1146 replies to this topic

[DLibrasnow]

It's bewildering why the UK has been snubbed on the last two Blu-ray releases.

Still, the UK has got the original THE ITALIAN JOB on Blu-ray and with a transfer that is by all accounts simply stunning. Luckily it's region-free so I ordered it from Amazon UK as soon as I got the good news.

They should just do away with region coding altogether. The majority of studios are releaeing their Blu-rays as region free. Just check out this listing:

http://bluray.liesinc.net/

[Loomis]

It's bewildering why the UK has been snubbed on the last two Blu-ray releases.

Still, the UK has got the original THE ITALIAN JOB on Blu-ray and with a transfer that is by all accounts simply stunning.

Big deal. I want Bond. I couldn't give a monkey's about THE ITALIAN JOB.

[Qwerty]

They've managed to make their incredibly bizarre Bond DVD release strategies seem somewhat normal compared to the cluster[censored] that's going on for Bond on Blu-ray.

[Professor Dent]

So, they are going to reissue the DVD box sets already out at lower prices but not announce release dates for the rest of the movies. Makes complete sense.

[dee-bee-five]

It's bewildering why the UK has been snubbed on the last two Blu-ray releases.

Still, the UK has got the original THE ITALIAN JOB on Blu-ray and with a transfer that is by all accounts simply stunning.

Big deal. I want Bond. I couldn't give a monkey's about THE ITALIAN JOB.

You should; it looks bloody amazing on Blu Ray. The Italian Job always feels part of the extended 60s Bondian world to me. Quite apart from from the Aston Martin, it's got Fleming's mate (and suggested Dr.No) Noel Coward, Matt Monro crooning over the credits... What's not to like if you're a Bond fan?

I suspect the apparent slowing down of the Bond Blu Ray releases might have something to do with the 2011 release date of Bond 23. From a marketing perspective, I can see that it makes some kind of sense to eke out what "new" material you have until the marketing of the new film kicks in. Still, that doesn't excuse not releasing TMWTGG and LTK in the UK when they're already out in the States.

[Loomis]

It's bewildering why the UK has been snubbed on the last two Blu-ray releases.

Still, the UK has got the original THE ITALIAN JOB on Blu-ray and with a transfer that is by all accounts simply stunning.

Big deal. I want Bond. I couldn't give a monkey's about THE ITALIAN JOB.

You should; it looks bloody amazing on Blu Ray. The Italian Job always feels part of the extended 60s Bondian world to me. Quite apart from from the Aston Martin, it's got Fleming's mate (and suggested Dr.No) Noel Coward, Matt Monro crooning over the credits... What's not to like if you're a Bond fan?

I'm also a Noel Coward fan (mostly his songwriting - I think he was one of the great songwriters of the twentieth century), but I just don't dig THE ITALIAN JOB, no matter how good it looks on Blu-ray.

BTW, while I'm loving my Bond Blu-rays (the transfers really are incredible), I'm finding quite a bit of motion blur when I play them, especially on MOONRAKER. It's not just during fast action scenes (indeed, most fast action scenes are fine), but even when a character is walking slowly across the screen he sometimes leaves a sort of juddering wake behind him for a second. Is this a TV issue, a player issue, a disc issue or a bit of all three?

[Turn]

BTW, while I'm loving my Bond Blu-rays (the transfers really are incredible), I'm finding quite a bit of motion blur when I play them, especially on MOONRAKER. It's not just during fast action scenes (indeed, most fast action scenes are fine), but even when a character is walking slowly across the screen he sometimes leaves a sort of juddering wake behind him for a second. Is this a TV issue, a player issue, a disc issue or a bit of all three?

Don't quote me, but it's likely a TV issue. The higher the megahertz (I think that's the term, forgive me if it's not) your set has, the less blur you're supposed to get. A year or so ago when I got my bigscreen, 120MZ was the standard, and now they are selling TVs that are double that.

The higher ratio of that is especially supposed to help with especially things like sports or action films and such. It makes you wonder just how much better it can possibly get before it's virtual reality we're all staring at.

[singleentendre]

I would be willing to wait another year for the next batch if it meant picture quality rivaling Moonraker and Licence to Kill. Then again, I really doubt that it's the transfers that they're working on.

[karligula]

On the strength of the opinions in this thread, I bought Moonraker on Blu Ray yesterday and watched it last night. And I agree completely about the image quality, it's beautiful! Only problem is, now I HAVE to to go Rio!

Incidentally, if anyone lives near Meadowhall in Sheffield in the UK, Head (formerly Zavvi) has Bond Blu Rays for £9.74... I may very well go back to get some more ;-)

[Shaun Forever]

On the strength of the opinions in this thread, I bought Moonraker on Blu Ray yesterday and watched it last night. And I agree completely about the image quality, it's beautiful! Only problem is, now I HAVE to to go Rio!

Incidentally, if anyone lives near Meadowhall in Sheffield in the UK, Head (formerly Zavvi) has Bond Blu Rays for £9.74... I may very well go back to get some more ;-)

Also my friend, they have a few on CDNOW for £8.99, I picked up Goldfinger and Moonraker late last night.

[oatesy]

It's bewildering why the UK has been snubbed on the last two Blu-ray releases.

Still, the UK has got the original THE ITALIAN JOB on Blu-ray and with a transfer that is by all accounts simply stunning.

Big deal. I want Bond. I couldn't give a monkey's about THE ITALIAN JOB.

You should; it looks bloody amazing on Blu Ray. The Italian Job always feels part of the extended 60s Bondian world to me. Quite apart from from the Aston Martin, it's got Fleming's mate (and suggested Dr.No) Noel Coward, Matt Monro crooning over the credits... What's not to like if you're a Bond fan?

I'm also a Noel Coward fan (mostly his songwriting - I think he was one of the great songwriters of the twentieth century), but I just don't dig THE ITALIAN JOB, no matter how good it looks on Blu-ray.

BTW, while I'm loving my Bond Blu-rays (the transfers really are incredible), I'm finding quite a bit of motion blur when I play them, especially on MOONRAKER. It's not just during fast action scenes (indeed, most fast action scenes are fine), but even when a character is walking slowly across the screen he sometimes leaves a sort of juddering wake behind him for a second. Is this a TV issue, a player issue, a disc issue or a bit of all three?

What you are likely seeing is 3:2 pulldown. It's not an issue we commonly see in the UK, but has been an issue in the US a long time

Film is recorded at 24 frames per second. UK and European electrical standard is 50hz, which is the field rate of a normal UK TV (non-HDTV). Therefore to show films on UK TV they speed them up slightly to 25 frames per second, each frame can then be shown twice to give the 50hz that UK TVs run at. The slight speeding up is not really noticeable

In the US the electrical standard is 60hz, so they cannot speed up the film to 30 frames per second to make it compatible as the speed-up would make it unwatchable. Instead of broadcasting 2 consequtive images of each frame they alternate between 3 and 2 (i.e. 112223344455 instead of 1122334455) which then creates 60 fields of information. Unfortunately this does create a slight stuttering effect as some frames are shown for longer (particularly visible on slow pans and slow movements)

Although HDTVs in the UK can broadcast at 50Hz the default for blu-rays is 60Hz so as to maintain the correct film speed. So, we get 3:2 pulldown. Newer HDTVs and Blu-Ray players can play 24 frames per second (or a multiple of that such as 72hz or 120hz)which can acccurately reproduce the film speed without any juddering or blur

[singleentendre]

It's probably been brought up in this thread many times before, but on some of the special features clips from unreleased movies are shown in what looks like HD. And those clips clock in around 25 Mb/s, so I'm assuming those are indeed HD clips.

If I'm right and the clips are anything to judge by, OHMSS should look absolutely stunning.

[Loomis]

Newer HDTVs and Blu-Ray players can play 24 frames per second (or a multiple of that such as 72hz or 120hz)which can acccurately reproduce the film speed without any juddering or blur

Hmmm.... my HDTV and Blu-ray player are both new and I was told that they play 24fps.

[DamnCoffee]

I'm getting a Blu-Ray player next week. I'm wondering which one to invest in.

What make is yours, Loomis?

[Loomis]

My Blu-ray player is the Sony BDP-S350. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's light and stylish and more importantly has played every single last one of the Blu-rays I've fed it (including all the Bonds, luckily), without any need for "firmware updates" or any faffing about. And the discs load very quickly indeed.

It's not too expensive, either. At the moment you can pick it up for about £150 on Amazon.

[DamnCoffee]

My Blu-ray player is the Sony BDP-S350. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's light and stylish and more importantly has played every single last one of the Blu-rays I've fed it (including all the Bonds, luckily), without any need for "firmware updates" or any faffing about. And the discs load very quickly indeed.

It's not too expensive, either. At the moment you can pick it up for about £150 on Amazon.

Brilliant. I was thinking of buying a Samsung player, but I think I'll pick this one up instead.

I can't believe i'm asking this, (Technology these days ¬_¬), but did you just buy it? Pop the disc in and play it? Without having to update at all?

Also, how long have you had it?

[Professor Dent]

It's probably been brought up in this thread many times before, but on some of the special features clips from unreleased movies are shown in what looks like HD. And those clips clock in around 25 Mb/s, so I'm assuming those are indeed HD clips.

If I'm right and the clips are anything to judge by, OHMSS should look absolutely stunning.

The extras are the same as the Ultimate Edition DVD's & some of the extras are indeed in HD. Here is a good rundown of the Volume 2 specs & it lists what extras are in HD.

[DamnCoffee]

From what I recall, the 'Inside Documentaries" have been re-moddled for HD. Most of the other features are in standard definition.

[Licence_007]

How can you all afford to update collections whenever there's an upgrade? Those Blu-rays are pricey.

[DamnCoffee]

Not really. I've seen some Blu Rays at just a few pounds dearer than regular DVD.

I saw The Dark Knight for around £14.99 in HMV, the DVD was £12.

[Licence_007]

Yeah but when it comes to the older ones. I mean I can go out and buy Dr.No, Goldfinger and Thunderball in a 3 for £20 deal at HMV. They'd each be at least £10 I'm guessing on Blu-Ray?

[Loomis]

BTW, while I'm loving my Bond Blu-rays (the transfers really are incredible), I'm finding quite a bit of motion blur when I play them, especially on MOONRAKER. It's not just during fast action scenes (indeed, most fast action scenes are fine), but even when a character is walking slowly across the screen he sometimes leaves a sort of juddering wake behind him for a second. Is this a TV issue, a player issue, a disc issue or a bit of all three?

What you are likely seeing is 3:2 pulldown. It's not an issue we commonly see in the UK, but has been an issue in the US a long time

Film is recorded at 24 frames per second. UK and European electrical standard is 50hz, which is the field rate of a normal UK TV (non-HDTV). Therefore to show films on UK TV they speed them up slightly to 25 frames per second, each frame can then be shown twice to give the 50hz that UK TVs run at. The slight speeding up is not really noticeable

In the US the electrical standard is 60hz, so they cannot speed up the film to 30 frames per second to make it compatible as the speed-up would make it unwatchable. Instead of broadcasting 2 consequtive images of each frame they alternate between 3 and 2 (i.e. 112223344455 instead of 1122334455) which then creates 60 fields of information. Unfortunately this does create a slight stuttering effect as some frames are shown for longer (particularly visible on slow pans and slow movements)

Although HDTVs in the UK can broadcast at 50Hz the default for blu-rays is 60Hz so as to maintain the correct film speed. So, we get 3:2 pulldown. Newer HDTVs and Blu-Ray players can play 24 frames per second (or a multiple of that such as 72hz or 120hz)which can acccurately reproduce the film speed without any juddering or blur

Okay, for anyone else who may have been having this problem, I've found that it's just a question of turning off the Motion Plus feature on the TV while watching a DVD or Blu-ray. My MOONRAKER Blu-ray was plagued with motion blur and judder, but after a simple matter of changing the setting it now plays like a charm.

Brilliant. I was thinking of buying a Samsung player, but I think I'll pick this one up instead.

Don't quote me on this, but I think they're made at the same factory anyway. My TV is a Samsung, but the Sony player works with it beautifully.

I can't believe i'm asking this, (Technology these days ¬_¬), but did you just buy it? Pop the disc in and play it? Without having to update at all?

That's right. I mean, the delivery people set it up for me, but it took them about two seconds and the thing was ready to play straight away. I haven't needed any firmware updates yet. And the most important thing is that all the Bond Blu-rays play on it (which is not the case with all Blu-ray players).

Now, it may be that certain discs will give me hassle in the future, but I can't say I've had any problems with this player yet.

Be aware, though, that you may want to buy an HDMI cable to go with your player.

Also, how long have you had it?

About three weeks.

Yeah but when it comes to the older ones. I mean I can go out and buy Dr.No, Goldfinger and Thunderball in a 3 for £20 deal at HMV. They'd each be at least £10 I'm guessing on Blu-Ray?

I was in HMV the other day and I'm pretty sure those Bonds were going for £25 a pop on Blu-ray. Crazy money - no way I'm paying that. However, I got those exact same Blu-rays recently for about £8.99 (yep, you read that right, £8.99, in fact it may even have been £7.99 now that I think about it) each on Amazon (that's new, BTW, not secondhand), which in my experience has unbeatable prices.

[scaramunga]

The way MGm is handling the Bond releases, it's almost as they been taken over by SPECTRE.

Hopefully the next wave of releases is announced soon.

Repricing is nice I guess. But come on! Serious Bond fans have already picked up the films on blu ray.

Hopefully Diamonds, Daylights and The Spy Who Loved Me are up next.

[DLibrasnow]

I was in HMV the other day and I'm pretty sure those Bonds were going for £25 a pop on Blu-ray. Crazy money - no way I'm paying that. However, I got those exact same Blu-rays recently for about £8.99 (yep, you read that right, £8.99, in fact it may even have been £7.99 now that I think about it) each on Amazon (that's new, BTW, not secondhand), which in my experience has unbeatable prices.

Amazon is far and away the best place to shop for Blu-rays I have found, especially Amazon Marketplace which I have had a lot of luck with.

I even purchase a fair number of Blu-rays from Amazon UK and have them shipped for free to my home in the UK. My mother is coming over for a visit mid-July and she commented on Sunday that her suitcase has three Amazon UK packages in it.

I see a lot of people commenting on the price of Blu-rays but I recall when DVD first came on the market and the cheapest I could ever find any DVD titles was for $19.99 at Wal-Mart. Of course as the format gained in popularity the prices started coming down.

[Loomis]

I'm really glad you converted me to Blu-ray, Darren. I don't ever see myself buying a "standard" DVD again. I used to think I hadn't really seen a film unless I'd seen it at the cinema. Now, though, I think I haven't really seen it unless I've seen it on Blu-ray.

To be honest, though, not all Blu-rays have amazing picture quality. In recent days, I saw FULL METAL JACKET and FIRST BLOOD, and neither was anything special image-wise. But I guess much of the time it's down to how the film was shot, how old it is, etc., and isn't the fault of the Blu-ray format as such.

Happily, though, Bond is supremely well-served by the Blu-ray format. The 007 flicks - all of them - are among the best-looking Blu-rays I've ever seen. For the hardcore 007 fan, Blu-ray would be worth adopting purely for Bond.

I guess this belongs in another thread, but which of the Blu-rays you've seen have the most staggering picture quality? For me, two titles really stand out: APOCALYPTO and BARAKA (the latter was shot in the 70mm Todd-AO format and its recent remaster for DVD and Blu-ray has been hailed as "arguably the highest quality DVD that's ever been made", while Roger Ebert called the Blu-ray version "the finest video disc I have ever viewed or ever imagined").

[DLibrasnow]

I'm really glad you converted me to Blu-ray, Darren. I don't ever see myself buying a "standard" DVD again. I used to think I hadn't really seen a film unless I'd seen it at the cinema. Now, though, I think I haven't really seen it unless I've seen it on Blu-ray.

To be honest, though, not all Blu-rays have amazing picture quality. In recent days, I saw FULL METAL JACKET and FIRST BLOOD, and neither was anything special image-wise. But I guess much of the time it's down to how the film was shot, how old it is, etc., and isn't the fault of the Blu-ray format as such.

Happily, though, Bond is supremely well-served by the Blu-ray format. The 007 flicks - all of them - are among the best-looking Blu-rays I've ever seen. For the hardcore 007 fan, Blu-ray would be worth adopting purely for Bond.

I guess this belongs in another thread, but which of the Blu-rays you've seen have the most staggering picture quality? For me, two titles really stand out: APOCALYPTO and BARAKA (the latter was shot in the 70mm Todd-AO format and its recent remaster for DVD and Blu-ray has been hailed as "arguably the highest quality DVD that's ever been made", while Roger Ebert called the Blu-ray version "the finest video disc I have ever viewed or ever imagined").

Not all Blu-rays are the same, that's definately true. In some cases the grain is supposed to be there and in others the film stock used can be an issue (I have read a couple of reviews of some movies where it was commented that Blu-ray added definition to the image, but in so doing lost the original look)

I will not buy DVD again. I did buy a copy of "Stalag Luft" on DVD last year simply because I am in a few of the scenes (as an extra) and because I don't forsee that coming to Blu-ray anytime soon

I am really pleased with the way the Bond movies look on Blu-ray and if getting them in the quality of Moonraker for example means waiting a little extra time for the movies then I am fine with that. I did see GoldenEye in high def on MGM-HD though which looked great so I am not sure what the hold-up is on that title.

[DamnCoffee]

I think I will carry on buying DVD's, for now. I'll only buy the 'important' movies on Blu-Ray, such as Bond and the Indiana Jones trilogy when it comes out.

I hope Blu-Ray will merely be a luxury on the side, so to speak. I don't want it to overtake DVD completely.

[Loomis]

I am really pleased with the way the Bond movies look on Blu-ray and if getting them in the quality of Moonraker for example means waiting a little extra time for the movies then I am fine with that.

Exactly. And it's nice to have plenty of Bonds still to look forward to.

[Licence_007]

Non-Bond related but how does Collateral look on Blu-ray? It is stunning on DVD and could only imagine how great it would look. Same with Heat.

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

My Blu-ray player is the Sony BDP-S350. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's light and stylish and more importantly has played every single last one of the Blu-rays I've fed it (including all the Bonds, luckily), without any need for "firmware updates" or any faffing about. And the discs load very quickly indeed.

It's not too expensive, either. At the moment you can pick it up for about £150 on Amazon.

Brilliant. I was thinking of buying a Samsung player, but I think I'll pick this one up instead.

I can't believe i'm asking this, (Technology these days ¬_¬), but did you just buy it? Pop the disc in and play it? Without having to update at all?

I have the same player. Its all good. Cost me £148 from Bennetts, which is remarkable. It got good reviews from Home Cinema Choice magazine as well.

And the most important thing is that all the Bond Blu-rays play on it (which is not the case with all Blu-ray players).

Does this include the US Blue Rays?