By Callum Mount.
It seems that every time my brother and I talk about film (as most conversations with me inevitably go), a gap will appear to be filled with one, reappearing question:
“Can you get that on Blu-Ray?”
This gets right on my tits. While I have gone out of my way to replace certain films I already had on DVD with Blu-Ray, my fall back is the Jurassic Park defence; the idea that because you can get most films on Blu-Ray doesn’t mean that you should.
Still, there are those that insist on replacing all their DVDs with Blu-Rays, and with Christmas right around the corner, this is a concern for prospective gift givers/receivers.
Here are my 3 rationales for why I won’t be replacing all my DVDs any time soon, and why I think you shouldn’t either.
Some films can’t take the HD treatment
While the digital cameras used by filmmakers today can capture fantastic quality HD, in the technological limbo between these cameras and celluloid they couldn’t. This means that there’s a whole generation of films made at the turn of this century that just won’t handle the up-scaling to Blu-Ray by design. Unfortunately for the Blu-Ray brigade, some of these films are fantastic like 28 Days Later, but just won’t stand up under the 1080i pressure. For these films, DVD is in fact the optimum medium to own these films yourself. (Due to this argument being based on needing real information and not just opinion that’s about all I have for this argument, so moving swiftly on…)
Most films don’t deserve the HD treatment
When you’re watching a film, you’re just waiting for something to grab you, something truly arresting. Masterful filmmakers know how to keep that feeling going for a whole film. They can utilise just the right sound design like the opening scene of Leone’s Once Upon A Time in the West, astounding images like the design of Scott’s Blade Runner, or are just full of breathtaking detail like the entirety of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. These films, when watched in HD, are enhanced. Most films are not, and to me there was never stronger evidence of this than the recent release of The Ultimate Vacation Collection on Blu-Ray. To be clear, I really enjoy the Chevy Chase National Lampoon films. I grew up with them, I own them on DVD and they genuinely make me laugh. Do I need to see Chase’s wonderful Christmas cock ups in HD? I’m not too fussed.
Now it seems that every other film that is released is a special-effects extravaganza. This being the case this argument is becoming less and less relevant. But, as the depths of cinematic history begin to be delved for new Blu-Ray releases, I’d think about checking for a DVD release first.
Being a stubborn dick
OK, I’ll put my hands up right now. I’m know how opinionated I am (I would argue not a bad thing, my close ones would disagree) and that plays a huge part and, depending on how you look at it, pokes a huge hole in my entire argument. But I won’t let that stop me, and you shouldn’t either. Fuck no. You should embrace that voice of dissent that says no when you’re asked why you aren’t pre-ordering an PS4 when you’ve only just got GTA V.
The main reason I think I feel so unnecessarily aggrieved by this unimportant issue is that it’s symptomatic. When it comes to technology, the entire culture seems to be willing to forgo functionality in favour of the new. If the phone or home cinema or whatever-it-may-be you have works fine for you, don’t feel pressured to conform to new. It will be old before you’ve even bought it. Just look at Blu-Ray. It’s just truly finding a confident place in the mass market and everyone is streaming on the internet. And when films are being beamed directly into our minds so that we experience them as memories and consciousness that only take up a split second of our time, I’ll most probably still be here, watching my Swingers DVD with the Vince Vaughan and Jon Favreau’s commentary track on, grinning my stubborn face off.
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Jay 25th November 2013
There are actually some flaws to the first point, which are the following:
* A film like ’28 Days Later’ that was shot on SD *shouldn’t* be better on Blu-Ray, however given that it was released in 2002 it means the disc has an MPEG2 encode that’s 11 years old now. MPEG2 isn’t exactly great, and the source off camera (MiniDV) is 25mbit/sec you’ll undoubtedly have a worse end product than the original tape, which can be remedied with the newer format even if you keep the original resolution.
* Professional level scalers are better than the scalers in most peoples TVs, hence the market for expensive video processors that people run between SD devices and their flat screens.
* DVD is pretty limited when it comes to the sound track options, whereas Blu-Ray offers far better options for those who want uncompressed audio. Just because the video came from a SD source doesn’t mean the audio is any lower in quality than a studio blockbuster shot on 35mm.
* Unless you have a collection that’s pretty much all Dogme95 or low budget horror, films like 28DL are pretty much the exception when it comes to shooting resolution.
Now whether the 28DL BD actually benefits from the above, I can’t tell you. I’ve not seen it and agree it’s an easy disc to laugh at. But there are theoretical reasons why a film shot on a Canon XL1 can benefit from a better format than DVD.
With regards to the second point, I think all film deserves to be shown at its best whether it’s full of stunning photography or a cheesy comedy, especially if you’ve got a screen size of 50″, 60″ or maybe 100″.