10 spectacular Blu-ray movie experiences

July 4th, 2013

Appliance Talk Audio TV, Audio & Electronics

Cue drum rolls: let’s talk about spectacular movie experiences.

First –  right now, Appliances Online is stocking the 5.1 Channel 3D Home Theatre System HT-F5550WB, a just released home theatre system from those redoubtable wunderkinds at Samsung.

And we are one of the few retailers that have it. What’s more – it comes right now with a bonus Life Of Pi Blu-ray disc.

What’s so great about the whole package?

Well, this home theatre system is pretty ace. It’s one of those entertainment products where words like: “immersive”, “mind-blowing”, and “amazeballs” are well applied. A 3D Blu-ray player in cahoots with a fairly awesome 5.1 Channel surround sound package.

And that’s all matched to an amazing movie in the shape of Life of Pi, which must be one of the most spectacular flicks made over the last few years.

Which got us thinking about the most spectacular films in history. The kinda pieces of entertainment which would be well served by being played on this home theatre system. And blasted out of for the benefit of all.

(FYI by “spectacular”, we mean work of genuine visual beauty – in terms of art-direction, sound, and high-impact visuals. We will also throw in the originality of the vision, because a dazzling amount of imagination is part of the thrill.)

Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior)

This tour-de-force of mythological story-telling and hyper-kinetic  action took the pop-corn flick to artistic heights. Watch it on your home theatre system and it’ll come at you like a juggernaut. And it was filmed in the dreamscape of the Australian outback. A must-have on Blu-ray, provided you don’t draw the line at seeing a post-apocalyptic biker-punk in bondage trousers with the cheeks cut out … in Full High Definition.

Blade Runner

The archetypal favourite for film-nerds and a no-brainer on a “most-spectacular list”. We wanted to leave it off for that reason, but the truth is it deserves all the reverence. The most visually influential film of the 80s, this dystopian film-noir provides an all-encompassing vision of the future so intense it is guaranteed to drop sundry jaws … 30 years after the original version went to cinemas.  These days, it’s also kinda mind-blowing seeing Harrison Ford in a decent film.

Citizen Kane

A testament to the power of Orson Welle’s black-and-white film direction, with its stunning use of darkness and shadow, is that this epic American drama about the life of a press tycoon (pre-Rupert) whose arrogance eventually leaves him dying alone in his own private “Xanadu”, still looks fresh and vital today. A 70^th anniversary release came out on Blu-ray last year.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Another sci-fi film-buff fave, for which we apologise. But the scale of this movie is worthy of a kick-ass entertainment system like the HT-F5550WB, with its soaring classical film score and the space-time-journeys into the infinite.

Apocalypse Now

This hallucinatory, epic Vietnam war-film is a truly spectacular American masterpiece. Whether it’s a chopper attack on a beach with “Ride of the Valkyries” blaring or a rambling monologue by bald-and-bonkers Marlon Brando by the firelight, this film will be done justice by the rich sound and detailed imagery of Blu-ray.

Tree Of Life

Terrence Malick is one of the most compelling visual artists in the biz’. This film is one of many of his we could have chosen. Bewildering, moving, pompous and undeniably spectacular, it juxtaposes the story of a family in the mid-west against the scope of the Universe. Reliant on visuals to tell its story of birth, life and death, Malick worked with Blade Runner’s visual-effects guru Douglas Trumball to achieve a film of extraordinary visual impact. Or it’s a load of bombastic cobblers … take your pick.

Lawrence of Arabia

Directed by the master of the epic, David Lean, this film depicting the life and times of one T.E. Lawrence in Arabia during World War I is described as a “miracle” by Steven Spielberg and by Total Film magazine as “Shockingly Beautiful”. 50th Anniversary Blu-ray was released last year.

The Exorcist

We needed something from the horror genre on the list and this one fits the bill with aplomb. It’s got the big in-your-face shocks, the slow-building scares, and the rumbling, rasping menace of the sound-scape. Just perfect for your bristling home theatre system … to scare the hell outta you.

Pan’s Labyrinth

Guillermo Del Tormo’s film blends nightmarish fantasy and the horrors of 1944 fascist Spain into a richly detailed, highly imaginative world that will come alive on your home theatre system. Which may or may not give you shrieking nightmares – but hey, you gotta take the bad with the good.