SciFiDig 301 - the Aaron vs Supernatural and Stuff show

[Aaron]

http://www.scifidig.com/?p=1450

[TheShayneShow]

Older movies on Blu-ray are a bit of a mixed bag, I've been really impressed with some releases and disappointed by others - as to the Star Trek Blu-rays again they are a mixed bag, some of them look great and others don't do so well in Hi-def, the Blu-rays actually have more in the way of special features than the Special Edition DVDs along with a little bit of new content created for the Blu-rays, of course the Blu-ray version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the theatrical cut and not the Director's Edition that was released on DVD a few years ago.

Sucker Punch looked great on Blu-ray, or at least I thought so and for that matter so did Green Lantern and I enjoyed them both.

Another fun show even if it did take longer to end than the extended version of Return of the King

I can't think of a time where my enjoyment of some content has been particularly influenceed by the creator's personal opinions or politics not to say it couldn't happen but I just can't recall it happening.

[Aaron]

The two disc special editions of the movies have more extras than the blu-rays. I haven't watched them all yet but II and III have more contents than the Blu's unless I missed something.

I'm knee deep in Harry Potter on blu-ray and I'm loving it.

[TheShayneShow]

(12-08-2011 03:50 PM)Aaron Wrote:  The two disc special editions of the movies have more extras than the blu-rays. I haven't watched them all yet but II and III have more contents than the Blu's unless I missed something.

I'm knee deep in Harry Potter on blu-ray and I'm loving it.

I have the UK Blu-ray sets and they seem to have everything that was included in the 2 disc DVDs sets plus a new commentary for each film and some new extra material shot in HD - I assumed the Blu-rays were the same in all regions although I guess they might not be.

[Shannafey]

I have all the SE DVDs of the Star Trek movies, except Nemesis. That one I have the standard DVD and I'm fine with all of those, especially after hearing Aaron's comments. I have a problem with them releasing these films on Blu but not including all the previous extras. And if it isn't a significant jump in quality, they are just ripping people off. I bought the new movie on Blu and will continue with Blu for the future films.

Although we've beat this subject into the ground, it always come up in my mind as well. It is funny that Aaron said that we have so much stuff to watch, it is a chore. I almost agree. When we were kids I watched and read anything I could find that was scifi or fantastic for that matter! Now I have stacks of DVDs/Blus and DIVX files on the Hard Drive, stuff on the DVR, stacks of books and graphic novels. I am dying to break into a lot of them, but with my ridiculous work schedule and 3 kids, they sit there until I watch stuff late at night and fall asleep watching the stuff I love!! I'm dying to see all this stuff but now have no time. The beauty is that it is always there and there is always something to enjoy in those fleeting moments when I'm alone in the house and can enjoy some good scifi/horror/fantasy entertainment!!

[dragon57]

I have all the Trek movies in the SE editions on DVD and have no desire to get them on Blu. The DVD's look great and the conversion to Blu is mostly using the same masters without remastering and cleanup, typical Paramount.

I have never let a person's politics, views on aliens (ha!), or anything else keep me from enjoying a story, movie, etc. I have to admit Tom Cruise has made it difficult, but stupid is as stupid does, to borrow a phrase .

[Jarrak]

No secret I'm a fan of HD and more accurately HD DVD rather than Blu-ray but I consider the format to have failed both in terms of improving overall quality of releases, price to the consumer, profit to the retailers/distributors etc etc.

It's criminal older movies the vast majority shot on 35mm for large screen presentations are being pulled off the shelf, scanned and dumped on the Blu-ray market sometimes with a premium price. There are certainly exceptions and Criterion once again have to be praised for investing in older properties and making them look as good as they can.
Also the recently released Rocketeer while not being drop dead gorgeous certainly looks impressive for it's vintage.

I totally understand the logic behind buying the DVD if the Blu-ray is not of obvious improvement, doesn't help either we get upscaled content or mixture of put on Blu-ray and often the average consumer not being aware of it being done. I knew and opposed Firefly on Blu for that reason and same for Farscape but if you know what you are getting and the price is acceptable then go for it.
Also worth noting the industry has helped to cripple the pricing structure by ripping off the market and then slashing prices in a knee jerk reaction, after a few years you get the result that after a few months A list titles are often half the launch price.

You know you are hooked when you go straight back for the commentary, best bloody fiver I've spent this year and that was the Blu-ray.

Supernatural season 1 cliffhanger, awesome