National Lampoon

Searching For The Dark Knight Blu Ray

I’ve come late to the Blu-ray party. Now that I’ve arrived at the party with martini in hand, I’m pleased to be here.

Lately, it seems every thing coming out of Hollywood is either a sequel or a remake. Not to mention upcoming films Tron: Legacy, Harry Potter as well as the Deathly Hallows, Accurate Grit, The Dawn Treader and Little Fockers.

As it is possible to see, that’s pretty a list for just 1 year. So, Hollywood is absolutely no stranger to sequels. The trouble is most of the time these sequels turn out to be less than stellar movies which are basically created to cash in on a name. Too couple of and far in between do we have really good sequels that do the original any justice. That’s why, today, we’re going to go over sequels that have essentially turned out much better than their predecessor.

First, Netflix has constantly seemed like an alien concept to me. Now do not get me wrong, I consider that the US Postal service will be the most effective bargain to be had on the planet. Paying somebody a couple of dozen pennies to hand carry a piece of paper across the country is an amazing deal. It appears like a tremendous hassle.

Now, when faced with the question: What sequels are better than their predecessor? Most people have an automated response. There’s a top 5 which might be commonly repeated ad nauseum when talking about this subject. You’ve your Wrath of Khan, T2, Godfather II, Aliens, Superman II and Empire Strikes Back. Granted, that is due to the fact those go-to answers are actually terrific sequels that surpassed the originals and go down as wonderful films of cinema history. Today, however, we’re going to bypass these cliche answers and venture down a path of 10 not-so-commonly-named sequels that surpass their original.

However, the built in Netflix streaming capabilities within the Blu-ray player had me intrigued. The surprise was how straightforward of a set up this complete outfit turned out to be. It’s proof positive that even the world’s most tech-ignorant goon could possibly be hazardous with technology.

First, the greatest invention inside the history of humankind to this point is HDMI. Had I been the guiding hand within the evolution of man, I would have skipped the wheel and gone straight for HDMI. Video. Perfect. I’m not certain that there is any actual top quality improvement inside the image over the old DVI format, but the hassle factor is beyond measure.

10. The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum takes everything that created the franchise awesome, and cranks it up a notch. A non-stop thrill ride, The Bourne Ultimatum is grittier and a lot more heart-pounding than its predecessors. Matt Damon turns in an additional superb performance as assassin Jason Bourne in this smart thriller.

Lets walk by way of the steps of setting this monstrosity up.

I eliminated my progressive scan upconverting regular DVD player, leaving the HDMI cable in place. Replacing it using the Blu-ray was simple. The total time it took was a few minutes running the power cable plus the LAN cable (to use the streaming Netflix features).

9. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Guillermo del Toro returns in this sequel to bring the red beast back to us. Enhancing upon the original, Hellboy 2 is often a wonderful movie that exhibits del Toro’s superb visual style. All in all, Hellboy 2 proved to be a very deserving sequel that I personally enjoyed even superior than the 1st (which I also liked).

Providing network connectivity was the subsequent step. The Netgear device was simple to install. There’s no software needed for this, just just plug the transmitter into a energy outlet close to the router, hardwiring it with a LAN cable to an open router port, then the receiver into a power outlet close to the TV and run a LAN cable into the back of the Blu-ray player. In fact, I use the term “transmitter” loosely. Both boxes are identical, whichever 1 you plug into the router becomes the “transmitter”. The initial investment was inside the Netgear XE104 that functions making use of the power circuits inside your home.

8. The Devil’s Rejects

Once I booted the Blu Ray player it had some trouble discovering the network when I went to the Netflix option within the root menu. This was resolved readily sufficient by going into the network set up and re-affirming it as a “dynamic IP.” I’m assuming this just forced the DVD player to renew it is IP address. As soon as I had network connectivity, it instantly informed me that there was an update to the Netflix software and it took much less than a minute to download.
I took the plunge and went on-line and signed up for the Netflix 2-week trial on the $8.99 plan, the lowest unlimited plan they offer. Very simple, as soon as the Netflix update downloaded it gave me the ID on screen. Within seconds of entering the ID into the Netflix website the player informed me that it was authorized.

Being a fan of Rob Zombie’s music, I was excited to hear he was set to make a horror movie back in 2003. I just knew I was in for quite a disturbing treat. House of 1000 Corpses came out and it proved to be a pretty entertaining movie for a first-time director. Zombie’s sophomore film and he shows inside the two years that he had matured and created as a filmmaker.

The $8.99 strategy entitles you to put as much as 9 films inside your Netflix queue, 6 of which might be streaming picks. There are actually still thousands of streaming titles. Once you total the sign up, you are able to add any “instant titles” into your queue and they show up instantly in your DVD player Netflix menu. From the player’s menu you can also remove the films from your Netflix queue instantly or hope between numerous functions on the same title.

Another noteworthy plus on the LG BD300 is that it that my Toshiba LCD picks up the reality that the Blu-ray player has been turned on and automatically adjustments the input setting on my television over to it. I found this particularly fascinating due to the fact the this was not the case with my LG upconverting common def DVD player, hooked as much as the exact same input and using the very same HDMI cable.

The difference in between the upconverting 1080P normal DVD and the Blu-ray is considerable. The Hi-Def image is far better than you get through your cable or satellite provider (most networks aren’t broadcasting 1080p yet anyway). The IMAX sequences, primarily the long cityscapes, had been mind-bogglingly sharp. It’s really a excellent very first selection film to begin with.

7. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Christmas Vacation brings the endearing humor of European Vacation and Vacation and builds on it. Capturing the holiday spirit, whilst bringing lots of laughs, Christmas Vacation has grow to be 1 of those perennial must-see films come Christmas time. While I’ve enjoyed them all, Christmas Vacation nonetheless stands as my preferred of the Vacation series and holds such fantastic nostalgic value to me.