Stamina

Poltergeist PQ & SQ were excellent. Well worth an upgrade, IMO.


Trick 'r Treat Blind buy for me. Like Sessa17, I too enjoyed this very much. It's not scary, but found it interesting. Gore hounds beware, you will likely be very disappointed. I did enjoy the homages to other horror films, within this film. Light campy fun. Definately going to watch it again on Halloween. I havn't listened to the commentary yet, but the "Scary Season Traditions" extra was interesting. Can't really comment on the PQ, because the BD, is my only reference point. Hoiwever, nobody looked "Waxy" though. Picture looked fine to me, some soft areas, may be intentional, butnot sure. I thought the sound was very good.

Moopher

I did the same yesterday and I agree with everything you said. PQ was also unbelievable, maybe it was me but it seemed even more crisp than the series.

Also

islandclaws

Night of the Creeps - Soooooo stoked to have this officially on home video. Blu-ray, no less! PQ looks awesome and the AQ is also great. Plus, we get LOADS of bonus features!

Hardware - Never seen this before, but I def enjoyed it. PQ looks solid and AQ was very good as well.

dad1153

My first post on this thread (new to dvdtalk). In chronological order:

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1938): My first time ever seeing this. Audio/video were OK for Blu-ray but there's clearly not much that can be done to improve a movie as old as this one. As a long-time hater of Disney musicals parts of "Snow White" were slow and dull as hell plus the plot literally crawls (understantable given this was the first feature-length cartoon). Yet there were a couple of scenes (Snow White running through the forest, the Dwarves returning home from work, the Queen's transformation, etc.) that were pure movie magic and transfixed me completely. Really dug Grumpy though, coolest character in the flick by far (and much relatable than the personality-free lead and her charmless metrosexual Prince).

Nagisa Ôshima's In the Realm of the Senses (1976): daring, uncomfortable to watch (the audience feels as trapped as the protagonists in a haze of never-ending lust) and a masterpiece of artistic intent. High-def picture is a little soft but looks and feels like well-preserved film from its era and ilk (mid-70's arthouse). Hilarious commentary track by Tony Rayns in which he tries to ignore the pornographic sex he's talking over, yet the more sexually explicit the scene the more Tony trips over his words and/or speaks like his mind is wondering.

Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper (1982): Other than a stunningly-clear high-def transfer and the usual degree of mysogyny we've come to expect from gruesome deaths in Fulci flicks (i.e. something sharp meets someone's peepers; unpleasentness ensues) this flick threads water as either a thriller, whodunit, police procedural and even the now-cliche serial killer genre. There's not a single sympathetic character worth investing one's emotions in. Every actor (including Fulci himself during a cameo) is either trying too hard or not hard enough to come across as New Yorker, which almost (but not completely) buries the timeless depiction of Times Square and the Big Apple as one steamy pile of Biblical hedonism. I'm glad I've seen another Fulci mini-masterpiece of grindhouse cliches, but "The Beyond" this ain't.

George Miller's The Road Warrior (1982), aka Mad Max 2: Why can't Hollywood make post-apocalyptic movies like this anymore? With no CG, an army of ballsy stuntmen and limited budgets (by Hollywood standards) Miller delivers a terrific one-two punch of comic book-inspired archetypes surviving in a ravaged land in which only the strong-willed (and well-armed) survive. This sequel is where the franchise fleshes-up its potential, culminating in a road chase finale that is every bit the equal to the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" chase scene. Brian May's suitably energetic score drives home the emotions of anger, rage, fear and peril the characters are feeling and or experiencing but rarely verbalizing. "The Road Warrior" is a freaking revelation in HD-DVD. Max's souped-up car has never looked more dusty or bad-ass, and those 'eye bulging' shots when the bad guys crash/blow-up are sicker than ever.

Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused (1993): does for the 70's what Lucas' "American Graffitti" did for the 50's. Surprisingly the then-unknown actors that went on to become stars (Jovovich, Posey, London, J.L. Adams, etc.) are overshadowed by the lesser-known actors. McConaughey's and Affleck's scene-stealing turns as Woodstone and O'Bannion, respectively, are a riot. Not an impressive high-def transfer in this HD-DVD though, a remastered Blu-ray from Universal has plenty of room for improvement in the visuals (a lossless soundtrack would rock too!).

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005): even by my lowered expectations (not a fan of Burton's) "Corpse Bride" was a boring, dull and depressing rehash of "Beetlejuice"-type humor in CG stop-motion animated form. Christopher Lee scores some laughs with a religious man not far removed from his Saruman character from "Lord of the Rings." Tracey Ullman and Michael Gough were also good but my God, Victor/Victoria (I get it! ) along with the title character are a seriously boring and dull trio of leads on which to movie has to constantly revolve. Depp, Bonham-Carter and Watson completely phone in their VO performances, as does Danny Elfman with several failed cracks at doing Disney-type catchy songs. "Corpse Bride" is a technical marvel in HD-DVD but a great Halloween flick this ain't.

JimRochester

Adventureland interesting movie. Remember 1987 well. I was already married but pretty close in age to these characters. A friend had an AMC Pacer. The nice thing is that now Kristen Stewart would only be 10 years younger than me instead of the 1 year younger than my son that she actually is, so lusting after her would not be creepy

My BDP350 must be due for a firmware upgrade because I tried to watch The Wrestler but it wouldn't load. Second time in two weeks.

islandclaws

The Craft - I hadn't seen this in years. It's still a lot of fun, never lags. Good, not great, PQ and solid AQ. No new extras, though.

Trevor

Masters of Horror - Season 1

rexinnih

Van Helsing-yes, it's a guilty pleasure that looks and sounds wonderful on BD.

GenPion

Wrong Turn. This was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. I mainly Netflixed it because of Eliza Dushku, whom I love, so I figured it was at least worth renting. It actually is a pretty effective horror film with some fun scares and good gross out moments. Nothing too spectacular as a whole but if you like horror films like this then this is one that's easily worth seeing. The directing was pretty creative with an abundance of creative camera-work and solid acting from all the young actors. I thought it had a fun score as well so that makes it all the better for my own enjoyment. PQ was not as bad as I've heard people proclaim it to be - it looked soft but accurate to me so I don't think the "lesser quality" of the video presentation is due entirely to digital manipulation. I'd guess that's because of how it was filmed. The DTS-HD Master Audio is impressive and makes this a release worth considering for that reason alone. I'll probably want to pick this up for around $10 when it's on sale at some point.

slop101

WT2 is a lot better.

GenPion

Seriously?

Sessa17

WT2 is maybe the best direct to video horror sequel I've ever seen. It's better than 95% of the US horror movies that are actually released in theaters. I don't know that its "better" made than the original, but I certainly like it a lot more & it's a lot more fun & 10 times as gory. I just picked up the 3-pack at Best Buy today, with the sale they come up to a little more than $10 movie which is well worth it IMO even if the transfers are utter crap.

JimRochester

Boy, talk about setting the bar pretty low

Beowulf nice PQ and AQ but I had trouble understanding the dialogue due to the accents. Never saw naked swearing cartoons before.

Trevor

Trick 'r Treat - Very well done, but all the hype had me expecting a bit more.

JimRochester

Talladega Nights Felt like some goofy fun.

Gary Cole played Will Ferrell's father even though he's only 11 years older than him. In Step Brothers Mary Steenburgen who is 14 years older played his mother. What is it with him and people almost the same age playing his parents?

Rammsteinfan

Watched Stargate: The Movie and Ice Age 3 BD's today. Both were great. Glad to see Stargate get a nice PQ and AQ upgrade finally. Had a weird issue with the pip video extra but that may have been a firmware issue and went away after rebooting the player.

bd...?

fighting...weird accent for terrance howard

buckee1

Grace...AQ & PQ were average and the storyline wasn't much more.

TheDuke

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - A great film, very gritty and well made.

NoirFan

Their best work, really.

RichC2

Love this movie. One of my favorite horror flicks thanks to how effective it is (despite a rather derivative plot).

islandclaws

Billy Jack - How did I go so long without seeing this? An awesome mix of peace-lovin' hippies and Tom Laughlin going berserk. PQ was solid, looked great. AQ was a little flat, but generally good. I hope the rest of the Billy Jack films make their way to BD soon.

davidlynchfan

Trick 'r Treat - wasn't that good imo. C-
now give me the 1986 version on blu and we can talk.

Goldberg74

Finished Season 4.5 of BSG last night. I didn't watch Daybreak 1-3, I just watched the big long unaired version.

While I enjoyed the series immensely, I feel that it kind limped to the end. Like an old dog, just tired and wanting to get some rest.

I could live with how it ended. I was happy for them.

Now to move on to "The Plan" and "Caprica" and wait for Caprica (TV) to start in January.

JimRochester

Grease Forgive me if this is common knowledge but this looked like crap. Blurry shots and fuzzy dialogue. Glad it was a rental.

The Wrestler All that hand held camera work gives me a headache. Good movie. Marisa Tomei is so hot, I would marry her in a minute