"Classics" on Blu-ray

Are you like me, only 29, and already feel out-of-the-loop with new movie titles?

Movies are in a new era of development, as evident in titles such as "The Nanny Diaries," "The Last Legion," and "Superbad." So what if you want to see the latest cinema studio developments (from movies similar to "The Matrix" trilogy) on blu-ray disc?

Your kids might think movies of your time are boring, and maybe even your elders question the popularity of the movies you select from their time.

Here are some of my opinions-

If you want a handsome breakthrough presentation, look for blu-ray title releases for movies like "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999) and "Gladiator" (2000).
Even slightly older titles like "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992) may look great on a Samsung blu-ray disc player.

Even though it's not exactly a great film, Andrew Davis' "The Fugitive" (1993), starring Harrison Ford and Sela Ward, is simply breathtaking on blu-ray. The transfer looks so natural, you'll want to convert your entire dvd or vhs collection to blu-ray.

If you want an old black-and-white movie, wait for Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) or Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1956) to come out on blu-ray. If selecting between these two films, note that Capra's film has a cleaner finish and may make an easier blu-ray transfer than Kurosawa's hazy epic. If, however, you are simply proud of your blu-ray player (like me, I own a Sony PS3 and am looking to buy a Samsung standard blu-ray player like the BDP-1200 or BDP-1400), Kurosawa's epic may startle you in some scenes.

The key is to look for movies that are very very very easily digestible from start to finish. Even "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999) is a stretch in this sense, though "Gladiator" (2000) is perfect.

[cathexist]

Seven Samurai is probably at the top of my wish list for an older title release. It is one of my favorite titles...you know it's going to be damned expensive if it is released though.

[SS316SRV]

Bram Stoker's Dracula is already out. Eyes Wide Shut is coming out. Gladiator won't be out for 16months. Something about this is weird.

[Viiincent]

lol what the hell.. for the black and white flick, lets pick Jailhouse Rock.. it looks absolutely stunning
and as of Eyes Wide Shut, i preordered it, along with The Shining, already.. we'll just have to wait and see.

[cathexist]

Eh, give him a break, he's new.

Although Gladiator is an odd mention since it is distributed by Dreamworks

[jamclaur]

I agree. There are soooo many movies i'd rather see on BD.

My fav things on BD are cartoons.

So Disney movies would be nice.

But also The Matrix, LOTR, Star Wars, hell even Sin City.

[GasCat]

Originally Posted by Abishai Gangulee

Are you like me, only 29, and already feel out-of-the-loop with new movie titles?

I am totally with you. Please keep posting, we need to give the next gen some guidance on good taste. Transformers doesn't deserve to be in the top 1000. (I didn't mistype the number of zeroes. )

[Switched2BD]

I am 35 an Love the older movies, but love many many new titles. There are plenty of good titles out there that I can enjoy. I can wait for the older titles.

[richard lichtenfelt]

Welcome Abishai.

[darkpoet25]

Don't forget the Hitchcock classics, The Birds, Pschyo, North By Northwest, Vertigo. I could go on and on. I would love to see the original Salem's Lot on BD too.

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by Abishai Gangulee

Are you like me, only 29, and already feel out-of-the-loop with new movie titles?

Yes. I like a lot of older movies from all eras in filmmaking. I could make another list, but I have posted a lot of my favorites on other threads and I haven't listed everything. (Who is going to pay much attention to my lists anyway?)

[Mericalis]

Hey, I may be one of only people under 30 (on here) who may be looking forward to Son of Pale Face. I love older movies...give me the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, etc and I'll be interested. There are others I'm interested in, but I'll just have to wait until those come out.

[davidAZ]

Indiana Jones series would be fun

I'd also like to see Bad Boys 1 & 2, Men in Black 1 & 2, The Doors

and lots more!

[Marcusarilius]

Originally Posted by Mericalis

Hey, I may be one of only people under 30 (on here) who may be looking forward to Son of Pale Face. I love older movies...give me the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, etc and I'll be interested. There are others I'm interested in, but I'll just have to wait until those come out.

So you don't feel so old... I'm 47 going on 18. I love old movies, B&W, color, new movies, everything. Good choice on those classic comedy teams. I'd like to see The ghost and Mr. Chicken, Casablanca, W.C. Fields movies, All Classic Horror, Three stooges, Rebecca, The Val Lewton movies esp Cat People, Curse of the Cat People, Sound of Music, Ten Commandments, The forgotten one, The Unseen, The petrified forest, All of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone, the list goes on and on. There are so many wonderful gems out there just waiting to be released from the dusty vaults.

[Rike255]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

So you don't feel so old... I'm 47 going on 18. I love old movies, B&W, color, new movies, everything. Good choice on those classic comedy teams. I'd like to see The ghost and Mr. Chicken, Casablanca, W.C. Fields movies, All Classic Horror, Three stooges, Rebecca, The Val Lewton movies esp Cat People, Curse of the Cat People, Sound of Music, Ten Commandments, The forgotten one, The Unseen, The petrified forest, All of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone, the list goes on and on. There are so many wonderful gems out there just waiting to be released from the dusty vaults.

Wow, 47 going on 18. That's quite a jump .

I'd love to see Gladiator on BD, that's my favorite movie...damn you Dreamworks. One day though I'm sure.

[MOONPHASE]

Seven Samurai was really good so is the anime based off it called Samurai 7 but the only thing i didnt like about Seven Samurai was reading all of those subtitles. sometimes with subtitles i will have to rewind just to look at the subtitles i missed and plus not understanding a single word they are saying can sometimes be quite a drag but overall a must have movie for blu-ray

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by cathexist

Seven Samurai is probably at the top of my wish list for an older title release. It is one of my favorite titles...you know it's going to be damned expensive if it is released though.

This is one of my favorites, I've got the older Criterion release. The newer release has a much cleaner transfer and better subtitles but I'm holding off getting it hoping for some word of a Blu-Ray release. I've already accepted that if this gets released it'll be $50+, but I'd pay $100 for this in Blu.

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

Seven Samurai was really good so is the anime based off it called Samurai 7 but the only thing i didnt like about Seven Samurai was reading all of those subtitles. sometimes with subtitles i will have to rewind just to look at the subtitles i missed and plus not understanding a single word they are saying can sometimes be quite a drag but overall a must have movie for blu-ray

Keep watching those imports pretty soon you'll start to pick up words and phrases. It's pretty cool to be reading subtitles and realize you understood what was said before you read it.

[johnnyd1]

Originally Posted by darkpoet25

Don't forget the Hitchcock classics, The Birds, Pschyo, North By Northwest, Vertigo. I could go on and on. I would love to see the original Salem's Lot on BD too.

That would be great !!!

[Seretur]

I'm 37 and have been working as a film critic for the past 15 years. But I've largely stopped now, not because of the lack of work, but primarily because the current cinema is becoming increasingly more vapid.

And I'm not talking so much about blockbusters -- they are entitled to a measure of vapidity, as they are supposed to be eye candy and assault the senses, more than anything -- as about the so-called acclaimed cinema of our time. If it weren't for Pan's Labyrinth, for example, last year's Cannes Film Festival would have been an utterly miserable experience for me. The movie that ended up winning the Palme d'Or, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, was just the nadir, a culmination of everything that is rotten and bad about the approach to serious filmmaking today.

Anyway, I'm very picky (after a fashion) when it comes to quality cinema, and I'm glad that more and more such titles are coming to BD, the current cutting-edge format for home viewing. Incidentally, this is one area in which a large number of online cinephiles were won over by HD DVD initially -- when they got a few classics on their format that were initially denied to Blu-ray -- and this Red bias has been evident ever since on sites like AVS and HTF. Of course, this is something that will evaporate over time, but sites like this one have to work overtime to amass a critical number of followers of quality cinema to do away with the boneheaded perception of Blu-ray as a format that caters to the undiscerning gamer demographic (as if that is something intrinsically bad, but then that's a whole other issue).

I'm sure we'll be getting many more juicy, wonderful films on Blu soon. In the meantime, my credit card is stretched enough as it is just trying to keep up with the good titles that are already out there and coming up...

[Rheologuy]

You all are singing my song... Ben Hur, Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and many classic B-W movies as well, because 1080p gives a sense of presence and depth that somehow makes it seem you're seeing a favorite movie afresh and new.