Do some movies look better than others?

[sinister184]

i dont have a huge library of bluray movies yet, and i could be just nit picking. but it looks like some movies look better than others. for example i have a copy of Talladega Nights and it doesnt look as good as Casino Royale. is it just me?

[NutsAboutPS3]

There is a big variation. I watched The Prestige last night, and was disappointed with the picture quality. Superman Returns is another relatively poor one. Casino Royale is one of the best. It depends which studio has released it and how committed they are to producing the best quality product.

[babyBlu]

AVS BD Tier Thread


Not all BDs are created equal.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by sinister184

i dont have a huge library of bluray movies yet, and i could be just nit picking. but it looks like some movies look better than others. for example i have a copy of Talladega Nights and it doesnt look as good as Casino Royale. is it just me?

No you will find a wide dynamic range of quality for movies. Casino Royale is going to look better to a lot of people so your eyes are not deceiving you.

If you like Pirates of the Carribean buy the first two movies. They are considered by many to be the finest representation of HD movies that one can purchase. They will set the bar for what you will consider "top shelf" quality.

regards.

[Dadds]

Stay away from these.

Bullitt
U2: Rattle and Hum
The Dirty Dozen
The Fugitive
Full Metal Jacket
The Fifth Element
The House of Flying Daggers

[groovyone]

Although the Fifth Element Reissue has great promise!

[Shin-Ra]

Originally Posted by Dadds

Stay away from these.

The Fifth Element (FIRST RELEASE)

The rerelease coming soon will probably not be one to stay away from.

[Pilam69]

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

The rerelease coming soon will probably not be one to stay away from.

They are offering to replace it for you. I don't have the link handy but you can find it online. You can trade in your first release for the new release that is remastered. Another reason that Blu-Ray rocks!!

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by NutsAboutPS3

There is a big variation. I watched The Prestige last night, and was disappointed with the picture quality. Superman Returns is another relatively poor one. Casino Royale is one of the best. It depends which studio has released it and how committed they are to producing the best quality product.

Something weird is going on with The Prestige, seems there are quality differences w/in that title alone. Most critics have said it was superior and mine is every bit as good as CR, but I have heard a few people complain. I strongly advise picking up The Prestige and hopefully your copy is as good as mine.

[hmurchison]

The Prestige is a great movie!

I hope that any copies that may be substandard are just a small batch.

[sinister184]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

No you will find a wide dynamic range of quality for movies. Casino Royale is going to look better to a lot of people so your eyes are not deceiving you.

If you like Pirates of the Carribean buy the first two movies. They are considered by many to be the finest representation of HD movies that one can purchase. They will set the bar for what you will consider "top shelf" quality.

regards.

ok cool thanks... i figured there had to be if they're re-releasing fifth element, which ill def. buy, but its still good to know thanks for the replys

[sinister184]

Originally Posted by babyBlu

AVS BD Tier Thread


Not all BDs are created equal.

thanks thats a good thread... and Talladega Nights, according to that classification is a tier 4. and CR a tier 2, so i guess that would explain the difference im seeing.

[Deciazulado]

CR tier 2 . heh

[GarettP]

Have some friends that have a PS3 and have said that they didn't notice a difference with Blu-Ray, well now there are two reasons

A. They are sitting way too close to their TV

B. They have never watched a Top tier BD yet, will have to let them borrow Dead Man's Chest!

[Waldi]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Buckeye

Something weird is going on with The Prestige, seems there are quality differences w/in that title alone. Most critics have said it was superior and mine is every bit as good as CR, but I have heard a few people complain. I strongly advise picking up The Prestige and hopefully your copy is as good as mine.

"The Prestige" sold in the USA is encoded in AVC at a higher bitrate, whereas the version sold in Germany (and probably also in the rest of Europe) is encoded in VC-1 at a lower bitrate. I have both discs, and for my eyes the US version (encoded in AVC at a higher bitrate) looks far better.

[Memnoch]

I think this also has to do with what the source material is. Sources filmed with HD equipment look a LOT better than films that have just been cleaned up to what is supposed to be 1080p, but really doesn't look that great. Some examples of this are Planet Earth and NIN:BYIT. Both were shot with HD equipment and look much better than standard BDs. Even HD TV shows look better than many BDs. For example, OC Choppers on HD Discovery Theater is much cleaner and crisper than many BDs I have seen. It is very clear that it is shot with HD equipment. The major studios use HD equipment as well, like SNL, David Letterman, Leno, etc.

[ReduxInflux]

where do you get bit-rate info from? consumer sites or the disc itself? or ?? so how...if i want to purchase an import, would i be able to discern whether it is good quality or not? is the data provided to me somewhere for analysis before i buy?

p.s. the warriors wasn't mentioned. anyone know to which tier this belongs?

[Waldi]

Originally Posted by ReduxInflux

where do you get bit-rate info from? consumer sites or the disc itself? or ?? so how...if i want to purchase an import, would i be able to discern whether it is good quality or not? is the data provided to me somewhere for analysis before i buy?

You can get information about the bitrate when you play the disc on a PS3. And before you buy a disc, you can get some information for example here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=3338

Higher bitrates are positive, but unfortunately a high bitrate will not guarantee good picture quality.

[theknub]

Originally Posted by Memnoch

I think this also has to do with what the source material is. Sources filmed with HD equipment look a LOT better than films that have just been cleaned up to what is supposed to be 1080p, but really doesn't look that great. Some examples of this are Planet Earth and NIN:BYIT. Both were shot with HD equipment and look much better than standard BDs. Even HD TV shows look better than many BDs. For example, OC Choppers on HD Discovery Theater is much cleaner and crisper than many BDs I have seen. It is very clear that it is shot with HD equipment. The major studios use HD equipment as well, like SNL, David Letterman, Leno, etc.

i hate to burst your bubble, but film has a much higher resolution than hd cameras. look at kingdom of heaven, black hawk down, the prestige?, tears of the sun and quite a few others and you will see that film gives a fantastic presentation. maybe it doesn't have that clean, wiped look but that is due to the fact that film has grain.

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by Waldi

"The Prestige" sold in the USA is encoded in AVC at a higher bitrate, whereas the version sold in Germany (and probably also in the rest of Europe) is encoded in VC-1 at a lower bitrate. I have both discs, and for my eyes the US version (encoded in AVC at a higher bitrate) looks far better.

Yes, the UK version is a Warner release, and is clearly just a port of the earlier HD DVD release. It's a crappy VC-1 encode that is often around 10Mbps or less, and looks very processed with obvious temporal smoothing artifacts, plus macroblocking in backgrounds and just generally distracting to watch, e.g. nasty aliasing in fine detail in clothing in many shots, nothing like the fine reproduction of clothing in Cruel Intentions, for example. I'm honestly thinking of not buying any more Warner crap till they ditch HD DVD and start releasing real Blu-ray discs instead of these heap of junk HD DVD ports.