T O P I C R E V I E W |
garymilgrom | Has anyone found high definition Blu-ray titles of any space-themed footage? I've seen the HDNet disk on "Shuttle Discovery's Historic Mission" and I know 2001: A Space Odyssey will be released shortly, but other than that I'm at a loss. |
space4u | I have two other Blu-ray discs: - Roving Mars -- the IMAX movie
- Blue Planet and The Dream is Alive -- Imax movies together on one disc
|
garymilgrom | Where did you purchase these? I would LOVE the IMAX movies on Blu-ray, I have the DVDs and they are terrific films. |
space4u | The Roving Mars disc was purchased from Best Buy and the Blue Planet/Dream is Alive was purchased at Costco. Both were fairly recent purchases. |
Mercury7 | We recently acquired a large 1080p LCD and a Blu-Ray player for an exhibit in the Mercury7 Science Center trailer. The kids loved it. We looped some footage of the shuttle launches and space scenes from the Dream Is Alive blu-ray disc... really incredible. I bring this up because it made me realize that with the advent of high resolution displays, video sources that we find acceptable or even good on DVD, look horrific on a high resolution monitor. It is kind of sad really. Only a few set manufacturers are even trying to incorporate circuitry to make the old NTSC system look decent. I am afraid that all the old footage that we love will be forever lost because I am not sure that any amount of restoration will be good enough. Spacecraft Films and others will really have there work cut out for them, it would seem that any spec of noise is amplified a 1000 times on these new sets. ------------------ Mercury7 Science Center www.mercury7.com |
ejectr | I have a Sony 52" XBR4 and it upscales everything that it is fed to 1080p. I have an old DVD player, not even progressive scan, feeding it regular DVDs, including Spacecraft Films "Gemini" set and it makes all of them look incredible. That being said... you certainly can't beat the high definition stuff. |
spacecraft films | quote: Originally posted by Mercury7: I am afraid that all the old footage that we love will be forever lost because I am not sure that any amount of restoration will be good enough.
This all depends upon the original acquisition medium. The 16mm HD transfers we are working with are much improved over SD, the material that was originally shot in 35mm looks stunning. Of course anything acquired in SD video is not scalable.The real challenges are the parts you don't know about - current archives rules don't allow the preservation copies to go back out after a digital (even SD) copy has been made, so right now I can't get originals on a lot of stuff because WE made SD digital transfers of them. But we're working that and it will most likely change - but slowly. Blu-ray authoring, functionality, and replication are also issues, but will improve with time. Not sure why you think the old footage would be "lost," though. I find it interesting that my generation loves the resolution of HD, but all my kids don't care and are just as content to watch something on an iPod. And it is a worthwhile improvement to make HD transfers of the material that was originally acquired on film. Blu-ray is still a tiny proportion of the market, and is likely to remain low for the next 2 years or more. But there are things in the works! |
Mercury7 | Now that we are moving to bigger monitors in the trailer I still would like to run a demo disc of Spacecraft Films for the kids to enjoy. I really think you are providing a national service by restoring a lot of this old footage and in a lot of cases just to have access at all is cool. Anyway, kudos to Spacecraft Films from the Mercury7 Science Center. |
bthumble | I am purchasing a Blu Ray player this weekend and would like to know what suggestions people have regarding what space related discs to purchase. Editor's note: Threads merged. |
Dwight | I recommend "2001". It was shot on 70mm and is the flagship blu-ray I have. Also anything Imax related is visually stunning. |
bthumble | I was looking for more of actual space footage related documentaries on Blu Ray. |
Rick | On Blu Ray, along with those already mentioned: - Discovery Channel's When We Left Earth
- Criterion Collection's For All Mankind
- IMAX Space Station/Mission To Mir
Oddly enough, the movie Apollo 13 is not yet available on Blu Ray.
|
paulushumungus | I know that the wonderful film "In the Shadow of the Moon" is available on Blu Ray and it is extremely cheap on Amazon at the moment... £6.98 including free postage. |
bthumble | Does anybody know why Apollo 13 has not been released on Blu Ray yet? |
dave | Amazon UK have it listed as a 4 Jan 2010 release, so I'd assume you will get it much the same time. |
garymilgrom | There is wonderful current HD footage available on the Spaceflight Now website. You have to subscribe to get the HD stuff but for $50 a year I think it's a good value. You will need some kind of "media bridge" to get the footage off your computer hard drive(s) and onto your HDTV. I use Apple TV for this, but more and more hard drives are becoming available with HDMI outputs which should work fine. |
Blackarrow | Not for the first time, I'm going to ask if anyone in the UK has bought the US Bluray version of "The Wonder Of It All"? I have seen one review (which I now can't find!) which said that the Bluray version DOES play in the UK, and I'm tempted to buy a copy as the official UK Bluray release won't be until summer, 2010. Howwever, I would first like to hear that somebody else out there has bought a copy and can confirm that it plays on UK Bluray machines. Anyone? |
Pat Gleeson | quote: Originally posted by Blackarrow: However, I would first like to hear that somebody else out there has bought a copy and can confirm that it plays on UK Bluray machines. Anyone?
Is Ireland close enough? I have an Ed Mitchell signed edition and it plays no problem. |
kennetzel | The "When We Left Earth" series is available on Blu Ray. It was one of the first Blu ray titles of anything I got. And it looks great. |
Blackarrow | Pat, thanks for the information. I chickened out and just went for the standard DVD version which (in spite of being "Region 1") played perfectly on my DVD player (AND upscaled on my Blu-ray). It's a great film in either format! |
Pat Gleeson | quote: Originally posted by Blackarrow: Pat, thanks for the information. It's a great film in either format!
You're welcome It is indeed! |
Playalinda | The prices for Blu-ray players are much lower. I have seen the first player for less than $90. I don't own a Blu-ray player yet as I heard about a common problem. In order to play all Blu-rays you must keep the firmware of your hardware up to date. Some Blu-ray discs don't play and that is rather frustrating. I do own a Philips all region standard DVD player, tops only $45, and it works perfect. No freezing or problems whatsoever. All I can say is do your homework and enjoy the movies you love. |