AVSForum Blu-ray Disc Review Database - Page 2

Ralph:

If you can review Letters From Iwo Jima, please do. It's a film I would never have seen except that a long-time friend gave it to me on Blu-ray for my birthday.

I'm not a big fan of war movies - except for sci-fi films.
I'm not a big fan of foreign language films.

Just the same, this film is gripping, because it's in essence a close-up character study of the different flavors of nobility among the Japanese soldiers sent to defend Iwo Jima from the American assault designed to make it the base of operations for an assault on the Japanese homeland, from the conscripted young baker to the general who is more humane towards his troops than some of his over-eager lower-ranked officers.

All know going in that they're not coming home.

Which is the path of honor: Commit suicide when it is clear that the battle is not going to be won or Fall back and regroup in order to fight again? The officers don't always agree, and don't always obey orders to retreat.

This film is an amazing testament to the fact that people are people - regardless of which side of a war they're on.

The image and sound quality are very good too.

I see a few blu-ray titles that include a digital copy of the movie. I understand that this copy is a SD version of the movie. If a person were to use this feature, what is the procedure? Do you have to install a program on your computer that takes over the copying process and therefore limits you to one digital copy of the title?
What is the format of the resulting copy: IFOs & VOBs that will play in a stand-alone player?
And what is the format of the disc that contains the original copy: BR or DVD?

My copy of Dark Knight, the second Christian Bale Batman film, came with a digital copy, which was a second disk with a DVD logo. The instructions called for playing it on a computer in Windows Media Player, and entering an enclosed serial number. It didn't say anything about having another disk available to write to, and I doubt that disk could be permanently unlocked since it was a stamped, not burned, disk that couldn't be written to.

I never bothered with it, but my suspicion is that the digital copy is not even DVD quality but is a WMA file with "Plays-for-Maybe" Digital Rights Management technology on it. I gave it to my daughter, who didn't bother with it either.

Oh brudder!

My first Blu-Ray player arrived last friday. BTW, I have tons of DVDs; my old DVD player is now in the closet, I guess I will keep it as a backup.

My first Blu-Ray media product arrived - the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy. It arrived (from my order) just before the Player did. I had seen the first two movies on cable TV.

I loved this. Took two days to work my way through the three movies, bonus material, and easter eggs. My Blu-Ray experience is off to a very good start.

I recommend a review.

BTW, my BluRay player is still in "early" firmware (version 1.1, the current version is 1.5 / 1.7, depending on the USA vs Global Panasonic site; it is a Panasonic DMP-BD60). I am having initial problems getting new firmware (I don't have a CD-R burning app that works properly for the Blu-Ray player), but I expect that to be resolved in a couple of days (I have an ethernet cable on order - should be here thur/fri according to WalMart). All three movies / bonus disks / easter eggs played flawlessly on my player, despite the outdated firmware.

(edit) Oh, one minor thing.

ARrrrrr!!!! Shimber me Tivers!

On some reviews website (I forget which) the reviewer said that the trailers for the first two POTC movies were on the 3rd disk in the series. This was a specific Blu-ray review, but to be honest, it was NOT specific to the Trilogy (bundled as all 3 movies).

The trailers that I found:
1: Curse of the Black Pearl; there is a trailer for 3: At Worlds End (the usual trailers and adverts before the movie)
2: Dead Mans Chest; there is a trailer for 3: At Worlds End (the usual trailers and adverts before the movie)
2: Dead Mans Chest; also, there is the trailer for 2: Dead Mans Chest (in various languages incl. english). I forget, but this was probably on the Bonus Disk.
3: At Worlds End: No trailers for any POTC movies. There IS a "flash-wizz-bang" advert for the Blu-Ray release of the first 2 POTC movies, but no trailers (maybe thats what the reviewer meant?)

If anyone knows about this specifically (unpublished easter egg?) please get back to me. I'LL GIVE YOU RUM!

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but here goes;

With all the bluray releases happening, would it be possible to have a section for only "new movies" and not just new "bluray" releases. I can't keep up with all the new movies coming out and to sort through all the bluray reviews just to see which are actually "new movies" I'm bound to miss a lot of them. 99% of the time I'm not interested in rewatching a movie just because it just came out on BR.

Thanks

I am very new to AVS forum and have spent the last few weeks researching Proejction Gear as i put my theater together. Now that it's complete, i've expanded my perusal and stumbled across these Blu Ray reviews. What's amazing is that i agree with a majority of them! Keep up the accurate reviewing; The Review List has just been added to my favorites section at work (and i've e-mailed the link to my home address as well) Bravo!

I have not seen any reviews for The Wizard Of Oz on Blu Ray. Just wondering if the Blu Ray version picture and sound are greatly improved? Anyone seen this yet?

Any word on Revenge Of The Fallen? I'm sure it might rival Transformers as far as it's technical aspects go. I'm hearing stories of there being a version out there that has the IMAX aspect ratio. Similar to The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray. (I hear only "Stalmart" will carry that version.) I saw it in the theaters and was mortified by the actual story line and overall plot but I just couldn't look away.

This site is my go-to review source. Now that you have another reviewer to share the work load is there any chance you'll review any of the Criterion Collection classic titles on Blu? The only one you've done is the new film, Benjamin Button. Keep up the good work, Ralph.

Rick

Ralph,

I hope you have the opportunity to check out and review Franklyn. The PQ is outstanding as far as a film like representation!! The sound isn't too shabby either!!

Hey Ralph,

thanks for ALL the work you put into these reviews and others. It's REALLY appreciated.

I notice that some of the titles do not have the * * next to them even though they are found on your list of recommended titles. Are there any future plans to add them? I'm referring to titles like Iron Man and some others.

Thanks in advance.

Hey Ralph or Lee,

Any upcoming review for It's a Wonderful Life?

Thanks

I did not see any of the LOTR lord of the rings reviewed yet. Does anyone have any opinions on the video quality. I was think of getting them but have no seen any reviews on them.

...IS FINALLY OUT ON BLURAY!!! YESSSSS!!

One of my own personal faves. Do you foresee reviewing this at anytime in the future?

Thanks in advance.

If I missed it, I apologize, but I can't seem to find a review for District 9.

Waiting for review for the following.

1. 9
2. Paranormal Activity
3. Jennifer's Body
4. A Perfect Getaway
5. Final Destination 3-D
6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Sorry for the long list as I'm more interested in the video and audio quality of these films.

Thanks guys!

Hi Ralph,

Good to hear and no worries about 1 & 4. I'll be picking these up anyway. Looking forward to your review and write up on the rest.

Cheers,
James

Ralph,
I really appreciate the work you put into these reviews. Before I pickup a title, I usually check out the database to see what is your take.

Will you be reviewing Blood Diamond soon? I really liked the movie and have been thinking of picking up the BD.

I am still waiting/anticipating a BD release for Open Range in North America , one of my all time favourite Western's.

Cheers,
Bryan

No Blade Runner review? Surely I'm mistaken?

I know it rocks (have seen it ofcourse), I will buy it but still.

How come no 'musical' performances made your (*) list? I know musical taste is personal, but are there any 'live' performances that are worth owning as 'reference' ?

My taste runs to jazz, blues, and rock, so with that in mind, here are some of my favorite Blu-rays of those types to serve as "reference quality" music disks:

Legends of Jazz Showcase A 55 minute "highlights reel" of the high-def public TV series put together by Ramsey Lewis - first-rate video, first-rate audio, and most importantly, first-rate performances. Jazz of several kinds (with even a little fusion jazz-rock) and a blues performance as well. The whole series was issued but only on standard DVD - and all of it may be hard to find right now.

Tony Bennett-An American Classic is also very good, and also short (46 minutes). It's a musical tour of his career, in the form of duets (and sometimes trios) with other artists.

Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire Live at the Greek Theater is almost 3 hours, because it's a disk that opens with both bands playing together for a few songs, then each plays several songs on its own, and they get back together to play their biggest hits together. It's quite joyous.

Diana Krall Live in Rio is a great jazz concert, with excellent HD video of Krall and some great HD landscape shots. The rest of the band and the audience don't look as good, possibly because they were not well lit. In addition to the main concert, there's also an impromptu acoustic jam session in the extras, sitting among the tourists in a crowded lounge with the only instruments being acoustic guitar and brushes on a pad. If you know and love her Paris concert disk, you'll love this one too - it's the same combo
(with the Frim Fram Sauce and the oss and fay, and shifafa on the side).

It's not a live concert disk, but Hairspray (the 2007 movie) has to be listed here - the music is first-rate. The guy who wrote the score was able to capture the varying styles of white and black music, and even the music of the parents' generation. This is a feel-good civil rights opera. It's also one of the few disks with a 7.1 soundtrack, but it sounds great on my 5.1 system.

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis play the music of Ray Charles, from Jazz at Lincoln Center, is a great disk. Norah Jones gets about as much time on camera as Willie Nelson, which is good, because she's far the better singer. Though the band, led by Wynton Marsalis, is great from the start, it takes Willie Nelson a few numbers to get warmed up. It's interesting hearing Ray Charles' music being interpreted by players with a bebop sensibility - but don't worry, they play the hooks straight!

Finally, in 1997, an all-star band consisting of Eric Clapton on guitars, Joe Sample on piano, Steve Gadd on drums, Dave Sanborn on sax, and Marcus Miller on bass (who pulled the group together) played the Montreux Jazz Festival as a blues band called Legends. That was shot in HD and just issued on Blu-ray. Catch especially the last few tracks, which segue from Ellington to an acoustic version of Layla, with Marcus Miller trading his electric bass for a bass clarinet that's almost as tall as he is for most of it.

How's that for a start?