Since I just went Blu I've been buying as many Blu Ray discs as I can afford to (which means a few, but not a lot).

The titles that I've seen so far that I would say are, "Must Own," Blu Ray titles would include:

Blade Runner 5 disc set
and
Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl

Both are great (and/or entertaining) movies and reference quality video. They really show off the capability of the Blu Ray format.

What titles do YOU think are, "Must Own" Blu Ray titles?


(And, yes, I do know that there is an HDDVD/Blu Ray recommendations thread, but that thread is old and outdated - it's hardly been touched since last year - and it's loaded with HDDVD recommendations that are less and less valid every day with the demise of that format. I'd like to focus on Blu Ray, and titles that are considered, "Must Own," because they are both exceptional in the audio/video quality department and are great and/or very entertaining movies.)

Just about any disc from Disney/Buena Vista.

Got any specific titles in mind? There are a lot out there...

(Not ALL Disney/Buena Vista movies are GREAT... even some titles on Blu Ray are good at best - The Rookie, for example, is a GOOD movie, but I wouldn't call it, "Must Own," woud you? Or is the video quality THAT strong that it's a, "Must Own," Blu Ray title? I haven't seen the Blu Ray yet, so I don't know...)

No Country for Old Men
Pan's Labyrinth

In my book:

Gattaca
(agreeing with) Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (for a/v demo, skip the sequels)
Run Lola Run (To show what a big upgrade BD is even for moderately budgeted films)
Casino Royale
Ratatouille
I, Robot (if a fan of the movie, fantastic a/v)
Planet Earth (best looking HD boxset yet)
2001 (if a fan)
The Shining (if a fan)
Black Book
The Lives of Others
(Agreeing with) Blade Runner
The Prestige
The Simpsons Movie (yes it really is a big upgrade, and I enjoy the film for what it is)
Trading Places

I feel the following are big upgrades over their SD counterparts, but..

Damages S1 (Looks a lot better, but is intentionally very heavily grainy in many parts)
Lost S3 (looks absolutely stunning, but S3 means you should have seen S1 and S2 first)

I think we did this thread last month. Maybe we should just bump that one and sticky it?

Appleseed: Ex Machina
Dan in Real Life
Road Warrior

and maybe Frontier(s) ...Not!

DAMN! That was one of the $11.99 titles at Fry's on Friday - but I didn't know anything about that title and passed it up! AAAARGH!

I'm thinking about getting the reissue with all the extras in October/November.

I really like this one, and was curious about the a/v (I assumed it was darned good, but you never know - several early DVD's looked like crap, and several early Blu Rays are underwhelming as well).

Kingdom of Heaven

Live Free or Die Hard
No Country for Old Men
Curse of the Golden Flower (There are so many vibrant colors in this, your eyes will pop out of your head)

And yet I've heard it's one of the worst transfers on the format. Hmm...

You've heard wrong. Maybe you're thinking of "The House of Flying Daggers."

I think you're right. My bad.

Haha, I was going to say...

I'm going to go ahead and add Gattaca as well, just finished watching it. Wow.

I agree that No Country for Old Men and Live Free or Die Hard are must have BDs. Great films and both look and sound outstanding on the BD format.

I have 16 BDs, and although I like all the ones I own so far, these are the ones I think you'd enjoy the most:

Bonnie & Clyde - No, it isn't the best looking Blu-ray Disc you'll ever see, but for a film from 1967 and a film that didn't and isn't supposed to look clean, it looks good in HD. I blind bought this without ever seeing the film before and this turned out to be one of the best films I've ever bought. It's a masterpiece that should never be forgotten and it ranks as one of my favorite films of all time. Our own Adam Tyner gave a terrific review of the disc: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/32804/bonnie-and-clyde/

I Am Legend - Good movie, and Will Smith puts on a great performance, and despite falling apart in the third-act; it was a much better adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend novel than The Last Man on Earth or The Omega Man, IMO. Not quite reference quality, and some of the complaints are from the actual movie about the CGI mutants look a little fake, but the BD still quite beautiful and the outside scenes of him walking around NY look spectacular.

Alien vs. Predator: Requiem - Not a critical success and if you're not a fan of the Alien or Predator films, or hated AVP, stay away from this. I thought this was an improvement over the first AVP actually, but that isn't saying much. I actually enjoyed this movie. It isn't even close to my favorite films of 2007, but I didn't hate it. It looks great in HD; although some complain it is really dark. It is dark, I'll agree, but it looks good in the parts you can see.

In my opinion "must own" encompasses the movie itself rather than just the AQ/PQ. There are plenty of excellent looking/sounding movies on Blu/HD that I would rent, but not buy. Must own for me:

Kung Fu Hustle: PCM soundtrack is amazing, looks great too.

Enchanted: surprisingly good movie, reference quality AQ/PQ.

Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage: Both excellent films with top notch video and audio.

Cars and Ratatouille are also reference quality, and enjoyable for people of all ages.

Blade Runner is a badass set.

Cars and Ratatouille made my jaws drop

Couldn't care less about Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy but many people think it's one of the best BD transfer out there so... if you like it, get it.

Curse of the Golden Flower almost made me think I'm going to burn my retina because of its color. But it's a good movie.

I'm not really a fans of the transfer in 2001: A Space Odyssey but considering it's a 40 years old movie... I think it's a pretty well done transfer.

Enchanted is pretty good also. That Disney Blu Ray trailer made my ear hurt (in a good way).

I, Robot
Cars
Ratatouille
Enchanted
Orphanage

Blade Runner
2001
Lost: Season 3 (and presumingly Season 4)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

If you're talking about the actual quality of the movie, I'd say No Country for Old Men or The Lives of Others.

For visuals, I've long heard that the Pirates discs are reference quality.

For extras, I think Ratatouille has a ton of extra content.

Well, the idea I had with the thread was the combination of a movie that is either a great film, or exceedingly entertaining (or both), AND a Blu Ray transfer that is just top notch - a great A/V example of what Blu Ray can do.

Speaking of which, here's another title that I'd say is, "Must Own on Blu Ray,"

The Searchers - Another title proving that older movies can look FANTASTIC in high def! And it's a brilliant movie, besides!

If you're at all interested in this title, this is the one that I have given the most replay. The D-Files feature is just WAY too cool to ignore!

maybe it's just it's a really fun movie, but Hairspray has alot of colour that "pops" and the 7.1 sound mix is dynamite.

I just got Casino Royale and it's already getting a re-release?

I think the re-release is only for dvd and not for Bluray.