General Discussion

A few movies that have come out on Blu-Ray have come out twice, how do you determine which version to get? Also I heard some movies are just bad on blu-ray, why is this?

I've been buying a lot more movies on blu ray now and I'm worried I should be getting the DVD versions instead.

Thanks.

There is a site called http://www.dvdcompare.net/ which seems to look at extras and quality between releases and differing region versions. Then there are probably other sites which do detailed BD reviews like http://www.digitalbits.com/.

As for the two Blu Ray versions I'd say just do a little internet research. Some might be obvious, it might be like a normal blu ray and a new collectors edition with a bunch of special features. Or maybe it's a new box set like I know Star Wars and Lord of the Rings recently did. Maybe just think about how much you actually like the movie and take a look at the price, the features etc and decide that way.

As for buying the DVD version instead of the Blu Ray version i'd just say go for the Blu Ray. I've noticed that the prices on the newly released stuff aren't much different these days. If it's a new movie that I saw in the cinemas and loved I'm definitely going to buy it on Blu Ray. I've never heard anyone say some movies are bad on Blu Ray though, that's interesting.

@Christina said:

As for the two Blu Ray versions I'd say just do a little internet research. Some might be obvious, it might be like a normal blu ray and a new collectors edition with a bunch of special features. Or maybe it's a new box set like I know Star Wars and Lord of the Rings recently did. Maybe just think about how much you actually like the movie and take a look at the price, the features etc and decide that way.

As for buying the DVD version instead of the Blu Ray version i'd just say go for the Blu Ray. I've noticed that the prices on the newly released stuff aren't much different these days. If it's a new movie that I saw in the cinemas and loved I'm definitely going to buy it on Blu Ray. I've never heard anyone say some movies are bad on Blu Ray though, that's interesting.

Well, I was going to buy The Truman show on Blu Ray and saw two version and came across this thread. Not sure what they mean by DNR though, I mean, it being on Blu ray should mean it's a lot better quality than the DVD version, right? Also noticed some special editions came out a year later, why would this be?

Blu-ray.com is where I go for anything related to blu-rays.

@CrimsonAvenger: Best site there is about this exact problem. They usually list all versions and have extensive reviews that covers sound, image, and extra content.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/ is a great site too.

Oh man, I really just thought all Blu-rays were kinda the same. >_>

If I just got blu rays for movies I liked, would I end up with a bunch of bad quality movies?

Has anyone got The Truman show on bluray?

I know I'm not going to buy the Machete bluray until it has a goddamn cooking school segment on it.

Before I switched from blu-ray to iTunes/Netflix I would go on Amazon to see their blu-ray pre-orders and then queue up the best ones in my wish list. Their store is not that nice for browsing though, except for the Kindle sections.

Is it in the $8 bargin bin?

Yes = buy it. No = try again later.

@NekuSakuraba said:

Well, I was going to buy The Truman show on Blu Ray and saw two version and came across this thread. Not sure what they mean by DNR though, I mean, it being on Blu ray should mean it's a lot better quality than the DVD version, right? Also noticed some special editions came out a year later, why would this be?

DNR is digital noise reduction, which is often used to clean up films of such "pesky" things such as film grain. Some blu-rays that have a heavy dose of DNR applied to it often have trouble showing fine detail and people have that certain "plastic sheen."

As for special editions, while some may have differences in special features or even less likely, differences in PQ and AQ, many of them are probably just attempts to get the selling price of the BD up after retailers already discounted the old releases from their MSRP.

Sometimes with re-releases of older blu-ray titles, the films have received all new transfers so that they look and sound better than they did previously. Special Editions also generally come with more special features. Also, there's nothing different about the newer Truman Show blu-ray, it's just got a different cover. Most of the older blu-ray titles that have been re-released look and sound better than they did the first time around as the technology is better today than it was a few years ago.

@NekuSakuraba:

No, not all blu-rays are even close to the same. Each film has a completely different transfer and not every blu-ray is all that great. Sometimes, they don't look all that better than the DVD version but for the most part it is the far superior format. Some movies just don't look great period and so they don't look great blu-ray because of the way they were shot.

@CrimsonAvenger: Does that mean I just shouldn't go out and buy blu rays of movies of like? I mean, it has to be better than the DVD version even if only by a little bit, right?

@NekuSakuraba:

DVD versions will always look bad. Even when done right. It's just the limitation of the format. And of course there are fuck ups on DVD too.

As for Blu-ray there are only few really bad transfers. I'd say over 99% of the time the Blu-ray transfers (even the bad ones) look better than their DVD counterparts.

Also, when BD transfer is done right it's not even up for debate.

So just go buy the movies you like on Blu-ray.

mainly stay away from the flipper discs and ones that more than one movie in each pack unless its a multi disc pack