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What DVD Releases Do You Think Are Truly Exceptional?

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What DVD Releases Do You Think Are Truly Exceptional?

Old 11-08-05, 04:19 PM
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What DVD Releases Do You Think Are Truly Exceptional?

Hi all- with alot of talk going on about the coming of the HD disc format, I'm curious to know what standard DVD releases people think are truly great ones to own in both picture and audio quality. Extras can count into your assessment as well, of course.
I look on my shelves and see some truly wonderful examples of how good the format can look and sound, and how far it has come from some truly horrible releases in it's early days-stuff I won't even watch because I know how crummy it looks. Some releases that may not be Superbit, may not be Criterions, but they still are excellent representations of standard DVD. Thanks in advance!

Last edited by nightmaster; 11-08-05 at 04:22 PM.
Old 11-08-05, 04:24 PM
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The new Star Wars Ep. III DVD looks and sounds great.

Pretty much any CGI animated movie like Toy Story or The Incredibles look and sound fantastic as well. They'd be hard pressed to improve on them.

The 3 disc DVD of Black Hawk Down is my personal favorite DVD in terms of Audio/Visual and extras.

Edited for typo.

Last edited by GoldenJCJ; 11-08-05 at 07:55 PM.
Old 11-08-05, 04:30 PM
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I second the 3 discer black HAWK down release.
I love watching the docs and the A/V is superb.
Ep III is pretty outstanding.
I would also the T2 ultimate edition, the commentary is excellent along with the extras and I do not find the menus that boring either.
Old 11-08-05, 05:02 PM
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I just got the Ultimate Matrix. My Matrix DVD was the first DVD i ever bought so i was needing a new copy The new transfer of the original matrix movie is fantastic. I was really impressed with it.

I will throw Fight Club out there - love the transfer and Audio on it. Has great extras too.

Star Wars III is great too and so is most of the Pixar stuff - the latest I have being the Incredibles.
Old 11-08-05, 06:34 PM
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The Alien Quadrilogy and the recent Titanic: Special Edition come immediately to mind. The last two Star Wars movies (Revenge and Clones) are great for A/V presentation of the films, but I think the bonus features on both aren't really that impressive.
Old 11-08-05, 06:40 PM
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The Ultimate Edition of "Dawn of the Dead" belongs here as well. Anchor Bay does a bang up jobs on DVD's, namely obscure Horror titles, and this was no exception. All 3 versions of the film, commentaries, features never before released, DiviMax editions, the whole 9.

I'll 3rd the 3 Disc BHD as well. I got it for $10 at a pawn shop and will never part with it.
Old 11-08-05, 06:46 PM
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The Lord Of The Rings Extended Editions.
Old 11-08-05, 06:46 PM
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The House of Flying Daggers has fantastic sound and picture. I frequently use the "echo game" sequence as a demo.

The relatively recent Battle of Algiers and Kagemusha Criterions are exceptional for the depth and breadth of subject matter. Battle of Algiers has some amazing interviews and documentaries and I love the booklet of painted storyboards by Kurosawa included in the Kagemusha dvd. I really felt I got my money's worth with these two.
Old 11-08-05, 07:08 PM
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The new Wizard of Oz releases (2 & 3 disk) & Extended LOTRs
Old 11-08-05, 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by nodeerforamonth
The Lord Of The Rings Extended Editions.
Agreed
Old 11-08-05, 08:08 PM
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The Werner Herzog boxsets, Anchor Bays' Spaghetti Western collections, perhaps not premium editions, but their mere existence in this format is worth a mention. Regardless of your opinions of George Lucas and his shenanigans as of late, the Star Wars dvds are all quite enjoyable.
Old 11-08-05, 10:01 PM
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There are so many, I'd like to see this thread grow and see many, many titles show up! There are alot of obvious titles out there but also some great looking discs that aren't always mentioned, and I'm glad to see those showing up as well; a guy has to have movies on his 'to buy' list, after all. As for movies on my list that many may not enjoy, hey, there's no accounting for taste

The Warriors Director's Cut- pretty good looking transfer, in spite of the silly comic book panel additions
Million Dollar Baby- super looking transfer
John Carpenter's The Thing CE- very, very good looking movie
The Chronicles of Riddick- not the best of movies but visually stunning
The Bourne Identity- very nice transfer (and I'm a sucker for a DTS audio track)
Terminator 3- lots of people talk about how great T2 looks and I agree- T3 looks and sounds awesome as well!
Blade II- maybe the best movie I can think of to show off one's home theater setup. Pristine transfer and DTS-ES sound makes for a great ride.
Sin City- I'm sure the director's cut will make the current barebones seem less attractive, but it sure is a clean looking transfer with a heck of a DTS track to me.

I'm also in agreement with the votes for the Alien Quadrilogy- I have the Region 2 Japanese version with DTS tracks for all 4 movies- as well as the LOTR EEs, Matrix box set, the recent SW releases, Black Hawk Down and The Incredibles, wonderful movie watching with all of these releases.
Old 11-08-05, 10:04 PM
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LOTR:EE's are by far the best I've seen in terms of quality of film, quality of presentation and comprehensiveness of extras.
Old 11-08-05, 10:17 PM
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Just to toss in a quick one: on the audio front, I enjoy Daredevil as a demo of sound quality.
Old 11-09-05, 01:19 AM
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Any Pixar films are pretty good.
Old 11-09-05, 01:29 AM
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i would vote for the LOTR EE trilogy, the Matrix boxset and Alien boxset.
Old 11-09-05, 01:34 AM
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Gladiator

the original two disc DVD is hands down one of the best releases out there. i remember when it first came out, the DVD player explosion (where affordability and quality finally met), had just started to happen.

i remember picking up the set for 14.99, and thinking to myself, "hmmm... i wished i had not missed this movie at the theatre, this set has a ton on it, it'd be a good one to break in my first player." i'd just received the player as a christmas gift from my boss, and the next day i'd gone and purchased gladiator and several other DVD's.

man what a set this was, commentaries, deleted scenes, great transfer, awesome sound, making of documentaries. what else could you want for fifteen bucks? 900 DVD's later, and this disc is still one of my faves, so much so, that i've had opportunites to buy the new extended edition for ironically the same amount, fifteen bucks, and i've passed, just because the original is everything i wanted to know about this movie.
Old 11-09-05, 01:44 AM
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Leaving out the animated releases and those already mentioned, I would throw in Lawrence of Arabia (SB), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Saving Private Ryan, and Band of Brothers.
Old 11-09-05, 02:01 AM
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The Lord of the Rings extended versions, Fight Club, Se7en and the 3-disc set of Panic Room.
Old 11-09-05, 04:21 AM
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bad boys 2 had amazing audio/video, aliens quadrilogy, LOTR EE.
Old 11-09-05, 06:51 AM
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It's not a movie many people have any love for, but Gods And Generals sports a very clean transfer and a good sound track.
Old 11-09-05, 07:04 AM
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Another vote for the Alien Quad. Great set. It would get 100% from me if only it had better packaging.
Old 11-09-05, 07:26 AM
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Master and Commander looks and sounds terrific. Plus the SE has a ton of features.
LOTR: Extended Editions
Star Wars Episodes II & III
Fight Club: SE
Toy Story
The Incredibles
Black Hawk Down: 3-Disc and Superbit
Blade Trinity had a great soundtrack
A Bug's Life
Cast Away: SE (plane crash really shows off the audio)
The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen
Fifth Element: SE/SB
Finding Nemo
The Fly (Cronenberg) + DTS!!!!
Freddy vs Jason - great video, very aggressive audio mix
Spiderman 1 & 2 Superbit
I, Robot
Matrix Movies
Minority Report
Saving Private Ryan: 60th Ann. Edition/best...dts....track....ever
Se7en: Platinum Series
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Platinum Series/great audio mix
The Thing: CE
T2/T3
Titanic: SE
Twister - amazing dts

Last edited by Mr. Cinema; 11-09-05 at 07:37 AM.
Old 11-09-05, 07:43 AM
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I thought the DTS track in Man on Fire was outstanding.

What I have heard historically to be "demo" DVDs are Fifth Element, U-571, Enemy at the Gates, and Saving Private Ryan.

My personal favorite demo is the cave troll fight in Fellowship of the Rings.
Old 11-09-05, 12:15 PM
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: CC - This whole bundle is amazing never have i been so impressed with a release of such an odd american movie. Great all around

Starship Troopers - Feel like the 2 discer is a great way to enjoy this movie, plentiful amount of extras as well great audio and video.

as well more votes for Dawn of the Dead, Matrix Boxset, Alien Qaud.

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