New to Blu: Movies > November 20-26

Pacific Rim is being released on 2D and 3D Blu-ray the same week its mockbuster rival Atlantic Rim comes out on DVD and the movie its director was meant to have made, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, gets an expected deluxe redux.

“Get ready to add a new demo disc to your system.

“Although I prefer the brightened 3D Blu-ray, even the 2D version of Pacific Rim is absolutely flawless.

“The opening 17 minutes make for prime demo content.”

“It looks just as beautiful as you could hope for. Colours are gorgeous, detail is outstanding, skin looks like skin and the digitally shot feature is transferred to Blu-ray in flawless condition.”

“The film’s soundtrack is presented in 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, with a highly active and immersive mix, featuring lively surround channels and deep bass.”

The three-disc Extended Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey includes a 183-minute cut of the movie and nine hours of HD extras.

“Regardless of how you react to the new cut, its video presentation is outstanding, its DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track is terrific, and its supplemental package is so exhaustive it’s almost exhausting to dig through.”

“The flick looks and sounds excellent, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more impressive supplemental package anywhere.”

“The Conjuring makes its presence known on Blu-ray with a remarkable 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode that will shock and scare the living daylights out of viewers.

“Filmed entirely with the use of HD cameras, the digital picture displays extraordinary definition.”

“While the lack of deeply saturated colours may not result in this becoming go to demo disc for home theatre enthusiasts, it strikes the appropriate balance between aesthetic intent, cinematic appeal, and digital perfection.”

“The 5.1 DTS-HD audio is, if anything, even better than the video. It’s a deep, fully immersive sonic experience.”

Also new are Over the Edge 3D, UFO and:

• Before Midnight (“offers a superb image – most assuredly duplicating the theatrical film experience”)
• The Bling Ring (“the video quality of this digitally-shot film is far from impressive”)
• Welcome to the Punch (“sharp images, nicely-rendered colours, and well-handled contrast and shadow levels”)
• Syrup (“pleasing but not particularly noteworthy image”)
• Lifeforce (“representing the uncut 116-minute British version, the new transfer and its colour correction were supervised by [director Tobge] Hooper himself, and the results are spectacular”)
• Maniac (“looks awfully rough, to say the least”).