Hey guys (and girls?)... Been a while. I was recently given some Bluray discs at a regional meeting for work and have decided to use this as my beginning of the upgrade process. I've already planned to NOT replace my DVDs but rather upgrade to better editions or supplement my collection as it is. As far as a player goes, I've read a few blurbs on this site about the Sherwood for multiregions and plan on going with that. Is there anything better that I should know about for roughly the same cost or anything else I should know before the purchase? Also, I know there are a MILLION threads that ask the same question but I really don't want to sift through 11+ pages of threads. Which Blurays are exceptional and "must haves"? Which are AVOIDAVOIDAVOID? Thanks in advance!
Ones that I liked off hand... Grindhouse (includes trailers from theatrical run) The Descent The Thing (especially if you never upgraded from the original DVD release) The Exorcist I Know What You Did Last Summer (surprisingly looks great) American Werewolf in London (looks better than ever) Disappointments.. Hostel Part II (doesn't look great) Army of Darkness (not sure if dipping for the umpteenth time is worth it)
there is a 50% off criterion sale at barnes and noble. I picked up all the godard. 2001 and evil dead are good discs. My criteria is I either have to LOVE the film or it has assloads of extras. Preferably both. Yeah, dude, don't upgrade unless you have a real enticing blu-ray package for a good price.
PQ wise, A Nightmare On Elm Street is definitely worth the upgrade. I was really amazed by how good this looks. Night Of The Creeps is a must have, but I have never watched the DVD to compare. If you don't already have the DVD, pick this up ASAP! DVDBeaver and blu-ray.com are a great resource.
I've read in various places that Sherwood released a firmware update back in 3/10 that removed the ability to change regions for BDs. I know that a member here bought one of these players not too long ago (maybe 2 or 3 months ago, iirc) and had no issues however I wouldn't be surprised if this was pre-loaded on all players shipped from the factory since then and they lucked out and got an older one. Of course if you get one it may be possible to downgrade the firmware back to the version that allowed region switching on BDs but I don't know for sure. Before buying one of these I'd make sure that you can downgrade the firmware if you have the newer one or make sure you are buying it from a place that sells it with multi-regional BD playback as an advertised feature. Obviously them shipping the players with the newer firmware is just a logical assumption by me but I'd be wary about buying one of these now if you're dead set on multi-region; if you don't do your homework you may be rolling the dice here.
Thanks ramses, I appreciate that. I'll make sure to keep an eye out. It's going to be a Christmas gift and really, multi-region capability would be a cool feature but not a must have. I bought a couple Philips DVD players for that purpose and only bought two R2 DVDs (Madman and Harry & The Hendersons) before finding out that both would get released here in R1.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre and F13 Parts 1 thru 3 definitely. Also, The original My Bloody Valentine is so cheap it's well worth it.
Awesome, thanks Prey. I could've sworn I've seen several reviews of Blus to stay away from too. Any one know of any or am I hallucinating?
I think this is the thread you're thinking of... http://www.horrordvds.com/vb3forum/showthread.php?t=39595 No one seems to like Evil Dead 2 or Terminator.
Galxay of Terror looks approximatly 10,000 times better than I thought it ever could. The opening sequence is rough and grainy, but it turns to stunning beauty shortly after. After watching Alien the other night, I can say that movie has never looked better either, although I've never seen a real 35mm print. Avoid True Romance unless you don't have it already. It's worth it cheap just cuz the film is so good, but the BD quality is pretty poor compared to well mastered BD's. It doesn't look much different than the dvd, and in some spots I think the dvd still looks better.
Blu-ray is a fantastic format but in a strange way it depresses me. By June 2008 I had compiled a collection of some 2,500 DVDs, representing the vast majority of my favourite horror & SF films and was very content with my lot. Then I saw Star Trek: The Movie on my best friend's 50" HDTV via a Samsung BDP1500 and knew I would never be satisfied with standard definition again. I spent a fortune upgrading from VHS to DVD and now the process is being repeated. Such is life...
Saw "The Shining" on blu at a friend's house and it was absolutely stunning. Anything criterion puts out on blu-ray is obviously worth owning if you love the movie. Also, as mentioned above, "The Thing" looks stellar on blu. Predator looks like absolute shit (both releases) and Terminator is pretty bad on blu. I don't own a player myself but I've got a bunch of friends that do so I've gotten to see a bunch of stuff in hi-def. Those are what's stood out the most to me so far.
Tell me about it!!! I never had the DVD of True Romance and love the film, so I bought the Blu for $10. It looks good, but not impressive, so I get what you're saying! They definitely didn't do much with that Blu-Ray!! The Dark Knight is my favorite Blu Ray so far! It looks amazing!! I also really loved Night of the Creeps, Star Trek (2009) and Flash Gordon (I cannot believe how good this film looks!!) to name a few.
I really wish Dark Knight had the option to just stay in 2.35 throughout the film, the changing aspect ratios distract and slightly annoy me. I'll put up it for the clarity, but I hope it doesn't happen to any other titles that weren't meant to be various ratios. Watched Aliens last night, holy fucking fuck. The term probably gets thrown around too much, but I doubt the film has ever looked better. Stunning for 98%, 2% couldn't be saved I guess, you'll see when you watch it.
