2010 proved that Blu-ray wasn't just going to be "just like DVD only slightly better." The only people still saying, "Blu-ray only looks slightly better," or "I'm not in a rush to upgrade" haven't really experienced the format, or at least not on a TV larger than 42 inches. Case closed.
What makes Blu-ray more than just a "level up" from DVD is that while it does improve the picture, does offer better sound, it also offers so much more. The bonus features on DVD were sometimes good, and sometimes not so good (and often little more than marketing material) - but this year's cream of the crop on Blu-ray has bonus materials that are worth repeated viewings.
My top five for 2010 are also five releases I happened to review. Having considered everything that came out this year - and not really caring too much about Avatar or Toy Story 3 - the list narrowed to a dozen releases. At that point I realized that I was fortunate to actually review a lot of my favorites this year. Additionally, these five releases have gotten mutiple viewings, actually more than anything else that came out this year.
It may not be the most historically accurate WWII movie - and certainly doesn't really reflect the horrors of a Japanese POW camp - and in some ways it is actually pretty insulting to the real British soldiers who worked on the Burma railroad, yet, in spite of all that The Bridge on the River Kwai is still a a compelling and entertaining film. It isn't good history, but it is good fun and makes for a rousing action-packed story that is never over-the-top. The Blu-ray looks and sounds good, but more importantly from the packaging to the extras this is simply one of the best Blu-ray releases to date. Sony went beyond a bridge too far with this Blu-ray release.
This one has always been a personal favorite, mostly because I like the blurring of genres: part Civil War historical drama and part Western. My grandfather loved Westerns and a year before he passed away I took him to see this one. That said, it isn't the most memorable Civil War epic, but Ang Lee's tale of the "other war" between the states proves that Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich can pull off dramatic roles too. As a Criterion Collection release it looks and sounds fantastic, and is loaded with enough bonus materials and extras that my grandfather would have been thrilled for a week.
This isn't the first time the film was released on Blu-ray - as it was previously mashed together with Curse of the Golden Flower and House of Flying Daggers for no apparent reason. This single disc lets you get straight to the Oscar nominated film (not that there was anything really wrong with the other movies but they have absolutely nothing to do with this story, other than they were similar fantasy films set in China). More importantly this version includes bonus materials that weren't in the box set - hidden or otherwise, and for hardcore fans of the film this is truly the ultimate release.
The show is so wrong it could almost be considered right. I didn't catch the first season when it ran on F/X but now Thursday night in the fall isn't complete until last call at Paddy's Pub in the City of Brotherly Love. The story of five friends who own a run-down bar, scheme, plot and double cross each other is good, not-so-clean fun. It bills itself as "Seinfeld on crack," and I love it - which is particularly interesting since I kind of loathed Seinfeld. With Seinfeld I could never understand why that group stayed together as they were such unlikeable people, but with "the gang" in Always Sunny they're stuck with each other because no one else will have them. The box set includes deleted and extended scenes, as well as a few Blu-ray only extras that will almost make the sun shine.
Akria Kurosawa is best remembered for his "samurai" films, yet he really intended to do an "Eastern" take on the traditional American western. It shows with his masterpiece about seven ne'er-do-well Ronin (masterless Samurai) who take on an impossible challenge. The film inspired countless imitators and was even directly remade as The Magnificent Seven, but the original remains the best. The Blu-ray improves the sound and picture to the best levels yet, but it is the story, shot in black and white, that comes through crystal clear and brighter than a blue laser.
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