Favorite Blu-ray

[RobDeer 45]

Just upgraded my TV and after watching one Blu-Ray I'm itching for more. Just curious what peoples must buys are.

[thebruce44]

I have 300. I also suggest Planet Earth and those types of documentaries.

[bthurley19]

Second the Planet Earth suggestion as well as Frozen Planet which is another documentary type. Band of Brothers is awesome miniseries especially if you have a digital receiver/surround system that supports DTS-Master Audio. Avatar, Gladiator, Braveheart, Watchment, Saving Private Ryan are a few of my favorite movies on blu-ray.

[Baldkin]

Lord of The Rings.

[Invader3K]

Second the Planet Earth suggestion as well as Frozen Planet which is another documentary type. Band of Brothers is awesome miniseries especially if you have a digital receiver/surround system that supports DTS-Master Audio. Avatar, Gladiator, Braveheart, Watchment, Saving Private Ryan are a few of my favorite movies on blu-ray.

 

I remember hearing that the Gladiator Blu-ray had bad looking video in some parts. Is this true, or was there a more recent release that corrected that issue? I love that movie, but want a really good transfer in order to replace my DVD copy (which still looks very good today).

[thebruce44]

I think a lot of times the suggestions are just movies that people like and not necessarily the best looking movies.

[RobDeer 45]

Well, we bought Band of Brothers on Blu Ray (even though I already had it, thought it was about as epic of a mini series as there is). I have the non blu ray of planet earth...not sure if I'll upgrade. We were talking last night and LOTR came up along with Gladiator and Braveheart. So we are on the same page here!

 

We watched Gone in 60 seconds last night and it was great! We also bought Batman Dark Knight and Italian Job, amongst a few others. Pretty excited for Batman, think I'll try that tonight.

 

Didn't think I'd get in to the Blu Ray thing that much, but when it's on a good screen it's really amazing.

[logan82]

I know. We didn't realize how bad our cable looked until we got a HDTV. I am in the same boat and want a really good movie for Blu-Ray. I was considering Star Wars but Lucas keeps changing it. I was also considering Game of Thrones.

[Outlander]

Some of the best looking I have seen are Inception, the new Star Trek, Hugo, pretty much every Pixar movie including Up and Toy Story 3, and as odd as it seems Casablanca. Gladiator did get trashed video wise when it was released but it has since been fixed.

[RobDeer 45]

Ha, I had heard Casablanca was a top notch one! Ya, I agree that pixar movies are so visually stunning that I was assuming they'd be top notch on Blu-ray.

[Invader3K]

Some of the best looking I have seen are Inception, the new Star Trek, Hugo, pretty much every Pixar movie including Up and Toy Story 3, and as odd as it seems Casablanca. Gladiator did get trashed video wise when it was released but it has since been fixed.

 

I forgot about Star Trek. I got that one last year, and it's a pretty amazing disc.

 

The LotR trilogy is also amazing on Blu-Ray. If you have a decent surround sound system, you can actually make out what Sauron is saying to Frodo in certain scenes.

[RobertR]

I can't vouch for your reaction to the movie, but Speed Racer looks AMAZING on Blu Ray.

 

The Alien and Aliens Blu Rays are must buys as well. And on sale currently.

 

Robert

[TracyThom]

Here's a general Blu-Ray question for those in the know.

 

At work, we have a Samsung 46 inch 1080p LCD HDTV with a Samsung 5.1 Channel Blu-Ray home theater system. When I have watched a Blu-Ray disc at work, the picture is surreal. It is so lifelike. You can almost see the depth in the picture.

 

At home, I have a Zenith 50 inch 1080p Plasma HDTV with a cheaper Toshiba Blu-Ray player. I'm disappointed in the picture quality of Blu-Rays at home. The picture is comparable to a high-definition television broadcast, and nothing close to the picture I've seen at work.

 

So, how come I don't have the same quality picture at home that I do at work? Is it the tv or the Blu-Ray player? Does the quality of the HDMI cables make that much of a difference? I am using a Radio Shack brand HDMI cable at home. Product links below. Thanks.

 

Work TV http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN46C600-46-Inch-1080p-Black/dp/B00453KFD0

Work Blu-Ray: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HT-C5500-Blu-ray-Theater-System/dp/B0037QF7LQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

Home TV: http://www.searsoutlet.com/50-Class-1080p-Plasma-HDTV/d/product_details.jsp?md=ct_md&cid=892&flt_bdn=Zenith&pn=1&ps=24&pid=78007&mode=buyUsedOnly&itemSelectionType=all

Home Blu-Ray: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Toshiba-BDX2250-Blu-ray-Disc-Player/17473230

[logan82]

From my reading HDMI cables make no difference at all. Could be the player or maybe your TV is old. Have you adjusted your TV set at home?

[Invader3K]

I wonder if it's a calibration or setup issue. I really doubt it's the HDMI cable causing the issue. You might do a Google search for reviews of your home blu-ray player and see if others have any similar issues.

[RobertR]

Is the blu ray player outputting at 1080P? If it looks similar to broadcast HD, the player or the tv is probably set to 720.

[TracyThom]

I bought the television during Black Friday this past year, so it is very new. I haven't verified the output settings yet. I will try that. Thank you.

[Invader3K]

Had four in ceiling speakers installed in our living room yesterday (two surrounds, and two back surrounds). Looking forward to watching some Blu-rays in 7.1, which I've never actually experienced before.

[MJLiverock]

As mentioned I would check to be sure the TV is set to output in 1080p and the blu ray player is set to output in 1080p.

 

The HDMI cable won't make a difference, the signal is digital, i.e. all 1's and 0's so it either works or doesn't and as long as the 1's and 0's come through the picture is solely up to the TV and player.

 

I have no idea on the quality of a Zenith, I honestly didn't know they still made TV's. Calibration may be the culprit and/or lighting of the room. The color settings/contrast/sharpness all may be set differently and also incorrectly. Plasma's tend to produce deeper blacks and work better in dark to normal lit rooms, while LCD and LED's work better in brighter rooms. If the Plasma is really old or has a lot of hours on it, especially older models, the picture quality degrades. ( I see now you bought it last Christmas but some of the Black Friday deals are stripped down models and use inferior components and again I have no idea of Zenith quality anymore. I can tell you even Sony and Samsung have huge variations in quality between the various models they make at each TV size i.e. I can get you a 42" Sony with a pretty crappy picture or a 42" inch Sony with a fantastic picture depending on the TV specs and engine inside it.)

[RobertR]

You might want to check the refresh rate on your tv as well. Some tvs are set to artificially refresh at a higher rate than the 24 fps of film and I've heard that it can do more harm than good. Seeing if you can set the refresh rate to match the movie fps, is an experiment worth trying.

 

Robert