Despicable Me
Best Blu-ray animation
With its candy-colour palette, adorable character design and above average voice cast, Despicable Me was always a shoe-in for this category. While this schmaltzy tale of the world’s greatest super-villain – who meets his match when three cute orphans turn up on his doorstep – may not be the most inventive of yarns, it stands multiple viewings and shows pretty much every other Blu-ray animation a clean pair of heels (only Chico & Rita comes close).
While available in both 2D and 3D iterations, my advice is pick up the former. With nothing to dim the quality of the scribbles, it’s a wonderful example of hi-def pop art.
Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy
Best Blu-ray box set
There can only be one box set to rule them all – and that’s The Lord of the Rings extended edition collection. This incredible 15 disc package combines the longer cuts of Jackson’s Tolkien on Blu-ray with copious extras (some new but many old) on DVD. When you factor in the running time of the various audio commentary tracks, this set can lay claim to over 700 hours of supplemental material.
As an audiovisual experience, this trilogy also takes some beating: the movies look terrific in HD (at times spectacularly so) and the 6.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio sound mixes are reference quality. Trouble is, once you start watching it’s difficult to pull yourself away from Middle Earth.
Next page: Return to Jurassic Park
COMMENTS
I'd like to think
That it's a review actually separating content from quality for once.
Generally I know what the film is, I have my own taste and know what I enjoy and what I don't. The information that's always missing is, whether the transfer makes it stunning, or makes it look like it was filmed by a drunken monkey with the microphone dipped in a bucket of frogs!
The top film in a review like this could have been spice world for all I care, if it was the best quality blu-ray. I got a set of discs free with my player, not something many people would consider very good, it wasn't until I'd bought a couple myself that I realised why they'd been packaged, because they showed off blu-ray quality, not because they were any good.
Re: what a god awful selection of films
They're rated as Blu-ray Discs, not as films. That's another article entirely.
Original Trilogy
I laughed at that part. I still don't know how they can legally sell them as the originals when they clearly aren't. My angst has nothing to do with the visual/sound quality, but the overall reduction of Vader to a whiny little bitch.
I don't think these reviews are what you think they're about.
The picture quality on Tron must have been outstanding for anyone to stay awake long enough to notice.
