I'll go with top ten blu ray's that I own based purely on PQ and SQ.
In no particular order:
10.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) A fantastic restoration as far as i'm concerned. I have only ever seen this on VHS when I was a little boy, and I can't imagine any blu ray looking better than what we have unless they did some 4k super high bit rate scan or something. The detail is great, but it's the colour reproduction that stands out the most, particularly in the day time scenes. The blacks are fairly deep too. I guess I am also impressed with the fact that it's a film that's got a thin layer of grain but is unobtrusive, which adds into the dreamy atmosphere of some of the sequences in the film. A great blu ray, reference quality for m e.
9.
Hulk (2003) This looks the business as far as i'm concerned. Universal gets a lot of flack, but they did a great job here. This film looks exactly like I saw it in the cinema. Theres a healthy amount of grain here but given the expensive film stock used, it's not very noticeable, giving the film a sharp and extremely detailed look. The special effects and other colour moments obviously stand out the most, but I think that the sound may be the best thing about the disc. It'll give any system a good seeing to. It's another one of my demo films as far as sound and picture quality goes.
8.
Blade 2 (2002) Again, faithful to the source. The blu ray recreates Del Toro's world very well and is pretty much the kind of disc that most people would expect a blu ray to convey; Sharp with high contrast and borderline 3 dimensional imagery. The blu ray makes the world pop, including the gore effects. It looks better than the first blade on blu ray imo, but might be because I prefer Del Toro's photography. Worth getting. You see every spot on Snipes face too
Oh, and the audio is probably the best you'll ever here based on aggressive but clear bass with dynamic surround activity.
7.
Pan's Labyrinth - Another demo as far as PQ is concerned. The image is ultra sharp to the point where it is apparently different from the theatrical version which was reportedly very grainy with softer imagery, giving the film a more 'fairytale' look. I didn't see this in the cinema, but if what the reviewer says is true, then I think its fair to say that the blu ray does NOT remain faithful to Del Toro's vision. That said, it's a striking transfer with insane amounts of detail and just the right amount of pop in places where it counts (the blood effects are particularly gruesome) Sound is actually good for a Dolby track, too. It's clear and well balanced with good surround activity. I didn't even have to turn it up much compared to DTS.
6.
Sin City - It's no secret that i'm not a fan of digital, but this looks like another one of those titles that would convert people into blu ray fans. Blacks are very deep and contrast is high, which is desirable given that it's (mostly) black and white. The flashes of colour you do see are very strong too. Audio is great. Another demo for your boys.
5.
Terminator (Remastered) - This was the last blu ray to completely astound me. I've loved this film ever since I was allowed to watch it, and still can't get over the depth of this transfer. I heard it was mastered in 4K, and I can definitely tell...the detail is awesome. You can make out every pore, spot, minor scar, clothing design, etc. But it's the depth of the image that stands out. The scenes where Michael Biehn's Reese is walking around the neon dominated nights during the first 30 mins are a real visual highlight, as are the scenes with the flames towards the end of the film after Reese blew up the terminator's truck. I thought the fire was going to come out and burn me from my tv. Exaggeration, yes, but that's how good the film looked. Sound is very good too. It's strong and aggressive, but dialogue is crystal clear too. I know that some people are angry at the lack of mono, but seriously, when it comes to SQ, I am not much of a purist. I just like it to sound good and this does.
4.
Black Book - Beautiful anamorphic blu ray. Hate repeating myself but the colours are very strong and it looks very filmic with the grain and image depth. Sound is solid too, particularly during the more violent sequences. Nice clear bass.
3.
Double Life Of Veronique - The film's photography means this translates into a sublime looking blu ray. There a few unusual colour schemes in the film and it's beautiful conveyed on blu ray. The greens are a particular highlight for me. Sound is crystal clear and dynamic, too.
2. Three Colours Trilogy - The most filmic looking blu rays that I own. Possibly. Grainy (light to medium), unfiltered and completely natural, if I saw this digital print on a cinema screen, I would almost be fooled into thinking I was watching a film print. The depth of the image is outstanding, theres a real quasi three dimensional quality to it without it looking artificial. The dominant colours of all three films are beautifully captured here, with blu looking like my favourite. This will not wow your average blu ray consumer who's looking for some super sharp shiny blu ray with no imperfections whatsoever. This is FILM, good old fashioned, dim film. And should be approached that way.
1.
Saboteur - For me, blu ray is at it's best when dealing with older films, and when I say old, i'm not talking 90s or 80's like some of you's lot do, i'm talking 40's-70's. Those are old films. Saboteur, one of Hitchcock's earlier studio films, is probably the slickest looking 1940's blu ray out there. Very revealing detail and strong contrast with light grain, just the way I like it. It looks better than a lot of films made and transferred to blu ray today. I think it's as close to the original film print as it gets. A real winner and probably one of the best looking films from The Hitchcock Collection.
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