I know there are several such lists on the internet, but I wanted to get some feedback from the folks around here.

I'm buying a Blu-ray player today. Yeah, I was never all that excited about it. Way overrated and for a while I couldn't care less. Well, Blu-ray is slowly, but surely eating away at DVD inventories and decent Blu-ray players have finally (for me) become affordable. And I'm actually starting to feel a little excited about the whole thing. Maybe it's just excitement over something new or perhaps it's the collector in me looking for new goodies to collect. Regardless, I'm making the leap today!

Thus the question is obvious: what are some must-own Blu-ray titles? I'm short on money so I'll only be picking up one or two today. I've also got a list of about 20 that I feel I need to purchase at some point. What do you guys think though? Found any movies that really look / sound great? Any favorite movies in general that you want to recommend? I have pretty broad taste in movies, but there are still many out there that I haven't seen.

If you missed this thread, it might prove to be of some help.  As for my personal recommendation, Star Trek can't come high enough.  Unequivocally the best Blu-ray I currently own, it's a terrific film that's graced with a high grade picture/audio quality, and bonus features that are both substantial and enjoyable to watch.  It's the total package.

Excellent! Sadly, I made the mistake of already buying it on DVD (silly me), but it's on my list anyway. I figured that it would be worth owning on Blu-ray. Glad to see it get such high praise though. That makes me feel a little better about double-dipping. XD

On that note, I ended up buying Batman Begins, Phantom of the Opera and Ghost in the Shell 2.0 today. Like I said, money was a bit tight (I really shouldn't have bought anything), but the first two were on sale ($14.99 and $9.99 respectively) and GitS was one I really wanted to see (and only $19.99 too).

When I have money again I'm thinking of picking up:

-Bladerunner
The 5-disc super, duper, ultimate version is only like $35.

-Casino Royal
One of my favorite Bond films and I suspect it will look great.

-The Dark Knight
So very good. And I already have Batman Begins.

-Escaflowne: The Motion Picture
I love this film and I can't think of any reason not to replace my DVD copy with a Blu-ray. I would have bought it today if it wasn't $35 and I needed to eat.

-Star Trek
For obvious reasons.

-Wall-e
I had the foresight to purchase the Blu-ray of Up, but I think I need to upgrade my Wall-e DVD. :3

Any more suggestions to add to my list? Also: they need to get the Alien tetralogy out on Blu-ray. That's something that I would definitely splurge on. Films 3 and 4 can take a hike, but the first two need Blu-ray releases.

There's a certain train of thought among videophiles that Warner is deliberately gimping on the quality of their recent big blockbuster DVD releases in order to make the Blu-rays stand out more.  Paranoid as that thought may sound, I myself had noticed The Dark Knight and The Half-Blood Prince looking significantly worse on DVD than their Blu-ray counterparts.  Half-Blood's DVD, even by DVD standards, looks really subpar.

I'm not going to expect an answer for this one, but has anyone watched both the retail DVD version of Up, and the DVD version that was included with the Blu-ray?  I ask because I suspect that the sound quality on the Blu-ray DVD was deliberately watered down when compared to the retail's.  Even on a decent 2.1 stereo setup, the film's audio is noticeably tinny, almost painful to listen to.  Kind of like they figured that the disc is a throwaway freebie, so why not knock the bitrate down a few notches?  I was just wondering if it was the same on the single or two-disc retail versions of the DVD?   

Casino Royale is a no-brainer.  If you can, try to get the Collector's Edition; aside from the additional extras, the audio was remastered and further improved upon over the initial release. Dunno how big of a fan you are of these films, but Speed Racer and both Transformers' picture quality are truly top class.  As amazing as they look on Blu, if you already own the likes of Ratatouille, Monsters, Inc, or Wall•E on DVD (or any other Pixar film), you may want to give them a pass.  Most CG-developed movies hold up admirably well, even on DVD.  If you're into the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, Curse of The Black Pearl and At World's End are comparatively better looking on Blu than on DVD.  In terms of sound, I was thoroughly impressed with the aggressive mix in both Terminator Salvation and Master and Commander.  And though, I've yet to see it, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was among one of the higher ranked Blu-ray releases of last year.

Really? I hadn't heard about that before. I guess it isn't too surprising, but it still seems rather underhanded. The difference between Blu-ray and DVD always did seem a little subtle to me. I could always tell that Blu-ray was better, but it didn't seem to be quite as bold a difference as the advertisements claimed. Lowering the quality on a DVD release though would certainly help highlight the difference in quality...

I'm afraid I haven't. It would be an interesting comparison though. Tossing in a DVD doesn't cost much (especially since DVDs are already being manufactured for retail), but I suppose they might cut a few corners. Companies have been known to do that after all.

Thanks for the additional suggestions! I completely forgot about Casino Royale. That one and Quantum of Solace will definitely have to be added to my list. I'll pass on Transformers (once in the theater was one too many viewings for me), but upgrading my DVD of Speed Racer would be good down the line. I'm still not sure about the Pixar movies myself. I think I'll upgrade Wall-e just because I like it so much, but the DVDs of the others do look really good. I'll definitely look into the Pirates trilogy and Terminator Salvation too.

Do you know if the other Terminator movies are worth getting on Blu-ray? I have T1 and 2 on DVD, so would it be worthwhile at some point? I'm also thinking of upgrading Coraline. Absolutely love that film and wish I had the foresight to buy the Blu-ray version.

I was going to suggest T2; I've seen it for $10 on BluRay. Other good movies I've seen as low include Goodfellas and The Usual Suspects but I don't have any interest in rebuying them despite being tempted.

The one movie I'd like on have on BluRay is "The World According to Garp" since the voice track on the DVD is so wretched - it's so bad that the VHS is actually the way to go. Hopefully when/if it reaches BluRay those problems will be resolved.

Just remember that there's two BR editions of T2 currently circulating.  Though I've yet to see either one, The Skynet Edition apparently features more audio options, including a lossless DTS-HD MA 6.1 track, as well as both the original theatrical AND extended director's cut versions of the film.