Now that Blu-Ray is standing as the lone HD media format going forward (I don’t count HD VMD as an option), it’s time to get excited about what’s coming out soon, and dream about what we’d like to see coming out.
As a casualty of the format war myself, I don’t have a Blu-Ray player, and likely won’t until around the holidays. That won’t stop me from taking a look at what’s coming soon to Blu-Ray, and what I’d like to see come out in HD.
I present to you my first HD Wish List. For the sake of brevity, I am only including titles I’m really excited about. There’s others coming out that I’m interested in, but these are the must-sees.
Coming Soon
April 15, Juno
I didn’t see the film in theaters, but with all the hype around it I want to. My wife – a Jennifer Garner nut – will no doubt enjoy watching it again. I know, dramas may not always make the most exciting HD discs, but the soundtrack is really good and I can’t wait to hear how it sounds.
May 13, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
This is the type of movie that figures to benefit greatly from the HD upgrade. The standard DVD left me greatly unimpressed, but I think this disc could really shine if treated properly. There’s a lot of effects shots, and some of the scenery is really impressive. The colors in the film were extremely rich as well, and should really pop in HD.
November 4, 2008, The Shawshank Redemption
Despite TNT, TBS and USA effectively killing this movie by showing it every weekend, it’s still a well-produced film and one I’m excited to see in HD. While with Narnia, it was the colors, here it’s the lack of color that will be interesting to see. This movie is basically an ad for the color gray. With the exception of a few short scenes, there’s not much color in this film. This will be a challenge for the HD format to see how it handles something so lacking in color.
Release TBA, Glory
This title has been announced but delayed. So much to like about this movie: A top-notch cast (Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick), good action and a moving, true story. On top of all that is the Grammy Award-winning score by James Horner. I can’t wait to hear the final scene as they charge Fort Wagner.
Relase TBA, Red Dawn
Also announced but delayed. While I have always loved this movie, I just want to see if the “Carnage Counter” will make its way over from the Collector’s Edition DVD.
A guy can dream…
These movies haven’t been announced, at least not formally, but represent my current list of must-haves when they do make their way out.
Band of Brothers
Hands down the best movie/miniseries/epic tale ever made. I’m a sane, 33-year-old father and I would no-doubt wait outside, in the cold and snow, on release day, before a store opened to buy this on HD. The scene in the Ardennes forest where the company is being mercilessly shelled is just begging to be brought to HD. Everything about the 10 episodes of this HBO series is amazing. If you haven’t seen it yet, go right now and rent it. The amount those soldiers sacrificed is simply inspiring. The standard DVD set sounds and looks great, I can only imagine what an HD set would be like.
Saving Private Ryan
I don’t think I’m breaking any ground here by saying I’d like to see this in HD. Heck, I’d pay for just the opening 24 minutes on Omaha Beach. Again, a solid standard DVD, it would be criminal to mess up an HD transfer for this film. Like Band of Brothers, this movie was intentionally “dirty” in its presentation. Over-exposure, grain, saturation all give the film a gritty feel when you watch it. Don’t get me wrong, it looks great. This movie would not have been right with a pristine, digital presentation. What Spielberg and his team did was amazing.
The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings sagas
Duh! Of course.
The X-Files Series
Come on, you know you watched it. It was “the” show of the 90s. And you know you’re excited for the new movie, too. Putting aside the fact that this was my favorite show, I’d be interested to see how an old, 4:3 show would translate to HD. Hopefully they’d maintain the aspect ratio, and hopefully they’d remix the sound into 5.1, unlike the current set of DVDs. There’s a lot of dark scenes throughout the show that would really put a display and player through their paces. There’s also a lot of close-ups that would really test the detail level of your setup and the Blu-Ray standard.
Finding Nemo
Think back to when this first came out in 2003, people were amazed at how this movie looked. The sound was just as impressive. To date I haven’t actually seen any animation on HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it seems like this one would be a great one to get started with.
That’s it for part one. I’m sure there’s titles I’m missing, so I’ll be updating this as time goes on. And I’ll be sure to shout from the rooftops when one of the Dream Titles becomes available.
Your Daily Phil 