Sony Bows Budget Blu-ray Classics

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has launched an aggressively priced range of branded back-catalogue titles under the Magnificent Movies Magnified banner.

But only three of them are new to the format and the rest are of varying quality.

Heading the initial slate are Bridge on the River Kwai, Taxi Driver and Legends of the Fall.

They offer extraordinary value for under $20 and their calibre makes you wish Sony had dug deeper into its inventory for the rest of the line-up.

Black Hawk Down is the best of the rest, followed by Casino Royale, The Book of Eli, Hancock, Zombieland and Snatch.

Less collectable are 2012, District 9, Hellboy, The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3, Terminator Salvation, Resident Evil: Apocalypse,  Angels & Demons, Rambo, The Patriot, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Step Brothers and Ghost Rider.

Sony plans to add more Magnificent Movies Magnified titles, so hopefully the next batch will include some of the studio’s true screen gems, like The Guns of Navarone, Dr Strangelove and Silverado, which are out on Blu-ray in the US.