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Movie Fans

bobtomay

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Finished the Blu-Ray Special Extended Version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy - approx 2.5 hrs of added film vs the theatrical release - it's def worth the price of admission for any LotR fan - especially if you can find it on sale - I picked it up for $25 at Amazon during a one day sale.
 

RavingMac

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What have you been watching?

Finished the Blu-Ray Special Extended Version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy - approx 2.5 hrs of added film vs the theatrical release - it's def worth the price of admission for any LotR fan - especially if you can find it on sale - I picked it up for $25 at Amazon during a one day sale.

I call that a deal!

Just finished Despicable Me 2
 

chscag

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Turner Classic Movies, channel 230 on Verizon FIOS. Don't need no stinking BR player for that. :p
 

Slydude

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Turner Classic Movies, channel 230 on Verizon FIOS. Don't need no stinking BR player for that. :p

Agreed. Besides, my Samsung BR player is absolutely useless as a BR player. I have a Panasonic on order that should arrive later this week.
 
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Hey Guys - I have been loving my Blu-ray experience - not a big investment, i.e. Sony Blu-ray player, LG 42" HDTV (HDMI input), & a Boston Acoustics sound bar (that I need to replace - BT sub went out after the warranty - S*&T).

At the moment I have nearly 200 BDs (nearly all replacements of previous DVDs) - for those getting into this video technology, checkout Blu-raydotcom - in depth reviews and ratings of the video and audio restoration quality, which really has helped me to decide on which films to replace. Dave :)
 

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Thanks for that link. I think I had it at one point and lost it.

We put off Blu Ray for quite a while before purchasing. Only have a handful of BR discs (due to crappy player). I'm going to have a tough decision about which movies to replace and which to just use the standard DVDs.
 
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My wife and I went to The Hobbit: Smaug this past week. Great movie, though seeing it in 3-D wasn't really worth the extra cost. IMAX was worth it though as the sets are big and a ton of stuff is going on in the battle scenes. If you read the books, be prepared... they added a bunch of stuff that never happened in the book. I'm guessing they wanted to anchor it to the LoTR movie franchise. The additions aren't really bad by any means, but they are fabrications relating to Sauron. Kate from "Lost" is an Elf who never existed in the book either. Anyhow, I'd give it a 4 starts out of 5.
At home we watched "We're the Millers" which was pretty raunchy, predictable and lame. It had a few funny parts though so it was worth checking out via Netflix.
I streamed the first episode of Babylon 5 and it wasn't as good as I remember. Such is life. Watching Man of Steel this afternoon before the holiday ends and I go back to work tomorrow.
 
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My wife and I went to The Hobbit: Smaug this past week. Great movie, though seeing it in 3-D wasn't really worth the extra cost. IMAX was worth it though as the sets are big and a ton of stuff is going on in the battle scenes. If you read the books, be prepared... they added a bunch of stuff that never happened in the book. I'm guessing they wanted to anchor it to the LoTR movie franchise. The additions aren't really bad by any means, but they are fabrications relating to Sauron. Kate from "Lost" is an Elf who never existed in the book either. Anyhow, I'd give it a 4 starts out of 5.
At home we watched "We're the Millers" which was pretty raunchy, predictable and lame. It had a few funny parts though so it was worth checking out via Netflix.
I streamed the first episode of Babylon 5 and it wasn't as good as I remember. Such is life. Watching Man of Steel this afternoon before the holiday ends and I go back to work tomorrow.

I saw Desolation of Smaug as well, and just about died from laughter during the scene where Bombur was rolling around in his wine barrel while nocking everyone out. I thought it was definitely a more entertaining movie than the first one.

Some movies I recently watched were the Hunger Games(didn't like it), Pacific Rim(really liked it), Thor 2(kind of liked it), Rid****(didn't like it), Curse of Chucky(liked it), Prisoners(actually a pretty good movie), Empire State(ehhhh), Elysium(good but pretty much very predictable), and Charlie Countryman(I really liked this movie).

I'm looking forward to watching Wolf of Wall Street.
 
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I saw Desolation of Smaug as well, and just about died from laughter during the scene where Bombur was rolling around in his wine barrel while nocking everyone out.

That was freaking hilarious! Looked like a wooden R2D2 spinning around! Bombur also outran everyone else when they were trying to outrun Beorn the bear which, though not quite as funny but still a pretty good chuckle.
 
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chas_m

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I have put off getting investing too much in Blu-Ray because I'm keenly aware that the next DVD medium is likely not that far off (thanks to 4K), and don't want to reinvest again and again. As far as I'm concerned 4K is good for only one thing: making well-preserved movies shot on film look their best. Video on 4K is likely to look awful.

I took in the latest Hobbit movie in the 48fps format and, apart from enjoying the film, was interested to see how it looked in the format it was shot in. A few moments of "ooh that's greenscreened" aside, I'd have to say pretty good -- though I think the format will continue to be a novelty for all but the action genre. I'd probably enjoy the 24fps "film-look" version just as much, frankly. The 3D was nice (for a change).

I'm pretty selective about what I'll go see in a cinema, given the cost, but I love seeing old movies on the big screen. We saw "Spartacus" and "The Great Escape" recently and both were marvellous. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" too. I recently saw a remastered Blu-Ray of "Lawrence of Arabia" and that was just gorgeous.
 
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.......
I'm pretty selective about what I'll go see in a cinema, given the cost, but I love seeing old movies on the big screen. We saw "Spartacus" and "The Great Escape" recently and both were marvellous. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" too. I recently saw a remastered Blu-Ray of "Lawrence of Arabia" and that was just gorgeous.

Hi Chas_m - I'm at an age that Blu-ray will be my last choice for having films @ home, and I've been quite satisfied in the technique, so my only option to upgrade to better video (and also improved sound) - I have nearly 200 BDs @ the moment, including Lawrence of Arabia - I can't imagine that film being much better unless you want to see inside Peter's nostrils - :Cool:

BUT for us retired souls who want the best movie home entertainment (of course, w/ the right HDTV & sound systems), Blu-ray is now your best choice (and for oldsters in your lifetime will not likely get much better). Dave - :)
 

RavingMac

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Blu-Ray is pretty much it for me as well (until the price of 4K drops a whole lot). For TVs two physical constraints come in to play for usable resolution.

1) Minimum seating distance. If you are like most of us, your preferred viewing position is reclined. And, unless you prop your feet on the table or wall beneath the set, your eyes are going to be a least 6 feet from the screen.

2) Screen Size. My room and wallet limits me to no more than 60 in (I've got a 55 inch now). I can't or won't afford the 80+ inch screen you would need to do justice to 4K at any viewing distance I am likely to use.

Bottomline IMO, if you sit more than 8 feet from your TV you'll never see the difference in resoloution on a normal sized screen (up to 60 inch).
 

pigoo3

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Just finished watching "Lawrence of Arabia" on AMC (probably the 10th time I've seen it). For a movie I've seen many times...it's amazing how much I enjoy it every time...even though I know exactly what comes next!:)

For a 1962 movie...it looks great on an HD channel on a large screen flat panel TV !:)

- Nick
 
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Man of Steel,Wolverine and Despicable Me 2 on Blu-Ray and liked all 3.
 
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I'm completely uninterested in 4K nor do I expect that to ever change. At a standard viewing distance of 8 feet, you'd need at least a 65" TV to even begin to see a difference.
Chart: 1080P Does Matter - CarltonBale.com

The LotR trilogy is a favorite of mine. I had the extended versions on DVD back when they were first out, but now have the theatrical versions on Blu-Ray, which I picked up as soon as they were released. I probably should have been more patient and waited for the extended versions. Ah well.

I saw the first Hobbit in the theater and nearly fell asleep. I'm passing on the 2nd and 3rd. I'm just really annoyed at how they decided to milk it for 3 movies when 2 would have been sufficient.

Eh, anywho... well we just finished up watching Jurassic Park trilogy, which still holds up pretty well. I just got the Blade trilogy for Christmas... planning to watch that in the next couple weeks.

My favorites on Blu-Ray are:

Pacific Rim - man oh man I love this movie! Sure, it has some flaws, but they literally don't matter. It's giant mechas vs giant monsters! I grew up watching late night monster movies and loved them. This is the kind of movie I've been waiting all my life to get made, and it looks and sounds GREAT!

The Fifth Element - one of my all-time favorites. One of only 2 movies I've seen 3 times in the theater. I just couldn't get enough of it.

Empire of the Sun - one of Spielberg's best movies, yet so few people know about it. The Blu-Ray edition is stunning.

The Last Emperor - great movie about the last emperor of China.

Alien quadrilogy - I've gotten through the first 2 and it's like watching them again for the first time. Both movies still hold up really really well. For Aliens in particular, the director's cut is the one to watch, no question of it.

Terminator 1 and 2 - The original release of Terminator on Blu-Ray was garbage and looked awful. I recently got the remastered version for my birthday and WOW! It was like watching it again for the first time. Highly recommended!!!

Avatar - a great movie overall, even if the story isn't terribly original.

Avengers - one of the best action movies ever made. Seriously, as a comic book adaptation, it doesn't get any better than this. It does help to be familiar with the other Marvel movies preceeding it.

Hulk - the Ang Lee movie that people either really like or really hate. I love it. He broke from formula and directed it more like a comic book, I guess is how I can best put it.

Immortals - Visually a very cool movie, but a pretty weak movie otherwise. I love it just for the great lines delivered by Mickey Rourke.

The Iron Giant - still not available on Blu-Ray, but is available in HD off iTunes. A fantastic movie that teaches an important lesson about being true to yourself. I cried at the end of the movie in the theater, and still do.

Other random favorites... Life of Pi; Kill Bill; anything by Pixar; Sin City (freaking GREAT movie!); Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow; Total Recall (the remake... visually extremely awesome and truer to the book, from what I understand); Lockout
 
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We really enjoyed Argo over the holidays - not on blu ray but on Sky HD (1080 and 5.1 sound).
 
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bobtomay

bobtomay

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Those are some good picks there liab.

Did get the B-R trilogy of Jurassic Park and re-watched that about a month ago.

Have had Empire of the Sun on my saved list at Amazon for a couple of years and haven't pulled the trigger on it.

Haven't watched the Alien quadrilogy since the DVD set was released around 10 years ago. Haven't upgraded to the B-R, but did spend $2.50 each on Vudu's disk to digital for the online HD versions. Their turn up on the screen again should come soon.

While we're touching on Ridley Scott - at a minimum have to add Blade Runner, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down and Gladiator - received Prometheus in the mail today, so it's up tomorrow.

Avatar along with Peter Jackson's King Kong on B-R or HD DVD are a must see.

Have been tempted to pull the trigger on the B-R release of the Indiana Jones quadrilogy.

I like too many, new and old - currently on Sat and Sun mornings (since I'm up at like 4 am have been grabbing my coffee, heading back to bed and reliving the old Saturday Matinees of Tarzan before I get up - 30s to 60s - already finished Weismuller, Barker, Scott and Mahoney with Mike Henry yet to go.
 
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You guys have all got too much time on your hands. Can't your partners get you out into the garden or looking after the lawn?
 
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I can't believe I forgot Blade Runner. *smacks head* I've not seen Hannibal. Got extended version of King Kong (great remake, in spite of Jack Black). Considering grabbing the remastered version of Gladiator. I liked Black Hawk Down, but not enough to spring for it. Prometheus was a gorgeous movie, but gawdfully stupid (those 2 guys go from being freaked out over everything to getting all cutesy with the alien eyeball on a tentacle?).

Oh... another favorite... Scott Pilgrim vs The World. That is one excellent movie!
 
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The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery is my all time Fav movie. Bought it HD on iTunes and probably seen it 30+ times . . .
Im not into 4K and don't think i will be. My eyes are getting older so ill stay with 1080p and haven't got a Bluray. I have a lot of Dvd's mainly bought presents, but most of my movies now have been bought through iTunes.
 

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