Blu-Ray Best Of The Best - for discussing releases only

[Scythe]

My grand unveiling of Alien will commence on Halloween....can't wait!

[JP]

I agree with what people are saying, I certainly had no issues with grain in the few brief sections that I watched.

Honest assessment though, if you already have the dvd's, is it worth investing?

And does Alien 3 include the ultimate extended version?

It depends how much you think you want it, they all look superior to the what's available on DVD but only the first two have been produced from new 4k masters.

Alien does seem to be the best visually but that's understandable with Cameron's use of what wasn't top quality film stock, partly due to budgetary constraints. As he said in the interview I posted it was a newly introduced stock which studios are obviously taking big risks in using so they often get massive discounts to use the untested stock.

It's unlikely you're going to get better quality for the first two films as Alien is spot on and now Cameron has had the Avatar team redo Aliens I can't imagine he'd want it redone again any closer to it's original format.

Alien 3 & Alien Resurrection aren't brilliant but I'm not convinced that we will ever get a better version of those two although I am glad that I upgraded to the blu-ray versions. The set contains both of the previous versions of Alien 3 including what's become known as The Assembly Cut which is about 30 minutes longer than the original mess.

We won't ever get the proper version of Alien 3 though as from about 75% in Fox were preventing scenes from being filmed fairly arbitrarily to save money. That combined with what could vaguely be called the final script being written around the sets they'd already built rather than the story means that even with the extra 30 minutes of footage included it's still a collection of scenes that were filmed for different scripts almost aimlessly stitched together without the Director being involved.

Unfortunately, The Assembly Cut is exactly the same as the version on DVD which was heavily censored by the Fox producers due to them considering it being too difficult for people to watch.

I have to admit than when it comes to Alien 3 the puppetry is as good as I've seen anywhere else, I'm so impressed with what they did in that area. Unfortunately it's combined with some incredibly early digital composition which really get's in the way of the puppet work at times.

[anephric]

I know Richard Edlund says the reason they went with a rod puppet for Alien 3 is that stop motion is (was) outdated, and as eerie as the puppet looks in motion at times, it never looks anywhere near as good as, say, Phil Tippett's go-motion in Dragonslayer. So I don't really know what they set out to prove.

[JP]

It's surely a matter of different methods giving different end results with neither of these methods being perfect you chose the one that works better for the result you want much like you do with lighting, lenses, films stock, etc, etc.

Laine Liska who is a fantastic stop motion animator was involved but if you don't want stop motion then you don't use it I suppose.

Not really sure they were setting out to prove anything to be honest. At least I hope they weren't as it sounds unprofessional, people working on the film really should only be interested in doing their job as well as possible for the sake of the film.

[anephric]

I still don't know why they didn't make more effort to make the puppet match Amalgamated Dynamics' suit. It's glaring when they cut from one to the other - they might as well be different creatures.

[JP]

I'm not going to go through all the films I've watched recently as I've been stuck in the house for a few weeks and I get through quite a few films normally anyway.

I've watched about eleventy four this week but I'm just going to mention the Halloween themed films.

I really enjoyed Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy on blu-ray which I have seen before avoided them when they were first released as I find most of the renowned Korean/Asian horror films to be pretty poor.

One night I caught Oldboy on telly and thought I'd give it a go and thought it was fantastic so had to watch the other two. I really enjoy all three but do find that Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance doesn't quite work as well for me as the other two.

A few days ago I watched Vengeance is Mine which is nothing at all to do with the trilogy I mentioned. It's a Japanese film based on a true story of a Japanese serial killer who spent two weeks being particularly unpleasant to people in Japan before being discovered by an 11 year old girl.

I was going to type up loads about it but here's a man who understands far more about films than I ever will...


I also watched the fantastic Mad Detective which is a Chinese film. I really don't want to spoil for anybody who hasn't seen it but he has that very special ability of being able to empathise with the criminal/victim and seeing the world the way they do but he has to get strangely close to the people even if they're dead...and buried.

He's also absolutely frigging insane and I like him, he's probably more dangerous than the people he's trying to catch. I really enjoyed watching this and it's horrific at times but it also has moments that are really funny.

[Strider]

It's a good time for Blu
Watched Alien (Aliens tomorrow night) rewatched the Back to the Future trilogy again, and Kick Ass again. Got Scott Pilgrim coming early next week and there's about 15 films in November I plan to buy (including personal fave Moulin Rouge.

[Scythe]

It's a good time for Blu
Watched Alien (Aliens tomorrow night) rewatched the Back to the Future trilogy again, and Kick Ass again. Got Scott Pilgrim coming early next week and there's about 15 films in November I plan to buy (including personal fave Moulin Rouge.

I watched alien too, ditto aliens tomoz, never seen it like that. The last 20 minutes are immense.

[Hodge]

Got through the Alien boxset on Blu-Ray this week.

Alien: A true master piece and is the best I`ve seen it. They done a really good job on the restoration and is the best I`ve seen it look

Aliens: For me this is the biggest improvement of the lot. Grain is reduced and the amount of detail they managed to bring out of the print deserves a round of applause. Also my favourite of the series (just)

Alien 3: Never liked it and is the first time I`ve watched the alternate version. While this version fleshes the characters out alot better, it still seemed really out of place coming of the back of Alien and Aliens.

As for the transfer not much better than dvd, not alot of effort has been put into the the image, but audio is pretty good.

Alien Resurrection: Has been slated alot over the years, but has alot more going for it than Alien 3 does. It goes the action route of Aliens which was needed again, as we all know what the Aliens are by now and didn`t need reintroducing to them again like Alien 3. Ok the last 20minutes suck but besides that, It`s a pretty decent sci-fi action movie.

As for transfer, again little to no effort has been put into this.

Overall the majority of time has gone into making the first two films look as good as ever, which is all we need at the end of the day

[Super Grover]

Not too sure where I should have posted this, either in this thread or the bargains. I've put it in both to cover all bases.

Metropolis Limited Edition Steelbook Dual Format @ Zavvi pre-order for £17.95.

Extras are ...

• 150-minute reconstructed and restored 2010 version (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world)
• Separate DVD and BD editions with wraparound embossed sleeve, or Ltd Ed Steelbook Dual Format edition
• Pristine new HD transfer (1080p on Bluray)
• New 2010 symphony orchestra studio recording of the original 1927 Gottfried Huppertz score in 5.1
• Newly translated optional English subtitles as well as the original German intertitles
• Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Die Reise nach Metropolis (2010, 53 minutes), a documentary about the film
• 2010 re-release trailer
• 56-page booklet featuring archival interviews with Fritz Lang, a 1927 review by Luis Buñuel, articles by Jonathan Rosenbaum and Karen Naundorf, and restoration notes by Martin Koerber... and more!

Never seen the film myself, but as its regarded as a landmark film, I'm seriously considering purchasing it.

Link is here ...

http://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/metropolis-limited-edition-steelbook-dual-format-dvd-blu-ray/10270441.html

[SuperBeatBoy]

Not too sure where I should have posted this, either in this thread or the bargains. I've put it in both to cover all bases.

Metropolis Limited Edition Steelbook Dual Format @ Zavvi pre-order for ?17.95.

Extras are ...

• 150-minute reconstructed and restored 2010 version (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world)
• Separate DVD and BD editions with wraparound embossed sleeve, or Ltd Ed Steelbook Dual Format edition
• Pristine new HD transfer (1080p on Bluray)
• New 2010 symphony orchestra studio recording of the original 1927 Gottfried Huppertz score in 5.1
• Newly translated optional English subtitles as well as the original German intertitles
• Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Die Reise nach Metropolis (2010, 53 minutes), a documentary about the film
• 2010 re-release trailer
• 56-page booklet featuring archival interviews with Fritz Lang, a 1927 review by Luis Bu?uel, articles by Jonathan Rosenbaum and Karen Naundorf, and restoration notes by Martin Koerber... and more!

Never seen the film myself, but as its regarded as a landmark film, I'm seriously considering purchasing it.

Link is here ...

http://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/metropo.../10270441.html

Nice, thanks for that Supergrover!

[Super Grover]

Has any one seen this film (Metropolis that is)?

I imagine some of you guys have, I myself have not.

I'm considering pre-ordering, but after watching Mr Parry's link to the official trailer (see here http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=106401), I am not too sure if its a bit too 'high brow' for me. It appears, based purely on the trailer, one of those films that you want to like due to its critical acclaim, but end up turning it off half way through.

Probably a better way of phrasing the above statement would be, is the film still relevant today or has it been surpassed by 'more modern' masterpieces?

[Strider]

My US copy of Scott Pilgrim turned up today. Can't wait to get home.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Has any one seen this film (Metropolis that is)?

I imagine some of you guys have, I myself have not.

I'm considering pre-ordering, but after watching Mr Parry's link to the official trailer (see here http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=106401), I am not too sure if its a bit too 'high brow' for me. It appears, based purely on the trailer, one of those films that you want to like due to its critical acclaim, but end up turning it off half way through.

Probably a better way of phrasing the above statement would be, is the film still relevant today or has it been surpassed by 'more modern' masterpieces?

Its not a brilliant film per say, what its really known and loved for is its visuals which are absolutly marvelous. Its a really iconic and visually astounding film, especially considering it was made in 1927. Alot of movies owe alot to Metropolis.

[Soundwave]

My copy of Beauty & the Beast arrived today from Zavvi...sans Slip Case though

Looking forward to watching it at the weekend judging by the comments on AV Forums it's a sight & sound to behold.

Neil