[mhafner]

Originally Posted by AaronSCH

Me too. I roll on the floor laughing when I read the reviews from theses guys. They seldom agree. So who do you believe? Mr. Harris initially puts Twister in the top tier of Blu-ray releases while The Digital Bits contributor, Barrie Maxwell states, "image noticeably improved over standard DVD, but is no poster child for Blu-ray." Mr. Harris puts Dark City and The Mummy in Level 1 and yet people over at AVS Forum are screaming over excessive DNR and EE in those titles. In the last few days Mr. Harris has changed his mind on certain titles and removed some from his top tier list. He even removed his original assessment of Patton. For cryin' out loud, he doesn't even agree with himself! Obviously the image didn't make THAT much of a negative impact upon him. So who are we to believe?

You don't have to believe anyone. If you are not blind you can watch the titles yourself . And if you are sufficiently interested in and experienced with the related subjects you can have a well founded opinion about them which includes the specifics of how you watched the titles (very important) and your personal likes and dislikes. You don't need anyone else's opinions on principle. And you are aware where you lack specific information and need to get it first before you proceed.

I believe most of the online critics have lost the ability to simply sit back and enjoy watching a movie—instead they've turned entertainment into some sort of film "forensics." I even question whether they watch these discs all the way through.

It would be interesting to hear back from them on this. I know I would hardly enjoy to have to watch x films a week and deliver a technical evaluation of the discs with a deadline looming over me. No job for me. I watch films to enjoy them, or be startled, pushed to think about something, have a treat, see the world, tear up, bite my nails, throw up my arms, talk to the screen (not often, though)... Cinema is an important part of my life, same as music.

I would love to get these idiots in a room and quiz them on the history of motion pictures. Rarely in these threads do you see the directors, actors, cinematography, costume design, composers, soundtracks or technical accomplishments discussed. I bet the lot of them would fail miserably. The worst offending website has to be AVS Forum. Those guys are so out of touch that they are still bogged down in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray debate. Somebody needs to tell them the war is over. Xylon's threads would be laughable if there weren't so many who take his blown out screen captures seriously.

Nah, nah. We seem to be mighty pissed here about people that have a close look at what's on the disks. Ignore their threads then. Don't let them spoil your fun. Talking about all the artistic aspects of films has its place for sure and so do the technical aspects of films and the (HD) transfers. They are interrelated anyway. AVS is the audio video science forum, so the main focus is on technical aspects. Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of other sites where you find a different focus.

These lame-brain critics are bogged down in minutiae that few who will be buying Blu-ray discs will give a rat's ass about. And that is exactly why it is just a lot of hot air being spewed by so many people filled with self-importance. They actually see themselves in some type of elite class while everyone else is basically a sniveling gamer watching movies on their PS3s. That's priceless and quite ridiculous.

If that was all that's going on it would be. But in reality it's just part of the total output. The main targets of heavy criticism concerning technical aspects of HD transfers lately were the disks for "Patton" and "Longest Day". And since a short time "Dark City". While it's your good right to call any criticism of "Patton" and "Longest Day" dealing with minutiae most people buying Blu Rays won't give a rat's ass about (and you might even be right with the second part) I would seriously not attempt to make this a case of film lovers versus technical autistic nit pickers (or film janitors, as some other individual here calls them) since a 'true' film lover hopefully knows what his object of love looks like (and sounds like), because that is what his object of love is made of. And if he gives a rat's ass about this look he's at best a selective film lover, certainly in no position though to accuse others of not being film lovers at all. There are many kinds of (film) love and we need no love police telling us which ones are appropriate and which ones are not.
Having said that I agree that there is also criticism of disks/transfers here and on other web sites which I find inappropriate and misguided. Usually criticism which is not based on the film itself (and how it was made and meant to look) but on people's subjective ideas of how a film should look according to their tastes and preferences. I find it misguided but it's a free net and people have the right to express such views. Live and let view.