Looking to build a DVD library!

[evilkat]

I recently bought an HT system and I'm trying to figure out what DVDs I want to buy/own. I currently have a few in mind but I'm looking for inspiration. Do you guys have lists of DVDs that you own? If you do, can you post links to it or suggest some good titles?

So far I own the following:

Pirates of the carribean (both of them)
Last Samurai
THin red line
Chronicles of Riddick
Pitch black
5th element

Want to get:

Black hawk down
V for vendetta
Hunt for Red Oct
Serenity
Braveheart
A few good men
Star Wars
LOTR

Please share any suggestions you have, regardless of genre (anything goes except for TV shows/series)! These are just the titles that have come to my mind, but I am sure there are a lot more movies that I like that I just can't think of just yet.

Let me know and thanks in advance!

[B5I8]

WARNING! Buying DVD's is extremely addicting. I just thought I'd share that since that is the case for me. I have to buy all the new releases every Tuesday, it is my ritual. I own well over 800 DVD's already and I'm still adding more.

[evilkat]

Thanks for the warning B5! I can see this getting addicting too, until I see the price sticker!! :)

I'm *usually* selective with what I buy, so perhaps I won't fall prey....do you have a top 50 of your 800 DVDs that u could recommend?

[Bryce_H]

I used to buy a lot of DVDs, back in the late 90's when you couldn't rent them. Now I only buy the blockbusters (Harry Potter, LOTR, Spiderman, etc.) I found I don't often watch DVDs I own. As a member of Nexflix, I always have a couple of new releases waiting to be watched.

So I would say, be very selective to only titles you will watch repeatedly. Then you can put your saved $ into other things like upgrading your HT equipment :D

[Joe Schmoe]

I have about 1000 movies and concerts on DVD. Now I have started collecting TV series.:D

[goodman]

Some of my favorites: Superman Returns, Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day, Young Guns, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Jar Head, Lawrence of Arabia, Terminator II, Total Recall, Desperado, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Quigley Down Under, Snatch, Pulp Fiction, Galaxy Quest, Men In Black, and Gladiator.
For most selections, I prefer to rent from Netflix or Redbox rather than purchase. I probably would not have purchased my PS3 had I not been able to rent Blu-ray discs from Netflix.

[evilkat]

Thanks goodman! How could I have forgotten Gladiator and Pulp fiction?!!

As for the rest of you....1000 dvds o__O Assuming u paid on average $15 per dvd, that's a $15,000 just on DVDs!!!

Holy smokes.

[-Esoteric-]

Sin City
The Life of David Gale
American Beauty
Snatch
The Machinist
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind
Dead Man Walking

I'll be back :D

[mtrycrafts]

I can see this getting addicting too, until I see the price sticker!! :)



Used DVDs is the answer to that dilemma. Blockbuster or Amazon, or other sources.
But, HD is on its way. Maybe you want to reconsider low def DVDs? I am abandoning that collection.

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

Used DVDs is the answer to that dilemma. Blockbuster or Amazon, or other sources.
But, HD is on its way. Maybe you want to reconsider low def DVDs? I am abandoning that collection.


Dito...

I have about 8-900 dvd's and only a couple of hundred have I watched more than once. I havnt bought new ones in a while. The only new ones I will buy are concerts and one I am sure to get my money's worth! I will wait to get the new format (winner tbd). then I will be a little more selective...

[evilkat]

But, HD is on its way. Maybe you want to reconsider low def DVDs?

Aaaah yes, the HD delimma. I refused to be sucked in to this pissing match which is designed solely to screw the consumer over, by making him/her buy movies over and over again in different formats!!

I've decided that I'm gonna bloody well get the movies I like in DVD format until the war is over and then I will simply switch over to buy HD content when the dust settles.

I refuse to...

1. ...wait until this war is over. The Betamax vs VHS war took a good 12 years to resolve itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax). No way in hell am I waiting that long for this to sort itself out without buying movies!

2. ...buy movies in HD that I currently own in DVD format, unless I DESPERATELY need the xtra resolution. But u know they're just gonna re-sell the LOTR/Starwars trilogy/hexalogy just because we have a new format! Bastards!

3. ...buy new expensive equipment to play the content when I don't know which one will dominate in the end.

So I'm sticking to DVD, because guess what, DVD is gonna be around for a long while to come! I certainly cannot afford paying $30-$50 a pop for a movie! I know I sound bitter about this...because I am :P

[highfihoney]

I have about 1000 movies and concerts on DVD. Now I have started collecting TV series.:D


Same here, i just picked up both seasons of "sledge hammer" off ebay for $25 new,man was that show funny.

[highfihoney]

Two movies that i own that no self respecting dvd collection should be without are 'Jeramiah Johnson' and 'Hard Times,both of these movies are classics & are easy to watch a couple times a year.

Jeramiah Johnson is based on a true story of a trapper who had a long standing fued with indians,when he killed an indian he liked to eat their liver:eek: This is an excellent movie with plenty of action.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068762/

Hard times,this is my all time favorite movie,its set in the big depression where everybody is flat broke & standing in the bread lines,charles bronson plays a hobo who can fist fight like an sob,the movie follows his rise to the top of the cage match street fighting game.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073092/

[JVC]

A recent movie that has outstanding surround in it is "Flyboys". The dogfight scenes, in the WW I planes, are awesome! Another excellent one for surround is "Saving Private Ryan". A couple of really good ones for LFE (bass), are "Finding Nemo" and "U-571".

Here is my list of movies: http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/emoxley

A hint for buying dvds.............. check out your local pawn shops. I buy a lot of mine from pawn shops. It's hard to beat $4 - $5 each for them. Our pawn shops give 30 day guarantees with them (exchange only). Can't beat it, if you can find one with a good selection, and has a good turnover.
Good luck! :)

[evilkat]

U-571 is another excellent one that i had missed earlier! THanks for reminding me! I'll have to look at ur list.

[Kai]

Serenity
Swordfish
Assault on Precinct 13
The Sum of All Fears
The Fifth Element
The Bourne Identity and Supremecy
Talladega Nights
Cars
Ice Age II...much better than I and not a sequel
King Kong
Enemy at the Gates
Brotherhood of the Wolf...very odd and interesting
Saving Private Ryan
K19
Forrest Gump
Hostage
Basic
Constantine
King Arthur
Lady in the Water
National Treasure
Knights Tale
The 13th Warrior
Master and Commander
Enemy of the State
Catch me if you Can
Spiderman I and II
Bringing down the House
American Pie series...hilarious
Jet Li's Unleashed and Fearless
Stigmata
The Exorsist
Caddy Shack and Back to School
Blues Brothers
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Long Kiss Goodnight

Meh...that is plenty...I have approx 180 movies and of that number probably watch 20 of them more than the once...I tried parting with them at a yard sale for $3.00 each but could not hehehe. What hurts is seeing many of my movies on tv in HD on a premium channel...I got a couple of channels for free for a year...while I have them on SD/dvd.

I no longer buy every "Tuesday Special"...just too damn costly unless it is a Blockbuster.
I usually go to my local Blockbuster and buy their "3 for $20" or "4 for $20" specials. It is a great way to get movies inexpensively. Make sure to check the dvd's for scratches etc. If there is a scratch that makes it unplayable Blockbuster will take it back for an exchange.
I also wait for the $6.99, etc. sales at Best Buy. A great way to get cheap movies especially when they are "Watch one time and put away" hehehe.

[jonnythan]

Now isn't a good time to start building a DVD collection...

[evilkat]

Now isn't a good time to start building a DVD collection...

Yeah right, with that mentalitly I'll NEVER be able to build up a collection (see my previous rant post above!).

Kai, thanks for the list :) I didn't think about Blockbuster's sales! I am only going to buy movies that I think I'll watch over and over again for the time being. I'm surprised that a lot of you guys buy soo many DVDs but don't end up watching the majority of your collection more than once.

[jonnythan]

I'd take the money I intend to invest in a DVD library and just buy a dual format player. HD DVD and Blu-Ray are about $20 a pop.

[Nick250]

Unless there is something very specific that I want, I usually only buy DVDs that are five dollars at BB or CC. A big percentage of the DVD titles mentioned in this thread have been five bucks at one time or another.

Nick

[Jack Hammer]

My criteria for buying dvd's is fairly simple. I only buy movies that I believe I'll watch ~4 or more times in the next year. That makes them cheaper than renting. I currently have about 600 dvd's. Most of them I've watched many more times than that. I try to buy movies I really want when they first come out - usually $13.98 @ CC. The rest are the $3.99 & $4.99 specials at CC & BB or the 4/$20 at Blockbuster. Point is always buy them on sale.

Jack

[evilkat]

I'd take the money I intend to invest in a DVD library and just buy a dual format player. HD DVD and Blu-Ray are about $20 a pop.

The problem with that idea is you'll have half your collection in blue ray and the other half in HD-DVD. And once the war eventually ends, then you have half your collection on an unsupported gen. 1 player :(

I'd rather buy the cheaper DVDs right now and wait for the format issue to settle and then invest on a really good player later on.

[jonnythan]

The problem with that idea is you'll have half your collection in blue ray and the other half in HD-DVD. And once the war eventually ends, then you have half your collection on an unsupported gen. 1 player :(
Or you can have your *entire* collection at 480p instead of 1080p.

That's not a trivial difference.

[evilkat]

Or you can have your *entire* collection at 480p instead of 1080p.

That's not a trivial difference.


But my 'entire' collection will not remain static. It's going to grow as new movies come out and new releases are made. The newer ones are going to be in 1080p. The older ones will be 480p of course...but if I really feel the need to get it in a higher-res version I'll go out and buy it from the $9 bin for HD dvds :)

[highfihoney]

Yeah right, with that mentalitly I'll NEVER be able to build up a collection (see my previous rant post above!).

I went through every format so far,vinyl,8 track,reel to reel,cassett,cd,dvd a,sacd,beta,vhs,dvd & im calling it quits with cd's for music & dvd for movies,both formats were around long enough to flood the market with millions of titles to choose from cheaply.

I dont think blu ray will catch on with the masses,most people allready have dvd players & will look at the cost of blu ray discs vs dvd & choose the dvd,just look at the death of sacd to see whats going to happen to blu ray,consumers dont care about this issue only audiophiles & videophiles do & our numbers are too few to make a format stick around.

I think your smart not to get caught up in all this blu ray nonsense,people say their waiting for "the smoke to clear" but the smoke will never clear,after blu ray there will be another format promising even greater benifits & so on & so forth,history has showed us that is the way it will happen,instead of waiting on blu ray keep buying dvd's like you are now & then take serious advantage of people dumping their state of the art $2,500 dvd players in order to go blu ray,i know in going to:D

[Hans]

Hi, and welcome to a whole new level of addiction.

You already own good titles!

I got about 300DVDs. Some good movies that I treasure much:

- Saving Private Ryan
- Goodfellas
- The Matrix trilogy
- The X-Men trilogy
- any Harry Potter movie
- any Tarantino movie
- any Pixar movie (all of them mindblowing on a good HT)

At 300, I have mostly every DVD I want, there not much coming out worth buying these days anyway, maybe a dozen a year... Nowaday, I keep a very small list of movies I really want, mostly classics, and pick 'em off as I see them at good prices here and there.

You should really consider buying only what you plan to watch more than once. As you will find out soon, there's always somebody that has currently more DVDs than you will ever have :)

To really kickstart a DVD collection, you could check out E-Bay under "Wholesale DVD". Me and my buddies at work really got some good movie collections at well below 4$ per DVD. There are different size lots too. Check it out. Just be careful and read the fineprint, as usual.... Anyway, just by browsing those collections, you'll surely find some movies you want anyway.

I never buy movies full price, I always wait for second hand deal at blockbuster or similar. You can also pick up really great titles for 5$-8$ each at BB, HMV and Futureshop.

I hope it helps. Good hunting.

Cheers.

[evilkat]

Hi, and welcome to a whole new level of addiction.

You already own good titles!

I got about 300DVDs. Some good movies that I treasure much:

- Saving Private Ryan
- Goodfellas
- The Matrix trilogy
- The X-Men trilogy
- any Harry Potter movie
- any Tarantino movie
- any Pixar movie (all of them mindblowing on a good HT)

At 300, I have mostly every DVD I want, there not much coming out worth buying these days anyway, maybe a dozen a year... Nowaday, I keep a very small list of movies I really want, mostly classics, and pick 'em off as I see them at good prices here and there.

You should really consider buying only what you plan to watch more than once. As you will find out soon, there's always somebody that has currently more DVDs than you will ever have :)

To really kickstart a DVD collection, you could check out E-Bay under "Wholesale DVD". Me and my buddies at work really got some good movie collections at well below 4$ per DVD. There are different size lots too. Check it out. Just be careful and read the fineprint, as usual.... Anyway, just by browsing those collections, you'll surely find some movies you want anyway.

I never buy movies full price, I always wait for second hand deal at blockbuster or similar. You can also pick up really great titles for 5$-8$ each at BB, HMV and Futureshop.

I hope it helps. Good hunting.

Cheers.

Hans, thanks so much for the ebay tip! Boy they have a lot of stuff in the wholesale section, although I can't say that I like a lot of the movies in the bigger bundles!! How has your buying experience been with these deals? Were they scratched or ever damaged?

[Jack Hammer]

EvilK, you should also consider the movie you are buying. I have some movies that wouldn't be worth it, $wise, to me to have in the new format but I really like them. These are titles like Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 original, not remake), C.H.U.D., Heathers, Last Man on Earth, etc.

I'm sure you have a core group of movies you really like that wouldn't benefit much from being in HD/BR format. Find those cheap on SD DVD and add them to your collection. Movies like Constantine, Fifth Elemement, or LOTR would benefit more from HD/BR than a movie like Thank You for Smoking would.

I haven't been buying too many movies the last year or so because their haven't been many movies I consider worth buying. The movie industry has been in a bit of a slump - their are some good movies being made and that have come out, but not lots of them like there were 3-4 years back.

[JKL1960]

I have a fairly small collection of films but when I started collecting I decided on a theme. The theme I collect around is War or Military based films. I still buy others but I wanted to avoid buying everything I saw (I can't afford that). I define war movies fairly loosely. Loosely enough that I could excuse buying Seven Samurai. :)

While it isn't a large collection it does have some damn fine films in it.

Idi i Smotri (The best war film I own.)
Grave of the Fireflies
Dr. Strangelove
Full Metal Jacket
Paths of Glory
All Quiet on the Western Front (A must have war film)
Life is Beautiful
Schindler's List

Plus a bunch of the regulars like Battle of Britain, Kelley's Heroes, Saving Private Ryan.

I check the top War films at IMDB and look for those. The obscure foreign films are very interesting. It gave me the excuse to buy Flags of our Fathers the other day and I check most clearance bins for war films. I don't even care if they are good sometimes.

[evilkat]

A good idea Jack. As HiFiHoney also mentioned, sticking with the DVDs for the time being makes sense to me. I plan on migrating some of my favorites over to HD if need be, :D

JK, those are some fine war movies, and Seven Samurai is definitely a classic! I'm surprised you don't have any of the submarine series (Hunt for Red October, K-19 Widowmaker, or U-571)! You should probably get band of brothers. What a powerful series!

[JKL1960]

A good idea Jack. As HiFiHoney also mentioned, sticking with the DVDs for the time being makes sense to me. I plan on migrating some of my favorites over to HD if need be, :D

JK, those are some fine war movies, and Seven Samurai is definitely a classic! I'm surprised you don't have any of the submarine series (Hunt for Red October, K-19 Widowmaker, or U-571)! You should probably get band of brothers. What a powerful series!

I only hit some highlights. I most certainly have Das Boot. Also U-571 and guess what, Band of Brothers. Band of Brothers is quite outstanding.

I still need Bridge on the River Kwai and want to get Battleship Potemkin. Some of these movies can be quite expensive and some are hard to find. Nobody in town has a copy of Downfall (I live in a smallish city) .

I can see an order coming soon.

[bane1202]

ive got prob ~400 dvds and got most of them from the aforementioned 4/20$at blockbuster or for the ones that I can never find there I make a list and pick them up at deepdiscountdvd.com when they have a coupon available... back in november I found a 50% off one on a deal website and went to town.. keep your eye out on slickdeals.net or fatwallet for the coupons or sales... my advice is to pick actors or directors that you like and pull them up on imdb and see what other movies they have done that got decent ratings.. sometimes ill go on theme sprees like old westerns or old black and white samurai films.. buying movies at random will often give you a collection that you watch 20% of with the other 80% gathering dust.. and kudos for staying out of the format war.. im also sitting on the sidelines for a victor to be determined.. i could actually benefit from a 1080p source because of screen size though so I will eventually make that switch

[The Dukester]

Some titles I would suggest:
(Not in any particular order)

Second Hand Lions
Flyboys
Serenity
The Rundown
The Mask
Van Helsing
Forrest Gump
The Bourne Idenity/Supremacy
Batman Begins
A Knight's Tale
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Big Fish
Starwars
We Were Soldiers
The Patriot
Tango & Cash

That should give you a pretty good mix and are some I have watched several times.

As others have said, I echo buying used and buying often:D Forget the format war for now. 1080p will be cheap enough soon enough, but enjoy movies now for less. You can always buy your most favorites in HD later as well as future releases.

[villeneuve]

Cough, Cough netflix, cough cough, blockbuster, cough, cough, dvd shrink, dvd decripter, dvd burner in your computer= a really big dvd library.

[villeneuve]

these may have been mentioned.....
suicide kings
traffic
the big lebowski
fight club
heat
collateral
constantine
layer cake
snatch

[jonnythan]

Cough, Cough netflix, cough cough, blockbuster, cough, cough, dvd shrink, dvd decripter, dvd burner in your computer= a really big dvd library.
If you're going to go the illegal route, download Grabit and connect to your local newsgroup server.. then they're all free ;)

[Kai]

Well evilkat I look at it this way. If I pay say $15.00 for a movie and sit in the comfort of my home, on my recliner sofa, next to my wife, a bowl of popcorn between us and get to keep the movie in my collection I consider it money well spent.
I may have seen it only once or twice over the past several years but I can watch it any time I want. That is worth a lot.
If I were going to build a HD/BR library it would probably contain only a dozen or so movies. I have not bothered buying a HD/BR player and will not for some time mainly because of the cost but also a bit paranoid of the format I buy going room temperature and losing the format war hehehe.

The last time I went to the movies...Talladega Nights...I spent $12 bucks on 2 tickets...matinee doncha know hehehe...and $20 bucks for two sodas and a large popcorn...enjoyable but not worth the money and unless I buy the movie...which I did lol...I can never watch it again until it hits the air in some fashion or I rent it.

Most of my movies cost around $6 dollars and even if I do watch them only once are totally worth the price.
Build your library with your favorites first, or recommended movies, then add on as you can find them on the cheap.

[evilkat]

Kai, u're right of course...I naively made the calculation based on brand-new DVD prices, not the used prices or bargain prices :D

I know better now!

[Nick250]

I am curious, does anyone else besides me have The Dirty Dozen in their collection? If was a gift, but if I knew it was on DVD in the first place I would have gotten it myself.

Nick

[The Dukester]

I am curious, does anyone else besides me have The Dirty Dozen in their collection? If was a gift, but if I knew it was on DVD in the first place I would have gotten it myself.

Nick


I bought it a couple of years ago for my uncle. He died and now I should get it back. We watched it together a few weeks before he died. Great flick!

[highfihoney]

I am curious, does anyone else besides me have The Dirty Dozen in their collection? If was a gift, but if I knew it was on DVD in the first place I would have gotten it myself.

Nick

I have it,one of my favorite movies too.

[Geno]

My favorites, that I've watched many times:

Alien Quadrilogy
Braveheart
Master and Commander
Perfect Storm
Gladiator
The Patriot
Blackhawk Down
Castaway
Heat
The Usual Suspects
The Italian Job
Barb Wire (Just Kidding)
Naughty Night Nurses in Bondage (Kidding again)
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles
High Anxiety
Kill Bill/Kill Bill 2
2001: A Space Oddyssey
Blade Runner
Predator

[Joe Schmoe]

I bought the version of "2001 a Space Oddyssey" that is part of the Stanley Kubrick reissue collection. It is in a non-anamorphic, ultra-widescreen format that I find unwatchable (about 8" tall on my 34" screen!:eek: ) Does anyone know if a better version is available? I love the movie itself.

[lmarc78]

I enjoy most any war flick or action movie with good effects and sound, some of my favorites are

Saving Privet Ryan
Black Hawk Down
Gladiator
Band Of Brothers Box Set
We Were Soldiers
And of course all the X-Mens
I currently have about 360 DVD'S and 291 Vhs

[evilkat]

Has anyone watched Blackhawk down on Blu-ray or HD? I'm curious to see if they've done something amazing with the sound as well as the picture....

[Bluesmobile]

I love to collect DVDs, titles that I think I will watch again and again. I'm approaching 300 in my collection--not much compared to some, but they are all movies I enjoy watching and expect to share with my kids when they get older.

[en sabur nur]

It's refreshing to read the posts in this thread. It's much more enjoyable to buy for the long term, not just because something is supposedly better technology. It's also refreshing to hear people talking about good movies. It's one of the ways I find good films/movies to see. On the HD forums, the majority of the posts are about which format is going to "win" and not about good films. Dvd has already won, anyway.

[gzyzwc]

Here is some of my must have's . . at lest 20 of these are must haves for anybody LOL.

*The Godfather (you must own the whole damn thing!!!)
*Shawshank Redemption. (buy it watch it love it!!)
Boondock Saints (blockbuster it is an amazing movie)
The Princess Bride
Better off Dead
*Blazing Saddles
*Dr. Strangelove
Young Frankenstien
Pookhall Junkies
Clerks
Mallrats
Color of Money
Hustler
*Matrix (you need something to test your system!)
*Starwars IV-VI
Pulp Fiction
One flew over the cuckoo's nest
*Raiders of the lost arc (complete set!) - look on ebay
Goofellas
Usual Suspects
Memento
Fight club
*Apocolyps now (test that new sub out!)
*Leon (the profesional. . Natalie Portman. . )
Alien
Aliens
Resivour Dogs
*Full Metal Jacket
The Sting
*Blade Runner
Highlander
*Unforgiven
Back to the Future
Children of Men
Trainspotting
Groundhogs day
Ghostbusters
*Caddyshack
*Animal House
Die Hard
The Big Lebowski
*A Christmass Story
Snatch
Say anything
Almost Famous (the music in this alone makes it a must have!)
*Fast times at Ridgmont High
Breakfast Club
Sixteen Candles (so you have a chick flick to show off to the honeys!)
Weird Science
Ferris Buelers Day off
Mr. Mom (some of these can be gotten as a hughes collection!)
Fantasia
Forest Gump
Monty Python and the holy grail
Close encounters of the 3rd kind
E.T.
Darkcity
Dazed and Confused
And can't forget! Army of Darkness

That is a pretty large swath of what I need to own LOL. I also have a decently sized collection (about 300-400). And it takes something special for me to add to it. the rule of watching it 4 times is about right to me. . . Notice a lot of 80's comedies. . shows my age LOL. .

[robmlisanti]

I have around 1,000 DVD's now, I received a DVD player 5 yrs ago for my birthday, and have been addicted ever since.
Sometimes I buy DVD's cheaper on Amazon seller Market, or Ebay I also have Netflix which costs alot less than buying them, but I found going to the store and picking them out is half the fun of it!:)