[EphelDuath666]

Do you love VHS tapes, Laserdisc or DVDs? Do you hate progress and live in a little wooden house in the mountains? Are you stuck in the past because everything in the 80s was so much better?

Well, you might want to skip this thread then because this is the Blu-ray appreciation and recommendation thread! If you love the Blu-ray format, just now got into it or are interested in it and may want to switch to the world of HD then this is the right place for you. Or are you looking for a specific movie on Blu-ray and are not sure if it's worth the purchase or upgrade to Blu-ray? Then this is also the right place for you. Recommend Blu-rays, review them or let us know if we should stay away from a certain Blu-ray release...well, you get the point.

Well, I shall go ahead and make my first recommendation then...



I'm specifically recommending Optimum Home Entertainment's release of this movie. This release features the theactrical cut of Army of Darkness in HD and is one title that just makes you appreciate the Blu-ray format. The picture quality is quite fantastic. The picture is very sharp with great detail, film grain is intact and I did not see any compression artefacts. The audio quality is quite good too. And as a little bonus on top of this awesome-cake you get the much longer director's cut of Army of Darkness, alas it's only available in SD though and not HD but that's better than nothing. This Blu-ray appears to be region locked though so I guess only Europeans and people that own regionfree hardware will be able to enjoy this.

Note: There's also a region free US Blu-ray of this movie from Universal pictures but that one does not include the director's cut in its bonus material and appears to be of inferior picture quality compared to Optimum's UK release due to heavy use of digital noise reduction which gives the picture a very unnatural look.

I should begin by saying I will not get rid of any of my movies on DVD that I choose to purchase anew on Blu-Ray; it's my collector's mentality and principle (although I might make an exception with Iron Man 2). Got over a dozen Blu-Rays now, but here's a couple that really stand out for me.

An American Werewolf in London was totally worth the purchase. Being an older movie there was a bit of grain, but it didn't detract from the picture quality (which looked subtly richer). The audio quality was immediately noted to be superior (and this is just the opening credits). For instance, the first attack on the moors actually sounds more frightening, as instead of having the howl come from one direction, it echoes in all directions, so it builds more dread.
A few extra docos made the upgrade all the better, so it's one I recommend.

Grindhouse is also worth grabbing. Having already owned the extended versions of Planet Terror and Death Proof on separate DVDs, I was enticed with getting the theatrical version with trailers and ads (previously only available to be seen at a specialty cinema, and only once in awhile). It looks and sounds fantastic. This also has every extra feature the two aforementioned DVDs have, plus lots of new ones exclusive to the Grindhouse release. For instance, longer trailers for Don't and Werewolf Women of the SS (plus making ofs) are on offer, and the making of Thanksgiving (which features raw footage of trampoline girl without censorship - awesome). You also get the original Hobo With a Shotgun fan-trailer.

BTW, I noticed Hobo With a Shotgun had identical features on DVD and Blu-Ray, but I got the Blu-Ray just to get the better quality. Will do the same with Machete if/when it's extended version is released (until then I'm abstaining from owning it, but that's a different story).

I'll just leave it at that for now.

[EphelDuath666]

American Werewolf in London and the Grindhouse collection are both titles that I still need to get too. I LOVE my Planet Terror Blu-ray. There's actually a scratch free version of the movie on the disc as a bonus and it looks super crisp and sharp. I know that it takes away the grindhouse feel from the movie but it's pretty neat to at least watch the movie once scratch free.

One Blu-ray release I HAVE to recommend is this cult classic



UK's Arrow Video released this wonderful collector's edition of Dawn of the Dead on Blu-ray which looks fantastic for its age. It includes the US theatrical cut in HD on the Blu-ray disc and also includes the director's cut and Argento cut, both in SD on DVD, plus TONS of bonus material on disc, a poster and a double sided sleeve cover with 4 different cover options. This is the most complete Dawn of the Dead collection yet and if you live outside of the UK then I'd recommend importing this one rather than Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of this movie. All of the discs are region free and should play on all Blu-ray and DVD players. And Arrow also used less digital noise reduction than Anchor Bay did. If you're a fan of this movie and own a Blu-ray player then you have to own this.