The DVD/Blu-Ray Thread

[KjGarly]

I didn't think Robocops quality was that bad. Agree with Terminator's though.

Bought The Wolverine Blu Ray during Plays sale last week, got delivered yesterday only to notice it's not the unrated extended version FUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[HM]

Bought The Wolverine Blu Ray during Plays sale last week, got delivered yesterday only to notice it's not the unrated extended version FUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Yeah only the 3D version has that because Fox are greedy bastards.

[NickSCFC]

Finally

http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/1987-wil ... ray-march/

[TigaSefi]

Apart from dvdbeaver is there another site that lists every technical aspect of a DVD or blu ray? specifically closed captions and/or subtitles. I find the normal listings on amazon etc very incomplete.

[Joer]

http://www.blu-ray.com/

may have what you're looking for.

[Gario]

Can anyone tell me why some of my new Blu-rays play in full screen and others have borders at the top and bottom? For example, Warm Bodies fills the entire screen and The Heat has borders. Incidentally the Warm Bodies Blu-ray is a crap transfer: get it on DVD I say.

[Johnny Ryall]

Because that is the original aspect ratio as shown in the cinema. To remove the black borders would remove parts of the picture, or alternately would stretch the picture. Both look gooseberry fool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_a ... omparisons

[NickSCFC]

All the best Blu-ray transfers have the huge borders, it's the same aspect ratio as the original cinema version. Anything fullscreen is cutting the sides off the picture.

Fullscreen Blu-rays (barring Pixar) are actually the same transfers as the old DVD's, hence why they look soft. A good example is Terminator 2, the original Blu-ray was fullscreen, soft, and had poor contrast. The Skynet edition is bordered and much better.

The other fullscreen Blu-rays I've owned, Predator and Snatch, were also poor transfers.

[Gario]

I watched My Neighbour Totoro last night. I enjoyed it, but having first seen it some years ago I don't remember it feeling so much like a children's film. Can anyone recommend any Studio Ghibli films that are more suitable for adults and just as good as MNT?

[NickSCFC]

All Ghibli films are aimed at children, doesn't stop adults enjoying them though.

[BAKA]

All the best Blu-ray transfers have the huge borders, it's the same aspect ratio as the original cinema version. Anything fullscreen is cutting the sides off the picture.

Fullscreen Blu-rays (barring Pixar) are actually the same transfers as the old DVD's, hence why they look soft.

I think I finally get it. NickSCFC is a parody account, right? Genuinely in stitches.

[NickSCFC]

It's true, a lot of early Blu-rays were just sub-HD transfers that were used for DVDs, they were slightly sharper than DVD but it's barely noticeable.

Robocop, The Terminator and House, Gladiator of Flying Daggers are three examples of this, hence why we're now seeing remasters of previously released titles where studios are digitising in 4K, maintaining the original aspect ratio and porting down to DVD.

[Johnny Ryall]

All the best Blu-ray transfers have the huge borders, it's the same aspect ratio as the original cinema version. Anything fullscreen is cutting the sides off the picture.

Fullscreen Blu-rays (barring Pixar) are actually the same transfers as the old DVD's, hence why they look soft.

I think I finally get it. NickSCFC is a parody account, right? Genuinely in stitches.

O.A.R. black borders and all is how the director wanted the film to be framed. So Nick is right about that.

I bet you stretch 4:3 DVDs to widescreen you monster.

[Call and Answer]

I watched My Neighbour Totoro last night. I enjoyed it, but having first seen it some years ago I don't remember it feeling so much like a children's film. Can anyone recommend any Studio Ghibli films that are more suitable for adults and just as good as MNT?

Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away have a similar magical/mystical bent with mildly more complex stories. That said, if you're feeling down on Totoro for being a children's film, perhaps you should give Ghibli a miss.

[Joer]

I watched Grave of the Fireflies for the first time the other night and that didn't feel like a children's film at all. It didn't even feel like a Ghibli film as it didn't have the magic of the others I've seen, it was just strawberry floating brutal instead.

[Gario]

Does anyone know of any plans for a Blu-ray release of the complete Sopranos collection? Am I right in thinking you can get the first season on Blu-ray in the UK but no others?

[Wedgie]

Think there's season 6 on blu ray as well. But no 2, 3, 4, and 5.

[Gario]

Think there's season 6 on blu ray as well. But no 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Think I might just ask for the DVD box set for my birthday, then. I can't be bothered streaming the episodes one by one and I know they will never turn up on Netflix. With The Sopranos being an 'older' series, though, is the DVD picture quite grainy?

[Wedgie]

I'm still holding out for the entire series to be released on blu ray.

HBO seem can't be arsed to bring out most of their older tv series on blu ray. Still holding out for Deadwood.

[BAKA]

All the best Blu-ray transfers have the huge borders, it's the same aspect ratio as the original cinema version. Anything fullscreen is cutting the sides off the picture.

Fullscreen Blu-rays (barring Pixar) are actually the same transfers as the old DVD's, hence why they look soft.

I think I finally get it. NickSCFC is a parody account, right? Genuinely in stitches.

O.A.R. black borders and all is how the director wanted the film to be framed. So Nick is right about that.

I bet you stretch 4:3 DVDs to widescreen you monster.

Dear god. So depressing. I genuinely despair for humanity. Have neither of you seen a movie made prior to the 60s? He's completely wrong. 'Anything fullscreen is cutting the sides off the picture.' is monumentally wrong. It's a sweeping blanket statement of nonsense. Many films (mainly older films) were filmed in 1.33.1, or the Academy aspect ratio 1.37.1 which was a universal standard during the 30s to the 50s and the Blu-rays that faithfully show such films in fullscreen (or what will appear fullscreen to the untrained eye) aren't the 'same transfers as the old DVDs'. It's not just older films though, the aspect ratio is an artistic choice, films such as Gus Van Sant's Elephant, or recent BAFTA winning Fish Tank aren't widescreen. Nor is there any kind of correlation between something being shown in fullscreen, and a Blu-ray being an upscale. Complete utter nonsense.

Lots of the titles he mentioned aren't upscales, because they show more detail than the DVDs, however, may well be taken from HD masters prepared with DVD in mind (older masters). Predator has an interesting history for example, first released with an excess of scanner noise, likely sourced from an older master, and then later released riddled with DNR (digital noise reduction), a process which can result in loss of detail, and a waxy looking image. Some of the titles mentioned aren't issues with the transfers however, merely the encode. Of course none of this has anything to do with aspect ratio, because one isn't indicative of the other.

Not to mention, DVD is as far from the archaic mess he seems to believe. The vast majority of UK DVD releases were released in ratios as intended by the director, or if the directors’ intention was not known, as originally released theatrically, according to DVDAF. Of course many weren't, but that was a more pressing problem at the start of the DVD generation, with some releases even having two releases, one fullscreen and one widescreen.

So this really wasn’t a parody of modern consumerism and a growing trend of consumers who know very little about what they consume, passing nonsense off as fact, in online circles? What about the GGC stuff? Is that serious too?