Suggested reference DVDs?

I was just thinking that I haven't purchased any DVDs in quite a while. I'm hoping some of you can make some recommendations on titles that I can add to my collection.

I'd like to pick a few "reference quality" DVDs, both in terms of sound and picture. But I'd also like good movies. I don't believe in buying stupid movies even though they may have killer soundtracks. Those I save for Saturday night rentals.

I'll say that I really don't do comedy, particularly the slap stick variety or those that portray stupidity as being funny. I do like drama. And action. And suspense. And of course romance.

So, given the above, any suggestions for movies I might check out?

Ellen, Obvious choice: Dil Chahta Hai

Other personal faves; all have excellent sound and picture, but I bought them more for content:

Braveheart
Brotherhood of the Wolf (French)
Cinema Paradiso (Italian)
Contact
Disney's Tarzan
Escaflowne: The Movie (Japanese)
Gladiator
Heat
Matrix
Prince of Egypt
The Right Stuff
Saving Private Ryan
Spirited Away (Japanese)
Superman: The Movie
X-Men

And anything by Pixar Studios: Toy Story 1&2, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc.

Best,
Sanjay

Thanks for your reply Sanjay. DCH is one of my favorite Hindi films and I do own a copy. Unfortunately, the darned disc pixelates and several chapters are unplayable. The deplorable quality of Bollywood DVDs is unbelievable and a source of endless frustration to me. It's a shame because I enjoy watching the films.

Of the other films you suggested, I already own Braveheart (on LD), Gladiator, The Matrix, Saving Private Ryan and Superman. I also have Toy Story 1&2, Monsters Inc, and A Bug's Life though I'll admit to getting those mostly for when my nieces visit

How about the "Lord of the Rings' series and "Das Boot", even tho the latter is a little skinny on romance.

For entertainment purposes, the quality AV discs are hard to match up to my content preferences. I’ll mention the older, less familiar list, regardless of PQ and audio track, depending on personal preferences many here are worth owning.
Left Lugguage Isabella Rossellini
sad and touching, winner Berlin Film Festival

Donnie Darko cameos by Jake Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell Katherine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore, some hate this although I find it darkly amusing in an "American Beauty" teenage kind of way, with overblown comedic sketches of the worst of suburban personalities.

Wind and the Lion Connery and “whats her face”. Will be issued DVD in Jan. High hopes for the transfer.

Always The Ghost & Mrs. Muir Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison just released to DVD

The Devil’s Backbone 5.1 Spanish, subtitled. Anamorphic
Not great but a nice change and a good one for Fall windy nights.

The Lion in Winter O’Toole, Hepburn, for its razor like familial venom.

Once upon a Time in the West a Sergio Leone film, for some reason I’ve been stuck on this one for about two yrs, Jason Robards and Charles Bronson both turn in my favorite performance for these actors in their westernwear. I consider it one of (or the best) of its genre. Also Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale,

The End of the Affair British infidelity drama. (do like the ST) based in part on novelist Graham Greene's own past, Ralph Fiennes starts the movie with his “diary of hate”, Julianne Moore is the well-bred adulteress torn between the sublime civility of her life and passion I like many of the lines in this movie, “I tempted fate, and fate accepted." Been intending to pick up the novel after viewing the film.

The Piano twisted erotica as almost any Harvey Keitel film is, but the Score rivets me, I partially have learned to play “The Heart asks pleasure First” no small task for someone who has not had lessons. Love the pacific islands and (Holly Hunter, whom I’ve never really liked) who as Ada fascinates me, I can strongly relate to a woman who ‘voice’ resides in ivory.

A dramatic game of perspective Benigni's La Vita È Bella (Life Is Beautiful)
Incredible film. A father intent on preserving not simply his sons’ body but his soul and mind midst the ruination of the Holocaust
We die like 'an empire at the hands of barbarians. M Dekkers.

What Dreams May Come
Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra, C Gooding. Visual treat, (if you like Monet)

Jeremiah Johnson my favorite Redford. The DVD quality is hiddious.

If you’ve scanned posts you’ve prob already seen me mention several of these. They represent a mix of some old favorites (wont even go into the mega films LOTR etc, most being familar to all) and a couple which stuck more to memory than many for years. None of these do I recommend as “true” reference video or audio, although LVEB and WDMC are beautiful cinemaphotography, and TGAMM a perfect study in Black/White drama. Just an entertaining evening or to remain as favorites in a collection for rainy nights in your future.

I'm afraid to get this one. I have such fond memories of reading the books when I was a kid. It would destroy me if the film didn't live up to my expectations.


Ha! I do own Das Boot and enjoyed it very much.

SLL,

Quite a list. I have seen several of the ones you listed.

Interesting that you should mention The End of the Affair. I have seen both the Ray Fiennes version as well as the 1955 version with Deborah Kerr (one of my favorite actresses from that era) and that wooden redhead Van Johnson. I wasn't particularly enamored with either version, but preferred the one with DK & VJ. I found the one with RF and JM to be excruciatingly boring. Maybe I'll rent it again and give it another chance.

I remember watching What Dreams May Come when visiting my sister once. Her husband rented it. I could have cheerfully strangled him Definitely not my cup of tea.

I agree with you wholeheartedly on The Piano.

Will have to check out the Isabella Rossellini flick. And also The Devil’s Backbone. I've been checking out some foreign films lately for a change of pace. Don't think I've seen any Spanish yet so it should be interesting to check it out.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ellen, I took am a huge Tolkien fan and if any movie can bring those novels to life, these can. A friend and I commented to each other that one of the things that made Tolkien's novel so distinctive was his attention to detail when describing the scenery...well, the cinematic landscapes in LotR were stupendous. I would highly recommend! If you are concerned, rent first...oh, one more thing...they did Gollum sooo welll!

My $0.02 for recommendations:

I second Contact...excellent story, great acting, and some show off of the audio/video at the end

Roman Holiday...I cannot believe I am recommending a "chick-flick" but Audrey Hepburn's movie debut and it is wonderfully restored!

Sound of Music...it is a classic and surprisingly a good show off of an AV system with all the mountains and music.



[This message has been edited by Oaf (edited August 07, 2003).]

Okay, I'll add LOTR to my to-rent list.

Contact is the one with Jody Foster and Matthew McSomething-or-Other, right? I did see that movie but it didn't do it for me.

Ellen, if you're going to rent "LOTR", make sure you get the extended edition. It really adds some "must see" scenes to the story.

Yeah, I believe that's the "Contact" they're talking about.

OK, I have to inject my personal favorite here...

TRON! Oh yea

My wife keeps telling me I've got problems. When she does, I just put Tron in again There's nothing like the thrum of those Recognizers driving by (Thanks Jeff G. for letting me audition it in your place, while my HT materializes).

Amelie is a great movie, and I thought it was visually stunning.

hmm...what else? Did anyone mention Titan AE? That's another visually beautiful movie, with a really fun story.

-Joe

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Remember the Intellivision?
http://www.gotmaille.com/nostalgia/

Unfortunately, they dumbed "Contact" down a lot from the book. While it's a good film, I was very sad at the way it chickened out.

Jeff

The Fifth Element is a great audio demo disk as well. And it's a pretty cool movie. The scene where the Diva sings is a great demo..

I'm always searching for that "perfect" scene to demo my system to friends...

Isn’t it so interesting our tastes are as varied as our personalities? In movies and music I see my list above and contemplate.
(one I like dark violent dangerous men who have some redeeming quality ) when I stop to add in some current modern favorites like "Pirates OTC" etc. and I’m prone to the tragic or very black twisted humor.
I’ll add a few. Billy Elliot, The Royal Tenebaums, and - “that your friend there in the chipper?” Fargo. Again entertainment, not reference.

I sat through Fifth Element the other day on Satelite. Just because I thought the music was fun.
Edit:Helen this thread had me searching for a trilogy I had mistyped in the past and had not found a source for.
These were highly recommended to me. Now I see I can order them at B&N.
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=786936216790
Scroll to bottom half of page, for a description. After reading it, I’m calling my local for an order in of the set. Since you mentioned a current trend towards foreign films, this might interest you.



[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited August 07, 2003).]

A list of reference quality DVDs should include the new T2 Extreme Editon DVD. It is far cleaner than the Ulimate Editon DVD which came out some time ago. Artisan retransfered the original film negative to a new 1920x1080 HD digital master. Color correction was applied and "the new master was digitally restored by removing dirt, scrathes, and chemical stains". The results are a "marked improvement over the 1997 masters". Also, the audio was recompressed to Dolby 5.1 ES from the 24-bit audio master. A complete layman's explaination of the entire process is include with the DVD.

Was going thru the closet where I keep my DVDs and found that I actually have The Fifth Element. Apparently I never got around to watching it because it is still in the shrink wrap. I don't even remember when I got it. I found The English Patient still in its shrink wrap too.

SLL, that Krzysztof Kieslowski set looks very interesting. Thanks for the tip!

Any (or I should say the few I've seen) of the "Superbit" DVDs are top notch when it comes to "reference quality" DVDs.
"The Fifth Element" Superbit DVD is really outstanding in terms of sound and picture. There are a few others.
Also, "The Rock - Criterion" DVD has one of the best transfers I have ever seen.....Criterion usually has some of the better transfers out there..........
"Fight Club" and "Se7en" - great transfers......
"Star Wars Attack of the Clones" looks and sounds pretty darn good........
Anchor Bays "Suspiria" special edition looks really good...the use of color in that movie is outstanding.
"Lawrence of Arabia" is coming out in a Superbit DVD, and so is "The Quick and the Dead"....they should be good from the advance notices I've read.
I know I'm leaving some out, but these few are a good start.....
so may DVDs, but not so many "reference quality" ones....
just my opinion concerning "reference quality" DVDs...........

Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
Saving Grace
Snatch
Meet Joe Black
Pearl Harbor
A Beautiful Mind (and any Ron Howard flick)
Signs
Shakespeare In Love
The Burbs
Tombstone
Titanic
Aliens
Spy Games
Sneakers
The Philadelphia Story
Planes, Trains And Automobiles
Life As A House

More good sound:
U-571
Jurassic Park 1 and 2
Mummy 1 and 2
Ronin
Last Man Standing
Die Another Day
Final Fantasy
Desperado
Twister

Underworld is a great Demo Quality DVD, the sound will knock your socks off.

Finding Nemo is a fun movie with an excellent soundtrack and amazing video quality.

Air Force One (SuperBit) is one of my personal favorites.

Pirates Of The Caribbean will be spending a lot of time in my DVD player too!

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My HT v3.4 - Now featuring 2 channel equipment!

I suggest listening to the gunfight at the end of Open Range (Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall. The sound effects are terrific. I had to duck a few times while I heard the crack of gunfire and bullets ricocheting over my head

Also, I love "old" westerns (a la Silverado), and this one was really enjoyable. Duvall was excellent.

[This message has been edited by mgdurand (edited February 23, 2004).]