Which 5 Free HD-DVD's to choose
 

I should be getting my first player pretty soon, and I was just wondering what dvds I should choose if i hope to trade/resell. Like probably many of you, I am quite underwhelmed with the selections, and will probably only hang on to Apollo 13 and We Were Soldiers. I am leaning toward Casablanca, Sky Captain, and the Rundown, but I was wondering if any of the others were in higher demand or are sought after more. So, which dvd's did you choose and which did you keep? thanks.

I'm not going to be able to assist with "resale" value comments, but I'd absolutely recommend Casablanca. There's only one HD DVD in my collection that has been watched three times at this point -- and that's the one.

Fantastic film, fantastic extras, and absolutely gorgeous picture quality.

Seabiscuit, Casablanca, Sky Captain, Blazing Saddles, and whichever (We were Soldiers, U-571, and Perfect Storm are all mediocre)

Seabiscuit
Casablanca/Constantine
Four Brothers
Rundown
(whatever you want to sell)

Casablanca is a must.

Whatever you end up choosing, expect a 4-6 month wait for them. Sent in my form in January and I'm still waiting.

Apollo 13 (great movie, lots of replay value)
Casablanca (as if there was even a choice)
Sky Captain (the effects in SD are amazing - I can imagine what HD would look like)
Blazing Saddles (the other two just don't appeal to me)
#5 - No idea

Oddly enough, radically similar to SD. ;)

Sky Captain is a great film and loads of fun. But the HD DVD isn't a radically improvement upon the SD version. If you don't have it yet, it's a fantastic choice. If you do... you might want to pick something else.

Yup, we've already got SD Captain, so thanks for the recommendation. Alas, the only other choices for that slot are Four Brothers (have no idea what this is about) or Womb Raider. Maybe I should check to see which is fetching more on eBay?

I'd choose Four Brothers. It looks very good and the soundtrack is great. There are a couple of good shootouts.

Dukes of Hazzard, Chronicles of Riddick, U571, Tomb Raider and The Rundown i believe is what I picked

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll rent the SD version from BB first to see if I like the flick and if it has any replay value.

12 monkeys
V for Vendetta
A Scanner Darkly
Forbidden Planet

Are some of the best ones IMO, not sure if they are offered on this deal or not.

I'm going with Casablanca, Four Brothers, The Rundown, Apollo 13 and We Were Soldiers.

Now that it's been in the mail a few weeks, I don't even remember what I chose. :lol:

I <i>think</i> I went with:

Casablanca (everyone highly recommends it)
We Were Soldiers (Boom. And... boom.)
Blazing Saddles (one of my all time favorites)
Four Brothers (Never seen it, but pretty sure I didn't want the other two)
Apollo 13 (Houston, we have a problem, and only HD can fix it)

The poor free title selection kept me from jumping on this deal. The only one in the group that I would even consider buying on my own would be Apollo 13 and that even isn't a necessity. I know they are free but...eh.

I'm gonna wait it out and see if they come up with a new selection of free titles between the end of that promo & the end of the year. Back when they were trying to get people to buy dvd players, the free titles got better and better the longer you waited. I remember getting in on them in the early days and getting such titles as Lost In Space. Ewww.

Even if they don't do different titles later on, the price will continue to drop and it will be worth it then. I just don't want to end up with tons of sub-par titles on HD-DVD like I did when I had the initial enthusiasm of being the first one with a dvd player on my block.

Casablanca is a big title to give out for free.

So you think that even if you buy a player during this promotion (which I believe ends July 31), the next promotion they have will still be open to people who have players pre-July 31? I never really thought about waiting on this deal, most likely because it's free, but it actually makes a lot of sense if they allow it and the titles get a lot better.

I'm suprised some people don't like the choices. 4/5 titles I chose were all ones I would actually want.

But then, everyone's tastes are different. I'm also very suprised at the choices some people have made, given the options.

I think the selection is fine as well. Out of the 15 total choices, I would buy on my own:

Apollo 13
Seabiscuit
Chronicles of Riddick
Casablanca
Four Brothers
Sky Captain
Rundown
Blazing Saddles
Perfect Storm
We Were Soldiers

Not a bad ratio. The only movie I despise on the list is Constantine.

Casablanca is enough for me, the rest is just gravy filler.

Sending my form off next week, hopefully I'll get them by Christmas.

Gang, I've been thinking. Maybe instead of having folks post which 5 they've chosen, maybe we could turn this around and discuss which 5 people should take. For example, of the Category A movies (Apollo 13, Seabiscuit, Chronicles of Riddick), I've read that while the HD version of Apollo 13 kicks ass, it's not worth double-dipping if you've already got the SD version. If you don't have either, then by all means take the HD version and walk away happy, but if the SD version is already on your shelf and you've got neither of the other two, maybe taking Seabiscuit is a better choice.

Here are the five categories, and you're supposed to select one from each.

CATEGORY A:
Apollo 13 - Great movie, lots of replay value, but not necessarily worth a double-dip if you've already got the SD version.
Seabiscuit - Phenominal HD image. For me, since I have Apollo 13 in SD, I'm thinking this one will be my choice.
Chonicles of Riddick - Not much interest in the movie. I may go rent it from BB first before deciding between this and Seabiscuit.

CATEGORY B:
Casablanca - The concensus must pick of all 15 of these titles, even if you've already got it in SD.
Constantine - I got the SD 2-Disc version from Best Buy a month ago. For me, it's an okay movie but not with a lot of replay value. I wouldn't get this in HD.
Dukes of Hazzard - No interest in the movie.

CATEGORY C:
Four Brothers - I know nothing about this title.
Laura Croft: Tomb Raider - Angelina Jolie in shorts. Shooting stuff. Meh.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - The special effects are wonderful, but they're intentionally washed-out, making the HD version not significantly better than the SD version. If you've got the SD, you probably don't want to double-dip here.

CATEGORY D:
The Rundown - I know nothing about this one, either.
Blazing Saddles - Yes, I have this on SD. Yes, I'm likely to get the HD version too.
U2: Rattle and Hum - "Meh" is too strong an endorsement here. More like "Bleh!"

CATEGORY E:
U-571: Got it on SD. Haven't watched it since.
The Perfect Storm: Ditto.
We Were Soldiers: I don't have this one, so I'll probably get it on HD.

So for me, my choices are
A = Seabiscuit (probably)
B = Casablanca
C = ?
D = Blazing Saddles (probably)
E = We Were Soldiers (probably)

Yeah, these are different than just a couple of days ago. My picks are evolving as I learn more about the titles and how much better they are (or aren't) than the SD versions I already own.

I'm filling out my form today as well and am finalizing my selections:

A: Apollo 13
B: Casablanca
C: Either Sky Captain or Four Brothers
D: Blazing Saddles
E: We Were Soldiers

Sparrow, you are the first person to match my list, if you go with 4 brothers. I was torn between that and Sky Captain myself (I have seen neither and read poor reviews of each. :lol: )

^^ Four Brothers is a pretty decent flick... but, doesn't necessarily scream "you must watch me in HD!"