OldBoy

I mean totally enveloped by the movie, gorgeous visuals, mind-numbing audio, the extras and everything else that encompasses a Blu-ray that has the total package.

While I think the total packages of The Avengers or Lawrence of Arabia might blow me away, I have yet to get to them.

So for the ones I have gotten to, the last one that truly engrossed me, mostly for the powerful impact of the movie itself was:

K&AJones

I've seen plenty that have impressed me with both visual and sound wise but haven't quite found anything that still tops this BR wise....

Osiris3657

Hmm this is a tough call. I'm going strictly by audio and visual quality. I'd say the Back to the Future blu's. I was stunned by the clarity.

islandclaws

When I watched Alien/Aliens. Actually, I still get blown away everytime I throw those 2 in; just spectacular examples of restoration done right.

SterlingBen

Almost every time I watch a 3-D one.

TimeandTide

New World

One of the first Blus I watched on my new TV and was blown away by the visuals. Gorgeous movie.

Paul_SD

I realize there are only about 3 or 4 other people in the world who feel this way, but I couldn't disagree more. Unless by 'restoration' you mean taking a film and making it look substantially different from it's original look, and pushing it more towards hyper and artificial.
The cartoon colors in the first movie especially just break my heart. All the more because so many people look at it and consider it reference.
At least I can be thankful that Jaws was spared being 'improved' like this.

islandclaws

Nope, not what I mean, and you're probably the only person I've ever heard saying anything negative about them. I didn't catch either in theaters (born in '81), but I've seen them on most home video versions and I thought the BD releases were incredibly good. I can maybe see what you mean by an artificial look, but I had no qualms with how they were presented.

PopcornTreeCt

Probably Citizen Kane the other night.

Paul_SD

Objectively I can look at them and say they look 'pretty' on Bd. The uptick in resolution is appreciated, and the crushed blacks goes a way to making the image look glossy and slick, so I fully understand why people without a historical frame of reference can be so taken with them.
But they (and most of Ridley Scott's catalog on Bd for that matter) don't look anything like they did when they were blowing people away theatrically. The revisions to the colors are at the same time both subtle and profound.
I view the color changes, especially on these films, just as negatively as I view overzealous DNR on other titles. Philosophically what's the difference? Both films have been modified and altered in such a way that makes them unnatural to their former reference point. And at the same time some people (or many) feel the changes are an improvement.

Don't mean to be pissy or to take this thread off topic- it's just that out of all the Bd releases over the last 6 years, Alien for me has been the most heart-breaking. All the more because so many people are going to view this new look as 'canon' now. Which means I'll probably never again get to see this film with it's natural patina, at this level of resolution again.

but to get back to the OP- The last thing I saw that truly knocked me back in my chair would probably have been The Universal Monster films. Although early reviews and screenshots lessened the impact a bit, there was still so much of an improvement in the presentation of these that I had to consciously remember to take a breath at times. A frequently astounding improvement over how I've experienced these my whole life.

islandclaws

Not pissy at all, I like hearing different takes. FWIW, I'm color blind (or deficient, depending on how you define it), so while I can still see color, it looks slightly different to me than most people. Mostly shades are where I get mixed up.

slop101

Just the other day, when I watched Lawrence of Arabia - BOOM!

zyzzle

Quite unexpectedly, last night I was blown away by the BD of Van Damme's CYBORG. The night before that I was taken by ROLLING THUNDER. Two catalog titles which looked exceptional. They were straight dope, without DNR, with a fine layer of film grain, and vastly improved (night and day) between my old P&S laserdisc copies. Like watching totally different movies, a totally immersive experience.

THE BIRDS almost blew me away. Some DNR waxiness there held me back, but God what an improvement over the DVD version, especially in sound.

GoldenJCJ

A couple day ago when I watched Brave. Flawless presentation!

Giles

well obviously 'Lawrence of Arabia' - but I have to give some praise to the Australian import of The Leopard - holy shit, that 4K restoration/transfer is simply amazing - puts the Criterion edition to shame.

Solid Snake

I mean..the visuals, the film, and the audio are great. But as product on a disc. Kind of weak, the features are not enough to push it to a Grade A+ BD . I think Refn said he wanted to do a jam packed one, a "Queen" edition at some point. I do want to buy it though...currently $9.99 at amazon..still waiting for it to get...cheaper though.

As a total package on a BD? I'd say Avatar. That one really really loaded up on the features.

Avatar
SPvsTW
Hot Fuzz
The Expendables (love that huge ass making of)
Zodiac
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Jaws
E.T.
Taxi Driver (love love love the visuals)
Apocalypse Now (the Full Disclosure set)
The Godfather Trilogy
Close Encounters of The Third Kind
Psycho
Crank 2

that's all I can think of from the ones I have. You've got to go beyond the film to be really wowed by it. If you're just going by it's technical presentation of the film well that's great..but to be wowed by the whole disc itself? It takes a lot more.

Josh Z

To clarify what Paul_SD is talking about, both Alien and Aliens have been recolored into shades of teal and orange to make them look more "modern," like every movie churned out of Hollywood today. Personally, I found this much more objectionable on Aliens (which practically has no other colors besides teal or orange in the whole movie) than Alien.

bse

Weekend (1967)

Paul_SD

I would readily agree that of the two, Aliens revisionism is far more excessive and in your face apparent.

However in this case, I'm fortunately more like KC in the sense that I can simply kick back and enjoy what's there without being torn by what isn't. I enjoy Cameron's movie, in all it's incarnations, as a fun popcorn diversion-no more, no less.
Scott's film, OTOH, conjures up all sorts of intensely personal nostalgic associations for me. The revisionism doesn't impinge on the former- but it's a real slug in the gut to the latter.

Also, apart from the new coloring, the image quality (stability/resolution) of Cameron's movie is improved exponentially on the Bd. It's the more drastically modified of the two-for good as well as ill. And to be honest, I was kind of 'blown away' when I first spun it a couple years back. Where the image is improved, it is massively improved.

But more people need to understand this set, as pretty as it may strike you, is the poster boy for unnatural manipulation and revisionism. Unlike French Connection though, most people like how this looks now, so there's no bitching and moaning to change anything- and that's the real kick when you're already down, to someone like me.

b2net

I still remember the first few that were outstanding... Cars, National Treasure 2, & the Rookie..

Quake1028

Jaws