What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Lee Mannering]

Great to see the thread is still very active :-)

Just wanted to put a mention up for WB Archive and the double Blu-Ray boxed set of Curse of Frankenstein 1957.
Up to press we had the very nice BRITISH YAY blu-ray, but this 2020 set is something else.

Inside the colourful box you will find 2 blu-ray discs. You get the open matte 1.37:1, 1.85:1 and 1.66:1 versions plus four fascinating documentaries and the HD trailer.

Prices vary between £20 to £28 Amazon.

We have projected the new 4K UHD True Lies, The Abyss and Aliens a number of times now very much enjoying them. Many of us campaigned just about everywhere we could to get True Lies officially out over the years and we now have it which brings much joy here.
The old Blu-Ray which was mastered from a Digital VHS recording has now been archived, but a good stop gap at the time.

[Osi Osgood]

I will always prefer a "hard copy" digital disc over a streaming service any day of the week, as, you're always at the whim of the service, whether it will be up this week or next week or not, and how much they'll charge. By owning the disc, YOU are in control. Mind you, I prefer good ole school over digital any day of the week!

[Ken Finch]

I agree with John Clancy. The difference only really becomes noticeable on a large screen. The digital projectors in cinemas are 2k or 4k depending on the size of the screen. One also has to consider the viewing distance and the type of display used on a flat screen tv. As to the sound quality, this depends on the sound system the sound from the disc is fed into and what system is available on the disc.

[Ed Gordon]

Ed, I watched the BluRay and the later Director's Cut; incl. the waves, which gives a more important meaning to the story.

I watched the 4k version of the movie on my 55" TV with the Dolby Atmos and the sound was fantastic. Then I read this:

But compare a good quality 4K stream with a 4K Blu-ray on a regular TV, and the difference can become difficult to spot. TV reviewer Vincent Teoh, of the YouTube channel HDTVTest, says he personally can’t tell the difference between a disc and a streaming service like Sony’s Bravia Core, which has a bitrate of up to 80Mbps.

“When you have a well-mastered movie that is streaming at a high bitrate from Apple TV or whatever, I think most consumers generally wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” Teoh says. John Clancy, who runs the Movie Collector YouTube channel, argues you really need a projector and a large screen to get the best out of a 4K disc and that, at regular TV sizes, the differences between physical and streaming can be “a little academic.”

Source: https://www.theverge.com/24046669/4k...lity-collector

That, along with your recommendation to watch the Director's Cut indicates it's time for me to watch the Director's Cut with those extra 20 minutes on my 12 foot scope screen.

[Oliver Feld]

Ed, I watched the BluRay and the later Director's Cut; incl. the waves, which gives a more important meaning to the story.

[Ed Gordon]

THE ABYSS! Finally on BluRay!
Although I have to admit, that my Derann print has a more fascinating impression!

Oliver, which version did you watch? Was it the original or the director's cut? Bluray or UHD? If you have seen all versions, which one do you prefer?

[Douglas Meltzer]

Graham,

I've never heard of this film. I'm a fan of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the trailer looks great, so I'm ordering it right now!

[Graham Ritchie]

After watching Beauty and the Beast on Super8 I thought it was time for some blu-ray 3D and this one in 3D is outstanding. The disc does offer both the 2D or 3D versions, both are good but the 3D one really wins out, picture quality is really something. I remember picking this one up second hand from a video library closing down, glad I got it. I am not sure if the 3D release was available in other countries, if so its certainly a title to look out for .

[Graham Ritchie]

Watched "Aliens" the directors cut last night on blu-ray, it gives a much more complete story than the original cinema release, between the two versions, this is the one I like the most Before screening it last night, during the afternoon, our grandson asked about watching another movie before heading home. I don't usually watch films during the day as I would rather be out and about doing something else, but relented. These days its getting hard to find something different, but this DVD called "Skykids" later renamed "The Flyboys" is one that few people know about. I did a bit of checking out, as during 2008 I can't remember it was released in NZ as at that time I was also involved in booking films for the cinema. What I discovered that it came out in 2008, in the US but never got a general release. Also it was never released either in Australia or New Zealand. Skyboys is one of a few films I have come across that seemed to have been forgotten, or for other reasons never been allowed for general release. Thankfully this one made it to the DVD market and is actually very good. Lots of action lots of stunt flying what more can you ask..

Aliens" James Cameron does state that this version "the directors cut" was the one he wanted folk to see, but was unable to release it at the time due to its longer running time. The blu-ray picture and sound quality is certainly very good, screen shots are from a previous screening.

I can't remember but I think the Sentry guns were left out of the original.



Here also is a attached trailer of "Skyboys" or "The Flyboys" no idea why they changed the name, we certainly enjoyed watching it, the DVD, picture quality looked good on the Epson VP..

[Oliver Feld]

THE ABYSS! Finally on BluRay!
Although I have to admit, that my Derann print has a more fascinating impression!

[Graham Ritchie]

Got our grandson staying with us for a couple of days during the school holidays at the moment, tonight he asked what is the movie we are going to watch tonight? Well it was this one brilliant script. Blu-ray picture and sound are excellent, projected using the Epson.

[Ed Gordon]

Jumping back to Buster Keaton the three blu-ray disc is certainly very good, however my old DVD from Madman of "The General" for some reason seems a bit better when projected through the Epson.

Watched "The Dish" the other night followed by an old DVD of "Loch Ness"

Coincidentally, a Super 8 silent version of The General (Niles film, 4 reels) showed up on Ebay today for $60. https://www.ebay.com/itm/256489593090

[Graham Ritchie]

Jumping back to Buster Keaton the three blu-ray disc is certainly very good, however my old DVD from Madman of "The General" for some reason seems a bit better when projected through the Epson.

Watched "The Dish" the other night followed by an old DVD of "Loch Ness"

[Alan Paterson]

I watched the Network Blu-ray of 'Kidnapped' last night. This was the 1971 version starring Michael Caine and a great supporting cast including Trevor Howard, Jack Hawkins, Donald Pleasence, Gordon Jackson, Lawrence Douglas and Vivien Heilbron. I recall seeing some of the filming being done back in the day, up near Stirling Castle. The area still had cobbled streets back then. They used other local places as locations in the film. Stirling Castle doubled for Edinburgh castle and some houses in the area had to have their TV aerials removed for some wide shots. Culross was used as the area for David Balfour's lodgings. The film itself is entertaining, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the same name. The transfer is a decent one, with enough film grain to remind you of the source material and there is the great end title song 'For All My Days' sung by Mary Hopkin.

[Lee Mannering]

Projecting 16mm tonight to the British Legion for the 80th Anniversay of Dunkirk.
BUT.
Managed to squeeze in ALIENS 4K UHD today.
= Stunning a new delivery. Pin sharp.
Look forward to watching it properly later on.