Blu-ray 2008: The Studio Report Card "POLL"

[Porfie]

Blu-ray 2008: The Studio Report Card

Here is a interesting article on how they rate the blu-ray releases from the studios.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/blu...port-card.html


Disney / Buena Vista Grade: B
Fox Grade: C
Lionsgate Grade: C+
MGM Grade: F
Paramount / Dreamworks Grade: B+
Sony Grade: A-
Universal Grade: B+
Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema Grade: B-
Weinstein Company Grade: D-

[Porfie]

Sorry if I forgot any studios in the poll.

[Eagle_23]

Disney / Buena Vista Grade: A
Fox Grade: B
Paramount / Dreamworks Grade: B+
Sony Grade: A-
Universal Grade: B+
Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema Grade: C+

These would be my grades based on the movies from these companies that I've watched so far.

[djluis2k6]

What is this being based off of. Actual Blu-Ray quality, or titles?

[Sith]

Warner: D

[Porfie]

Originally Posted by djluis2k6

What is this being based off of. Actual Blu-Ray quality, or titles?

Grade Criteria
Studio grades were based on a wide range of factors — most importantly the technical prowess of the audio and video presentations. Then, to a lesser degree, the adoption or avoidance of available Blu-ray exclusive technologies (BD-Live functionality, Profile 1.1 interactivity, etc), and, finally, the breadth and diversity of their releases as well as their reaction to the unique challenges of the latest evolution of the BD market

[JasonS]

The only reason WB did rank so high is because of the grouping with New Line. When they did their own transfers it was New Line: B+ , Warner D-. Just because they "won" the format war for Blu-ray doesn't immediately exempt them. I am extremely nervous about their Dark Knight and Matrix releases now...

IMO Sony is also overrated on that board and Universal is underrated.

Compared to where Universal was 6 months ago, to release their first ever Blu-ray titles and knock them out of the park is just absolutely astounding. For my money they have the best packaging / disc art / presentation.

[JasonR]

Warner = F+

They.....

[SkillzthatKillz]

i voted disney because they have the most impressive discs on the format. i think sony has very good quality on all of the titles that they pump out (disney doesnt release as many movies as sony, paramount, warner, universal or fox)

[Drewza89]

My grades:
Disney / Buena Vista A-
Fox B
Lionsgate C+
MGM F+
Paramount / Dreamworks A
Sony A
Universal A
Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema D-

My thoughts on each studio:
Disney / Buena Vista: With the exception of Gangs of New York, all of their releases that I've seen have been solid.
Fox: I've been disappointed with their lack of special features and the poor picture quality of some of their cataloge titles. Other than that, most of their releases have been solid efforts.
Lionsgate: The quality of their releases have been all over the map. Some have been great, but some have been awful.
MGM: I wish they would get a different studio to distribute their films since Fox has done a terrible job.The amount of releases and the quality of those releases is pathetic.
Paramount / Dreamworks: Since they came back from the dark side, their releases have been incredible. I love the fact that a good bit of their special features are in HD. Awesome picture quality, by the way.
Sony: I have nothing to complain about with them except that I would like for them to start releasing some better cataloge titles. They have done a superb job since the beginning.
Universal: Ever since they came to Blu they have done a great job. I would like to see some better cataloge titles than what they've been releasing (especially the Bourne trilogy).
Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema: They have been giving me a headache. The lack of hi-def audio is inexcusable. They shouldn't even bother with their digital copies unless they are iTunes compatible. The picture quality on several of their cataloge titles have been poor. If they put as much effort as they put into Blade Runner, then they would be a top notch studio.
Weinstein: I couldn't give them a grade since I've only watched one of their movies (The Mist). I wasn't impressed with the quality of the disc, but I wasn't disappointed either.

[owa]

I voted for Disney since I think they're doing better all-around (more complete releases) but I really wanted to vote for Fox. If they wouldn't have had special features as part of the criteria maybe I would have gone with Fox but it's still hard to think about voting against Disney. I think they've done a lot for the format.

[Turnda643]

Disney gets my vote hands down!! Everyone studio has a couple duds. But Disney on the large scale across the board set the stardard early on and continues to amaze. I was giving them an A+ today before i saw Sleeping Beauty. Now that i've seen the Blu version. OMG!!! what ever grading is possible above an A+ .......... Disney gets it. Detail, colors, sound!! Amazing!! Just amazing. Again, the 'mouse,' does not disappoint!!!!

[davcole]

I voted Disney for the titles I collected this year and have rented have had excellent picture quality (catalog releases too) along with lossless audio. Very consistent. Only knock I have on Disney is there's not too many releases this year I want.

I would say Sony is most consistent. They also release more than other studios (save Warner) and have a few PIP releases. I can't take advantage of it yet but a sizeable number contain BD- Live. You can also find some very good pricing.

FOX titles i've seen have been consistent, though the pricing is too high, lack special features previously issued on DVD, and don't seem to push Bonus View or BD Live.

If I can look past the Jack Ryan films i've rented and the older catalog titles re-released, i'd say Paramount is an up-and-comer. Outside of pricing on new releases, it seems to be a fair pricing strategy.

I havent' even seen a release from MGM so I can't comment. They sure don't issue much. Will be interesting to see how the Bond's look.

Universal actually impresses me. Bonus View and upcoming interactivity are very encouraging (they actually lead that on HD DVD) and now lossless on every track. They deserve kudos. Yes, I can testify to the de-grain on titles like MUMMY and U-571 over the HD DVD but they still look great!

Of course Warners has to get the lowest, simply for their lack of consistency. Only studio that doesn't mandate lossless on every release, no BD-Live and a handful of Bonus View (usually the HD DVD port titles) show laziness. On the other hand, no studio pumps out more product or more agressive in pricing. The key term is inconsistent.

I can't really comment on the others.

[Minimejer05]

Disney right now. But Uni has been pretty impressive as of late.

[Amel]

Originally Posted by Sith

Warner: D

[Kyo28]

Let's see:

Disney / Buena Vista Grade: A-
Fox Grade: C+
Lionsgate Grade: C+
MGM Grade: F
Paramount / Dreamworks Grade: B+
Sony Grade: A
Universal Grade: B+
Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema Grade: B+
Weinstein Company Grade: F
Bandai Visual: C+

I don't know why but Bandai Visual is never included in these polls, even though they do release BD's (actually one of the most BD-active Japanese studios)

A lot of people give Warner Bros bad grades for the lack of lossless tracks, which I understand, but the fact that most of their BD titles include Japanese audio and subs is worth a lot to me, hence I gave them a B+ (with lossless audio tracks, I'd give them a A+)

[Hypertrophy]

This may help some of you decide...

soundandvisionmag.com/bluray/3000/blu-ray-2008-the-studio-report-card.html