical cuts. would have bought both, now i own neither.

Pirates CotBP
Pirates DMC
Pirates AWE
Ratatouille
300

300
Casino Royale
Superbad
Spiderman Trilogy
The Departed

For picture and sound:

Ratatouille
Cars
Live Free or Die Hard
Harry Potter Order Of The Phoenix
Spiderman 3
Apacalypto
Casino Royale
Blade Runner
Pirates Of The Caribbean At World's End

Galapagos is the best for PQ IMHO but only 2 channel sound.

For Story

1. the Patriot
2. KOH
3. Letters from IWO Jima
4. the Searchers
5. Trading Places

This topic gets asked a lot. Here are some threads that will help

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=903953&highlight=top

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858316

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=918734

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=956939&highlight=christmas

See the tier threads mentioned above. Thanks