Blu-ray review thread

Guys, does nobody here buy from Amazon.co.uk?? If you're still only buying local then you're being ripped big time! I haven't bought a single bluray in SA, but have bought more than a dozen from Amazon.co.uk and they've all arrived safely, and at a third of the price! Blurays work out to around R100 each (including shipping and import taxes paid locally).

e.g. Planet Earth on bluray in SA costs around R700-R1000 depending where you're buying. From Amazon you can buy this for around 17 pounds, plus about 2 pounds for shipping, and tax paid at your post office when you pick up the disc. Total cost = R250.

An awesome feature of http://uk.blu-ray.com is that you can search for a bluray, then set a price tracker on it. So if the disc currently costs 15 bucks but you only want to pay 7 for it, then set the price tracker and as soon as the price from Amazon (it's linked to the site) drops below your desired price you'll get an email letting you know. Great way to save as much money as you can and get only the discs that you want at the best possible price!

For reviews though, don't rely on bluray.com. Rather use Bluray.high def digest (much better analysis)

At the mo, I have:

Crap quality:
300

Average Quality:
The Proposition
Final Fantasy: Advent Children
American Psycho

Awesome quality:
Dark Knight
Casino Royale - Deluxe Edition
Black Snake Moan
Life - BBC boxset
Planet Earth - BBC boxset
Spiderman 3
Reign Over Me
Closer
Brokeback Mountain
Atonement
Matrix Trilogy - I paid less than R300 for this one!

Arriving soon:
Kung Fu Panda
Any Given Sunday
Two Lovers
Jumper

These 4 blurays cost me around R410.

Don't be scared to look at Region 1 blurays either, most of them aren't locked. Lost of bluray get released in the USA that aren't released in the UK or rest of the world. Just check out a bluray region code website and you can see which ones are locked and which are region free. I have several that are supposed to be region locked but thanks to the region code websites I discovered they weren't.

Hope this helps!
 
I buy from Amazon UK. sometimes their box specials & stuff are just the bees balls.
 
@dotvibe, yeah they have some amazing specials, at the moment they have the Underworld Trilogy for 15 pounds! But even their normal prices smash SA prices.
I'm surprised that people actually pay R300 for a bluray in South Africa. Local is not lekker!
 
Hellboy II is still one of the best movies I've seen on Bluray.

Patiently waiting for LOTR on Bluray :) I actually want my sub(s) and surrounds before I get this...
 
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bought the band of brothers blu ray box set and bourne trilogy in blu ray for about R500 shipped total. craziness.
 
I have 300, The Dark Knight, Watchmen Director's Cut, Highlander: Immortal Edition, The Matrix Trilogy, Spider-Man 3, Constantine, Terminator Salvation Director's Cut, Batman Begins.

Picture quality is amazing. There are scenes in Highlander which look a bit speckled, but that is down to what is left of the original film print and not the medium it's on. Sound is superb as well.

If you have anything smaller than a 40 inch LCD full hd you will struggle to see the benefits of true Hd. Although sitting up close to a 32 or 37 inch FHD screen would give you a good view of the crispness of the visual.
 
For good deals on BD check out play.com - i paid R310 for The Matrix Trilogy and Highlander in total.
 
sh4rpz said:
For good deals on BD check out play.com - i paid R310 for The Matrix Trilogy and Highlander in total.
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How do you get items shipped to SA from play.com? The last I checked SA isn't on their mail list?
 
I have 300, Casino Royale, Spider Man 3, The Covenant and Planet Earth box set. I see alot of people think that 300 is crap quality but the film grain effect was actually added. No idea what the directors were thinking but they did it. I read about it along time ago when when I first bought the movie. I thought that something was wrong with the Blu-ray disk. Planet Earth is awesome and a must buy for any collector. I went to Look and Listen last week and have seen that some of their movies are now marked at R199. Even Area 51 which is a fairly new release.
 
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Silver82 said:
How do you get items shipped to SA from play.com? The last I checked SA isn't on their mail list?
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sorry for not editing the post earlier, but the site was offline when i realised - you need to know anyone in the eu who could ship it to sa as 'gifts' for you. i think it's around 40ZAR

alternatively, use a 3rd party shipping/courier. not sure how this works tho.
 
Nicky_G said:
I have 300, Casino Royale, Spider Man 3, The Covenant and Planet Earth box set. I see alot of people think that 300 is crap quality but the film grain effect was actually added. No idea what the directors were thinking but they did it. I read about it along time ago when when I first bought the movie. I thought that something was wrong with the Blu-ray disk. Planet Earth is awesome and a must buy for any collector. I went to Look and Listen last week and have seen that some of their movies are now marked at R199. Even Area 51 which is a fairly new release.
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Game Zone at Ushaka and musgrave has BD from R140 upward to R199 on most titles.
 
sh4rpz said:
sorry for not editing the post earlier, but the site was offline when i realised - you need to know anyone in the eu who could ship it to sa as 'gifts' for you. i think it's around 40ZAR

alternatively, use a 3rd party shipping/courier. not sure how this works tho.
Click to expand...

Yeah, figured that was what you were doing. I used to order from them all the time when I was in the UK. I just had a look at their prices, and Amazon is actually cheaper on most films. Still, a good source to have when there's a huge special, thanks for the heads up on the friends/gift shipping option.

Apparently CDWOW also ship to SA, but they're expensive, so pointless even looking at their stock.
 
Silver82 said:
Yeah, figured that was what you were doing. I used to order from them all the time when I was in the UK. I just had a look at their prices, and Amazon is actually cheaper on most films. Still, a good source to have when there's a huge special, thanks for the heads up on the friends/gift shipping option.

Apparently CDWOW also ship to SA, but they're expensive, so pointless even looking at their stock.
Click to expand...

how's the tax customs charge on amazon BD's? I usually get my stuff via take2.co.za - although sometimes their amazon imports are over-priced.
 
sh4rpz said:
Game Zone at Ushaka and musgrave has BD from R140 upward to R199 on most titles.
Click to expand...

Most titles being newwer movies as well or only old movies, and do the have a large - ish collection?
never been there before, but im willing to make a trip if they R 140 each.
 
sh4rpz said:
how's the tax customs charge on amazon BD's? I usually get my stuff via take2.co.za - although sometimes their amazon imports are over-priced.
Click to expand...

When you purchase from Amazon the final amount in your basket will be what you saw on the site less a pound or two. You then pay roughly R20-R30 per disc when you pick it up at your post office. It still works out far cheaper than buying locally. I refuse to support local business with their exorbitant prices when I get the same stuff for a third of the price overseas.

The only problem is that it takes a bit longer, but if you don't mind waiting between 3 weeks and a month then it won't be an issue.

Take2 has some decent specials sometimes, and they're my second option, but 90% of the time Amazon has the best price (I never buy bluray from Kalahari). The other thing with Take2 is that you can buy from Amazon.com (their 'More USA' section). This is pretty cool because it covers the shipping and tax costs and they get a much better deal than we can get from the US Amazon. As a retailer they don't pay nearly as much in postage fees (US Amazon are crazy expensive). Don't forget to check the regionfree websites though, you'll be surprised how many bluray region 1 discs are actually region free. e.g. Atonement is only coming out next month on region2, but the US have had it for years, and it's region free. Cost me R190 from take2. Ask Look and Listen to import it for you and you'll pay around R500.
 
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