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Last week, we gave you a nice shopping list of the best of the best to take to your local Blu-Ray seller and now, this week, we're looking to the future of the format. If you're new to the world of HD video and audio, you've surely had that horrible experience that has befallen us all. You finally got your shiny new toy and you're ready to play with the other kids. You excitedly go online to buy your favorite movie and discover that not only is your dearly beloved not on Blu-Ray yet but also there's no announced release date. An exclamation usually follows along the lines of "Stealth is on Blu-Ray, but ____ is not?!?!?!" It’s a tough lesson to learn, but there is no justice in the world of HD.
Well, what if we could bring some back? What would be our dream schedule for 2009's holiday season (the time of year when most studios bring out their most high-profile catalog titles)? Here's our first draft at a list….
Note: Naturally, the entire Disney and Pixar catalogs would make good choices but those releases have a clear pattern. You're never going to get all the Disney titles on Blu-Ray at the same time. You never did on DVD. It won't happen now. So we’ve excluded them from consideration. The Toy Story movies, our definite pick for Pixar not yet released in HD, will probably hit the format when Toy Story 3 comes out next summer, and those will be must-owns. As for the next Disney, Snow White this fall will be great, but let's make the next one a more modern classic. There will be a lot of talk about Up being nominated for Best Picture at the end of this year. Why not upgrade the one animated film that was and give Beauty and the Beast a lavish treatment?
James Cameron made movies for HD Blu-Ray before the technology even existed and, as a result, this is just the first of three times that one of the most technically proficient directors of all time will appear on this list. We know that, for some you, the prospect of hearing "My Heart Will Go On" in HD audio sounds just one notch down the torture ladder from waterboarding, but there's no denying that Titanic would look amazing in 1080P. And shouldn’t the highest-grossing and one of the most re-watched films of all time be available on every format? Industry insiders have complained about the slow rise of Blu-Ray and Sony has been struggling with PS3 sales. Here’s a real simple concept – put the most bought and highly grossing films on the format. Sales will follow.
Is it just me or does it feel like a new generation out there doesn't know about the great Who Framed Roger Rabbit? People born the year it came out can now drink legally (yes, that makes me feel OLD too), and I half-expect that most of the young viewers who saw Jessica Biel dressed up like Jessica Rabbit on Saturday Night Live earlier this year had no idea which character she was playing. This winner of four Oscars and landmark achievement in special effects would be a perfect Blu-Ray choice, especially considering that Zemeckis recently revealed to MTV that he was considering revisiting one of his most beloved creations. Why not see how much interest is out there with a Blu-Ray release?
Cameron's back. This one is kind of baffling. Maybe they’re waiting for Avatar. The Abyss has been a beloved home release on not just DVD but also all the way back to VHS and even laserdisc. I vividly remember The Abyss laserdisc, one of the most prized releases in that demised format. What is taking so long with Blu-Ray? The Abyss is still one of the most remarkable technical achievements in the history of film. I'd buy this Blu-Ray just to hear the amazing sound design in HD audio. And the various versions of the film would work beautifully with the seamless branching capabilities of Blu-Ray. The Blade Runner and Close Encounters of the Third Kind Blu-Ray releases are astounding examples of how well Blu-Ray can present multiple versions of the same film. Let's work that magic on The Abyss.
There are a lot of great Westerns on Blu-Ray (Unforgiven, The Searchers, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), but we need more Leone. Very few directors in the history of film knew how to use sound and score as expertly as Leone. Right now, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is the only title available in HD. Where's For a Few Dollars More? A Fistful of Dollars? Or, of course, Once Upon a Time in the West. Think about the wide shots of West on your HD TV with perfect video clarity. The standard DVD is one of the best-selling of all time with a fantastic commentary track and great documentaries about the history and influence of the film. Import all the special features and remaster the video and audio for HD and this would easily be one of the 20 highest selling Blu-Rays to date. It's a shame they didn't get it out in time for Father's Day.
The only Terry Gilliam films on Blu-Ray are The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, and The Brothers Grimm. That's right, The Brothers freakin' Grimm. What. The. Hell. Let's start the full-out conversion of Gilliam's total catalog with one of the best Criterion releases to date, their edition of the amazing Brazil, a film perfect for Blu-Ray. Not only is Gilliam's gorgeous vision of the future his best film and one that would be truly enhanced by HD video/audio, but also the three-disc Criterion set proved that there is more than enough material out there to take advantage of Blu-Ray's storage space. Multiple versions, documentaries, interviews, featurettes – bring it all over and Criterion would have one of their best-selling titles to date. Criterion has developed a wonderful pattern of bringing over old titles to Blu-Ray along with new releases. For example, this month sees The Seventh Seal, a title long available from Criterion on standard, make the jump into the HD pond along with Last Year at Marienbad being released in either format for the first time by Criterion. Please make Brazil one of the "catalog Blu-Ray piggy-back" Criterion titles soon. Oh, and before we go, we'd totally buy Time Bandits and The Fisher King on Blu-Ray too. But start with Brazil.
Like a lot of titles on this list, the Back to the Future movies seem like an inevitability, but what are they waiting for? In all likelihood, this will land in stores about a year from now, just in time for the film's 25th anniversary. (It's getting kind of scary how close we're getting to BTFF 2's 2015, isn't it? Should we be seeing concept hoverboards by now?) The box set that was released in 2002 was one of the most beloved on standard DVD in the history of the format. It seems like an easy import. (Provided that the Blu-Ray release doesn't mimic the aspect ratio problems that plagued the first batch of the regular DVD box set.) Take all the special features from that set and throw in a new retrospective or two to celebrate the anniversary. It will be one of the highest selling Blu-Ray releases of 2010. Mark my words.
I can't pick just one. Even though I think David Lynch may be the most hit-and-miss major director of the last quarter-century, ALL of his films should be on Blu-Ray so his fans can decide for themselves what to own and his detractors will have the best versions of the films possible to bitch about and malign. Guess how many films by Lynch are available in HD? ZERO. This is a filmmaker who should have all of his films available with the highest quality video and audio. If we have to start with only one, I would start with Blue Velvet and then move on to Mulholland Drive and Wild at Heart. But let's not go that route and slowly release the Lynch filmography one at a time. Let's just get them out there with one big honkin', surreal-as-all-hell box set, and let the fans pick for themselves.
Only fifth?!?! Just wait until you see the top four before you complain. Not only are there actually better choices than The Star Wars Trilogy on Blu-Ray, but I'm also hesitant to even include this title at all for one major reason – it's too obvious. Saying that The Empire Strikes Back should be on Blu-Ray is like saying that the sun should shine or that they never should have made the prequels. Duh. And the fact that THX has apparently has expressed doubt about Blu-Ray and that means that the Holy Trinity may never be on Blu-Ray just makes me angry. I'm not buying it for a second. It feels to me like another purposeful delay, something designed to build anticipation for some anniversary/special/super/deluxe Blu-Ray edition down the road. Is there anyone out there who thinks that Star Wars will NEVER be on Blu-Ray? Come on. So let's just get this silly dance over with and release the damn things.
It is criminal that The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull can be viewed in HD but that Raiders of the Lost Ark still needs
to be up-converted. Criminal. Why didn't they get the original trilogy
ready to time with the theatrical release of Crystal Skull? I was lucky enough to see a remastered Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen a few years ago with perfect video and audio and it was one of my most rewarding movie-going experiences of the last few years. Sure, this one seems like a fairly easy pick, but, hopefully, the THX concerns regarding the Blu-Ray format I mentioned with Star Wars won't transfer over to the
similarly Lucas-controlled Dr. Jones series and, again hopefully, the
Blu-Ray versions will be as close to the original versions of the Indy
films as possible without any retrospective edits or added CGI
nonsense. Like a lot of people out there,
Raiders is a personally beloved film that I look forward to showing to my own son someday. I hope to be able to do so in 1080P.
Another "duh" entry and a true inevitability. Some have even suggested that we could see these before the end of the year. PLEASE don't make us wait until The Hobbit comes out for these to be released on Blu-Ray. Don't you think that a lot of Blu-Ray buyers would pick these up the same day they bought their new machine? Honestly, Peter Jackson's incredible epics would – without question – help sell Blu-Ray players and push forward the next-gen format that has taken longer to get off the ground than anyone ever wanted. Journalists and bloggers are writing stories every day about the slow rise of Blu-Ray and, if the format wants to put those stories to rest, they need to unleash a quick series of killer apps, game-changing discs that will make buying the format a no-brainer. Release The Return of the King in 1080P and, trust me, NO ONE would be talking about the demise of Blu-Ray anytime soon.
How many Alfred Hitchcock film are available on Blu-Ray? ZERO. For shame, for shame, for shame. It's simply unbelievable. And it's not like the titles are spread out too widely across competing studios. There have been several incredible standard DVD box sets of Hitch's films, making it clear that one studio could put together a gorgeous Blu-Ray series without dealing with other companies. Let's start with Universal, one of the best Blu-Ray studios out there. Imagine their incredible "U-Control," a feature that allows for storyboard and behind-the-scenes featurettes to play picture-in-picture as the film plays on the following films – Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, and Shadow of a Doubt. Then Warner Brothers could kick in with North by Northwest, Suspicion, Strangers on a Train, and Dial M For Murder. Finally, Criterion has released some spectacular Hitchcock editions including must-haves of Spellbound, Rebecca, and Notorious. They would be ideal choices for Criterion's Blu-Ray importing process. Those of you who own the keys to the Hitchcock vaults – start remastering for 1080P NOW. You owe it to the human race.
What is there to say about the Alien movies that hasn't already been said? I can still vividly remember seeing Alien for the first time as a child and how my heart raced at each suspenseful moment. The sound design in all four films, but especially Alien and Aliens, is still some of the most impressive in the history of film. And all of the films are visionary enough – yes, even Resurrection (visionary doesn't mean perfect) – that an HD transfer would truly enhance the experience of the whole series. Finally, we've seen several times how well Blu-Ray can handle multiple versions of a film and there are MULTIPLE versions of the Alien Quadrilogy. This year is the 30th anniversary of Alien. Can we please get this together by the end of the year to celebrate? It would be the biggest release of the holiday season and one of the biggest Blu-Ray titles in history.
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