Blu ray Transformers

[jimoinj]

What do you guys think of the Transformers Blu-Ray G1 movie? Is the quality really noticeably better than that of the DVD?

And speaking of Blu-rays, has anyone heard any news of the G1 series being released on Blu-Ray? What do you think the prospects are?

I like that Blu-rays can hold more information (though it seems this capacity is seldom used), take up less storage space and tend to have more features. However I've heard mixed reports about their quality, with some such as Ghostbusters being widely reported as no better than the DVD release, and in some instances worse! On the other hand some really are noticeably better than the DVD, particularly post 2006 ones which were filmed in HD format. It seems studios really need to do a proper remastering and to also go to the effort of putting in more extra features to make Blu-ray worthwhile. Do you think they will bother with Transformers G1? And if they do, will they just rehash the DVD release onto Blu-ray with a slightly superior quality but no extra features?

[griffin]

I'm noticing a trend from distributors lately to only include extra/bonus content on blu-ray now... with just the Movie on its own on a DVD release. I was at JB the other day and was wanting to buy some recent releases, but only Blu-ray had the extra features. And the store said that they were the only versions on DVD.

I personally don't go for much extra content and rarely watch/use it, but I love seeing the deleted & extended/alternate scenes, as it can give more insight into the story (especially when the director gives commentary as to why it had to be cut).
Bloopers are fun to watch as well... but the behind-the-scenes or making-of documentaries are only worth watching on the really great movies or ones with ground-breaking effects.

I don't care much for blu-ray or HD formats, because I don't have a huge TV and don't plan to splash out on one. With a standard size TV or even a standard-definition TV, like most people, High-Definition is wasted. And are there really movies out there that you just can't watch or enjoy if it wasn't in HD? It's not something I feel is important in my life to have an expensive home theatre system, which is required to fully appreciate/utilise the image & sound quality of Blu-ray.

[Paulbot]

I've got the Blu-Ray G1 movie and it looks really fantastic, but I'm not sure it's a improvement on the remastered DVD (which is the same version). (But both are so much better than the original Madman DVD release).

But then I'm still watching DVDs and Blu-Ray discs and games on an old-school PAL 4x3 TV so I wouldn't notice any difference that someone with a high res HDTV user might notice.

I'm noticing a trend from distributors lately to only include extra/bonus content on blu-ray now... with just the Movie on its own on a DVD release. I was at JB the other day and was wanting to buy some recent releases, but only Blu-ray had the extra features. And the store said that they were the only versions on DVD.

I saw this with X-Men First Class yesterday. The DVD at Big W actually had a sticker on it saying the special features are available on the Blu-Ray version(!).

But you can get Blu-Ray's cheap or at the same price as DVD if you're patient so I am now buying movies in that format anyway.

[jimoinj]

Looks like retailers are trying to force a switch to Blu-rays by removing special features from DVDs. Wrong way to go about it. They should be putting extra content on Blu-rays. Really if Blu rays hold so much I don't see any reason why 2 or more movies aren't being put on one disc so we can really save on storage space. In any case in the future the next format will surely just be digital copies in HD/Blu-ray quality that we can store on USBs or computer. So they should give us more in terms of saving storage space with this in between format Blu-ray.

That's disturbing that the DVD and Blu-ray of Transformers the movie are the same quality. But it was my feeling too when looking at it. So much for production companys' much hyped 5x the picture quality!

[Paulbot]

The newer movies could have that quality improvement, but as Griffin mentioned you'd only really appreciate it on a larger HDTV. Animation seems to scale better too because it's quite easier to clean up but a live action film 25+ years old (like Ghostbusters with 80s effects) can only be enhanced so much before you see the Matte lines and the poorer film stock quality of the time. Not many movies get the Lucasfilms total restoration/'enhancements'.

The extra lines of resolution do count as the screen gets bigger, and I'm looking forward to getting a big TV when I move. If I already have a movie on DVD I'm not buying it again though, except for my favourite movies that are also visually spectacular (eg Moulin Rouge, X-Men 2, Dark Knight). TFTM gets a free pass of course and I'm looking for a three-movie pack to get the Bayverse TF movies.

[GoktimusPrime]

The newer movies could have that quality improvement, but as Griffin mentioned you'd only really appreciate it on a larger HDTV. Animation seems to scale better too because it's quite easier to clean up but a live action film 25+ years old (like Ghostbusters with 80s effects) can only be enhanced so much before you see the Matte lines and the poorer film stock quality of the time. Not many movies get the Lucasfilms total restoration/'enhancements'.

I remember first watching the Star Wars Trilogy digitally enhanced on Laserdisc in 1995... suddenly all the matte lines, strings and other visual effect "flaws" became crystal clear!! It was funny watching TIE Fighters and X-Wings flying around with smoky white boxes around them.

I don't have Blu Ray yet... so is Blu ray meant to be hands down better than DVD or just better in aspects but not in others (like say DVD vs LD)?

[5FDP]

I don't have Blu Ray yet... so is Blu ray meant to be hands down better than DVD or just better in aspects but not in others (like say DVD vs LD)?

It depends on the application. Blu Ray holds more information that a normal DVD as has been stated therefore picture can be shown at a higher resolution e.g. 1080p given the right TV equipment, however, it is a really expensive process to remaster a movie that was made 20 years ago and in digital terms, it's easy to go backwards in terms of quality, but to polish a movie is like polishing a turd - it'll still look crap. It's the old LP's vs CD's argument.

[Shirokaze]

I bought the Transformers bluray solely to support Madman Entertainment, and I actually found it to be a pretty good upgrade compared to their first DVD release.

I didn't realise there were so many that hadn't jumped onto the bluray wagon yet. Why not buy a PS3 for $300 and plug up to your sdtv with the included RCA inputs? At least then you can pick up whichever movies have exclusive bluray content and not stress about having wasted money on a standalone player.

[Mr Ed]

With the right TV and Blu ray player you are running 1080p.

Normal DVD is running at 476i regardless of what tv you are running

[gantz]

My thoughts were very similar to Griffs - just thought I am not gonna bother with Blu-rays, until I started to notice the trend of Special Features being only on the blu-ray versions.

Although Waner Bros. apparently do not care or could not be bothered with remastering the sound for their blu-rays - perfect example of this is The Matrix Trilogy

The picture/image is amazing, the sound leaves a lot to be desired