I have a playstation 3 which i bought as a future investment towards blu-ray, but mostly so i could play final fantasy games.
But i think blu-ray isnt a massive change from dvd, im happy with just buying dvds atm.
I have one. I like it. Some films look amazing on Blu-Ray; on others, the difference is practically indistinguishable. Anything with a lot of dense visual detail seems to really benefit.
Well I think I am switching to Blu Ray within the next month, but I currently don’t own one. I think the great thing about Blu Ray is it still plays DVDs. What this means is not only do I get to keep using all my DVDs, but as Blu Ray takes over DVDs will get cheaper and pretty soon I will be buying 25 dollar DVDs for 5 bucks, and still being able to use them on the new format. This has already started (it might be the economy not Blu Ray though) as shown in the Barnes and Noble 5 and 10 dollar sections. There are a lot of great films there.
@ drew: are you going to buy all your movies on bluray then or only the visually striking ones?
Only the visually striking ones and my personal favorite films. The rest I will continue to buy on cheap DVD (unless the price difference on the particular movie is not very big).
I have a PS3 and about 40 Blu Ray titles. It has been entirely worth it. I still do buy DVDs though. I’ll probably get heavier into Blu once they release a Macbook with a BD drive.
Oh and if you have Blu Ray you must purchase Baraka
Actually, if you don’t have Blu Ray, you should acquire a player just so you can watch Baraka
i have a ps3 as well, i only have one bluray (chungking) but i did preorder the seventh seal bluray forever ago. if something i want is available on bluray then i’d likely get it on br over dvd, but i probably wont update from dvd to bluray (except for a movie like kwaidan or stalker, anything like that).
I’m perfectly satisfied with my standard DVD player and discs. The “new and improved” will be the ruin of us all.
What Mr. Ehrenstein said.
I have had a PS3 since day of launch, but thus far have only bought 2 blu-ray releases (Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the outstanding release of How The West Was Won). I also own a very impressive upscaling DVD player, which I have had far more enjoyment out of. I honestly dont see the need for anything more than a decent transfer on DVD upscaled.
I have a PS3, which I bought last October, and which, so far, has served me well. Now, I haven’t bought all of the movies I’ve purchased since then on Bluray, primarily because some of them just haven’t been made yet, but my Bluray collection is steadily growing. I think I have sixteen or seventeen. I will not get rid off all of my regular DVDs, though, but there are a few that I will re-purchase for purely artistic reasons, such as There Will Be Blood, and perhaps 2001 and Children of Men. There are also a few films that I’m holding out for, like In Bruges, because I want to see that miracular film in the most pristine condition it can be in.
Basically, I really like Bluray (especially when Criterion releases them), and I hope that I am able to continue buying many, many more.
Savvy
I dislike physical media. I find it much easier to use front row with my 2tb external and 1080p monitor.
Blu-Ray is good for newer films (I would say films that have come out in the past 5-10 years) but anything older than that I think it would be foolish to replace existing SD DVDs for Blu-Ray discs (I have over 500 DVDs and there’s no way I’d even attempt to replace them). I bought a 50in Plasma and Blu-Ray player last fall and some of the BD films that I’ve bought look amazing (The Dark Knight, The Fall, Iron Man) but for a movie like The Last Emperor, it looks good on BD but its an older film and so it would be unrealistic to try to compare it to the BD of The Dark Knight. Therefore, if you have a great look SD DVD, why replace?
Also keep in mind that some BD releases look inferior to the SD DVD (just Google The French Connection Blu-Ray if you haven’t heard about that debacle). And I don’t believe BD is going to replace SD the way DVDs replaced VHS. I love my Blu-Ray DVDs and when a film comes out on both BD and SD, I’ve been buying the BD (even for a movie like Frozen River). But I see BD as more of a transitional format between DVDs and the next format because for most consumers, regular DVDs look fine. And if you don’t have a newer TV, watching a movie on Blu-Ray seems sort of silly anyway.
I’ve had a Blu-Ray player for months and have not yet seen an actual Blu-Ray DVD. Most of the worth while American films on Blu-Ray I’ve already seen, and am too lazy to see again— and then of course with the limited foreign releases, same deal.. I’m waiting on “The Seventh Seal” Criterion Blu-Ray to come out in June or July, I forget the release date.. Hopefully in the long run it will pay off.
Overrated
Blu-Ray’er for about 8 months now. ‘Course you need an HDTV to really make it worthwhile. I log on to “dvdbeaver” or “dvd verdict” for their reports on BR releases before purchasing. In one instance, their consensus that “Sleepy Hollow” BR was not any better than its SD incarnation, I opted to “save” three or four dollars by buying the SD. If the buzz is that a BR release is much better than its SD version, I’ll buy it and endow a friend with my “old” SD disc.
I’ve seen BR for the same price (or within a few dollars) as its SD version on Amazon. Sometimes, it’s not so much the image that’s vastly improved as much as the audio. With a good surround system, audio alone enhances my enjoyment. I just watched the newest BR release of “Terminator Judgment Day” last night. The 6.1 lossless audio is absolutely ear-blowing.
I guess I’m a convert. I’ll add that SD is upgraded by my player and set-up. They never looked better. Concerning older films not benefiting from BR, read what’s been written about Criterion’s “The 400 Blows”. You like b&w? With BR, it’s blacker and whiter.
Finally, reflecting on what D. Ehrenstein says, BR won’t alter a thing about a film’s script, acting, direction. You can engage with the essential film just fine without BR. I have a strong superficial streak, though. The better something looks or sounds, the more I like it.
Do you have a blu ray player and only buy bluray now?
Yes and no. The upscaling feature works pretty damn well for me. Criterion non-b&w dvds look almost like blu-ray (b&w seems to have some problems whenever white turns into black very quickly like when characters are walking hastily) and normal dvds look decent enough for me.
Do you only buy some films in blu ray?
No. My only film on blu ray is Chungking Express which looks wonderful. If Down By Law is released by Criterion sometime soon, I will be getting that too.
Sold most of my dvds library knowing those tittles were a sure bet in br.
Only kept packs of classics such as FORD AT FOX and Signature Collections from Warner.
Many brs lack image quality and have no advantage whatsoever in comparison with dvds, such is the case of THE STENDHAL SYNDROME.
I don’t have a BD player and have no plans to buy one.
I have an addictive personality and love collecting things, so naturally, when Blu Ray came out I HAD TO HAVE IT. I have a little over 100 BD discs now. I don’t plan on “double dipping” and buying something I already own on SD. If there is a film I don’t forsee coming out on BD, I will buy it on SD; otherwise I will always but BD. My BD collection is growing rapidly faster than my SD collection ever did; I’ve been purchasing SD for about 9 years now and have over 500, and BD for over 1 year and have over 100….not good… I’m also extremely broke now…
Caveat: I work in broadcast TV and I was a professional film projectionist many years ago.
I have a PS3 hooked to a Panasonic 58-inch plasma, and surround sound.
I am buying Blu-Rays as the films I want become available and I have delayed buying any Criterions until now for that exact reason.
I have only a small collection of regular DVDs right now anyway, so ‘clean slate’ to some extent.
There are regular discs where I just have an idea they will most likely never will come out on Blu-Ray, so I keep the regular ones I have, and if something ‘import only and obscure’ shows up, I am happy to buy it on regular DVD if that is what is available.
For the masterworks, however, it’s going to be Blu-Ray as much as humanly possible.
With a 58-inch screen from about 12-13 ft there is a difference in texture and filmic look that just makes it that much better.
To see a film like “The Searchers” after all these years with its mindblowing texture and almost 3-D image is to know that Blu-Ray is worth it.
I don’t think the masses will ever drop standard DVD in favour of blu-ray.
on Blur ray I have Alexander, Nixon, Mongol, and 300.
I want to get Body of Lies, and while I don’t plan on repurchasing too many of my DVDs, if Ran ever gets the go ahead, I will buy it for the third time.
“I don’t think the masses will ever drop standard DVD in favour of blu-ray.”
They will and are right now. When you walk into any shop that sells tvs, what are they selling right up front? Hi def. Blu-Ray is selling faster than dvd did. People are buying Blu-ray players in greater numbers than they bought dvd players when they came out. Don’t forget for the first 3 years of the format, there was a format war going on also. Blu-ray really only has been the only choice now for about a year and a half.
There are a lot of detractors for sure. Some people simply don’t like buying into new technology. The arguments against BR are the same ones I remember hearing from people when dvds first hit the market. The biggest thing Blu-ray has going for it, is it’s backwards compatible. You can play all your dvds on them and the up-conversion will make them look better.
I still watch my dvds, but I refuse to buy any new ones. Even Criterion. It breaks my heart that Criterion isn’t putting all their new releases out in the format. Considering that they are all pretty much HD transfers anyways, just do it. Zentropa is my favourite Von Trier film, but I refuse to buy it until they put it out properly.
If you love film, as I would think everyone here does, then Bluray is the way to go. A Bluray player with 24fps output and an HDTV capable of showing the 24 frames per second film rate (at multiples of the 24fps such as 72 Hz, 96Hz or 120Hz) is the best way to view films in the home, next to a projector/screen setup.
i got Blade Runner, A History of Violence, The Dark Knight and Reservoir Dogs on bluray :)
My birthday is coming up on the 23rd and I have a feeling that’s what my father will be getting me. I want one so bad I could cry right now (dramatic I know). I’ve already started a list of blurays I MUST get. I stopped buying DVDs a while ago in anticipation of a bluray player but I do have a pretty vast DVD collection already so I don’t plan on replacing most of them. However there are some titles I simply must, aka anything Stanley Kubrick has directed.
Couldn’t care less about them. I’ll keep buying DVD’s and, in reality, will probably buy myself a VCR before I even think about getting a Bluray player.
How many of you with PS3s have used them to watch films on The Auteurs?
Fandorin-san
Do you have a blu ray player and only buy bluray now?
Do you only buy some films in blu ray?
Have you sold all your dvd’s and re-bought them on blu-ray?
Do you refuse to buy blu-ray?
Are you still waiting?
Personally I don’t have a bluray player and would have no problem with waiting another 5 or more years before (if at all) getting one. I’m not in a rush… That being said, I still have some VHS tapes at home that I intend to keep, so maybe it is all changing to quickly for me…